This fanfic was inspired by the fact that every single fanfic on Quotev seems to be a reader insert. I thought I could do it better.
Toriel looked down lovingly at the small child in her arms. Frisk was their name, and the two had been living as a family on the surface for a few months. "Did you know that snails talk… Very… Slowly?" Toriel said, chuckling at herself before she realized Frisk was asleep. Toriel stood up to put Frisk in their bed, but her movements seemed to slow. Everything seemed to slow, and Toriel felt her body going backwards, backwards, faster… Faster… Things rushed around in opposite, the last few months passing by her in a blur, all with a strange absence of Frisk. When the dizzying time skip came to a halt, Toriel found herself in a hallway in the ruins near the small opening to the surface world. She knew where she was, but not when. Toriel had visited this place every day since she relocated to the ruins after Asriel and ██████ died. It had been about what- 50 years since that happened back in 202X? Time could've skipped back anywhere between a few months or half a century. Toriel sighed, walking towards the opening, and gasped.
You stand up on the bed of flowers. Nowhere to go but forwards, I guess.
Getting up, you walk forwards, examining the light grey stone of the cave you've only seen in pixels. You walk through the doorway to the room Flowey first shows up in. You look around the big space for the demonic flower that might be following you around, and you hear a gasp.
"Frisk!" A feminine, motherly voice says behind your turned head.
You wince, and look down at your clothing. Blue shirt and pants with two purple stripes… This is going to be wonderful. You don't want to look at Toriel. You don't need any more guilt. You feel a furry paw on your shoulder. Looking up, you see the boss monster's disappointment on her face.
"I-I'm not Frisk." You mumble, turning away. "I'm not them."
Why can't I just have a regular Saturday? Why do I have to suffer through all this guilt? Why me? I've seen other people reset with no problem. Even do several genocide runs in a row. The universe just seems to pick on me. You shake away Toriel's paw.
Maybe if you could find that stupid flower and maybe shake him around a bit he'd send you back. Or at least you could find somewhere in the ruins where you'd never see Toriel again. But Toriel has other plans. She picks you up into an embrace, and wipes away tears on your cheak that you didn't realize you had.
"There there, child. It's ok. If you can tell me what happened, perhaps that would help? This is all very confusing, but maybe we can work through it together." Toriel gently holds your face in her paws, and you realize how soft her fur is. You begin to relax, but you wonder if you should tell her about the reset, how much of what you know you should divulge.
"Well… I saw Flowey, that flower, and he said that he'd turn back time to when Frisk fell down to the underground, but instead of Frisk, I'd fall down..?" You wonder if that satisfied Toriel's questioning, as it left a lot of holes in your story. Toriel slowly nods, thinking, and you wonder about her knowledge of Flowey. Did Frisk ever tell her who he was? You realize that you don't know anything about what happened after the end of the game. That doesn't help the situation.
Toriel stared at the strange child who looked familiar yet not so. They had explained some of what happened, yet seemed like they were hiding so much. How did that flower do something like turn back time? Why do I remember everything, if time did reset? Why did this child replace Frisk, of all the humans who had fallen into the underground? Why were they so sad, face so full of guilt? What was their name? They seem almost… Otherworldly. The faint energy of their soul vibrated in strange ways. Everything was so strange, but Toriel decided to push away the questions, doubts and fears for the child. Their safety and comfort were first priority. Toriel let go of the child's shoulder, and motioned for them to follow. Unfortunately, they were most definitely older and larger than Frisk, so Toriel was unable to carry them through the ruins. The child was hesitant at first, but seemed relieved that they didn't have to talk. The pair then began walking through the long corridors of the ruins.
You look around at the purplish brick walls of the ruins, holding Toriel's furry paw. Apparently she didn't want to ask any more questions for now, which was fine with you. You don't think you could've survive anymore interrogation. As you and Toriel walk down past the room where in the game, Toriel leaves you, you notice that despite the reset, the Froggits didn't seem confused or anything. Their just sitting there, a bit wary of Toriel, but other than that they seemed unaffected by the emotional and mental trauma you'd expect a reset to cause. Maybe that's just how their face looked? Flowey did say that everyone's memories would be intact. The thought flits around a bit in your mind before Toriel pulls you away from the Froggits and your questioning. In time, you both reach Toriel's home, the quaintness and homeliness enhanced by your non-pixelated look of it. Part of you wants to be excited- this whole world it what you've been obsessing over for a few months now, but the other part of you is still gnawing on the guilt deep in your stomach. You follow Toriel inside, and she goes into the kitchen, and starts moving around some cooking supplies. While pots and pans clatter around, she says
"Go rest, there's a spare bed in the first room down the hallway" she points down to the hallway "I'll make some pie, and then we can talk."
And you start to freak out a bit.
Flowey watched the human as they encountered Toriel. Man, was he in luck! A new human to toy around with! If Flowey was completely honest with himself, he did think about resetting a few times. The only thing that stopped him was his memories of being Asriel, Absolute God Of Hyperdeath. He didn't want to go through that again, but with this new, strange human? He finally found a good excuse to reset. Despite what Flowey said to the human, he wasn't able to save the memories of every monster in the underground, not even everyone Frisk encountered on their journey. He was only able to save the memories of eight; Toriel and Asgore, Papyrus and Sans, Undyne and Alphys, and finally, Mettaton and Napstablook. Despite this, Flowey reasoned that it was a good way to spark some chaos into this timeline. Ah, the confusion that would endure. Though, something still nagged at the back of Flowey's mind… Why was this human here? How did the one controlling their timeline end up in it?