Frisk shot up in bed, screaming.

"Frisk!" Flowey shouted. "Stop! It's okay! You're okay!"

Frisk was back in Toriel's house, lying in the children's bedroom. Flowey was sitting in her lap, stroking her leg comfortingly. "Hey, it's okay," he said.

Frisk breathed heavily. "W-what?" she looked around the room, confused. "W-how-what?"

"I don't know," Flowey said. "One minute you were on fire and the next—"

"Oh my—" she put a palm to her face. She exhaled slowly and looked back up, tears brimming her blue eyes. "What is going on?"

Flowey sighed. "I . . . I think I have a guess—"

"Are you alright my child!" Toriel slammed open the door, holding a gross-looking pie with something red drizzled on top. Flowey ducked down, pretending to be a normal flower.

Frisk had a serious case of deja vu. "Um, nothing," Frisk blushed. "Sorry, I just, uh, had a nightmare. No need to worry."

Toriel's face softened. "Well, I made you a pie," she said, holding up said pie. "And I was hoping you could help me with the rest of them."

"The rest of them . . . ?" Frisk looked around the room, everything exactly like it had been before she had ran.

Toriel laughed, just like she had before. "The other pies, dear! What did you think I meant?"

Frisk looked back to Toriel who was smiling brightly and holding out that nasty pie. Frisk shook her head. Maybe she dozed off and had that really, vivid nightmare.

But that wasn't possible. Frisk never had dreams that realistic, and there was no way that this person would be so terrifying later.

Right?

"W-well," Toriel cleared her throat. She set the pie down on the floor, looking a little awkward. "When you're ready to help . . . you know where I am."

Toriel scurried away, leaving Flowey and Frisk alone. Frisk exhaled deeply and Flowey popped his head out from under her leg. "What do we do now?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked. "I just woke up from a nightmare, so—"

"That wasn't a nightmare," Flowey interrupted.

Frisk sighed in despair. "Well, then what happened, exactly?" she asked. "Because I'm freaking out right now!"

"I don't know," Flowey put a leaf to his top petals. "I'm starting to get a headache . . ."

"I know how you feel," Frisk scoffed.

Flowey sighed. "I just . . . " he paused. "One minute, you were dying—or dead, I don't know. And then the next . . .?" he shook his head. "This is all too strange for me."

"Listen, Flowey," she said. "There are lots of strange things. Jell-o is strange. My neighbor Barry is strange. You might even call my school a bit strange. But this? Landing underground and being dragged through some damp tunnels by a deranged goat for reasons I can't fathom with only a talking, sentient flower to keep you company isn't strange. It's . . . it's beyond strange." She laughed a little. "I'm not even sure any of this is real. And since we're going all-out crazy, why not add reincarnation or life-like dreams or whatever that was to the list?"

She breathed in and out to calm herself. When she finally looked at Flowey again and noticed his hurt expression, she sighed. "Sorry," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just a little disoriented is all."

Then Frisk had an idea. If time had wound back, did that mean that everything was in it's proper place? And if so, what part in time was she exactly?

Frisk slowly moved her feet to the floor. "What are you doing?" Flowey asked.

"I just want to check something," Frisk said, sliding to the floor and checking under the bed. As she had thought, the shoe was there, still bloody and toe sitting at the heel. So, it was after the toe incident, but before Frisk read the inscription on the wall . . .

Frisk shot up. The inscription! Of course, how could she forget!

"Flowey, come take a look at this for me, will you?" Frisk said, moving toward the head of the bed. It only took her a few seconds until she located the inscription. "Here, this," she said and pointed at the wall.

Flowey squeezed in and tilted his head to the side. "What—" his face slowly fell from confused to shock to fear.

For a second, Frisk believed she heard him whisper, "Chara . . ." but it was probably her imagination.

"When did you find this?" he asked suddenly.

Frisk looked at him. "The last time. Before we had . . . you know, run away?"

"And you didn't tell me?"

"W-well sorry," Frisk chuckled nervously. "I was really startled by it. Plus you were asleep, and I—"

Flowey looked very angry and his head shot up to look at her. "Next time, I don't care what I'm doing, even if I'm dying, you tell me what you find. Anything."

The tone in his voice made Frisk flinch. "Yeah, sure," she said in slight shock. "Whatever you say, your Majesty."

When Flowey was silent, Frisk said softly, "That was just a joke."

Flowey didn't laugh. "Just . . ." He shook his head. "Never mind. Don't forget to tell me next time, okay?"

Frisk nodded, feeling to be more cautious around the flower. She looked back to the message, trying to see if there was a difference, and yet it looked exactly the same as before.

Frisk sighed and stood up from her kneeling position, her knees starting to hurt. "I . . . uh, I think I'll help out Toriel," she said.

Flowey didn't respond.

"Okay, well, um . . ." Frisk stood there for a moment, feeling awkward. Then, without another word, she turned and left, the flower still staring at the wall.

Frisk closed the door to the room with a clack and began her trek to the kitchen, where she could hear Toriel humming and chopping at something. She made her way to the living room, feeling several different emotions.

First off, she felt scared. Of course she would feel scared! That horrible, spine chilling, mind numbing, gut clenching, pain inducing feeling had stalked her since she was a child. It almost had come as a welcome sight to Frisk, since she was so used to it at this point.

Secondly, she felt very confused, mostly about Flowey's situation. He had to have known what the message meant, and yet she felt like he was trying to hide it from her. But why? And why was he so hostile about the message? Did it remind him of something? She shook her head wondering if Flowey hated her now.

He had looked so scared earlier, and now . . . well, something must have reminded him of his past, considering how he had been so shocked at seeing the message. And what had he said? Chara? Who—or what—was that?

But most of all, Frisk felt sad. What she had said to Flowey had probably hurt his feelings, and it didn't help that he had said mean things in return. And if what had happened between Frisk and Toriel had really happened, then the goat monster was in much more pain than either the yellow flower or the young woman could have thought.

WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY?! Frisk heard Toriel's final words to her echoing in her ears. The pain behind every "why" was manifested in each magic fireball to be thrown Frisk's way. Frisk understood, now, why Toriel was so lonely. Everyone had left her, even those who had promised to stay.

Like Frisk.

But that didn't explain why she had . . . killed—Frisk could only assume—those other children. If she didn't want them to leave, why did she scare them off?

You were leaving me? Just like the others? Just like . . . Asriel? Frisk remembered. She had heard of that name twice now, from Toriel and from the message on the wall. Who were they, and why did they matter so much to be mentioned so many times?

Frisk entered the kitchen, and not a moment too soon, for Toriel was just making the final pie, stuffing in . . . well, something that looked a lot like meat into the pie. Frisk swallowed hard, knowing by this point that Toriel probably was stuffing meat into a pie, and that meat had probably come from the bleeding bag.

"Oh, Frisk!" Toriel smiled wide. She pointed to the knife on the counter. "Would you be a dear and grab that knife for me? I need your assistance once I'm finished this pie."

Frisk inhaled sharply, feeling a sudden fear of the woman. Was Toriel going to hurt her, or kill her like last time? But she quickly quelled the notion and moved to get the knife. "Thank you, my child," Toriel said, turning back to the pie.

Frisk gripped the knife by the handle, her small hand easily wrapping around the hilt.

Frisk gripped the knife by the handle, her small hand easily wrapping around the hilt. For a scary second, she thought about stabbing the old goat woman and making a run for it. And the thought stayed for more than a couple of seconds. Frisk shook her head. What was happening to her?

"Here," Frisk hesitantly handed Toriel the knife. Toriel gave a warm smile in return, turning the knife expertly in her hand until she had it by the hilt.

"Alright, Frisk, time to help me," Toriel said, turning to Frisk, knife still in hand. Frisk smiled nervously and took a step back.

"H-help you w-w-with what?" she asked, hating that her voice was shaking. She really did want to give the woman the benefit of the doubt, and hope that the goat didn't intend to hurt her.

"Tell me," Toriel edged closer to Frisk, the knife starting to look very threatening. "Where's the flower that was in your beautiful brown hair?"

"O-oh," Frisk flashed a quick smile and put her hand to her ear where Flowey had been hidden earlier. "Well, I took it out for a short while."

"I see," Toriel chuckled. "But you know, I don't really believe you."

Frisk retreated until her back hit the wall, the door only a few feet away from her. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You see, I didn't see the flower in your hair before we reached the tunnels, even though it was a buttercup, same as the ones you fell on," Toriel explained. "Only, there are no buttercups that far into the tunnels. So tell me, who's your friend?"

Frisk's eyes widened. "W-what?"

Toriel grinned bitterly, "You brought him with you, didn't you? Flowey."

Time to go, Frisk thought, making a wild dash for the exit.

"You can't leave this place!" Toriel called. "You can't leave me!"

How did she know Flowey?! Was this the reason he was so afraid of the goat woman? What was their relationship—

SLASH! Frisk skidded to a stop, Toriel's knife imbedded into the wall in front of her. She felt her cheek, blood already silently dripping from the small wound.

"Okay," she muttered, reaching for the door handle. "No time to pick up Flowey."

But large, fluffy hands grabbed Frisk's wrist and pulled her away from the door. "You won't leave me!" Toriel cackled. "I'm going to keep you here with me, forever!"

"Let me go!" Frisk tried to wiggle her way out of Toriel's grip, but it was useless.

"You're just like the others!" Toriel shrieked. She pulled Frisk closer to the knife in the wall, presumably to get close enough to stab Frisk. Frisk struggled harder. "And that annoying flower . . . always getting in the way . . ."

Frisk saw Toriel grip the hilt of the knife out of the corner of her wide blue eyes. "But not worry," Toriel said, bringing the knife out toward Frisk's throat. "Your SOUL and your meat are mine! We'll be together forever, as you become a part of me!"

Does she mean to . . . eat me?!

It made sense. The meat pies, the message . . . all of it. Did that mean that Toriel killed those other children so she could . . . eat them? But then, wouldn't she still be lonely? Well, not if she thought that they would never leave her if they . . . became a part of her. But . . .

Toriel stabbed out toward Frisk's heart, knife leading the way. Frisk dodged the attack to the best of her ability, getting the knife lodged into her shoulder.

Frisk cried out in pain as blood gushed from the wound. She hit an artery . . .

"Hold still," Toriel said in a dangerous voice.

"S-stop," Frisk said shakily.

Toriel stabbed down again, this time hitting Frisk just below the heart. Frisk gasped in pain, knowing a wound like that was fatal.

"Please!" Frisk attempted. "I know you're lonely, but—"

"You know nothing!" Toriel hissed, bringing the knife up once more.

Frisk was powerless at this point. She felt dizzy and cold; the amount of blood she lost was probably enough for her to pass out . . . or kill her. But she wasn't about to give up.

"I know about Asriel," Frisk bluffed.

Toriel stopped, her face paling. "W-what? How do you . . ."

"I know about Asriel," she repeated. "And Chara."

The knife dropped to the floor with a clang. "A-Asriel? Chara . . .?" Toriel's grin faded to be replaced with a sneer. "Where did you learn those names?"

"They were here, right?" Frisk asked. "They were your children."

"Stop," Toriel put her hands over her ears. "Stop it."

Frisk took a shaky breath, the hole in her chest making it harder and harder to breathe. She could feel her heart slowing down, the pump having nothing to pump. "Asriel died, right? And because of that . . ."

"ENOUGH!" Toriel shouted.

~}-{~

Frisk woke again in bed, but this time she wasn't screaming. Flowey was snuggled up, fast asleep. So, he had awoken to her screams last time.

Flowey shifted in his sleep, yawning and coming to. "Wh-what?" he asked. "How did Iㅡ"

"Morning," Frisk sighed. "I think I just died again."

Flowey's face flashed a quick look of shame, but it was quickly replaced by confusion as he looked up at Frisk. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That," he pointed a leaf at Frisk's ear. "I'm pretty sure that wasn't there before."

Frisk put a hand to her ear, feeling around until she found it. It felt like a flower was stuck in her hair. "Huh, weird," she said, and then tried to pull it out.

"OUCH!" she screamed, the flower still in it's place. "What the—"

"What?" Flowey asked in a concerned tone. "What is it?"

She tried again, only this time it was more painful. "OW OW OW OW OW!" She let go of the flower. "It feels like I'm pulling out my brain with sheer force!"

"What?" Flowey scrunched up his face. "But . . . it's a flower, right? A yellow one like me."

"A buttercup?" Frisk asked. "But what is it doing on my body? Well, a part of my body, really."

"I'm sure it cuddled up there to enjoy the smell of your hair," he said dryly.

Flowey thought for a minute. "Hey, Frisk?" he asked. "Do you have any more of those flowers on your body?"

Frisk thought it to be an odd question, but decided to humor the talking flower. Frisk checked her body, looking for another small buttercup. It wasn't too hard to find, surprisingly, since it was on her stomach. And, like before, when she tugged at the flower a searing pain erupted across her whole midsection. "What are these things?" Frisk wondered.

"Are there any others?" Flowey suddenly asked. "And have you seen these before?"

"I think I'd know if I had seen flowers growing on my body," she muttered. "And there aren't any others; just these two."

"Hmm . . ." Flowey put a leaf to his non-existent chin. "And you've died twice now?"

Frisk nodded.

"What if the flowers and the deaths are connected?"

"What, like a scoreboard or something?" Frisk scoffed.

"Well, it's possible!" Flowey shrugged.

Frisk thought about it for a moment. These things were permanent―or at least she assumed, since she couldn't pull them out without damaging herself―so what was to say they weren't a reminder of how many times she'd died and come back to life. It kinda reminded her of a video game, except instead of limited lives, she had magic flowers growing on her body.

"Do you wanna test this theory?" Frisk asked.

"What, and kill yourself?" Flowey joked.

Frisk didn't smile.

"Wait, you aren't seriously considering―"

"It's worth a shot," Frisk shrugged.

"Frisk, this is dangerous," Flowey warned.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I'm dying. But hey, I've come back twice now!"

"But what if you don't come back next time? You gotta keep in mind―"

"What else have I got to lose?" Frisk sighed. "Flowey, I'm stuck underground, with a flower as my only companion, and a goat monster who's already killed me. Twice."

Flowey looked hurt, yet again. Frisk bit her lip and said, "I'm sorry, Flowey. I'm just scared right now about what is going on. I mean, everyone where I come from says that once you're dead, you don't come back. Ever. So, this is kinda new for me."

Flowey nodded, flower seemed to take everything so well. And how did he always remember everything that happened after every death?

"Wait, Flowey?" Frisk asked. "Last time, Toriel knew who you were. What . . . what is your relation to her?"

Flowey tensed. "Oh, um . . . well . . ."

"Flowey?"

"W-well," Flowey cleared his throat. "You must know that you aren't the only human to fall down the mountain, right?"

"Right . . . ?"

"So, um, I . . . I always help them," Flowey said. "Everyone that falls is so confused and scared. Well, aside from the violent ones. Those ones are mean and just like everyone else in this horrible, he―"

"Flowey," Frisk politely interrupted. "You're rambling."

"Right, right," Flowey rubbed his leaves together. "Well, everytime I see a new person, I help them. I think I do it because I know how terrifying Toriel can be, but also because I'm hoping I can help them before they die . . . or worse, become just as bad as the monsters down here."

"So that's what she meant," Frisk murmured. "Ha ha! She kept saying that you always got in the way!"

Flowey blushed. "So, yeah, I guess that's how she knew me."

Frisk inhaled the smell of baking pie and wondered why Toriel hadn't come in yet. Frisk had screamed, so what . . .?

"Flowey? Is it possible that Toriel has been listening in on the conversation this whole time?"

Flowey paled. "Oh, I sure hope not."

A sudden knock on the door made Frisk jump. "Frisk?" Toriel's voice was muffled by the door. "I know you're in there. Come out and help me with something, please."

The door handle jiggled, and Frisk was glad she locked it earlier. "Uh, just a moment, please!" Frisk called. Then to Flowey, "What do I do?"

"Who are you talking to?" Toriel asked.

"Um, no one?" Frisk bit her lip, hating the way it sounded like a question.

The handle jiggled harder, to the point of shaking the door. "Frisk, unlock the door," Toriel's voice was rough. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"Just a minute!"

"Act like nothing is going on!" Flowey whispered harshly. Frisk nodded and headed for the door, Flowey tucking himself under the covers of the bed.

Unlocking the door, Frisk was very surprised when she saw Toriel looming over her with a knife in hand. Not again.

~}-{~

"OK, we need to come up with a plan of action," Frisk said as she stood up from off the bed. Two more buttercup appeared on her left temple and on the back of her head, four flowers in total now. After she had opened the door for Toriel, the goat monster had killed her when spotting one of Flowey's leaves under the covers. The time after that, Frisk had tried again to run from the house, only this time using a different route; the result of having done so was almost exactly like the first time she had died.

"I agree," Flowey sighed. "Last time was really weird."

"Yeah, so I think I have it figured out," Frisk said, starting to pace. "Toriel comes to the door if I take too long to come out of the room. If I come out of the room and into the kitchen, she kills me. But if I try to run out the front door-no matter where I go-she finds me and kills me. Is that sounding right to you?"

Flowey nodded solemnly.

"And everytime I die-like you hypothesised-a new flower appears somewhere on my body."

Frisk rubbed her face and stopped pacing. "So, what, I'm just going to keep dying forever? Is that my punishment?"

"Punishment?" Flowey asked. "What do you mean by-"

"It doesn't matter," Frisk muttered.

The two were silent as the sounds from the kitchen continued. They still had some time before Toriel would come and investigate what was taking so long.

Frisk didn't know what to do to escape anymore. Was she supposed to run? Try to reach out to Toriel? Ask for help from Napstablook? She was so confused, and frankly a little tired of her attempts at escape.

"Frisk . . . do you remember what I said to you the first time you died?" Flowey asked.

"Before or after I woke up?"

"Before."

"You said a lot of things . . . " Frisk snapped her fingers. "Oh! I do remember! You said something about the only exit being in Toriel's basement?"

Flowey nodded excitedly. "So you do remember."

"It would have been nice if you had reminded me earlier," Frisk grumped. "So what's the plan, walk right past her and out the exit?"

"Well, yeah . . ."

Frisk smiled. "That sounds a bit crazy, but what's not at this point?"

Flowey grinned too.