Asgore joined in at the gathering. Everything had gone completely smoothly; it looked like he'd had a lot of fun talking with residents and playing with the dogs. Both Undyne and Papyrus seemed happy with the outcome, too. No harm done.
After all that was said and done... Flowey had to concede, that, the signs had been there all along. From the old shoe in Waterfall, to the box of shoes in his room in the old house... but that was all in hindsight now.
A lifetime had passed, since he'd last been in here...
His room... their room. It was cold without Chara around. Lifeless. A knot tied in his non-existent chest as old memories washed over him. He'd been avoiding coming here for a long time, knowing the reality that greeted him would not be the same as the one he remembered; the memories were more comforting when he could pretend things hadn't changed.
In a way, he was right. The room had been left untouched since the night of his and Chara's deaths... yet somehow, that just made things worse.
On the floor, sitting exactly where they'd left them were two white boxes, neatly tied up with red ribbons. Flowey knew that the box closest to Chara's bed contained a dagger. It had been his last gift to them; knowing of their keen interest in gardening, he'd wanted to get them something special. It hadn't been easy to come by... his mother was very against letting them have anything sharp, and it took a lot of persuasion for his father to finally find a workaround. The blade was used, and just blunt enough to pass his mother's approval. He looked at the box forlornly, letting out a small sigh. They never even got the chance to see it.
He turned his attention away to the second box. This was Chara's gift to him, given right before they'd enacted their plan. It was also unopened... they'd agreed to open their gifts in celebration, after freeing everyone. In truth, he'd been far too worried about his sibling slowly dying in their bed to even think about presents. But he never doubted them... why did he have to go and ruin everything...
Flowey extended a vine and pulled the box towards himself. He probably didn't even deserve this gift anymore, after what he'd done... but he at least needed to know what it was. Just... just so he wouldn't have to wonder anymore. Just to tie up this last loose end... so he could move on with his plans.
Carefully, he untied the red-ribbon bow - still sturdy after all this time - and lifted away the lid. Something inside caught the light, glimmering with a metallic sheen. He reached in and scooped it out, it was... a locket? It hung daintily from its chain, a golden heart with the words 'Best Friends Forever' engraved onto the front. He manipulated a tendril into the latch and gently pried it open. It was empty.
Such a kind and thoughtful gift. Chara knew exactly what he would have wanted, what would have made him happy.. and yet, he felt as hollow as its contents. He stared at the necklace for a long moment before lowered it back into its box. Regret. That was all he could feel right now, overbearing regret.
I'll make it up to you, Chara, this time i'll do everything right. I'll free everyone, just like we planned. I promise.
Flowey felt a strange sense of accomplishment as he slipped away from his old room. It was like a weight had been lifted, a weight he'd never even realized was there... though it also left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.
He dug downwards, following the elevator shaft connecting the capitol to Hotland until he reached the lowest depth it would go. A sudden, muffled scream rose through the walls and reverberated in the lift's metal casing. He swallowed hard against the wave of grid-locking doubt and apprehension rising inside of him. He could do this, he'd faced his fears once already, he could do it again.
Entering into the lab, the rooms and corridors were just as cold and uninviting as he'd remembered from the last timeline; though now everything was also covered in a sticky layer of slime.
"P-please j-just calm down, I brought you food!" Alphys' voice drifted from around a corner, an indecipherable rabble of noises followed in response; like a dozen different monsters were all trying to speak at once. Flowey followed the voices.
"Wh... e... n... can... I... see... my... s-"
"Soon! Y-you will all be released soon! I-I just need to m-make sure your conditions aren't going to uh... get worse. I... p-promise."
"Get worse...?"
"Get worse...?"
"Get worse...?"
"How can it get worse?!"
"How can it get worse?!"
"How can it get worse?!"
"W-well um... l-look on the bright side, at least you're not d-dead?... heh..."
He pulled away a floor panel quietly and surfaced beside an open doorway. Peeking inside, he spotted Alphys backed up against a switch on the wall with a paper bag held tightly in her claws. Three 'monsters' surrounded her, all oozing slime and barely keeping their shapes.
A monster that looked like a mix between a fish, a worm and a slime scowled at her.
"And this is better?!"
"And this is better?!"
"And this is better?!" Multiple voices overlapped as it spoke, making the sound abnormally loud and painful to listen to.
Alphy's winced. "I-i'm sure I can fix this! Just give me t-time to work on it!"
A monster resembling Snowdrake combined with two vegetoids took a step forwards. "Th... en... I... can... see... s... s... no... wy...?"
Alphys tried to back away, but there was nowhere left to back into. Before she could speak again, the third monster - some kind of impossible bird - opened it's mouth and unleashed an indescribable, unholy screech. The bag held within the her claws rustled as her whole body shook and she sputtered desperately for a response.
He couldn't say that she didn't deserve this after what she'd done... but regardless of how he felt about the scientist, he had a promise to keep.
"Howdy!" Flowey said, appearing at the door. All the melted monsters spun around to face him, and what remained of the color in Alphy's face drained away. "Can I join in with your meeting?"
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?" The first monster demanded.
Flowey was unsure whether it was aggressive, or just had a naturally fearsome appearance... well, as 'natural' as a creature like that could be. "Me? Oh I'm-"
"Th-the flower!" Alphys cut him off. "I-I didn't know you-"
"Oh, I know everything." Flowey cut back, disregarding his previous train of though. He held a steady smile on his face. "I know how you created me, and how you created..." He looked the melted monsters up and down. "Them. I know that it all went wrong, and I know that you're covering it up!"
Alphys collapsed to her knees and covered her face with her hands. She shook her head slowly from side to side and muttered the same word under her breath over and over. "nononononono..."
Flowey ignored her. "But you know what?" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; these next words would take a lot of effort to say. "I forgive you."
Alphys looked up. "... W-what?"
"I forgive you." He repeated. "And I want to help you fix everything."
"Y-you want... but I-I don't know how y-"
"Hey, it's either accept my offer, or risk me revealing your secret to everyone. After all, it's not like you can keep me contained here like the others." Flowey caught himself before his anger could rise any higher and derail his speech. After a moment he continued. "Besides, it looks like you could really use the help."
Alphys said nothing, she looked between him, the melted monsters and the paper bag still held in her claws. Eventually, she slumped against the wall and slid down to the ground.
She looked across at him in defeat. "Okay... s-so what did you have in mind?"
"I want to finish what you started."
Her eyes went wide. "Th-the determination experiments...? No, no no. That research was a dead end, s-starting it up again would only cause more things to go wrong!"
"Don't worry." He reassured. "I'll make sure we don't make the same mistakes as you did last time."
Despite how hopelessly resigned she'd looked a moment ago, Alphys shook her head. "N-no." She said stubbornly. "I won't risk it!"
Even with the risk of her secret coming out, she was still too afraid to try and fix her mistakes? "Y'know, I wonder what Undyne would think if she ever found out about how you gave in trying after messing up..." He coaxed.
Alphys frowned. "U-Undyne?... W-who's that?"
Oh, of course, they hadn't met each other yet! "Asgore, then." He corrected quickly.
Alphys scrunched up her eyes. The melted monsters looked between her and Flowey but didn't say a word, gradually they backed away to the walls as if to spectate.
"Okay... b-but under one condition." Alphys said finally, putting on a faulty air of confidence as she pulled herself to her feet once more. "No more injecting d-determination into anything. We will have to find another way."
Flowey smiled broadly and nodded. "Agreed."
He didn't want that can of worms opened up again anyway; more than enough monsters and... uh... 'other' had suffered from the reckless use of that substance. The research itself should still have some value though... at least, he had to hope so.
"G-good, well..." Alphys stood clutching the paper bag to her chest awkwardly, her eyes darting between the faces of each monster in the room. "I need to go now... b-but i'll be back later!" She handed the bag to the closest monster and hurried out the door.
While the melted monsters dug through its contents and the scent of noodles permeated the air, Flowey watched Alphys leave. Of all the monsters in the Underground, she may yet be his biggest challenge. But no matter how much he hated her... and he really did... she was also his best hope. Maybe they could redeem each other...
Everyone deserved a second chance, right?
He smiled at that spark of hope as the scientist's tail vanished past the door-frame of the room beyond, then movement caught his eye. He turned to find a mirror, reflecting a shelf of slime-covered golden flowers on the other side of the room. There were no monsters here.
Huh, weird. Oh well, it was probably just his imagination...