Protoanemonin

You dropped your burger down onto the plate in front of you. You reasoned that Sans could be right about Flowey manipulating you in order to get your soul but the thought didn’t sit well with you. You were using Flowey as a means of escape as well. That just made you both similarly driven. Still, deep in your heart, was a painful feeling of surprise.

Why did you feel so betrayed?

Sans sat calmly, gazing at his burger aimlessly. You wondered if he was planning on eating or if he had just been humoring you when he had asked you to dinner during this timeline. He didn’t seem inclined to make the first move, so you persisted.

Idly, you asked, “What makes you say that?”

“kinda obvious. everyone has an alternative motive down here, kid, even a harmless little potted plant. Pretty sure it isn’t telling the whole truth.”

“Flowey mentioned the barrier once,” you responded. You took a bite of your burger, chewed the morsel thoughtfully, and swallowed. “But that was when he thought I was Chara.”

“thought you were the first child?” He snorted. “look, you may look like them, but that little tyke was a whole different person.”

“I’m aware.” You objected. “They were the pacifist.”

Sans laughed sarcastically, “they were hardly innocent. they played the prince like a harp. how would that little flower of yours know about chara though?”

He trailed off with a shake of his head. His last words spurned the gears in your mind forward. “What happened to them?”

Now, Sans seemed intrigued. He pushed his plate aside and leaned across the table. “maybe around a hundred years ago, there was a human that fell down here. they looked like you but were disgustingly nice. after causing the former queen to have a meltdown, making the prince their personal slave, ruining my relationship with boss, and making undyne a goddamn pussy, they died. The Prince convinced them to eat the golden flowers that are littered in the brighter zones of the underground. the poison got them. shame, I say, i would’ve loved to get my hands on them.”

You knew better than to ask about his brother. You would rather him start trusting you than get impaled by summoned bones. “But you didn’t collect their soul?”

“prince asriel did.”

That name sounded familiar to you. Your mind clicked. It was the name of the person I was telling you not to kill! “Asriel, huh.”

“yup. kid took the human’s soul and tried to bring their corpse back to the surface world. the humans caught the prince and attacked him. made sense since they must’ve thought that he was a human killer or something. his tininess wasn’t the sharpest tool of the bunch. died in the king’s arms. the king announced that if any human were to fall, their soul would be extracted and used to open the barrier.”

“What happens if the barrier breaks?”

“we wage war upon the human race. pillage, kill, capture, the whole shebang.”

You took another bite of your burger and he made an amused sound and continued, “you don’t really care, do you?”

“Like I said, my only interest is in moving forward. I would do that even if it brings humanity as I know it to an end. However, it seems that I don’t have the best soul to extract. Dying isn’t so easy with my newfound trick.”

He hummed. “guess that plan’ll have to wait for a couple more years then. until another human falls.”

You pushed your now empty plate away and Sans called over the waitress. Upon seeing that the skeleton hadn’t actually eaten any of the food on his plate, the girl scolded him on wasting her and her father’s time creating a meal. Her green flaring head hissed and crackled. Grillby fixed the glasses on his face but never said a word. Sans paid the girl extra and forced you out the door like a bat out of hell.

“Sans!” The girl yelled at the top of her lungs as you exited. “This money is fucking fake!”

He grinned as he pulled you around the corner of town and you looked him with irked annoyance. “dollface, if she wanted to kill me, she would’ve done it by now. this town is way too small to hide in. go upstairs, get some sleep, and try to get some more information about that little buttercup while yer at it. move forward if you think it’ll get you anywhere. i think it might be a waste of time.”

“Thank you, Sans.” You replied as Sans tensed under the praise. Your smile widened and you hugged the monster. You felt his magic pulsing rhythmically throughout his body. You felt his breath stutter against your neck. Unbeknownst to him, you passed your hand underneath his baggy jacket and shirt and pressed it against his ribcage.

“kid, what are you—”

 Your hand went around his ribs and up into his chest cavity. Suddenly, his entire being shivered when your fingers brushed his soul, encircling it. You sighed contentedly and tightened your grasp slightly, causing him to keen softly. “Don’t think I’ll just forgive you for killing me twice just because you gave me some useful information. I’m a tough buy.”

You stepped back quickly and made your way towards the inn. Before turning, you saw his eye burning with fearsome red magic. You gazed over your shoulder after hearing a hiss in the air around you. Sans was gone. The innkeeper had left for the night, it seemed. You opened the door quickly and climbed up the stairs. The light in your room was still on, notifying you that Flowey was most likely awake and waiting for you. You saw that you were correct when you opened up the door and the flower’s wide eyes were staring holes into you.

“Well?” He asked expectantly.

“Well, what?”

“What happened between you and Sans?”

“Nothing.” Why would anything have happened anyways? He was acting like you and Sans were high school sweethearts having gone out to a make-out cove. “We talked, we left.”

“You’re leaving out a lot of key elements!” Flowey spat. “What did you guys even talk about?”

“The barrier. He told me about it.” His motivation for saying anything about the barrier would remain unknown to the flower.

Flowey nodded bitterly but said nothing. “So you know basically everything about how we all got trapped here? That’s really it?”

You nodded courtly before taking the spray bottle off of the counter and disappearing into the bathroom. You turned the tap on and filled the bottle up before screwing the top back on. Once you finished, you reemerged into the room.

“I know that you’re lying by the way.” Flowey grumbled. “I already know that Sans probably told you a whole lot more than that! It’s so obvious!”

As a response, you sprayed him. Flowey yelped and stared at you angrily. “What the hell are you doing, human?”

You sprayed him again and watched as he hissed like the creature from Alien. “Stop doubting me. It’s getting you nowhere.”

“Stop that!” The flower cried as you put the spray bottle down. He glowered at the infernal device silently.

“Go to sleep. You’re being hysterical.”

With that, you turned off the lights, slipped out of your shoes, and made your way over the inn room’s bed. You untucked the sheets and fell down onto the bed with a sigh before slipping underneath them. Flowey remained completely silent but, once your eyes threatened to fall closed, you heard a faint voice echo through the room.

“Goodnight, human.”

That’s right. He had never asked for your name.

“You know, Chara,” A little white furred monster rasped as he carried you. “When I said that this world is kill or be killed, I meant it, you know?”

You narrowed your eyes at him solemnly. “Just because you pick fights with everyone in the Underground doesn’t mean I have to, Asriel. I’m going to try and save everyone.”

Asriel laughed. His amusement was clearly shown. “Yeah, go ahead and try to save pieces of crap like Smiley Trashbag. I won’t stop you. You have a death wish after all.”

“It’s not that! I just…feel bad for him, that’s all.”

“So you pity him?” Asriel shouted with a wide grin. “That’s so much better, human! He’s a charity case! I wonder how he’d feel about that!”

“Stop putting words in my mouth!”

He dropped you down into the snow and kneeled down beside you. He began to examine your knee. “Your wounds aren’t fatal.”

“I told you, it was just a scratch.”

“Well then, if you say so!” Asriel replied, getting to his feet smoothly. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a moment.”

He ran off and you called after him. “Hey! Wait! Where are you going?”

Asriel didn’t reply as he proceeded further away from you. Now that you were completely alone, every voice that came from deep in the forest seemed amplified. You gasped as the trees rustled and pulled your legs towards your chest, making yourself as small as possible. You swore you heard footsteps but blamed it on your over-active imagination and your lack of sleep. Snowdin Inn would not allow you to sleep there since you were a human. Asriel had tried to sneak you in but you had gotten caught and the innkeeper nearly shot the two of you as you escaped.

You closed your eyes tightly and tried to think of your home, of your mother. You thought of days picking buttercups and eating fresh homegrown vegetables. You thought of your father and his hunting trips and your brother, who worked the fields. You missed your proper bed. You sighed softly.

“human.”

You opened your eyes to see Sans. The dark shadows creasing his eye sockets were even worse than yours. He awkwardly reached into his pocket before withdrawing a Cinnamon Bunny and tossing it to you. You gratefully accepted the treat and bit into it happily as he sat down a few paces away.

“you know, i shouldn’t be helping you like this.”

“Thank you.”

“don’t say that. i hate gratitude.”

“Sorry.”

“can’t say i like apologies either. stay away from papyrus and we’ll be fine, capiche?”

“You really care about him but he treats you so badly,” you trailed off uncertainly. You knew that it was still a fresh wound for Sans and you would rather not ruin the trust you had built between the two of you.

“brothers don’t pick each other. we aren’t the best match sometimes. paps works hard and i hardly work.”

“But you were the former Royal Scientist’s right hand monster! You had to work hard to get there, Sans! He pretends like that’s nothing. It isn’t your fault that you can’t control when you fall asleep.” You protested with an irritated frown.

“heh. ruined that opportunity for myself. now, i work a measly sentry job. i can hardly keep myself awake at the best of times and i can’t sleep at the worst of times. not your problem though. just keep going. keep that prince with you. you guys are the only hope we have at getting out of here.”

 You were taken aback by his tone. You had never seen the skeleton as emotionally vulnerable. Suddenly, his head whipped around like he had been stung by an invisible bug. “don’t you dare say fucking anything about this, human, or else I will end you!”

“Well that moment ended fairly quickly.” You murmured sarcastically as Sans pulled out an ice pick from his pocket and held it threateningly. You then realized that it had been stuffed in the same pocket as the Cinnamon Bunny. He had been deciding whether to kill you or help you.

“don’t tempt me, brat. this ‘moment’ never happened.”

Then, his magic flared and he disappeared.

“Human!” Cried Asriel as he rushed towards you. “You better run from the Lord of Hyperdeath, Smiley Trashbag! Did that bastard hurt you?”

You shook your head and Asriel scowled. “Good. You’re my only ticket out of here. I’m not letting someone like him ruin my chance at getting to the surface.”

You lowered your head so that Asriel couldn’t see the guilt in your eyes. It helped that Asriel seemed completely ignorant to social cues. He didn’t understand that you were using him just as much as he was using you. You would get to the surface no matter what the stakes were.

No matter who stood in your way.

You mentally apologized to Sans. It seemed that his wish of you and Asriel finding a way to free all of monsterkind would have to be destroyed.

It was still dark when you awoke. Then, it occurred to you that you were still trapped underground and there wouldn’t be a sun to help determine what time of day it was. You heard laughter and voices ringing from the town below so you resolved that it was about time you woke up. Flowey’s body was curled inside his boot. You supposed that he was still asleep. The dream you had was another memory of mine that you decided to analyze it in the shower. You were indulging yourself since you weren’t sure when you might have another one.

You tip-toed into the bathroom and started up the shower. Then you striped down and hopped in. You always had your best thoughts while you were in the shower. Asriel’s mannerisms in the dream seemed incredibly familiar to you. It was almost as if he had repeated words that you had already been told. You squinted as you tried to decide who reminded you of the floppy eared monster but no one came to mind. Toriel reminded you of him physically but their attitudes were polar opposites. Whereas Toriel was cool and collected, Asriel was hot-tempered and passionate. The information you were given about Sans was also quite interesting.  He hadn’t always been so nihilistic. He had hoped that I could help them.

But I killed that hope.

It seemed that your ability to Reset was also pushing the knife deeper and deeper into his sense of hope, making it almost inexistent. 

You leaned your head back against the tiled wall of the shower and sighed. You also remembered him talking about his sleep schedule and his former job. Sans had been someone that Papyrus had been proud of, once. Presently, the two were steps short of clawing each other’s throats out. You reasoned that his irregular sleeping pattern had caused him to drop his former job and now, with the tranquility of the sentry station and the lack of people visiting the Underground, it was getting worse. You had seen the dark shadows for yourself. He wasn’t sleeping well, if at all.

It reminded you of one of the foster children you had lived with. The young boy was plagued with insomnia at times and slept at all hours during the day. But the time he did spend sleeping was plagued with horrible night terrors and when he was awake, he had dream-like hallucinations.

You decided that it would be best not to ask him about it.

When you stepped out of the shower, you noticed that there was a pile of clothes near the edge of the bathtub. Flowey had been up-and-about, it seemed. He had picked out the red and black sweater again. You wondered why he seemed to like the old thing so much.

Then, as you fingered the hem of the sweater. You had a sudden epiphany. Flowey was Asriel. It was so obvious. Flowey seemed keen on protecting my image and that surge of emotion would be self-explanatory if Flowey was Asriel. The ‘kill or be killed’ thing or his habit of calling Sans ‘Smiley Trashbag’ would also be explained. You wondered if Sans knew and he had sent you on this goose chase just to avoid telling you himself. While the idea was a possibility, it didn’t seem to fit Sans’ style. It was more likely that the nearly apathetic skeleton had a theory about Flowey having Asriel’s memories and had sent you out to prove his point. The goose chase was probably only to make his day slightly brighter.

You scowled, a feeling of annoyance festering and growing in your core. It was too early in the morning to be so grumpy so you tugged on the rest of your clothes and exited the bathroom. Flowey was once again looking out the window but his body was turned slightly towards you, telling you that he had heard you exit. You weren’t really sure whether you should reveal that you knew about his past life.

“You’re tense. Everything okay?” The flower asked, making you jump slightly.

“No, I was just caught off guard.” You replied quickly. You wondered if the flower noticed your state of unease but didn’t comment upon it. “I’m going out soon.”

“Really? Where are you going? Are you sure you won’t run into Papyrus?”

“I’ll Save beforehand so I’ll be back.”

“Be careful. We still don’t know how the Resets impact the timelines.”

You nodded and the room returned to its silent state. You remained still for a few moments, basking in the oppressiveness before quickly putting on your sneakers and fleeing. Of course, you wouldn’t call it fleeing but you left the room in a very brisk pace. Your attitude towards this was kind of surprising considering you lied about not being able to talk for years and hardly flinched while doing it. It seemed that the memories you witnessed were causing you to think more like me. My emotions and my experiences were becoming more natural to you after viewing the memories and this was only the second memory.

You gritted your teeth and went downstairs where the innkeeper was sweeping with a ratty old broom. You avoided the woman and Saved. The woman looked at you oddly and stopped her cleaning.

“Why do you keep touching my stack of guest registration books like that?” She asked and you stilled. Could they not see the Save Points?

You cleared your throat. “I like the feeling of old books?”

Then you left, leaving the rabbit woman to wonder whether she should hide the pile.

You marched down the walkway and turned to walk further into town when a hand fell on your shoulder.

“man, kid. stop running. i can dig someone trying to get healthy but don’t pull me into it, doll.”

You looked at the stout skeleton for a moment before narrowing your eyes and walking ahead. He sighed in mild agitation.

“you gonna tell me what i did wrong or am i gonna have to guess?”

You were doing your best to ignore the other as he fumbled after you. Suddenly, the shuffling sound his slippers made stopped and you turned your head slightly in order to see over your shoulder.

“kid. tell me.” His voice was more of a growl that sent chills down your spine. He was being serious and you really didn’t want to repeat this day any more than necessary.

You faced him and crossed your arms over your chest. “You lied to me.”

“what do you mean?” he asked in a normal, almost bored tone before his voice dropped an octave. “i’ve lied to a lot of people, kiddo, i can’t keep up with them all.”

“When were you going to tell me that you had a theory about Flowey?”

His sockets narrowed smugly and he lifted his chin, “not as dumb as you play it out to be, sweetheart. guess i was right about that too. the prince is a flower. now, that’s a laugh.”

“Why is that?” You asked, uncrossing your arms but your figure remained straightened and almost abnormally stiff. He took this as an indication that he could approach you but understood that he was not entirely forgiven. By the way your hands were clenched tightly into fists, it was probably for the best. He stayed a good few feet behind you but matched your pace as you continued forward towards Grillby’s.

“first child died after eating the same type of flowers the prince turned into. buttercups. actually, i guess i should just call ‘em ranunculus since they’re more of a hybrid breed. i’ve never read of surface ranunculus reaching up to four feet high. ‘sides the point, i made you do my dirty work. good job.”

“That’s it?” You growled and he chortled, it sounded more like a series of deep throated snickers.

“if you’re searching for a soul-wrenching apology, kid, you’re looking at the wrong skeleton. man, i thought you weren’t like the first child but you’re starting to sound like ‘em too!”

Your eyes widened and you fell out of rhythm. So much so that Sans bumped into your back. You stared down at your hands in shock as you felt heat rise to your cheeks. Was it really that apparent? Sans made a shocked sound at your sudden silence and he grabbed your shoulders and spun you around so you could face him. He must’ve saw the expression on your face because his sockets widened and his grin dropped. The moment passed and you had steeled your expression with the steely poker face that you had been building since you were a toddler.

Sans looked as if he wanted to say something but the words seemed to die in his being before he resolved not to reply. You, on the other hand, needed to gain more control on this situation. It was quickly getting too personal.

You turned on your heel and gave him one piece of advice, “Don’t follow me.”

You passed Grillby’s when you felt a sudden burst of anger at the situation that had just occurred. You thought you had better control of yourself but the Frisk you knew was being corrupted by my memories. An apple rotting from the inside because of a burrowing worm. My existence in your body wasn’t going unnoticed. You ran past houses, two of which were larger and closer to the end of the town. Everything was becoming a hazy blur.

The snow picked up ahead. It was clinging to your clothes like white burrs. You couldn’t see far and had to block your vision with one arm to avoid getting snowy clumps in your eyes. You were surprised to see the bottom halves of two silhouettes in the distance. A few metres away from you. You kicked at the snow and discovered an abandoned stick, which you picked up. It was thicker than you thought and could probably survive a good few whacks. A projectile was thrown towards you and you dodged it, unsurprised that it was a bone.

“HUMAN. YOU’RE THE ONLY OBSTACLE BETWEEN MYSELF AND DESTINY. THERE’S NO TIME TO TALK. LET US FIGHT.”

Suddenly, with a whip of Papyrus’ arm, the snow cleared enough to see both skeleton brothers blocking your path. Sans stared at you coldly while Papyrus summoned eight more bones, each of different sizes. He swung his arm out, sending the bones straight towards you. You dodged the bigger ones and sent the smaller ones in the opposite direction by batting them with your stick. Now, it was your turn to attack. Your soul was summoned and you dashed towards Papyrus as the younger skeleton prepared his counter-attack. You aimed your attack at his ribcage and lashed out. You stopped abruptly and Papyrus smirked as he revealed his little brother with a tilt of his head.

Sans sent you flying with a flick of his fingers and Papyrus finished his preparations, sending out a new wave projectiles. One pierced the tender skin underneath your shoulder blade and you cried out in pain. You toppled to the ground. You blew your hair out of your face and pulled the slim bone from where it was lodged in your shoulder. Then, you grinned broadly at the two skeletons, effectively taunting Papyrus.

“SANS!” He yelled angrily as Sans turned to him in slight shock.

You took off, sprinting like a champ towards the brothers. Papyrus squawked, positively outraged that you had not surrendered to his absolutely evil presence.

“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He yowled. “I WILL NOT LET YOU BEST ME!”

He summoned more bones that rose from the ground hap hazardously in your path. Some were glowing a faint blue. You had never seen this before but you recognised Sans preparing to use his magic. Red magic snared your soul and forced you towards the bones that Papyrus was creating. Sans preparing to use his magic. Red magic snared your soul and forced you towards the bones that Papyrus was creating. You narrowly avoided one but your hand brushed one of the blue ones which caused your skin to burn painfully. Sans took this as his opportunity to send you towards another nearby bone with a shocking amount of strength. This type of magic seemed to be manipulating the gravitational field around you and even though you were trying to keep yourself away from Papyrus’ summonings, Sans was leading you directly to them. You barely dodged this attack. You needed to watch them closely and try to be ready for the next one.

Sans was the first one to move, grabbing onto your soul and sending you backwards. Papyrus then began to summon another bone. You gasped, realizing you had been giving them enough time to prepare their attacks by trying to go in the opposite direction! You relaxed yourself and allowed yourself to be moved by Sans magic. You passed right over the only halfway summoned bone and right into a tree. You had gained way too much momentum. You blinked lazily, your sight was blurred. Your head pounded and you felt dizzy. Your hand rose to touch your head, grazing your scalp underneath your brown hair. You hissed as it brushed the area of impact. You inspected your hand only to see that it was dyed red.

The steady crunching of snow alerted you to either Sans or Papyrus’ arrival. The cliché evil laugh that resounded from the figure told you that it was definitely Papyrus. You tried moving but the pain made you stop in your tracks. Papyrus grabbed you by the collar and lifted you high in the air.

“WORTHLESS,” he cackled, lifting his other hand up. He smiled widely. “PUNY, PITIFUL CHILD. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR FATE CANNOT BE ESCAPED, DO YOU NOT?”

“I don’t need fate,” you rasped before pointing up to the roof of the cavern that was the Underground. “All that I need is to move forward.”

At this, you saw Sans’ eyes widen from where he was standing at Papyrus’ side. Papyrus snorted. “THAT SEEMS LIKE A VERY AIMLESS LIFE. ONE THAT I WILL NOT HESITATE TO WIPE OFF THE FACE OF THIS WORLD.”

With that, he clenched his hand into a fist which caused you to be pierced with a bone that sent you straight into the Void.

Glad to see that this place is still here? I asked as you dazedly opened your eyes. You pulled yourself up into a sitting position, growling into the space around you. Stop that. Growling at me will not help me appear.

“You have no physical form?”

When I first appeared here, I had a physical form. After years of maintaining this form and searching for a way out, I lost hope. Soon enough, my physical form disappeared.

You looked around in the inky blackness and squinted. “Did you create this place?”

I laughed. Definitely not. This place has existed long before me. I imagine it will exist long after me. I am not the only spirit caught here. I understand that you know that now.

“You know that thing that attacked me?” You exclaimed, looking left and right. Obviously looking for him.

I have seen him but I do not know him. He hides in the darkness and speaks in hands. I have never seen his face but I know his presence. Perhaps you will find the answers you seek from another source. I cleared my throat. We should be putting more thought in to how we are merging together.

“That’s true. With Sans, I started becoming you! I wouldn’t have been upset if he lied! Hell, I’d be a hypocrite! I lie all the time” You laughed brokenly. You were losing parts of yourself that were critical to your sense of identity. How far would this go? Would it go so far as to destroy everything you had built up? You sighed at the unreasonableness of it all. “I don’t really care for apologies, Chara, they make everything so much more awkward!”

I wouldn’t have let him go without an apology. You do not lie as well as you used to as well. I am a horrible liar. I had an easy time fooling Asriel because Asriel didn’t understand. If I started crying after he killed a monster, he would take it as an odd expression of gratitude.

“I think Flowey knows that I’m lying. I have to tell him the truth sooner or later.”

He will not react well. I know that. You cannot tell him.

“This isn’t helping! Either I tell him or I leave him behind.”

And Sans? What will you do with him?

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair. “I have to move on. Get out of Snowdin before people find out about everything. We need to get out and be separate again.”

If Asriel finds out in his state, he may just try and keep you down here. You have a better chance of getting out with Sans’ help. Once on the surface, we’ll find my body. Maybe that will cause my soul to be at peace?

“So, what you’re implying is that you have no idea whether this will work or not?”

Exactly; but we have to try. Now, lay low. Go back and try your best not to make a scene. You still have to decide if you’re interested in freeing the monsters or not as well.

“I don’t really care about whether they live or die.  The monsters are no cncern of mine.” You rolled your eyes. “Didn’t you go back on your promise with Asriel? You planned on taking him to the surface and getting him killed when he was up there so that the monsters wouldn’t be freed. Don’t lie to yourself, you have a disgusting existence just like me. That’s why we have the same soul! We’re the same person!”

Don’t try to convince me of that! I spat. I tried to help them! I tried to make them see that humans could be good and that monsters could be peaceful! I only made things worse, I know that. You do not have to remind me. Leave.

You slammed your palm down on the Reset button and said, “Gladly.”

You were met with the odd expression of the innkeeper. You decided that this was probably going to be something that you saw regularly. You proceeded out the door and you looked up at your room window where Flowey was staring at you unsettlingly. You ignored it and walked over to Sans who was now smoking against the front of the inn. He looked at you, swallowed, and started coughing loudly.

When his coughing quieted, you spoke. “You’re still surprised?”

“i get a little uncomfortable when you come back to life like that, kiddo. give a guy a break.”

He exhaled a steady stream of smoke and you fanned it away with a scrunched up face. He smirked. “so i guess we aren’t gonna talk about what happened earlier? water under the bridge?”

“I don’t want to talk about it so I guess that it’s all in the past.”

“good. what do we do about his whininess up in his tower?”

“Sans, he’s a flower. I’m pretty sure he won’t do much once he finds out we know his secret.”

“i wouldn’t be so sure, dollface. i’ve been having weird dreams lately that involve that little thing.” Sans murmured, rubbing his eye and tapping his cigarette against the wall behind him.

“You really don’t sleep very well, do you?”

“nope.”

“Grillby’s?” You asked politely and Sans stared at you for a moment before snuffing out his cigarette and throwing it into the snow. You waited for him and walked side by side, something you didn’t do normally with the short skeleton.

Your Resets from then on out continued like clockwork. You would go out to Grillby’s with Sans, chat with him about various things without revealing anything personal and not commenting on how he did the same, you would leave Sans sitting in the bar, return to the hotel, pack a bag and ignore Flowey’s questioning glances, you’d fight Papyrus, learn more about his fighting style, get killed, and Reset.

You must’ve repeated the same day quite a few times since Sans was complaining passive-aggressively about being slightly muddled and Flowey’s questioning glances were turning into spiteful glares. Papyrus’ techniques had also been getting more predictable. He had a distinct attack pattern that he repeated each time you batted him since the younger skeleton brother was completely oblivious to the time skips. Sans was also starting to get easier to crack. He had been dropping hints here and there about his sleeping issues and he had even gotten comfortable enough to invite you to his sentry station for impromptu talks. He commented once about how you seemed like two different people at time and you quickly avoided the topic. Maybe he thought you were slightly bipolar or something.

He helped you with the other monsters as well. If any monster was prone to violent inclinations, Sans kept you away from them and threatened that his ‘boss’ wanted this human kept alive. He also threatened one monster that he would cut out their tongue and eat it in front of them if they so much as spoke about hurting you. Some monsters had even started calling you ‘Sans’ human’ after that. You wondered if Papyrus had ever heard of this but since his memory was wiped clean every time he killed you, you decided that it didn’t really matter.

During the present Reset, you were sitting beside Sans at the bar. You watched Grillby’s flames crackle and hiss as he performed normal tasks. Sans was being quite quiet. You wondered if he had a bad catnap but you knew that it had been the same catnap he had had two Resets ago as well. He let his mustard bottle slip from his bony fingers and onto the bar counter. You were currently eating his burger since he hadn’t shown any interest.

You looked at him before dropping the burger and wiping your hands on a disposable napkin. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on or must I guess?”

“are you set on leaving?”

You made a surprised sound and he continued. “even after all this, frisk, do you still plan on moving forward?”

You narrowed your eyes. “That’s all I’ve ever known, Sans. That’s always what I intended to do. Why? Do you want me to stay?”

He didn’t answer your questions. You didn’t expect him to. He got up with a chuckle, paid for your plate and his own, then left. You weren’t surprised to see him on the battle ground with his younger brother but he had avoided it since he had aided Papyrus the last time. You weren’t surprised to see that he was the one who landed the final blow with angry red eyes.

You weren’t surprised when he wasn’t in front of the inn like he had been for so many Resets before this one. You returned to your room where Flowey was curled up in his boot on the desk.

“Golly, you’re back!” The flower commented dryly as you walked in. “Are you going to talk to me now too? Gee, it’s been quite a couple of Resets. I thought Smugly Smiling Trashbag was your new best friend.”

“Flowey, I’m not going to apologize because we’d both know that I’d be lying through my teeth. You know that and I know that so don’t make me.”

“It doesn’t make me less mad, stupid!” The flower screeched, his petals ruffling around the edges. The one you had pulled out had grown in so perfectly. It was now his best petal. “I want to know what’s going on!”

You sat down on your bed and laughed. “We’ve gotten so good at lying to each other.”

That seemed to startle the flower whose eyes turned wide, “What are you talking about?”

“At pretending we care! Let me be honest with you, just for a moment. I was planning on stomping on you as soon as all three of us got through to the surface. None of you monsters have a place up there. I know that you’re leading me to the barrier to kill me and take my soul. That way, you’d have a monster soul and a human soul!” Why are you telling him this?

The flower’s face blanked and his expression was replaced by something you couldn’t read but he had yet to speak. So you continued in his place. “I know about your little secret. Prince Asriel, Lord of Hyperdeath. It’s a nice title, but slightly immature.”

“How do you know that?” The flower whispered traitorously, his voice dripping with venom. “Sans couldn’t have told you. He never knew about that. The only one who ever knew the title I had given to myself was Chara.”

Shit, you had given us away. Now, what are you going to do? You stilled and swallowed audibly. The flower’s eyes now resembled the pupils of a cat’s eyes. His stem was hunched and his mouth seemed twisted at its corners. It was ethereal.

“Kid,” he murmured, “how do you know Chara?”

You needed to make a run for it. You moved for the door but Flowey’s thick roots made it to you before you could reach it. They wrapped around you and drew you back, constricting your slim figure. You couldn’t breathe, much less speak.

“You—You said something just before about the three of us getting to the barrier.” He stuttered almost crazily, his head shuddering. “At first, I-I thought you were talking about Sans but you didn’t mean him, did you?”

“What...are you talking…about?” You gasped as he loosened the grip around your neck.

“That’s why your souls are the same! It’s because you are them! Tell me the truth, Chara!” He cried, tears springing to his eyes as he shook you lightly. You had never seen the flower looking so desperate unless he was trying to save his own hide.

He sobbed, allowing you to slide out of some of the vine-like roots. You felt bad for him, a feeling that was completely foreign to you but seemed natural to me. You decided to tell them the truth. “Chara’s soul or the remainder of their soul is inside mine. I’m becoming them. I need to get out of here, Flowey, or else I might never find myself again. The longer I stay down here, the more I become them!”

Flowey’s head flew upwards in order to stare at you in amazement. “That means Chara can come back to me!”

“No, Chara’s soul wants to be free.”

“They…want to leave me? Here? By myself?”

“Flowey, I—” The vines snared you once again and the flower laughed half-heartedly.

“Spare me, kid. I’m going to be the winner in this scenario, no matter what. I don’t care what you want! I want Chara back.” He emerged from his boot and manipulated himself in order to get to your shoulder. “And I don’t care about getting rid of you to get them back.”

You screamed as a thousand needle-like objects stabbed your skin. Those must’ve been Flowey’s thorns. He was completely wrapped around you now, with thin tendrils spreading up over your legs, back, arms, all the way up to your face, where the flower was staring at you intensely.

“You know, the human body is an interesting one. After Chara died and the other children fell, I learned a lot about their anatomy. Did you know that the nervous system is what connects the brain to the body? It sends the signals needed to move certain parts. I was amazed when I found out! Then, I wondered if you could reroute the whole system. Instead of using the original brain, was there some way to connect an alternative source? I indirectly proposed the idea to a certain Royal Scientist and watched her experiment on the humans until she found a way. If you reconnect the nervous system to another magically conductive source, it can block out the signals from the original brain and replace them with the new signals from the new brain. However, I’ve never actually conducted this experiment before so you’ll be my guinea pig. Besides, you were wrong earlier. I’m soulless.

The thorns planted themselves deeply within your body, focusing generally on your spinal cord. This caused your body to fall limp. Flowey laughed as he situated himself at the base of your collar bone and faced forward. He moved your fingers and laughed when he couldn’t manage to put your feet in the right position to stand up. You struggled to gain any control of your body but it seemed that Flowey was correct. You weren’t even blinking your own eyes anymore. Flowey had taken control of all your movements. You could see and think but that was pretty much it. It was as if you were watching a movie.

“I’m going to keep you down here until this body rots,” Flowey promised, speaking with your voice as well as his own. He cackled.

We were royally screwed.