Sunlight. Warm sunlight, cast down upon his body. It felt so nice, here in the garden. His father's garden, full of golden buttercups that rustled gently in a light breeze around him. The holes in the throne room's ceiling were what allowed this amazing sunlight in, and Asriel felt his eyes slowly open.
His head felt light. Actually, everything felt light. Had it all been a bad dream? Had Chara…
No… it felt too real. He looked to his left. More flowers. To his right yielded the same results. He tried to rise to his feet, but only moved inches.
Confused, he looked about. He was only slightly taller than the flowers around him. What had happened? Had he shrunk somehow?
Horror struck him as he realized a horrible truth. He couldn't feel his arms. His legs, even. Just his body, which felt…
A look down confirmed the growing fear. A green stem stuck out of the bottom of his head.
He was… a flower.
He couldn't take it. He felt a surge of emotion. Fear, mostly, but also regret, anguish, and a desire for comfort. "MOMMY!" he cried, his shrill voice echoing through the empty throne room… and there was no response. "DADDY!" he tried again, his voice breaking as he felt tears well in his eyes. "HELP ME! PLEASE!" his cries of desperation continued, his stem beginning to shake fearfully as he wanted to curl up where he was. He just wanted his parents more than anything right now.
But nobody came.
His cries went on for what felt like hours, and he was hoarse when he went silent, hanging his head among the flowers around, tears still dripping from his eyes. He felt so scared. Scared and alone. He'd never felt so alone before.
Then a heavy thud echoed from somewhere else in the castle. He perked up, turning his head to look at the entrance. "HELP!" he cried frantically. Silence… before heavy footsteps sounded. Somebody was headed his way. "HELP ME!" the flower cried again, and the pace hurried before his father rounded the corner, entering the throne room with a look of concern etched across his weathered face.
"DAD!" Asriel cried with relief. Asgore frowned, looking about for a moment- before his eyes landed on the flower. He was more confused than anything for a moment as he stared at his son, before Asriel quickly added; "Dad, it's me! It's Asriel!" his shrill voice didn't sound like he used to- but it didn't seem to matter to his father.
Asgore was on the ground, disregarding any of the flowers he was flattening to gently cradle Asriel to his face, the king wasting no time in weeping. "By Orion…" Asgore breathed, his voice shaking. "My son… my son… you're back…" he continued to cry, and Asriel finally got the comfort he wanted, held protectively by his father, but… something was wrong.
He didn't feel that relief again. It had vanished as quickly as it came. In fact, all of the emotions he'd just experienced… it was all… disappearing…
It left him silent and confused as he allowed the king to weep.
Hours passed into days. Days into weeks. Asriel remained in the garden with his father, who spent almost all of his time with his resurrected son now. They drank tea (or at least Asriel tried, but he didn't enjoy it anymore, which surprised both him and his father), they read stories, they shared tales… well, it was mostly Asgore doing all of that as he tried desperately to comfort his son, who didn't seem to respond to anything.
Asriel felt nothing about all of this. He knew how he should feel, but he just… didn't feel. At all. He felt impossibly empty inside, and he wanted to fill that emptiness with something. Anything. Even with the King, he felt alone.
"Dad?"
Asriel interrupted Asgore's story, a tale about the warrior Dhelaron when she aligned the constellations, a story he'd heard many times before. He cleared his throat, looking down at Asriel. "Yes, my son? What is it?"
"Where's mom?"
Asgore stiffened at this, his eyes shifting in shame. "She… left. After… everything. My son, I… I declared war on humanity when I thought you and…" his voice trailed off. Asriel nodded at this information, frowning.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"She left for the Violet City. To our old home. She sealed the gates and… well, we don't talk anymore," Asgore admitted, his face falling. Asriel stared back at his father. He knew he should feel something right now, but still… nothing surfaced.
He allowed Asgore to continue, but when the King left the room, Asriel decided he was done here. He had to fill this hole inside. He loved his father- or at least, he thought he used to, but he'd always been more of a momma's boy. If any living being could make him feel love again, it was his mom.
Testing his new body, the flower strained where he was before diving into the earth beneath. He never heard the tears of anguish from his father when he found Asriel had gone, but his son didn't care.
The Violet City was in ruins. Disrepair. He could remember a time when it was thriving and now… he searched through his old home, remembering the games he used to play here with Chara. Those days had been fun. He wanted to miss them, but even now, he felt nothing about it.
When he found his mother, she did as Asgore had. She cradled him and cried. He felt nothing. She read him stories, read him some more stories, and even baked him a pie that he couldn't eat. Not that he wanted to, anyway. It didn't look appealing, and he didn't need to eat anymore.
She was useless.
He still felt nothing.
So one day, he left her, too. The void within remained empty, unfilled. He was beginning to believe that this was his life now. Somehow, he'd been reborn as a flower, and now… well… he couldn't feel anything. Was that a life worth living?
He found himself at the edge of the Crimson Cavern, thinking this. Pondering these thoughts in his mind. Maybe Chara had it easy. She didn't have to suffer this fate that he was. Maybe if he was gone, he could feel something again in… whatever afterlife there was, if that even existed.
His gaze burned into the bubbling magma below.
Maybe life wasn't so bad, he still had a lot of things to occupy himself. But… he could remember her face. Chara's smile. Was life really worth living without her?
No.
He decided it wasn't.
When he closed his eyes, he pulled his roots from the ground, and felt gravity take control.
Deeper he fell, his demise nearing- but it never seemed to come. On top of that, he began to feel something.
Asriel opened his eyes in surprise, finding that the world around him was blank and empty. He was floating in nothingness, and now he finally felt something. A burning sensation deep within. Something… primal. Instinctive. Pure. Powerful.
With this overwhelming feeling, something appeared before him. A locket. A locket he recognized. It was golden in color as it floated before him, and with his gaze, it slowly opened. Within were two pictures on either side. On the left was the image of Chara, a bundle of flowers in her arms, her face obscured by them. He remembered he used to think it was cute. On the right was him. Or rather, who he used to be. The young monster smiled back at him with emerald eyes, grinning innocently. The images had been taken by some new technology developed by the Royal Scientist at the time. Who that was, Asriel couldn't remember, but it had made for a memorable childhood.
That childhood was gone. The longer he stared at the pictures, the more he got the sense he was supposed to do something. He felt like he was… supposed to choose. One picture, or the other. If he chose Chara, he would be able to return to some point in time. He was sure of it, but unaware of why. If he chose Asriel, he would… erase something. Restart something? He wasn't sure, but he knew that it was the one he needed to choose at this moment.
So he did.
Sunlight cast down upon him as he opened his eyes to find he had returned to the garden. He was confused for a moment as he gazed around, before he heard frantic footsteps, and turned to the entrance to find his father entering frantically, eyes searching the room.
Asriel frowned, staring up at him. It took a moment, but Asgore's eyes found his, and the king returned a curious look. "Oh. Hello. Were you crying for help?" he asked.
"You don't… remember me?" Asriel asked, narrowing his eyes. At this, Asgore nervously scratched at his chin.
"Er- sorry, forgive me. You'd think I'd remember a talking flower, but… I'm sorry. I don't know," he admitted and Asriel's eyes widened with a dawning realization.
He was back. Not just in the garden, but in time. He was back to this moment from before, when his emotions had vanished completely.
His mind raced with thoughts about this. This power. Had that burning feeling done this? Could he traverse time itself? When he didn't respond, Asgore continued. "You don't mind if I ask your name, do you?"
Asriel looked back at Asgore, pulled into the present. He opened his mouth to reply, before he hesitated. No, this could be… interesting.
Very interesting.
"Flowey," he grinned back, putting a fake smile on to plaster over his face. "I'm Flowey the Flower!"
"Golly, that's easy to remember. I won't forget next time!" the king assured, to which Flowey chuckled fakely.
"I'm sure you won't," before he disappeared, popping into the ground.
He began to experiment with this power. First with his death. Again and again and again, he flung himself into the fiery furnace of the underground, and every time he could come back using the locket.
He knew what this meant. The implications it brought. He could do whatever he pleased. Whenever he pleased. Nobody could stop him, even if they knew he was coming.
His next experiments were relatively harmless. He would interact with the residents of a town a few times, help them with a problem they had. He made friends. He worked and worked, making people care about him. Value him. Then he reset it all and tried again. Quickly, this bored him. People just said the same things over and over again. They weren't unique. They were like lines of jumbled words plastered together and called a 'story'.
It was pathetic.
So he tried other things. He would tell them different things, see how they'd react. He would spread lies. Rumors. Turn them against each other. He watched and waited to see what would happen. It was here that a particular skeleton monster named Papyrus took his interest.
Papyrus was a gleeful, ignorant type of monster. His innocence was unparalleled, and frankly, it pissed Flowey off.
Papyrus was dismissable in the first few timelines, but after a while, when Flowey tried to sow seeds of doubt, it was Papyrus who patched things up for just about everyone. He was a people pleaser, that was for sure. His older brother, Sans, remained as dismissable as ever. Lazy, apathetic, and never around for the interesting stuff. And his puns? Orion, his puns. Flowey wanted to burn the skeleton to the ground and dance on his dust- but that would wait.
He continued on his quest. To find something to fill his emptiness. The burning sensation only came at death. Otherwise, it wasn't there, but when he discovered others in pain, or misery… he could feel something. A sick sensation, but it was there.
And he latched onto it.
Flowey began to wonder… what would happen if he killed this person? How would others react? His next experiments began, and when he killed his first victim… he felt his power grow ever so slightly.
So he continued. He killed Alphys just to see how Undyne would react. She murdered him, multiple times until he tried again, this time killing Alphys in secret. Undyne was devastated when she learned the truth, filling Flowey with sick satisfaction. He tried it on others. Destroyed homes and families all for his pleasure. All to feel that tiny spark deep within.
He liked this.
As the timelines piled up, and the body count rose higher and higher, one thing remained constant.
Sans.
The stupid skeleton was never around when he went to kill him, outside of appearing here or there, but every time Flowey tried to catch him he was already gone. He noticed when killing Papyrus, however, that Sans seemed to disappear completely.
But Flowey was never given the chance to kill the smiley trashbag.
One day, he decided to stop the killing. Draw Sans out and have a chat, kill him at the end, finally get that satisfaction, so he had Papyrus bring his brother out to have 'fun'.
When Papyrus returned, Sans was in tow, grinning obliviously at the flower before him, poking out of the snow. "HERE HE IS, FLOWEY!" Papyrus exclaimed triumphantly. "NOW YOU TWO BE NICE TO EACH OTHER! I HAVE A SNOWBALL FIGHT WITH THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS TO DOMINATE AT!"
"oh, we will." Sans assured, winking at Papyrus, who hurried off.
"You can be sneaky, huh," Flowey stated.
Sans only shrugged. "not really," he replied. "i mostly just hide in my room. napping."
"Really?" Flowey grinned wide. "No hangouts? Secret spots? Come on, we can be pals. You can tell me."
"hm…" Sans thought for a moment. "nope."
A vine shot toward the skeleton, wrapping tightly around him and lifting him into the air, Flowey having lost his patience. "Look here you sorry sack of bones. I know you have hiding places, but I will find them."
Sans looked completely relaxed as his grin never faded, staring back at the flower. "probably not," he replied.
"Probably-" Flowey repeated, baring fangs flowers weren't supposed to possess. "You're an IDIOT if you think that. I'll enjoy ripping you into RIBBONS!"
"nah," was all the skeleton said as he walked away. Wait, what? Flowey shook his head in confusion. His vines were gripping nothing but air. How the hell had-
...
Sans was gone. Flowey let out a yell of frustration. There was something seriously off about the skeleton, no question now. How had he been able to do that? And… was he watching Flowey? He only seemed to evade him when he started killing, or when he was targeting the stupid smiley trashbag. How did he know? How could he know?
Slinking back into the earth, Flowey made a decision. He wanted to destroy Sans. What better way to draw him out than by killing every sentient being in the underground? A bold and overwhelming task, certainly… but he was capable of it.
Dust filled the air. Thick and heavy, it produced a fog that swept across the underground. The cities were silent. Empty. Dead. Every single creature was long dead now. Turned to dust. Flowey had made sure of that.
His task had been daunting, but it had paid off. Sans was finally here, standing in front of him with that stupid grin. He got the feeling that the skeleton's smile was as genuine as the flower's.
"guess you got what you wanted, huh?" Sans asked as Flowey popped out of the ground several feet in front of him.
"What do you think I wanted?" Flowey asked smugly, his twisted smile cruel.
Sans merely shrugged at this. "sick satisfaction?" he asked. "it's never been clear with you. maybe you're just curious. maybe you're just evil. you can be a friend one second, then a murderer the next."
Flowey's grin faltered for a moment. "... What?"
Sans raised a brow, grin widening slightly. "that's not even your body, is it? just hitching a ride, right? maybe we're not so different."
What the hell did the skeleton know? He was implying… no, that wasn't possible. Flowey's smile had vanished now, replaced with confusion. How the hell was this smiley trashbag aware of any of this?
"ah, who am i kidding," Sans shook his head, letting out a chuckle. "you're just in it for yourself, right asriel?"
A series of pellets struck the stone where Sans was standing, except he wasn't there anymore. He was a pace to the side, still grinning as Flowey glared at him.
"You're not like the rest," he stated. "You're… aware."
"what gave you that idea?" Sans asked, cocking his head to the side before-
Everything vanished.
Flowey stared at the locket before him, even more confused than before. How had he… what had… this wasn't… huh? He was dead? But how? Nothing had happened! He glared at the locket as it flipped open, extending a vine to press against Chara's picture, and the world returned.
Sans stood before him, hands in his pockets, grinning. "guess you got what you wanted, huh?" he asked. Flowey hissed, unsure if Sans was aware of the last timeline now or not. He was acting like this was their first encounter here but… Flowey wasn't sure.
"I don't care," Flowey replied.
"seems that way," Sans replied simply. "maybe we're not so different… ah, who am i kidding. you're just in it for yourself, right asriel?"
"SHUT UP!" Flowey screamed, vines ripping from the earth to secure the skeleton. Just like before, he moved aside, casting a wink to the flower.
"and miss out on my quirky puns? fat chance," Sans shook his head, and the world vanished once again.
The locket opened, and Chara's image was slammed against. Alive once more, Flowey was shaking with rage as he glared at Sans. "you look mad about something," the skeleton stated, widening his grin. "guess you can't win all the time."
Flowey huffed at this, annoyed beyond belief as he glared daggers at the skeleton, who's eyes darkened. Empty sockets stared back at Flowey as Sans removed a hand from his pocket. A subtle movement that seemed incredibly threatening.
"ready to keep up that losing streak?"