Flowey thought he was probably intruding. He had wandered in on an incredibly personal moment, the three humans all in clear emotional distress. In another time, he would have felt bad for interrupting their feelings, but his main concern at the moment was keeping them alive.
"Humans," he spoke softly at first, trying to get their attention. No response, much to his frustration. "Girls!" he screeched, making them notice him.
"Flowey?" Renee grinned, tears ceasing, as she started to crawl the few feet over to him, "You came! I knew you wouldn't abandon us." She stopped short, taking in his bruised petals, one torn along the edge. "Flowey! You're hurt! What happened?"
The flower shook his head, dismissing her worry, "We don't have much time. I let myself be spotted for a second and got in a fight. I knew that monsters would report to Toriel that I was in the area and she'd go out looking for me. We don't know how quick she'll be back. We have to get you guys out of here now."
"You let yourself get hurt for us, Flowey? That isn't fair." Eliza also scooted over on the floor, reaching for the injured monster.
"I'll heal fast enough. Ignore it. It was necessary." Flowey snapped before registering their truly concerned looks. He tried to put on a comforting face, "I'll be okay, really."
Millie stood up, wiping away the remnants of her tears and attempting to appear completely in control once again. There was no way that she was going to appear weak in front of any monster. Still, she felt bad that Flowey had gotten injured. "There is some magic pie in the kitchen that healed Eliza. Though it would be a risk to eat any, it seems to have some strange side effects."
Flowey let out a hiss, drawing back and looking between the three humans. "One of you had some of Toriel's food? How much did you have?"
"Only a bite, and whatever it did to me has worn off by now, other than the healing aspects. But we managed to avoid eating the whole slices she wanted us to have for breakfast." Eliza assured Flowey, wondering what could cause such a dramatic reaction to the mention of her food.
The flower relaxed, previously stiffened petals drooping in relief, "Thank goodness."
"What's wrong with the food? It isn't poisoned or something, is it?" Renee stood suddenly and pulled Eliza up with her, looking her friend up and down for any sign of illness.
"No, no. How magic is used is all about the intent of the user. Before, magic was often used almost completely positively, for healing, protective magic." Flowey froze up again, eyes downcast, "But after things changed the monsters down here started to use it differently. It's become corrupted. Many use it for harmful attack power. Some use it as a way to temporarily forget the horrors of this world. Toriel uses it to brainwash humans into loving her and needing to stay with her."
"So it is like a drug." Renee noted, "You can use it to heal, but you can also abuse it."
"Exactly. And it's just as addictive in the form that you currently find all over the underground." Flowey shifted and clasped his leaves together, "which is why I can't believe I'm saying this."
Flowey drew himself up; he needed all his strength to say what he was about to propose, "Let's take it with us."
Eliza and the others pulled back, shocked by what he was suggesting.
"What? Why, Flowey? That stuff was…wrong. I can speak from experience," Eliza tilted her head, trying to think of any good reason he would have to suggest bringing what he had described as corrupt magic.
Flowey started an explanation, but then glanced at the front door behind them. "We're wasting too much time. The pie is in the kitchen, right? Meet me in the kitchen."
The flower monster disappeared into the floorboards, and the trio walked quickly to the kitchen, finding him already there.
Flowey made a gesture encompassing the kitchen, "Find something to stick the pie in. Go on, search."
The three friends exchanged a look. They were taking orders from a monster. He had promised to help them, but still. But it made more sense to look for a container and ask questions while they were searching. They split to look through different areas.
"Eliza makes a good point. Why are we bringing the stuff with us if it's like what you say?" Millie asked, reaching into the back of a cabinet to move some things.
Flowey sighed, "Toriel may be crazy, but she still has the best healing magic in the underground. We'll keep it with us for if someone gets really hurt."
"Why would anyone be getting really hurt? Isn't the exit close once we get by Toriel?" Renee climbed up onto a counter to reach a higher storage area, making a small frustrated sound when all that was up there were cookbooks.
Normally the girls were able to hear Flowey shifting. Leaves rustling, stem creaking just a bit, the background noise was constant when he was present. So they knew something was wrong when not a sound came from his direction. All three paused their search, switching their attention to their still friend.
His face was downcast, his voice but a whisper, "I'm not going to lie to you. This is just the beginning. The monsters we are going to face once we get past her are much, much, worse. They will try to kill you and there is a good chance they might succeed."
The foreboding prediction hung in the room, suffocating any action.
Millie was the first to break the silence, "We'll bring the pie."
At that, they all began to look again. There was nothing they could do to change the facts, just deal with them the best they could.
"I found one!" Eliza called, pulling a tupperware container and lid out of a corner cabinet and holding it above her head.
Renee ran over and grabbed it, and made quick work of fitting the pie in and sealing it.
"There. Now put it in one of your bags and forget about it." Flowey directed.
They all felt physically better once the pie was tucked away in Renee's bag, out of sight and out of mind.
"Now how do we get out? The front door is locked, and I didn't see a way out of here while Toriel led us here anyway." Eliza shifted uncomfortably on her feet. There were no clocks that she had seen in Toriel's house so far. There was no way to keep track of time, and she felt twitchy not knowing how long they had to escape.
Flowey was quick to respond, "There's a door down in the basement."
"Those stairs in the front entryway?" Millie spoke. It wasn't a question, just a plan.
The Flower nodded. "Meet you there."
They moved quickly back toward the front door, all desperate to get out as fast as possible. However, there was almost a feeling of joviality alongside their desperation. They were going to get out of there. They were making progress.
Any happiness there was faltered as they came upon Flowey glaring down their path to freedom.
"What's wrong, Flowey?" Renee kept some hope in her voice. Maybe he was just upset about something. He was a strange monster after all.
He let out a growl of frustration. "She's locked it. We're going to have to find the key."
Millie scoffed. "This little chain? Come on, we can just step over it"
She was stepping over before Flowey could even start his cry, "Don't!"
With a flash a light Millie went rocketing back into the wall behind them.
Shaking her head she pulled her foot up and rubbed it tenderly. "Ow! Ow. Ow. What was that?"
"A magic lock. I could just pop up past it, but there's no way for you to get through without the key." Flowey was put out. These humans were just going to get hurt every way possible, weren't they? Still… "I will get you through, somehow."
Eliza clasped her hands together. There had to be some way to solve this. "So, we have to find the key. Let's search. My best bet would be Toriel's room."
They all moved quickly down the hall, stopping when Flowey pointed at a door.
Millie reached out, grabbing the handle and turning. "Oh, great. Toriel's room is locked, of course. So now we have to find a key to get into a room to find a key."
A leafy hand touched the door, and Flowey grinned. "There isn't a barrier on this door. I'll just open it from the other side." He disappeared and the door swung open a second later. "Here we are."
It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the room. A light hung overhead, clearly lighting the entire space. Everything was visible. A queen-sized bed, a long dresser, a desk, and some blooming cacti. At first glance it appeared fine, but with a second it was clear the plants were dead, the brightly colored flowers they were sprouting fakes, glued on to give them a semblance of life.
Of course, no one would immediately feel at ease in the room, even if they didn't notice the plants, with the large mirror above the dresser shattered and their cracked reflections staring back at them.
"This is… pleasant." Renee swallowed her fear and stepped into the room.
Millie shook her head, not one for sugarcoating. "It's creepy, that's what it is."
Eliza was ignoring them, already giving the room a quick once-over search. Looking under the bed, her eyes latched onto something familiar. "Guys! Look! Our weapons!" She pulled out her quiver, sliding it onto her shoulder.
Millie rushed over, quickly accepting the bat that Eliza passed to her.
"I am never losing you again," Millie directed at the bat, stepping back and giving it one texting swing before resting it on her shoulder.
If Flowey could tap his foot, he would. Instead, he had to settle for anxious twitching. "Okay, that's great. Being armed is great. But look for a key!"
Spreading out like they had during the previous search of the kitchen, the three went through the room.
"Nothing." "Got anything?" "Nope."
"This drawer is locked." Renee tugged at the top dresser door.
"This is like a nightmare puzzle!" Millie growled, wandering over to try and help her friend bust it open. "Locks upon locks."
"Let me!" Eliza pushed them away, kneeling to look at the lock. "Oh, this one is so doable." She stood and grabbed a hair clip off of the dresser before turning her full attention to the drawer. A few minutes later, it popped open with a click.
She opened the drawer and stepped aside, showing her work. "Voila!"
A single book sat alone in the drawer.
Mille reached in, picking it up and flipping open the cover. "It's a diary. Toriel's diary?"
Renee grabbed it out of her hand and closed it. "We should leave that alone. It isn't our place. That's personal." She moved to put it back in the drawer.
"Don't you dare. If you won't read it, give it to me," Eliza pulled it from Renee's hands, flipping it back open to the first page.
"That's so wrong, Eliza. You shouldn't be doing that." Millie made a grab for the book as well.
Eliza sidestepped the attempted theft and leaned against a wall, already skimming the contents. "Somewhere it might say where she keeps stuff. Besides, we are all assuming that she's an absolute nutcase, but it would be easier to pass fair judgment if we have more information."
Eliza didn't like the idea but couldn't deny it's truth. "And, if absolutely necessary, it could give us something to use against her."
Flowey was nodding. "She's right. Toriel might have written where she keeps the key in there. But hopefully we will be out of here without ever having to see her again if we find the key first, so we should keep looking. Turn this room upside down!"
Eliza read while the others went back to searching.
"The first section of this starts with her talking about caring for a human that had fallen down." Eliza turned through a few pages, picking out the child's name repeatedly. "It really sounds like she loved them."
"Oh." Eliza stopped at a page shredded around the edges, the writing shaky. "But then they left through the door in the basement at night. She mourned them… says that their loss is like… what losing her real children had been like."
"I told you that reading that was too personal." Renee's voice oozed I-told-you-so, but not enough to cover her genuine sadness at hearing about Toriel's loss.
"This literally spans hundreds of years." Eliza flipped rapidly through the book, watching the dates jump, sometimes by as much as a decade. "Her handwriting slowly gets harder to read. This is a section with another child. They fell, and she took care of them. They were planning to stay, but then a 'demon flower' convinced them to 'betray her' and move forward. At this point she swears to kill that flower."
The three girls stopped at looked at Flowey. After all, who else could Toriel be writing about?
Flowey shrunk at the unwanted attention. "She was already beginning be unstable at that point. She hadn't hurt a kid yet, but something told me... Didn't matter anyway. They were captured and killed after they left." Flowey made a harried gesture, trying to move away from the topic. "Move forward. Keep looking."
"Another time another child… she killed this one when they tried to leave." Eliza's face is blank, at his point just giving the information as she reads it. "She mourned them, goes on about how she never wanted to hurt them."
"This is getting to be a bit too much, Eliza." Millie spoke, both her and Renee pausing from looking for the key.
"At this point she describes taking care of another child. Actually, it seems like this one stayed with her for years," Eliza can't help but smile a bit at the goat monster's words, "Toriel's handwriting gets better. She constantly describes how much joy this child brings to her life. She was finally happy. Oh!" Eliza gasped and pulled her gaze away from the journal.
"What?" Renee let out a whisper. She had an awful feeling.
Eliza looked back at the journal, disbelief lacing her voice. "She killed them in their sleep. She was too anxious that they might try to leave her. She says that at least this way they didn't hurt. Their soul could move on. It was a mercy killing, unlike the torturous death that would come from-"
"Asgore." Another voice interrupted, filling the girls and Flowey with dread.
The goat woman had an unreadable expression as she took a step into the room, and everyone's breath stopped.
Together, they had been caught red-handed.