Flowey tentatively poked his head up out of the ground. He shook some dirt off his petals, frowning as some of it stuck because of the damp. He looked around for the spot he had left Frisk, somewhere in a patch of tall grass. Tentatively, being sure not to make any more noise than necessary, he called her name. "Frisk?"
Upon hearing the flower's voice, Frisk lifted her head. She turned side to side, hoping to pinpoint his location by sound. It was inpossible for her to see through the thick patch of flowers concealing her eyes. "Flowey...?"
Flowey sighed in relief. She was still there. "I'm right here!" He burrowed over to her and lightly brushed his head against her leg. "How're you doing?"
Frisk curled her knees to her chest and turned her face towards him. "Um... I'm... alright," she said haltingly. After a moment, she smiled slightly. "How about you?"
"The same. More or less," he responded dismissively. He scanned her face, frowning with worry. "Oh, no, it looks worse..." His frown deepened. "You sure you're all right?" It took a monent for his own stupid words to sink in, and blushed, grateful for once that she couldn't see him. Of course she wasn't really all right. "I-I mean, I know it's silly to ask, but..."
Frisk didn't notice the absurdity of Flowey's question. "I'm..." She suddenly found herself holding back tears. "I don't know..." Her voice faltered. It wad becoming increasingly difficult to talk.
"Hey. We can take a break if you want. We don't have to go on right away."
Frisk shook her head. "But... Papyrus is looking for us... a-and Undyne..."
"But if you push yourself too hard..." He trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought. He scanned the area. "Maybe we could find a safe place to hide for a little. To rest. I don't want you hurting yourself any more than you are."
She takes a deep breath and nodded, deciding to save her voice.
"Right. I'll help guide you. There should be a patch of tall grass..." He shook his head. "No, they'd look there... M-maybe... We could hide among the echo flowers. That way we'll be able to hear them coming. We'll have to be quiet, though."
Nodding silently again, Frisk stood slowly, stumbling a bit, and tried to listen for the echo flowers.
"They're to the left a little," Flowey instructed in barely a whisper. After a few more whispered directions, Frisk managed to find a large patch of the flowers, where all the whispers of the past had become so intertwined it was impossible to make out anything specific. "I'll keep a lookout," Flowey reassured her.
Frisk sat among the flowers, pulling her knees to her chest again. Flowey looked around nervously. "Just relax, okay? When you're feeling up to it, we can keep going."
Frisk nodded and allowed herself to relax, taking a couple of deep breaths. When her breathing was steady, she laid down among the whispering blooms, curling up into a ball. "Thank you, Flowey..."
Flowey smiled faintly, straightening up. "Hey, of course I'll protect my best friend."
"I wish I could protect you more but... you know..." She hugged her knees closer to her as bitter tears stung her eyes.
Flowey shook his head, an automatic reaction, for he knew she couldn't see him. "It's not your fault. You have no idea how grateful I am for the kindness you've shown me. That in itself is enough."
Frisk thought about this for a moment, then smiled softly. "Sometimes kindness is enough," she agrees. She closed her eyes, feeling herself beginning to slip into unconsciousness. After a moment of silence, she spoke up softly. "I dont know how much longer I can last..."
Flowey bristled. "D-don't talk like that. You'll stay Determined, we'll make it out of here. Together. Right?"
"...Right." There was no commitment in her tone. She felt herself slip further, knowing this was no usual sleep, but unable to resist the pull. She was so... tired...
Flowey looked down the path as far as he could in both directions, eyes straining for any little bit of movement. "I hope so..." He sighs quietly. "But I worry..." Once again, he let his thoughts trail off, shaking his head. "No. I gotta stay Determined, too. Frisk needs me." He laughed homorlessly. "Wow. That sounds ridiculous, even to myself."
Frisk finally fell into the unnatural sleep and shivered slightly. Her HP slowly began to drop.
Flowey leaned against her, pressing his the back of his head into her shirt. "Just... hold on... please..."
She wrapped one arm around him, wincing a bit, still asleep. [3/20 HP]
Flowey felt something was off. He turned back to face her, and saw the color draining from her cheeks. His heart sank. He quickly checked her stats. "Oh, no. No, please! Not now, we've come so far...!" He looked around desperately, though he already knew what he would find. "There's nothing here to help...!" The nearest echo flowers took up his cry and passed it down the line, distorting as it went. "Help... Help..." Flowey winced as he realized he'd spoken too loud. "Oh, no." He looked at Frisk, terrified. "Wh-what do I do...?"
Her SOUL trembled slightly and tried to stay in one piece, but split down the middle. Frisk gradually went limp.
"N-no! Frisk... I'm sorry..." Flowey hung his head, bitter tears dripping to the ground. "I wish I could do something... I'm so useless!" The echo flowers once again repeated this back, seeming to mock him as the world began to fade to black. "Useless... useless... useless...'
...
Frisk finally reappeared laying on the ground at the last save point. She was awake, but unwilling to move, even to sit up.
Flowey was right next to her, still looking down. He heard her stir slightly, and turned to face her. "H-hi, Frisk..." he said with a weak smile. "Y-you... all right...? ...Hah... What am I saying. Of course you're not..." He looked down again, feeling his hope fading.
"Flowey..." She winced. The pain of talking was too much now.
"D-don't strain yourself anymore... You shouldn't speak if you don't have to."
Frisk switched to sign language, which she had taught Flowey as best she could in case of... this. She signed for him to stop putting himself down. She slowly sat up, holding her head.
"Hey, it's all right. I'll just... do what I can. Though it's not much. All I can give you is my encouragement...!" He tries to smile, then remembers she can't see him anyway. "Are you sure you can keep going...?"
She frowned, hands forming her words. -We dont have a choice.- Sensing the hopelessness in his voice, she leaned down, holding her arms open for a hug as tears rolled down her face.
Flowey leaned against her chest, burying his face into her. "I don't like seeing you hurt like this..."
Frisk didn't respond, but hugged him in silence.
"... You should just stop. I mean... We don't really deserve what you're doing, Frisk," Flowey said at last.
Frisk let go and turned to him with a frown, shaking her head. -Kindness.-
"I know, but... You're giving us kindness, and only get hurt in return... It's not fair!"
-Life is not always fair.- Frisk slowly tried to stand, but her legs failed her, and and she fell down again.
"Careful!" Flowey scolded, touching her arm gently "... You don't deserve this, Frisk." He was silent for another moment. "... I wish you had never fallen down here."
-But then you wouldn't have gotten to meet me, and you'd still have no friends.- She smirked a bit and stood up again, keeping her balance this time.
Flowey looked at her, worried. "You're sure you want to kewp doing this?"
She nods firmly -Positive.-
Flowey already knew it was going to be a futile task. She had almost no strength left. He decided to humor her, until she saw he was right. "All right, if you're sure. Onward, then?"
-Onward.- She stretched out her arms out to feel for objects, and walked forward, having to carefully place each step.
Flowey twisted on his stem to look in all directions, and helped guide her footing, giving her a few warnings about where to step. "I'm a bit worried. We haven't seen Undyne or Papyrus in a while. Keep your ears open." She smiled a bit and nodded, continuing to walk onwards.
More silence. The only sounds were the trickling water, and Frisk's painfully slow steps.
Dlowey's voice finally rang out again. "All right. We're going to be coming to a long bridge, I won't be able to go with you there. You can use the hand rails to guide you. It'll start getting warmer as we go along. And..." A memory passed through his mind. 'Alphys' lab... Oh no.'
She stops and signs. -And... what?-
"Just... Bad memories." Frisk sensed she would get no more from him on this matter. They continued moving. Flowey continued thinking ahead. "There's a chance the guards might not be there..."
She looked around frantically, as if expecting to hear the clinking of armor. -...Guards...?-
"Yeah. Guards. They stand in front of the elevator. But if we're lucky, they'll be out getting ice cream or something. Hotland is, well, hot. ...We'll worry about that when we get there."
She calmed down a bit and nodded, then continued to walk. She stumbled a bit, her legs beginning to tire.
Flowey noticed her slightly uneven gait, and looked around again. "Looks like the coast is clear, for the moment. ...Want to take a short break?"
Frisk thought about this, then shook her head. She was worried that if she stopped, she wouldn't be able to start again. Suddenly, her legs gave out completely, and she collapsed.
"Frisk! Oh geez... Can you move? Are you all right?" He mentally berated himself for once again asking that stupid question.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to get up again. -I'm fine.-
Flowey sighed in relief. "Anything I can do to help...?" he asked hopefully.
-Don't worry about it. Don't waste your strength worrying about me.- She took a couple of steps shakily before falling again. She caught herself with her hand, and slowly pushed herself up again
Flowey flared up. "There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, Frisk. And you keep getting closer to that line! I want as much as you do to get out of here, but at what cost, Frisk? How far are you going to go? You're destroying yourself!"
Frisk ignored him and took a single step. That was all it took before she fell again. This time, she didn't rise, and lay in the middle of the path. She began sobbing, hot tears off frustration and pain streaming down her face.
Flowey immediately wilted. "Listen... Frisk... I'm sorry..." Tears began to slip down his face as well. "I just can't beard to see you like this!" He shook his head angrily. "You're not the human I met at the flower patch, Frisk... They're breaking you. And... And I can't stand it... I just want it all to stop, Frisk. This endless cycle of pain... But what can we do?! How can we change them, if they don't want to change?!" His temper flared again. "You've been nothing but kind, and good, and forgiving! But they don't care! They're destroying the only good thing down here and they don't even care!" He suddenly drooped down, his steam running out. "I... I'm sorry, Frisk..."
Frisk curled up again, and her tears slowly stopped. She lay there, deep in thought. After a monent, she spoke, using her voice again. "Flowey. You can... Take my soul."
Flowey froze.
"Free... everyone. I don't stand... a chance... anymore."
Flowey recoiled, twisting away from the horrible thought. "Wh-what?! I... I can't do that... Not since last time... ...No! I won't! Especially because..." Fresh tears sprang to his eyes. "We promised... We'd get out together."
She sighed and bit the inside of her cheek. She switched back to sign language, that one moment of strength fading. -I can hardly walk anymore. How are we even gonna get to where we need to?-
Flowey was crushed. She had realized moving on was pointless, but... this wasn't what he had wanted. He has wanted them to take a break, to recover, maybe he could go steal some provisions to heal her, something, anything but this. "I... I don't... Don't make me do this, Frisk. I don't want to lose my best friend. I don't want to lose you."
She didn't respond. She remained on the ground, feeling the unnatural sleep pulling at her once more, her HP beginning to lower.
Flowey lowered his head, petals drooping. "Frisk... Everything you've done... You've done it for someone else. I want to do something for you, but... Is this really the only way?"
She tried to respond, but everything felt heavy. [2/20 HP]
Flowey leaned his forehead onto her back. "I don't want to see you die again..." He presses his head into her, as if he could hold her together like this. "... Is this really what you want...?" In the silence that followed, he thought for a moment. He tentatively spoke up again. "... When I took... Chara's SOUL... Chara was still there. We shared control of my body, and... we were together. Can I count on you..." He swallowed hard. "Can I count on you to be there?"
In response, Frisk's SOUL appeared, trembling as it began to split in two. Frisk rolled over and hugged Flowey tightly with a small smile. [1/20 HP]
"Remember... We promised... We'll leave together." He smiled tearfully for a moment, before his smile collapsed into a silent sob. He reached out, and gently wrapped a vine around Frisk's soul. "Right?"
Frisk just hugged him closer, closing her eyes tightly.
Flowey took a shaky breath, and held Frisk's soul close. He felt a surge of Frisk's Determination. "All right, then. Let's save them. Together."
Frisk's grip on him loosened slightly as her SOUL slipped away from her body. Her face was still touched with a smile...
* You feel Frisk's soul joining your own, bringing with it a surge of emotions. Love for everyone she's met, no matter how they've treated her. Hope beyond belief. You understand why she had been trying to hard. Because the compassion she felt for all monsters refused to let her stay still. You can feel Frisk urging you on. The knowledge that you can save everyone fills you with DETERMINATION.
Together.
...
Based on a roleplay on Shamchat
Thank you for reading!
I always take constructive criticism, if you notice anything, please pm or comment! Thank you!