Chapter Text
It all happened so fast.
One second, she’d been double-checking a passage in the Royal Guard Handbook while absentmindedly throwing an attack, and the next the human had been letting out a horrible scream and falling down in the snow.
Martlet drops the handbook as she rushes over, mortified. Red liquid begins to stain the snow beneath where the human has collapsed in a heap, their breathing staggered and dangerously strained.
Martlet knows she should be celebrating defeating the human… but instead, guilt washes over her as she reaches to cradle the human in her wings. “I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I… I’ll make this better. I’ll help you.” Her wings are stained by the liquid- blood, that’s what humans have in them instead of magic, it’s blood - but she can’t bring herself to care as she scoops them up, rushing off towards her home.
Martlet has no idea how, exactly, to treat human injuries, but she has to try.
Practically knocking her door down in urgency, she lays the human down on her couch. “Blood, blood… it can’t be good to lose it, right? I should stop that! Cover it?” She lets her panicked thoughtflow be spoken out loud. “But where’s it coming from?”
She carefully studies the human- after taking off their hat and setting it aside, the blood seems to be coming from under their hair. The hat’s soiled through, in fact, which Martlet hopes can be cleaned. Moving quickly, she grabs a spare shirt she has lying around and tears it up, wrapping it around the human’s head, the white cloth quickly staining- so she wraps some more around their head.
“Okay, um, next, I should… I wish there was a handbook for this- oh gosh I dropped my handbook- FOCUS!” Martlet slaps her wings on her cheeks. “Healing magic works on humans, right? I saw them eating to heal! I don’t know green magic, but food should work!” She rushes over to her under-used kitchen, rummaging in her pantry for something she could feed to the unconscious human. Eventually, she gives up on food and opts for a drink instead, grabbing a thermos of Honeydew coffee.
“I was saving this for a puzzle night, but this is more important,” she mutters to herself as she moves back over to the human. She gently opens their mouth and pours the lukewarm coffee in. Thankfully, the human seems to instinctively drink the coffee. Letting the human slowly drink the entire thermos, Martlet sets it down, unsure if it had worked.
“And now, um… I don’t think I can do much more…” she says, taking in the whole of the human’s injured form. She belatedly realizes their injuries are more than just the head wound- one of their legs is twisted in a visibly unnatural way. Martlet has no idea what to do about it- while monsters could break bones, if they had them, she’d never learned how to set a broken bone.
“Now or never…” she mutters, standing up and retrieving a plank of wood from her storage room and some spare cloth (she is disappointed in herself for forgetting she had it and ruining a shirt.).
With a tremble in her wings, she carefully sets the human’s leg straight- or as straight as she can make it- and then tied the plank to their leg to make sure it stays that way.
“And now there really isn’t more for me to do. Except wait,” Martlet says glumly, her guilt quickly catching up to her as she can no longer work on trying to fix her mistake.
So she sits in a chair next to the couch and waits, stewing in that guilt.
The human barely shifts on the couch and Martlet jolts awake. She watches carefully as the human’s eyes slowly open, and they let out a soft groan of pain.
The human blearily tries to sit up, and Martlet bolts over, gently pushing them back down on the couch. “You can’t move! You’re hurt really bad, and your leg’s broken. I tried to help, but…” she trails off as she sees… fear. And the guilt once again bubbles forth.
Martlet tears up. “I-I’m sorry. I’m really, truly sorry. I’ve never fought someone before, not outside practice… and I was careless, and I hurt you, and I realized I didn’t want to hurt you at all so I tried to fix you but humans are all weird and that doesn’t mean I think you’re weird it’s just that the way you help a hurt human is way different from helping a hurt monster and there was so much blood and I just… I’m sorry! Please forgive me! Or- no, you don’t have to forgive me at all, I’m the one who did this, but I really am sorry!”
The human’s eyes seem to gain clarity as She rambles to them. “Your couch is uncomfortable,” they say in a scratchy voice, before letting out a noise of pain. “…Hospitals have beds for a reason.”
“Crap!” Martlet suddenly shouts, startling the human. “You’re totally right, I should’ve put you in my bed- I HAVE A GUEST ROOM! I completely forgot about it because only Chujin ever used it and he’s been gone a while so I haven’t had to offer it to anyone since the resort and Snowdin Town are right there- Gah! Focus! Do you want me to move you to a bed right now? Wait, are you hungry? Thirsty? Are you hurt somewhere I didn’t find? Oh I hope you aren’t, even though you probably are because I don’t know how to-“
“Stop. Shut up.” The human grunts. “You’re… making my headache worse… just be quiet.” The room falls into a silence as Martlet clacks her beak shut before the human recuperates enough to continue. “Yes… I’d rather be in a bed. And I’m hungry and thirsty too…”
“I… okay, get ready, I doubt being moved is going to feel nice.” Martlet reaches her wings under the human as they brace themselves. They let out a scream of pain, but quickly smother it, and Martlet lifts them up, and she can hardly contain the flinch at the all-too-familiar sound. Moving quickly but delicately, Martlet heads over to the guest room, belatedly realizing the door’s shut. After standing before it for a moment, she remembers that it doesn’t really close properly- she’d messed up installing it- and just pushes it open with her talon.
The guest room is a bit dusty, but that’ll change soon enough. For now, though, Martlet lays the human right on top of the blankets, not wanting to risk maneuvering them under them. The human grimaces at being set down, then speaks. “The pillow’s comfy, at least…”
Martlet smiles shakily. “I’ll see about getting you a meal,” and she quickly leaves the room.
She throws together some soft foods and juice, returning to the guest room, pausing in the doorway as she sees the despondent expression on the human’s face. “Human, I h-hope you like grape juice..?” She walks over and sets the plate on the bed next to the human, awkwardly holding the juice.
The human scowls and looks away, mumbling something. When Martlet only shuffles in response, they repeat, “I-I can barely move. You gotta…” and they fade off into another mumble, but this time Martlet understood enough. Setting the juice on the bedside table, she takes the spoon and scoops some mashed potatoes, raising it to the human’s mouth.
And so, she feeds the human their meal. The human is… very disgruntled, but Martlet’s just glad she can help. After the human finishes the meal, Martlet is content to sit in a chair by the bed and wait.
Which the human finds strange. “Don’t you got somewhere to be?” They rasp.
“Right here is more important. Not that guard duty isn’t important or anything, but…” she trails off.
“Isn’t this guard duty? Just waitin’ for your boss to come collect, I bet,” the human grits their teeth.
“No!” Martlet bristles, shooting up. “I would never! Or… I wouldn’t anymore. I didn’t even pass it upward when I should’ve, even though I’m probationary, and… I’m really sorry…” Martlet apologizes once again, sitting back down. “I just want to make things right… or at least help you get better. Back on track.”
“Why?”
Martlet is at a loss for words. Gathering herself, she finally finds an answer, her voice cracking with guilt. “It doesn’t matter that you’re a human. You’re just a kid.”
“…Fine. If I’m stuck here, at least call me by name. It’s Clover.”
Martlet doesn’t stay in the guest room all the time, but at least half her day is sat next to Clover in an uncomfortable silence. Overall, their condition doesn’t seem to be getting worse, thankfully.
This one day quickly passes into two, then three, and then a week has passed as Martlet falls into a routine of feeding the human and sitting next to them. Clover’s condition hardly seems to be improving, but they’re not getting worse, and even stopped glaring at her.
Martlet only realizes that maybe she’s getting a little too used to Clover’s presence when she catches herself thinking of the guest room as Clover’s room. She pushes past the stray mistake and open the fridge… and realizes it’s empty. Panicked, she checks her pantry- also empty, save for her seed supply- hardly food fit for humans, as far as she knows. She’s run out of food!
“Or have I?” Martlet mutters to herself. “I’ve got running water, and all the bird seed. I can just use magic to make food for Clover- it’s okay to make pure magic food for someone else, it’s only lossy if you’re eating your own. Perfect!”
And so she begins to mold her magic, starting simple with a potato. After some intense concentration, she makes a… malformed potato, but a potato all the same. She takes the tiniest of bites, finding that the flavor’s kinda lacking (totally absent, actually), but it isn’t actively bad.
Still, proof enough she can do it, so she makes a few more potatoes.
She brings the potatoes and a glass of water to Clove- the guest room, sitting next to them. Recently, Clover had regained enough strength to eat their own food. So they take the potatoes. “Plain potatoes..?” They ask, perplexed, but quickly bite down on one. “Which taste like nothin’?”
Martlet chuckles nervously. “I, um, ran out of normal food. So I had to make some out of magic… which I haven’t really done before. So I don’t know how to give it flavor?”
Clover shrugs. “Food is food.” They slowly work their way through the potatoes. Gulping down the last of it, they stay silent for a few seconds before speaking. “Where’s my hat?”
“Your..? Oh! Your hat!” Martlet pauses. “It’s… kind of covered in blood? It’s in my living room.”
“I need it.”
‘Need it?’ Martlet repeats silently. “Uh, you got it, Clover! Right away!” She darts out the room, returning quickly with the dirty hat. The blood had soaked in surprisingly fine- the hat is obviously stained, but not obviously stained with blood specifically. She hands it to Clover, who just holds it.
“I can’t wear it in bed. But I’ll need it when I’m not stuck in here.” Clover sets it on the bedside table. “Hey, Martlet?”
“Yes?”
“How come I haven’t needed to use the bathroom?”
Martlet blinks. “The what?”
Clover blinks. Several times. “…Oh. I’m glad I didn’t need to, then.” They pause, then mumble to themselves, “Maybe monster food is just… different?”
“Human food isn’t magic, right? Even the stuff that’s grown down here is filled with magic, so of course it’s all different.” Martlet answers.
“Oh.”
“Now, uh, it’s getting late, so I’ll let you sleep…” Martlet stands up and begins to leave.
“Wait.” Clover speaks up again, and Martlet turns to see that they look surprised they’d spoken. “Could… couldja tuck me under the blankets? It’s cold…”
Martlet can’t help but smile as Clover’s face turns bright red. “Of course!” She walks over, carefully maneuvering Clover’s body underneath the covers and gently tucking them in. “Good night, Clover!” She shuts off the light.
“G’night…” is Clover’s mumbled response.
Martlet closes the door to Clover’s room, feeling happier than she had in… a week, as she heads off to her own room to get some sleep of her own.
A few days later, right while Martlet is setting down Clover’s meal (she’d tried a salad this time. She’d gotten the lettuce to taste like… something!), there’s a loud knock at the door. “I-I wasn’t expecting anyone… I don’t know who- oh no.” Her eyes widen. “J-just a second!” She shouts as she rushes out of Clover’s room.
Sprinting down the stairs, she laments the fact she’d totally forgotten that she was on probation already with the guard. Tearing open the door, her heart drops as she’s met with Greater Dog, her direct superior.
“Martlet.” He says tersely.
“S-Sir… what brings you here..?” Martlet squeaks.
“You haven’t been at your post for over a week. And your handbook,” he retrieves a soggy handbook from a pouch. “Is damaged and discarded.”
“W-wow, um, I must’ve lost track of time! And my handbook, which I definitely don’t normally keep a good eye on, haha!”
“Not to mention the rumors of a human in the area.”
Martlet clacks her beak shut as she stands ramrod straight.
“You should’ve been right on them as soon as you heard them, and reported them to me just as quickly, especially with your probation. It’s one thing to not be at your post, if you got all that information passed up- heck, better for it that you’re not in the way. But this… dereliction of duty, Martlet? You had a sleeping problem, not this .”
Martlet is struck by a horrible realization, right then. Greater Dog isn’t mad.
He’s disappointed.
And that makes the fact Martlet is about to start lying her feathers off feels so much worse.
“I’m really sorry, sir, I just came down with a cold and I didn’t want to tell you that because I was worried I’d get in trouble with the probation and all, which would’ve been fine I think except then I got a fever so I had to stay down even longer and at that point I was gonna tell you but I was totally bedridden and I recovered yesterday but then I was too scared to leave my house because I knew for sure you’d be mad at me then because it’s been over a week and all and I should’ve just told you I was sick right away and-“
Martlet clacks her beak shut as Greater Dog holds up a paw. “You were sick?”
“Y-Yes?”
“Unable to work except today and yesterday, then?”
“I guess so?”
“You guess?”
“Yes! 100% unable!”
“So you were only absent from your post for two days, then. Which is far past the range of time you could’ve caught rumors, anyways.” Greater Dog sighs. “Martlet, I’m placing you on unpaid, mandatory leave for the next two weeks. I’ll send down Lesser Dog to man your post in the meantime. Once the time’s up, you’ll report back to continue your service unless you decide to quit. Understand?”
Martlet snaps into a salute. “Yes, sir! Thank you!”
Greater Dog sighs again, shaking his head. “Take this time to get your head back on straight. This is your last chance.” With that, he turns and walks away.
“B-Bye!” Martlet waves, then shuts the door. Leaning back against it, she lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and slides down to a sitting position. Then, she jolts back to standing, and rushes back up the stairs to Clover’s room, sliding to a stop next to their bed.
“Was that… your boss?” Clover asks, scowling. “Why was he here? Gettin’ an update on the prisoner?”
“Prisoner? What prisoner?” Martlet clocks her head to the side in confusion. “He was just here to fire me for abandoning my post, but I convinced him- OH! Did you just call yourself my prisoner?! You’re not my prisoner!”
Clover’s scowl drops. “I… guess I’m not,” they say, sounding surprised. They sip water thoughtfully. “When can I leave, then?”
A pang of hurt, quickly ignored, lances through Martlet’s heart. “Uh, how’s your leg? You shouldn’t leave until it’s at 100%. Since, uh, you know.”
“…It still hurts a lot when I try to move it. I dunno if you set the bone right.” Clover grimaces.
“I don’t either?” Martlet answers nervously. “Best we can do is let it heal for a while longer, right?”
Clover just nods, and it’s back to their prior routine.
A week and a half later, while she’s giving them another meal (she’d tried potatoes again. They actually taste a little potatoey this time!) Martlet notices there’s a feather under Clover’s ear- and freezes, staring at it.
“Uh, Martlet? Something wrong?” Clover asks, squinting at her.
“There’s a feather.”
“What’s the big deal? You’ve got feathers on me bef-“
“No, it’s…” Martlet reaches out and grasps the feather- and yanks it off Clover. It’s brown, like their hair. It’s a beautiful feather, the only problem is it just grew out of a human who yelped in pain when it was pulled off them. “ Your feather.”
“Owww… wait, did you just say..?” Clover’s eyes open wide as they stare at the feather. “Oh.”
“I… I don’t understand. Do humans grow feathers if they stay around birds long enough? Tell me they do, I need an easy answer for this,” Martler looks between the feather and Clover desperately.
“No, ‘course not! Why’d I grow a feather? Oh god, are there more?!” Clover frantically lifts up their shirt off, revealing that their chest is covered intermittently with tiny feathers. “Why am I growin’ feathers?!”
“I don’t know!” Martlet starts pacing back and forth. “I’ve never heard of something like this before… but then again, it’s not like the humans who fell before you ever stayed around this long, did they?”
“The other humans…” The wind seems to be taken out of Clover’s sail when Martlet mentions them. “Martlet… the other humans are dead, aren’t they?”
Martlet is startled by Clover’s sudden shift in topic. “Y-Yes? Didn’t you know? King Asgore ordered all humans to be… killed by the Royal Guard or himself for their SOULs…” Martlet shifts uncomfortably. “I, uh, never expected to, um, actually have to… I really am sorry, Clover.”
“Are you doin’ this to me?” Clover speaks, as if suddenly realizing something. “It would be a lot easier if you… just took my humanity away, right? Stole it from me? Get me too hurt to do anythin’ and then rip my humanity away so you don’t have to kill me.”
“C-Clover…”
“No, no… it makes sense this way. Nobody dies, right? I just… stop bein’ human!”
“Clover, I don’t-“
“Take it all away from me, huh?! Splittin’ my head open wasn’t enough for you, Martlet?!”
“Clover, please listen-“
“GET OUT! GET AWAY FROM ME!”
Martlet instinctively moves to the door, but stops, looking back at Clover.
“GO! Go!” Clover lets out a sob as they begin to cry. “Go away… go away… big kids d-don’t cry… go away…” they trial off, mumbling repetitions of the same words to themselves as they cry messily.
Martlet stands unsurely in the doorway, before tentatively walking back over to Clover. She sits on the bed next to them, draping a wing over them and hugging them.
“Why… why are you still here?” Clover asks between sobs. “I told you to go away…”
Martlet just smiles. “I promised I’d help you get better, didn’t I?” She hugs Clover a bit tighter as they cry even harder.
A couple days later, Martlet finally leaves her house. It’s to take a short walk over to her post, and stand in front of Lesser Dog.
“I’m thinking of quitting the Guard,” she says out loud. Lesser Dog tilts his head. “This time off… it’s given me time to think about it. And I have. Thought about it, I mean. And I’ve realized… hasn’t every fallen human been a child?”
Lesser Dog slowly nods.
“So, like, isn’t the occupation of Royal Guard more like Royal Kid-Killer?”
Lesser Dog pauses. Considers her words. Then, he shakes his head.
“Then what is it?”
Lesser Dog finally, actually speaks. “Keeping everybody’s spirits up. I don’t really want to kill humans either, Martlet, but I like letting the kids around Snowdin pet me. Makes them smile. The locals miss seeing you around, did you know that?”
Martlet blinks. “They do?” She falls quiet for a few seconds. “Thanks, Lesser Dog. You always know what to say.”
Lesser Dog just opts to bark in response.
The next day, Martlet is sitting where he had been.
While Martlet’s sorting out her continued employment, Clover’s situation only gets stranger.
“My leg doesn’t hurt anymore,” Clover says as Martlet enters with a sandwich for them (Martlet thinks she managed to do pretty well with this one!). “Can I try to put weight on it?”
“Oh! Sure!” Martlet says eagerly, setting the plate down on the bedside table as Clover pulls down the covers past their legs.
“Martlet? Am I seein’ things?” Clover asks worriedly.
“Huh?” Martlet looks over to see what’s wrong- and very quickly realizes what it is. Clover’s leg, the broken one, is very much no longer human. Their thigh is completely covered in the same feathers which dot their upper body- and from their knee down, they have a bird’s foot rather than a human’s- yellow, with black talons, the same as her own. “Oh. That’s not good. At all.”
“Get it off me.” Clover says with a shaky voice. “This isn’t my leg. Get it OFF me. Martlet, get it off me, I want it off me!” Their hands hover over their leg, almost as if they’re afraid to touch it.
Martlet sighs. “Clover, I didn’t want it to be true either, but… whatever’s going on, it’s turning you into a bird monster.” She sits on the bed next to Clover, once again hugging them. “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t hurt you, this wouldn’t have… this is my fault. I’m so sorry, Clover.”
Clover begins to shake with silent tears.
(The leg ends up working just fine.)
A few days later, Martlet bites the bullet and asks them a question.
“Clover… even if it’s not a human leg anymore, you can leave now. Why haven’t you?” Martlet asks while the two of them are sat for dinner. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have you around, but… you seemed eager to get going.”
Listlessly, Clover responds, “There’s no point.” They pick at one of their feathers- they’d started growing in greater number recently. There was the beginning of some proper plumage around their neck. “The missing kids are dead. I’m not human anymore. Nobody on the surface wanted me around, anyways, so no reason to go back up there. Where would I even go?”
Martlet looks away, unsure how to respond. “I shouldn’t have asked. Clover… you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like, okay? I already think of the guest room as your room, anyways!”
“You do?” Clover blinks. “Th-thanks… I guess.”
Martlet likes to think she’s gotten to know Clover over the past month- and she can tell they’re genuinely touched by her gesture. She feels warmth bloom in her heart seeing that.
A week later, Martlet has to put her foot down.
“Clover, you stink.” She declares at the end of dinner. “Your clothes need to be washed and you need to wash… and your feathers need preening, too.”
Clover freezes in their chair. “Preenin’?”
“Yes, preening. Your feathers are a mess and I know that gets uncomfortable after long enough- I got really itchy when I left them messy for too long when I was your age.” Martlet steps over and carefully adjusts one of the feathers on their head with her beak.
“Stop that,” Clover waves her off. “I thought they were… supposed to be itchy?”
“Nope. Otherwise you would’ve noticed them growing before I did,” Martler points out.
“How would I wash up anyways? I don’t got spare clothes, so…”
“Oh, you can just borrow mine! I never throw out my old clothes, even from when I was a kid, so I should have an outfit for you to wear while this stuff’s in the wash. Go to the washroom, I’ll bring you something to wear.” Martler rushes off to her store room, not there to see Clover mouth ‘washroom?’
She rummages around for a while before finding a set of clothes that look about Clover’s size. “Oh, cute!” It’s a mini-version of the outfit she usually wears on the job- light blue tank top and blue sweatpants.
When she gets to the washroom, Clover is waiting outside the door nervously. When she presents the outfit, they look unsure. “Matchin’? Really?” Clover says unsurely, looking between the set provided and what Martlet’s currently wearing.
“Cute, right? It was on accident, though, these were the first set I found. Now get in there and wash yourself. Pass your clothes out so I can put them in the wash while you do that, too.”
Several seconds later, the clothes are passed out the door (not their hat, though), and Martlet tosses them in her washing machine.
While she waits, she does the dishes. Usually she lets it pile up a bit, but recently she’s been feeling more responsible about it!
Right as she finishes with the dishes, she hears Clover’s mismatched clack-and-thump footsteps as they make their way downstairs.
“Oh, good, they fit!” Martler chirps, looking Clover up and down. “Alright, once you dry off a little more, you need to preen those feathers.” With that, she heads off to check on the washing machine.
“Martlet, wait. How?” Clover shifts uncomfortably as they ask the question.
Martlet stops in her tracks- she hadn’t even considered Clover might not know how to preen their feathers. She’d known how instinctively, with some pointers from her parents. “I’ll show you! Wait here.”
After transferring the clothes to the dryer, she returns, looking excited as she places down a stool. “Okay, sit here. I’ll fix up some of your neck feathers, first, to show you what they’re supposed to be like.”
Martlet leans in close to their neck and begins adjusting their feathers with her beak, occasionally stepping back to take in their neck plumage as a whole before adjusting another feather. After a couple minutes of doing this, she has a patch good and preened. Looking up, she sees Clover looking very relaxed.
“See? I told you it feels better!” She proudly puts her wings on her hips. “Now you try! You don’t have a beak, so use your fingers instead, I guess.”
Clover blinks. “R-right,” they say, reaching a hand up and adjusting a particularly misaligned feather. “Um, did I do it right?”
“Yep! Keep going!”
The two of them spend a couple hours working on preening- Martlet finds herself more patient than she realized she could be as she helps them. Eventually, all the feathers are in place- and, by Martlet’s measure, if she ignored all the scattered, lone feathers, Clover looked good.
“Now, you should make a morning routine out of preening, and adjust feathers if you notice they’re out of place throughout the day. It doesn’t take nearly as long if you spread it out like that! Now, it’s getting late, so we should both get to bed.” Martlet starts heading over to the stairs.
“Thanks, Mom.” Clover says, their voice filled with a sort of resigned gratitude. Then, their eyes widen with horror as they realize what they’d mistakenly said.
Martlet freezes in place. She stands totally still for a few seconds. When Clover starts blurting out an apology, she cuts them off in a warm voice. “You’re welcome, Clover. I’m happy to help.”
Clover doesn’t seem to know how to react- so Martlet just heads off to bed. Shutting the door, she stands there in silence- wondering why hearing Clover call her mom made her so happy.
The next day, Clover locks themselves in their room.
No matter how much Martlet knocks- and eventually bangs- on the door, they won’t open it, simply saying they’re not coming out. Eventually, Martlet is forced to leave to do her job- though some of the local monsters notice she’s a bit off, it’s not enough to worsen her work quality.
When she returns home, she quickly makes her way back to Clover’s room. Knocking on the door again, she calls out, “Clover? I’m home. Are you alright?”
There’s a few seconds of silence before a weak voice responds, “H-help…”
Worriedly, Martlet tries to open the door, but it’s still locked. Deciding that Clover’s health is more important than some stupid lock, she forces it, breaking the flimsy thing easily- she’d installed it wrong and never gotten around to fixing it.
Rushing inside, she’s at Clover’s side in an instant, and is horrified by the sight before her.
Clover is shivering and feverish, their eyes unfocused. The cause of this condition is very obviously: their entire body seems to be experiencing a very rapid change, at least compared to before. There are no more line feathers- there’s now plumage covering Clover’s entire body, with patches of exposed skin instead of patches of feathers.
“Mama, help,” Clover cries out faintly. “Mama… it hurts, mama…” they clearly aren’t in the current moment, living out some memory.
But Martlet just hears Clover calling for help, and so she pulls the ailing child into a tight hug. “It’s Martlet, I’m here, Clover, it’s gonna be alright.” She hopes she isn’t lying.
Clover sobs, tears flowing freely- but they otherwise seem to calm down, occasionally muttering “mama” as they cling to Martlet. They cling to her tightly, shaking intensely.
Martlet begins stroking Clover’s hair, trying to soothe them. “It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here.”
Clover’s shaking slowly subsides, but they make the occasional sound of pain- however, other than that occasional interruption, Martlet’s intervention seems to have made this ordeal much easier to handle for them.
After a few minutes of quiet, Martlet realizes Clover has fallen asleep in her embrace. She should probably leave- get dinner for when herself and Clover, when they awaken. But…
“I can stay a little bit, can’t I?” She whispers, closing her eyes and leaning closer to Clover, her protective embrace further established, as she too falls asleep soon after.
Martlet wakes up the next morning feeling more refreshed than she had in years- opening her eyes, she realizes she’s hugging a brown-feathered bird monster. After a few seconds of trying to figure out what’s going on, she pieces together what’s happened, and her heart drops.
It’s true that she’d been expecting this for a week now, that Clover would fully change into a monster, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. Guilt churns in her stomach- not only is this entire situation her fault, but the sudden completion of the transformation is bound to destroy Clover.
Not to mention that she can’t help but feel excited . Some part of her has the gall to feel excited that Clover’s become a fellow bird monster, that Clover’s been staying with her, that she could comfort Clover through the problems she caused, that Clover… called her mom.
She softly smiles. Maybe she shouldn’t feel bad about that last one- after all, even if it was a slip of the tongue… that one was all Clover.
Her smile quickly fades, though. She doesn’t know what to do- she’s already been stumbling through everything with Clover, and she thinks she’s been doing a good job, but the way guilt claws at her, the knowledge that this is devastating for Clover… it hurts her down to her SOUL.
Looking down on the peacefully sleeping form of Clover, she knows that she cares for them with all her heart- and she knows she has no right to.
Martlet leans down and adjusts a couple of Clover’s feathers, then scoots off the bed. To her surprise, though, she heard an indistinct whine from the still-sleeping child- which quickly become trembling words.
“Mama… don’t go… mama…” There’s an intense sadness in Clover’s voice- Martlet would bet a lot that the poor kid is reliving some awful memory. “Come back… come back…”
Sitting back on the bed next to them, she soothingly strokes a wing along their hair. “It’s okay, Clover, I’m not leaving you.” She says gently.
And she means it.
After what must have been an hour, Clover finally begins to wake up, their eyes fluttering open. “Mo-Martlet? What are you doing here?” They ask, perplexed.
“You were sick last night, Clover, so I stayed with you,” Martlet replies. “But… Clover, I want you to look me in the eyes and try to stay calm, okay?”
Clover squints in confusion, but nods, meeting Martlet’s gaze.
“Last night… while you were asleep, the changes finished. You’re a bird monster now.” Martlet says. “I’m sorry.”
“What?!” Clover looks down at their body, throwing off the blankets with their wings- which they then immediately notice, naturally. “I don’t understand! Why did this happen?! I-It was so slow before, I thought I had time! Martlet, I thought I had more time, what happened to me?”
Martlet’s only response is to pull them into a tight hug. She can’t offer answers, only reassurances. Clover starts to shake, then sob, and then fully break down in Martlet’s wings. “Let it all out, Clover. It’s not fair, and you have every right to be sad and mad and whatever else. I’m here for you the whole way.”
Clover cries even harder- but they also start hugging Martlet back just as tightly.
Eventually, Clover’s eyes dry up, and although they’re still clearly a mess, they’re at least coherent. “Martlet, what am I gonna do? What do I do?”
Martlet considers how to respond for a few seconds. “You can stay here, with me. I know that before we kinda talked like it was a temporary thing, but… but I mean stay, for good. And you wouldn’t have to do anything except figure out how to cope with what’s happened.” She pauses for a moment. “And I like having you around, too. I care about you, Clover, and I want you to be happy, and I want to see you be happy. So… what do you think?”
Clover looks completely stunned by the offer- by all of Martlet’s words. Then, they look away. “Last night… I dreamed my mama came to me and sat by my side all night long. But… you did that, didn’t you?” Martlet hesitantly nods. “My mama left me alone when I was five, and I never saw her again. I’m ten now. I… I didn’t have no one. When I get sick… I still call for my mama. I hate it. Hate myself for thinkin’ this time she might really come back. I… didn’t hate it this time. ‘Cause somebody came when I called for help.” Clover shifts from foot to foot nervously. “So, uh, thanks, Martlet. I’ll stay with you.”
Martlet has to clamp down on her explosion of excitement, focusing on treating the situation with the seriousness it deserves. “Okay. This is your home now, Clover. Our home. And I’m gonna help you figure out bird and monster things. Everything I can think of! Like flying, bullet patterns, magic- wait humans have magic too- monster magic, new food… probably other stuff! We’ll find out, I guess.”
Clover looks disgruntled. “At least one of us is looking forward to it,” they mutter, though they don’t seem angry with Martlet. “Maybe eventually I’ll be excited too.” They don’t sound like they believe themselves.
Martlet wants to make their words come true.
“Martlet.” Greater Dog says after approaching Martlet’s guard station. She snaps into a salute. “It’s time for your probationary performance review.” He hands her a clipboard.
Martlet takes it, reading the paper attached, then flipping over to the one below it. All in all… it seems like… a glowing review of her service? Including anecdotal support from locals, and from fellow guards? “This can’t be right… you’re sure it’s not for someone else and someone got names swapped around?”
“Your probation is over. You’ve proven to me that you’re capable of going without supervision. I haven’t caught you sleeping even with my surprise inspections, and that was the primary concern; I might have even let it slide with all the positive feedback the locals have given about you.”
“I’m… are you sure? I’ve been on probation since forever!” Martlet says, genuinely baffled- she’d been on probation for an entire year, subject to random inspections by Greater Dog for the duration. “I’m sure I was asleep something you checked in… right?”
“Not in the past month,” Greater Dog disagrees. “Be proud, Martlet. You’re a full member of the Guard again.” He hands over the Royal Guard badge which is distinctly not the one she had which was reserved for probationary or trainee members.
“I… huh. Th-thanks, sir.”
“Keep up the good work.” Greater Dog turns and departs.
“I will?” Martlet sits, stunned. “Me. Good work. Full guard. Me!” She laughs a little in disbelief.
When Martlet returns home, Clover is standing outside. “Clover? What’re you doing outside?” She asks with a spike of worry- if anyone saw… wait. They’d just see a bird monster. Martlet dismisses the worry.
“I was bored. Been wantin’ to go outside, anyhow.” Clover answers. “It’s not as cold as I remember it bein’.” They look down at their feathered body. “Guess it makes sense.”
“Well, since you’re already outside, why don’t I teach you a thing or two about flying? It’s an essential skill! For us, anyways. Comes with the wings, heh.”
Clover considers her offer for a couple seconds before nodding. “Flyin’ sounds cool.”
“It is cool!” Martlet chirps. “Uh, you should try to get rid of pointless weight while you’re still learning- and you might wanna take your hat off, too. You wouldn’t want to lose it while flying.”
Clover nods again, taking off their hat and briefly heading inside to set it and their gun (Martlet hadn’t even realized they still had it- it’s a toy anyways, though) down.
“Okay, so first thing’s first: you can’t fly without magic! You can glide a little, but you gotta use magic whenever you flap your wings. I like to use a lot during takeoff to get a lot of height really fast- like this!” Taking a moment to gather her magic, she flaps downward with a powerful gust, shooting her into the air. She then regulates her magic to the level which keeps her around the same position in the air with regular flapping- but slowly lowers herself so she’s only a little above Clover.
“Being able to take off like that is really important, since it means we don’t have to use a running start off a balcony or cliff or something, which also means it’s a lot safer. So, try channeling some magic into your wings and giving them a flap! It’ll flow naturally- your magic wants to fly.”
Clover doesn’t move for several seconds, a blush faintly growing beneath their feathers. “Uh… h-how? Do I do that?”
“How do you… oh. Oh! Jeez, uh, I didn’t really consider you wouldn’t know, that’s on me. Sorry. Okay, so, huh… okay, you know when we… when you fought monsters before, how you could move your SOUL to dodge bullets?”
Clover looks a bit queasy at the mention of battles, but nods.
“Well, did you ever really think about how you were moving your SOUL around? ‘Cause it was magic. Battles are all magic so it had to have been. You probably did it on instinct because you wanted to not get hit, right? There’s a lot more effort involved in using magic for monsters, I think, but the idea’s the same. You gotta want it, and then you gotta… decide it’s happening. It’s like… there’s no room for debate. There’s this much magic in your wings, and therefore your magic is now there. Y’know? Er, I mean, do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yeah. That makes as much sense as it can, I guess. Since I haven’t really done it before.” Clover chuckles, and there’s a mix of emptiness and genuine eagerness to it. It makes Martlet both sad and excited in turn.
They unsuredly hold out their wings- and they suddenly flash with immense amounts of magic. They raise their wings, and Martlet darts forward, placing her own wings under theirs to make sure they don’t complete the flap.
“W-woah!” Clover startles. “Why’re you hugging me?!”
Martlet detaches herself once she’s sure they’ve let the magic go. “Sorry, sorry, I had to act fast. You put way too much magic in your wings- you would’ve launched yourself straight into the cave roof if you’d actually taken off.”
Clover squints a little. “Really? It didn’t feel like I actually put that much in.”
“It didn’t? Your wings flashed, Clover- that means that a whole lot of magic just got channeled.” Martlet responds with… growing concern. Maybe Clover isn’t just another monster now.
“Maybe I just don’t have a measure on it- lemme try to use less.” Clover says reasonable, holding one of their wings out- to which it promptly flashes. “Oh. Uh… hold on, I can do this.” They try again- and their wing flashes again. “B-but I definitely used less! Wait, I can try again!” Another flash. “Why won’t it stop flashin’ ?! Stupid wing!” Clover begins to look frustrated.
“Clover! Clover,” Martlet closes in again, wrapping a comforting wing around their shoulders. “It’s alright. It took me a while to get this down too- and I think you have a different problem than I do. I was also putting too much in when I was kid, but only on one wing, heh. You might still have to deal with balancing problems too, but for now, practice makes perfect. Getting mad will only make it harder- that’s how magic works. At least, most of the time- bullet patterns can actually get easier if you get mad, depending on the monster.”
“I don’t get why it’s still flashing when I’m puttin’ in less,” Clover grumbles. “But okay. I’ll keep a lid on it.”
“Okay, give it another go.” Martlet steps back.
Clover’s wings flash again, and they groan.
“Hmm… is it alright if I start a battle? I want to Check you.” Martlet asks tentatively.
Clover flinches at the request, a look of intense discomfort crossing their face. “A-alright…” they agree after some hesitation.
Martlet doesn’t waste time, starting a battle and using Check as quick as she can manage.
Clover. 30 ATK 2 DEF
A former human. Now a Boss Monster.
Martlet frowns a bit. “Boss Monster, huh… isn’t the King one of those? And he’s really strong, so it figures that you’ve got a ton of magic.” She steps forward to look at Clover’s menu, specifically looking at their SOUL.
Instead of the bright yellow heart it was before, it’s flipped upside-down and become much paler in color. Monster SOULs are upside-down, so she figures that makes sense. More importantly, there are an immense amount of cracks in their SOUL- and it’s seemingly glued together by the signature white of monster magic. “Clover, you should be dead .” She breathes as she stares at the cracks.
Clover winces. “It… it does look really bad,” they agree. “Is all that magic why I’m… a monster now?”
Martlet’s eyes widen, and she wordlessly elects to spare Clover as she considers the possibility. “Specifically… a bird monster.” she whispers as Clover notices the spare and spare in turn, ending the battle. “I… I was feeding you with food I made from my own magic. Would this have even happened if I’d just got it together and gone to the store instead of… I’m so selfish. I’m so, so sorry, Clover.”
Clover doesn’t seem to know how to respond, opening and closing their beak several times as they try to piece together a response. They go visibly more distressed as they can’t find the words, their feathers ruffling. Then, their eyes begin to water, and they turn and head back into the house, sprinting to their room and slamming the door shut behind them.
Martlet doesn’t have it in her to follow them. Listlessly, she steps inside and shuts the front door behind her, sitting at the dining room table. She sits there, silent, for what feels like hours but could only have been half an hour at most before she forces herself to reckon with her mistakes.
“I’ve… I took everything from them, didn’t I? I ruined everything for them. What is wrong with me? Why am I so, so stupid?” She begins to cry- softly, with tears that slowly come. “I don’t know if I can ever make it up to them… I don’t know. I don’t think it’s even possible. I messed up at every turn… the only thing I managed to do was make sure they didn’t die. That’s just the bare minimum. So, so stupid…”
“You did your best.” Clover suddenly speaks from behind. Martlet jumps a bit in surprise, turning to face them. Their eyes are rimmed with red, clearly having heavily cried, but there’s also a hard, determined look in them. “You haven’t done a single thing wrong after that day. You… you’ve helped me recover, fed me, clothed me-” they’re wearing some of Martlet’s old clothes, now that she thinks about it- “heck, you’ve even taught me a thing or two about bein’ a monster already. So… quit worryin’ about it. You’re already puttin’ the work in to make it right. Which means I forgive you, in my book.”
Rubbing her eyes, Martlet stands up. “I… who do I think I am, sitting and crying my eyes out when you’re the one with something to cry about? Clover, you’re a really, really good person, and you don’t deserve what I did to you. I… I almost
killed
you, Clover, you don’t have to forgive me.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Clover says dismissively. “Lotsa monsters nearly killed me already. I forgave ‘em. I figure it’s only fair, far as I understand the history of this place. I just needed some more time to forgive you since you… came closest.”
“Trying to kill a kid isn’t
only fair
, Clover, it’s always wrong!” Martlet disagrees. “Ugh. I wish I’d opened my eyes and realized you were just a kid before I… I’m sorry.”
“I figure most monsters didn’t realize I’m a kid,” they shrug. “It don’t matter, anyhow, not anymore. Fresh start. I’m one of you now.” There’s a hitch in their voice as they say it, clearly trying to convince themself of it.
Martlet opens her beak to protest once again, but clacks it shut. Maybe they’re right- maybe it’s best that Clover treats this as a fresh start. “Well… just because you’re willing to put it behind you doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, and that it wasn’t wrong, okay?” Clover hesitates, then nods, seemingly willing to grant her that much. “Okay. Do you…” she hesitates, studying their expression. They’ve carefully masked their emotions, but Martlet thinks she sees something in their eyes. “Do you want a hug, Clover?”
Clover freezes. Then, they silently nod. Martlet doesn’t hesitate for a second, lurching forward and pulling them into a tight hug. They start shaking, but not crying, having already cried themselves dry earlier. “Thank you,” they whisper. “Thank you for caring.”
Martlet just hugs them harder, and decides to care even more from here on out.
Martlet finally gets her courage gathered up, and goes shopping.
It goes perfectly fine. She buys a variety of foods, since she was really getting sick of only eating bird seed, and she wants Clover to eat something aside from her own magic- especially after figuring out what doing that had potentially caused.
As she exits the Snowdin store with groceries in tow, she pauses as she looks at a bulletin board. More specifically, a flier catches her eye.
“The Wild East?” she raises an eyebrow at the cowboy star monster emblazoned on the flier. “Huh.” She pockets the flier and continues on her way.
She bumps into a tall, purple monster in a puffy winter coat and after issuing an apology, she gets on her way. She can’t let some of these groceries get frozen!
The next day, Martlet hears a crash from the ground floor as she’s getting ready in the morning. Rushing downstairs, she sees nothing amiss, except Clover leaning on the dining room table, opposite to the stairs. “Mornin’, Martlet,” they greet, tipping their hat.
She raises an eyebrow. She’s never seen Clover not only awake before her, nor had she seen them rip their hat to her. Are they acting casual?
“Did something break?” She asks bluntly, scanning the ground- it had sounded like shattering, so she figured she’d spot shards.
“Nope. I think I woulda heard that,” Clover says dismissively. “You should probably get back to your mornin’ routine, don’t wanna forget a part.”
Martlet doesn’t respond, walking around the table to get a better look at the floor around their feet. Suddenly, Clover steps away from the table and stands in Martlet’s way. “Really now! You look like your, uh, wings need preenin’- you r-really should-“
Martlet leans around them and- as suspected- she sees shards of glass and a distinct wet spot on the floorboards.
“N-now, it’s not what it looks like- it was like that when I got there, promise!” Clover scrambles for an excuse… and Martlet thinks she hears fear in their voice?
“Clover, I’m not mad,” she says suddenly. “It’s just a glass. I’ve got a ton of those.”
Clover looks stunned, then starts shifting uncomfortably in place. “Y-you don’t gotta lie. J-just get it over with.” They look down and take their hat off, setting it aside.
Now it’s Martlet’s turn to be surprised. “I’m not lying- wait, get what over with?” She takes a step back, deciding to give Clover some space.
“Punishment,” Clover answers, sounding as perplexed as Martlet feels. “I messed up, so I gotta get punished. S-so, let’s just get it over with. Please?”
“N-no,” Martlet answers, “It’s really not a big de-“
“I messed up. Do it! Hit me already!” Clover shouts suddenly.
Martlet flinches, stepping further away from them. Then, she actually processes what they’re saying. “What?! I would never…” her beak clacks shut as she realizes she was about to say something very hypocritical. “I’m never gonna lay a feather on you to hurt you, ever again! Do you understand, Clover? Never again! And I certainly wouldn’t do that just because of an accident! What kind of… of… heartless people have you been around that they would?!”
Clover’s face screws up in outrage. “My papa AIN’T HEARTLESS! He’s a good guy, honest, he’s real nice! Sometimes I just need some discipline!”
“Discipline, is that what he calls it?” Martlet is shaking with anger, but she stops herself from going on a tirade- Clover doesn’t want to hear her rant. “Well, I think that hitting a kid is messed up, so I’m never going to hurt you, Clover. Okay? I don’t want to and I won’t. You’re safe here.” She opens her wings, offering a hug.
Shaking with their own emotions, Clover tentatively steps forward and accepts the hug. Their own wings wrap around her, but tentatively- they’re ready to duck out of the hug at a moment’s notice.
Martlet gently runs her wing along their back soothingly. “It’s okay. You’re safe here. You’re safe, Clover. I promise.”
Clover’s hesitation ends and they hug her tightly.
They end up cleaning the mess together.
“Okay, now channel.” Martlet says with a nod, stepping back.
Clover’s wings don’t flash, and they grin.
“Great job, Clover!“ Martlet chirps happily. “You did it! Okay, now-“ her face drops in horror as they flap their wings and shoot into the air. “Uh oh.”
She looks up, searching against the cave ceiling to spot them- a brown speck close to it, desperately flapping their wings without magic. “Clover!” She cries out, taking off after them.
She quickly rises to meet them in the air, feathers flying as they try to stop their fall. They’re slowing themself a little with each flap, but they’re gaining speed anyways. They’re letting out panicked squawks- the first time she’s heard them make a proper bird noise- and their eyes are filled with terror. “Clover, stay calm, I’ve got you!” She calls out in a firm voice. As Clover falls, she rises above them, then dives down talon-first, grabbing them by the back of their shirt.
Thankfully, she gets a proper grip, and she doesn’t stab her claws into their back. Taking a few moments to steady herself in the air and calm herself down, she looks down at Clover, who’s still flailing and squawking. “I’ve got you, Clover! You’re alright, I’ve got you.” She says soothingly.
After repeating her words a few times, Clover finally calms down, breathing choppily. They go limp as Martlet starts to gently glide downward back to the ground- although the minor flying crisis has led them a bit away from the house. “Sorry,” they apologize. “I got excited.”
“It’s okay,” Martlet says. “I messed up a ton while I was learning to fly, too. You should’ve seen how mad my mom got when she found out I was practicing while no one was around- don’t try to practice flying while nobody is around, by the way, since if you get hurt nobody can help.” She pauses, but then feels the need to clarify. “Uh, good mad, because she was just worried about me. She grounded me from flying for a week after she found that out. It sucked, since I was super excited about it.”
Clover doesn’t respond as she lands them on the ground, but they plant their feet firmly on the ground as Martlet lands next to them.
“Are you okay, Clover? I didn’t see if you hit the cave roof,” Martlet says, checking them over for any injuries.
“I’m alri-“ Clover starts, but is cut off by Martlet pulling them into a hug.
“Don’t scare me like that again, Clover. You could’ve gotten hurt- really badly hurt.” Her voice cracks as her adrenaline fades. Clover slumps.
“Sorry, mom,” Clover mutters- then their back straightens. “Uh. Sorry, I meant Martlet. I said Martlet.” They push her away and step back.
“It’s alright, Clover. You don’t need to apologize.” Martlet is now feeling very mixed emotions- relief they’re okay, stress from having to save them, and now… well, she’ll call it what it is. Love. She loves this adorable little kid, and she’s okay with them calling her mom. “Especially not about calling me mom.”
“I-I…” Clover hesitates. “I can’t. I can’t replace mama.”
“You don’t have to replace her, and you also don’t have to call me mom. Nothing needs to change if you don’t want it to.” But her heart aches at the idea anyways.
“I can’t. But… but I want to?”
“That’s okay, too.” Martlet offers them a smile. “I don’t think I could replace my mom either. But I wouldn’t be replacing yours. You remember her and love her, right?”
“I can’t remember her face,” Clover admits with their eyes brimming with tears. “I… I don’t wanna forget her.”
“But you still love her,” Martlet barely keeps herself from verbally stumbling as their words hit her right in the heart.
“Yeah,” Clover says. “Yeah, I do. I miss her. I want her back.” They look down at what once were their hands and are now wings. “But… she really is gone. I… I said she left. But she didn’t. She d- di-“ They choke on the words, letting out a horrible sob.
“You don’t have to say it, Clover, I understand.” Martlet assures them.
“Mama died. She’s dead, and she ain’t comin’ back.” Clover grits their teeth as tears stream down their face. “And papa never cared ‘bout me or her proper. I- I hate him. Hate him down to my SOUL.” It all comes spilling out. “She died in the hospital, but I wasn’t allowed to be there ‘cause papa wanted me in school. But… but a month back, I was listenin’ in on a phone call of his, and… I know eavesdroppin’s bad, but I heard him say he didn’t regret pullin’ the plug. And that he wished he coulda gotten rid of me too.”
“Clover…”
“So I ignored it a while. Ignored it ‘til now, too. Tried to… move on from hearin’ that. But I didn’t drop down Mt. Ebott for no reason. I knew the stories, so I expected to find somethin’ down here… but I didn’t think about how to go home after: ‘Cause I didn’t wanna, I guess.” They sigh. “Papa’s really not a bad guy, I don’t think. Just… real bad at lovin’ his family. Real, real bad. So I don’t wanna see him no more. Not ever.”
“That’s…” Martlet is rendered totally speechless by Clover’s honest admissions.
“It’s cold, mom. I wanna go home.” Clover says, looking at Martlet expectantly, holding out a wing.
“Y-yeah. Let’s go home.” Martlet finally settles on a warm smile- which Clover struggles to match, but still tries, as she takes their wing in her own.
To any monster watching, they see a mother and her child walking home.