Frisk shifted in their sleep and frowned as the sheets twisted up around their legs, pinning them in place. Stuck in an uncomfortable position, Frisk swam up from unconsciousness to find themselves in a bed in the True Lab. Above them, Snowdrake's mother sighed, gently tugging at their sheets, freeing Frisk without a word. When she'd freed Frisk, they smiled up at her. "Thank you. I feel better now."

"Wakey," she cooed, drooping sadly. How often had she woke her son up like this in days gone by?

Sitting up, they reached up and patted her crest. "I'm awake now. Thanks."

She nodded and slunk off, leaving behind a gooey trail that vanished after a few moments.

Poor thing, Frisk thought, watching her leave. Somehow, she seemed even sadder here. Was Alphys treating them right? Sure, she hadn't wanted to turn them into soldiers, but did her good intentions extend so far past feeding and hiding them? Maybe they would talk to Alphys before they left, convince her to turn them over to their families. Or maybe she would refuse until she knew for sure that Frisk could change Asgore's mind.

Shaking their head, they glanced around. The True Lab was as dark and damp as they remembered. They could hear water dripping somewhere in the depths of the lab. This place had terrified them as a child; how they managed to fall asleep down here last night was still a mystery. Thinking back to it, they glanced down on the right side of their bed, where Flowey had rested, tucked into the crook of their elbow.

He wasn't there though. Instead, he lay propped up on his leaves, his stem and roots trailing out behind him as he glanced down at the floor. He looked to be deep in thought. Wondering what had gotten into him, they tried to think back to the night before.

After taking the first bed they found, they'd quickly took off their boots and climbed in. There was a bath somewhere around here, but Frisk didn't even know if there was water running to it—not to mention it had scared them damn near shitless as a child. They shuddered at the thought and decided they'd rather stink and be filthy than risk it. Still, they might change their mind in the morning. A change of clothes would have been just as nice, or even just a washer and dryer to clean their own.

Oh well. Asgore was just going to have to put up with their smelly ass for a while.

Amused by their own silly thoughts, they glanced down at Flowey to wish him a goodnight only to find him contemplating the shadows. "Flowey?"

He hardly seemed to notice them calling. "Determination. The power to reset." Flowey mumbled. "Do… do I have determination?"

Frisk lifted their head off the pillow to glance down at him. "Yes. You had the power to reset, didn't you?"

He flinched.

Frisk ignored him and laid back. "Then you had determination."

"…did… did the Flowey of your world also have determination?"

Too tired to be curious about why he was asking them now, they settled on just telling him the truth. "Yes. It's how he came to be in the first place. Alphys injected a flower with determination and it became Flowey."

He shot them a startled look; had he known that much of his own creation, or was this new information? "How do you know?"

"I read Alphys' lab reports. But he told me about his resets on his own." They glanced at him. "He knew a lot about resets because he did it a lot before I came to the Underground. He did it so much, he got bored of it. Started using it to have his own… fun."

Flowey shuddered. "I didn't. I… I was always just trying to stay alive."

"Well, you are nicer than him." They smiled and patted his head.

He frowned at them. "Is… is the Flowey of your world a jerk?"

Frisk considered it. "Well, let's just say he wouldn't have been out of place in this world."

Flowey scoffed, turning away. "Heh. Of course. He probably would be just fine, wouldn't he? He wouldn't be like me. Some crybaby who dies all the time."

Frowning, Frisk sat up and reached for Flowey, forcing him to turn and look up at them. "The Flowey of my world stopped caring about others. He was a firm believer in 'kill or be killed' in a world where that was the farthest thing from the truth. He hurt others because it was the only thing he had left to amuse him. He is not better than you because of that. He was misguided and he changed his ways. He became kinder. But you? You're already kind." They smiled at him. "You're more like how he used to be. Someone he might want to be more like now even. Don't compare yourself to him." They paused and leaned down to press a kiss to his petals. "Kindness is not a weakness, Flowey."

He stared up at them, eyes wide, and nodded.

With a smile, Frisk leaned back onto the bed again. "Now, I'm sorry, but I'm exhausted. Let's talk about this later, okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight, Frisk."

"Goodnight, Flowey."

It was silent, only the faint sounds of the machines running or amalgamates moving in the distance disturbed them. Frisk thought that was the end of the discussion, but then they heard Flowey mumble something.

"I'm… not as nice as you think."

Frisk blinked drowsily, not sure if they heard right. "Whassat?"

Flowey didn't answer right away. "Nothing."

They hadn't gotten anything out of him after that and they'd been so tired they just gave in and let themselves drift away. Now they wondered if they messed up. What was he thinking about? "Penny for your thoughts, Flowey."

He jerked and turned his head around to stare at them. "Ah, Frisk! Um, good morning."

"Hey, bud, you're awake early. Something up?"

"It's not early. You slept late." He frowned and glanced away. "While you were sleeping, I looked around the lab."

Frisk blinked at him. "How did you manage to do that?"

"These, um, amalgamates? They're surprisingly helpful. The snowbird one carried me around. She was pretty nice."

Frisk smiled. "Yeah, she is. She probably enjoyed helping you. She misses her son."

"How do you-? No, no. Something from your world right?" He shook his head and looked away. "I found her lab reports."

Frisk frowned thoughtfully. "Did you? Find anything interesting?"

He sighed. "You were right. About how she made me. She mentioned injecting a flower with determination." He shook his head. "It must have been…" He paused and shot them a look before glancing away. Poor thing—he hadn't gotten enough practice to really learn subtlety. "Anyway. So that's where I came from."

"Didn't know much about it?"

"No," he murmured, drooping. "All I remember is waking up in… well. I just remember waking up and calling for help." He grimaced, face darkening. "Not that I got any."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He considered it for a while before shaking his head. "Are we leaving soon? I don't want to hang around here long if Alphys changes her mind and tries to attack us."

"I want to check in on Mettaton. Make sure she hasn't done anything to him. Then we can go."

Flowey sighed, but waited patiently as they got out of bed and put their boots on before they offered him their hand. Once he was on his old perch on the back of their shirt, they waved a farewell to the amalgamates that were watching them and headed towards the elevator.

Frisk tried to find the hidden panel to Alphys' room, but the scientist never answered their knocks. Reluctantly, Frisk returned to the elevator and pressed the button for the uppermost level.

There was a sharp wind howling as they stepped out of the elevator. Once they left the protected cover where the elevator was, Frisk reached up to shove their hair out of their eyes while Flowey ducked behind their shoulder to get out of the brunt of the wind. Looking out at the city, Frisk frowned to see the massive hole in the side of the mountain where a steady, pounding rain fell. Their path was too far from the hole for the wind to carry the rain, but it left a biting chill in the air. Frisk considered putting their sweatshirt on, but then remembered how tattered it was. They'd have to buy a new one when they got out; for now, they'd just have to deal with the cold.

They wandered for a bit, admiring the fall of the rain as they walked silently. Flowey, at last, broke the silence. "Frisk, when you get out of here—when you go back to that other world," Flowey murmured, gazing downward. "Make sure to go see your family first thing."

They blinked down at him, face neutral. "Why's that?"

"God, Frisk, they're your family," he snapped before his expression softened again. "If… If I could see my family again… I'd give anything for that. But you can go see yours whenever you want. You… You shouldn't take it for granted."

Frisk smiled back at him, soft but quickly turning bittersweet as they looked away. "It's not so simple for me."

"What's that mean?"

Frisk frowned. "It's just…" they trailed off before turning back to him with an unreadable smile. "It's just better this way."

He huffed at them. "Why on earth would it be better for you to be away from them?"

They didn't answer right away, or even look at him. Instead, they gazed down at the city below them. Finally, after a long pause, they spoke. "I just… get in the way. The fact is that I'm just. Unnecessary."

Flowey stared up at them, baffled. "Unnecessary? Frisk , you could never…" he paused, realizing that they probably weren't going to listen to him. Instead, he thought of something else. "If you really aren't in a hurry to head home, do you… do you think that maybe you can hang around here for awhile?"

Frisk nearly stopped walking, but did stub the toe of their boot against the ground and stumbled. Once Frisk had a better footing, they looked at the flower. "Uh, should I stay?"

He gazed up at them, eyes keen. "Well, it's not like monsters have an ambassador to meet with humans ready, and that's already your job. M-maybe you can do something like that again here? Monsters are going to need all the help they can get."

Looking back up at the path, Frisk mulled it over in their mind. The monsters in this world really would need all the help they could get. But, they'd told their mother they were only going to be gone the weekend—by tonight Toriel would be expecting them to call in. Tomorrow, she might start to panic. But worse than that, she'd probably figure that Frisk had run off again.

Ouch. I guess I really am a flake. I… should really apologize to mom and dad.

Frisk sighed. "I'll think about it." They fell back into mutual silence for a while.

Despite the inclement weather, monsters were out. Frisk tensed, ready for a battle as they strolled along, but no one stopped them. Instead, they stared like the monsters at the apartment complex slum had over the railings. As they passed, some of the monsters called down to them.

"You're going to die, human!"

"You'll die and then will be free."

"We'll be free. Free from our prison. Free to have our vengeance."

"Your mercy won't save you from the Overlord."

The calls became quieter, somber. "Mercy saves no one."

"Mercy didn't save our prince."

In their head, they could feel Chara recoiling, their shock spilling over into Frisk's mind like a cup of bile. Frisk had to resist the urge to shudder.

*What? Asriel… Asriel can't be dead. The plan, when it failed, he… he went back home…

Chara? You okay? They got no reply back. Frowning, Frisk shot a look at the monster who'd spoken—a birdlike fellow stared at them hollowly from a corner. When they looked upon him, he only stared back.

"Our prince is dead because of you humans," he murmured before turning to go into a building.

"That's right, human," another monster shouted as Frisk passed by—he must have heard the first monster speak. "It's your people's fault that our prince is dead!"

"It's their fault that it's 'kill or be killed'," a diamond faced monster sighed.

Flowey was shuddering against their back like he was caught in the storm. Frisk decided to ignore the jeers of the crowds and made a run to the palace. As they ran, the rain fell on them, so they had to slow to avoid slipping. At least there were no more monsters idly hanging about. Once they ducked into the palace itself, they froze.

This castle looked nothing like they had expected—Asgore must have done some serious redecorating, because the charming, cozy home that mirrored the Ruins was gone. Now everything was black and red, from the leaves scattered across the courtyard, to the walls. The only other color was the bright gold of the torches. It was an unsettling if a tad melodramatic; which, they mused, fit the overall aesthetic of this world in their opinion. Still, the front door gave them chills—it looked like a gate that would slam shut the moment they entered. They were half surprised when it didn't do just that.

Inside, the floors creaked and the corners stood dusty. Checking around revealed rooms barren of any of their father's homey touches—no books, no comfy chairs, no flowers anywhere. The kitchen looked untouched and utilitarian—at least they found some hand towels to wipe off the worst of the rain from their body—as did one room that they only realized was Asgore's bedroom from the size of the bed. They wondered if there was anything besides clothes—knickknacks? Mementos?—in his closet, but they decided that they shouldn't poke around in places that would be catastrophically bad to get caught in. The other doors were locked, as was the entrance downstairs.

"I don't, um," they paused, glancing back at Flowey. He frowned up at them. "I don't suppose you know where he kept the keys?" At his long silence, Frisk reached up to rub one of his petals comfortingly. "Are you okay?"

Flowey glanced away. "In the hallway. He has some keys in a side table. Try there."

Frisk frowned, but let him be as they went to search for the side table. They found it, eventually, tucked away in a corner next to a mirror. As they pulled the ring of keys out, they narrowed their eyes at the sheer number of them. "Oh, god, how on earth am I supposed to know which is which?"

To their surprise, Flowey's vines reached out and took the ring from them. He began to flip through them until he paused on old, tarnished one. He considered it for a long time before he spoke. "This one."

"Does it go to the lock for downstairs?"

He shook his head and handed the ring back over. "It's um. It's important."

"Okay," Frisk murmured, making sure not to let the key slide back into the mess of the others. "Tell me which door when we get there, okay?"

Flowey nodded and they began to walk down the hall. They didn't get very far before Flowey spoke. "In here," Flowey said, voice dull.

Frisk hesitated. They knew what room had to lie beyond this door. Caught between expectation and dread, they reached out and unlocked the door. They fought with the key, but the tumblers reluctantly fell into place and the knob finally turned. They had to press their shoulder against the door, but eventually they got it open. They slipped inside and decided to take a chance on leaving it open—getting stuck in here would be bad, but if they got caught then they would at least have a chance of escape.

Inside, Frisk frowned thoughtfully at the child's bedroom. There was a pair of twin sized beds, neither of which had been slept in for years. There was a wardrobe for clothes, a giant box for toys, and hand drawn pictures on every wall. Some were childish crayon doodles, jerky scribbles of strange things, mostly near the right side of the room. On the left, there were careful sketches, delicate lines to show flowers and faces—still rough work, but with enough time and practice real skill would have developed. Some were crumpled or even torn, as if they had been wrestled away from something, but there were a few pristine ones. The largest was one that had to have been based on an actual picture because everything about it was so carefully done; it was a family portrait of three Boss Monsters and a small, smiling human child.

*You are standing in a room of ghosts.

*Why has he led you here?

Frisk frowned. Chara, are you upset?

*Why has he led you here?

"There, on the ground."

Frisk blinked and looked down to find a pair of wrapped presents on the ground. Frisk's stomach flipped. "What about them?"

"Open them."

*Those are not yours.

Frisk closed their eyes before kneeling down between the boxes. I know, Chara.

*You have still not asked him why he has led you here. YOU KNOW SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT TELLING ME.

Frisk winced as Chara's voice rang in their mind, that usually calm voice sharp and demanding. Frisk resisted the urge to sigh. Chara… please, just listen to him.

Chara fell silent; Frisk took it as a sign and opened the first box. Inside, they found a worn gardening knife. In a child's hands, it was a little large and unwieldy, but it felt snug now. Asgore must have thought that Chara would grow into it. Turning, they opened the other box to find a red heart necklace inside. In the back of their mind, they could practically feel Chara flinch.

"There's another one that that's supposed to go with that, but…" Flowey paused, glancing away. "But it's not mine, so I can't tell you where it is. The knife, however, I think is too useful to leave behind."

"I haven't had a weapon this whole time," Frisk said noncommittally, inspecting the necklace. "But, better late than never, I suppose."

Flowey was silent for an awkward minute before he finally sighed. "You… you probably want to know how I knew about this place."

Quietly, Frisk reached up for Flowey. He climbed onto their hand; they offered him their knee to balance on as they undid the clasp before putting it around their neck—it was a child's necklace, but it'd been meant to be worn long, so there was enough space left not to choke them. It rested just below their collarbones, looking odd but feeling right. They'd worn one identical to it when they fought Asgore and then Asriel, but it had vanished after the final battle. Maybe Flowey had stolen it during the fight. "I think now would be a good time to have a talk."

Flowey nodded, shifting his roots around Frisk's leg to help his balance. "I… I lived here once with my family and… and my sibling."

Chara's silence felt sharp and pointed—Frisk got the feeling that if they could, they would tear Frisk's mind apart looking for answers. "I take it that things have changed."

"Uh, yeah. Yes, they have… This… this might sound crazy. But I wasn't always like this. I didn't used to be a flower."

Frisk waited patiently until they realized he was waiting on them. "Hell of a change."

In spite of himself, Flowey laughed. "Ha! Yeah, um, it was kinda drastic." His face lost his mirth and he glanced down. "I… I wasn't called Flowey back then either."

"Well, it'd be strange coincidence if you had been," Frisk offered, but he didn't laugh this time. Chara was restless in their mind. "Why don't you tell me what it was?"

Flowey hesitated; when he spoke, his voice was soft. "Asriel. My name was Asriel Dremurr and I… I was the prince of this land once."

Chara went silent again. They ignored Frisk when Frisk tried to call out to them. Biting back a sigh, Frisk reached out and idly rubbed one of Flowey's petals, making him glance up at them. They gave him their kindest smile. "Mm, yeah, I thought so. That's who you were in that world too."

Flowey gaped. "You knew?"

*You. Knew.

Frisk closed their eyes and answered the two of them aloud. "Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

*This is what you hid from me.

"Because not all the secrets I keep are mine to tell," they answered. "The Asriel I knew, he begged me not to tell anyone. He… he would have hated it if anyone else found out. So I kept his secret." Just as I am keeping yours, Chara.

*…

Frisk considered asking Chara if they should tell Flowey about them being inside of their body, but it seemed too cruel. It wasn't anything that they probably weren't already thinking anyway. They cleared their throat. "Besides, it's not like you would have believed me anyway." Either of you.

While Chara remained silent, Flowey chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah… That's true." He sighed.

Frowning, Frisk gave the petal between their fingers another gentle rub. "This world… I don't know what happened to you in this one, but I get the feeling that it might be different from the story I heard before. Would you… like to tell me about what happened?"

He closed his eyes and nodded with a serious face. When he opened his eyes, it was the most genuine they'd ever seen him. "Years ago, I was born to Toriel and Asgore. I take it that's the same at least?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, for awhile, it was just me and them. And, well, the rest of the underground that they ruled, but you know what I mean."

"I get you."

"Yeah, well, one day," he paused, thoughtfully looking away. "One day I heard someone crying in the Ruins. I'd gone there, with Toriel, to go bug hunting."

Frisk smiled to themselves. "My Toriel likes doing that too."

The flower smiled for a moment, but it vanished swiftly. "I went to see what was crying and found a human. They were just a kid, like me. They were hurt, so I walked over to laugh at them." He winced and paused. "I, um, was kind of a jerk."

Chara suddenly thrashed in the back of their head, but didn't speak.

Frisk blinked down at him. Well, that was a different version than they had heard. "Well… did you?"

"Well, yeah! I, uh, didn't know they were human at first. I thought some dumb monster had hurt themselves trying to climb out of the Ruins like an idiot. Then, then I realized they weren't just a funny looking monster. And that they were really hurt. So, I went and I got mom. She fixed them up and decided to take them home with us. Mom—Toriel, she, um, she's always kinda had a thing about adopting stray children whenever she finds them."

Frisk had to chuckle. "Yeah, that's definitely the same across worlds."

"Heh. She said that they were my new sibling now." He paused, frowning. "I—I hated it. I didn't want to share my parents with another kid, not when they were always busy ruling the kingdom. I was a real jerk to them about it." He drooped. "I was always picking on them, playing tricks. I never apologized either. I… I was the worst."

*Asriel…

Frisk waited, but Chara didn't continue; Frisk realized that they'd probably hadn't meant to speak that to Frisk at all. Rather than pry, Frisk kept their mind focused on the conversation at hand. That's another big difference. I don't think I ever heard of Asriel bullying my Chara before. "Did you… ever try to get along with them?"

He shifted, reluctant to look up. "Not really. Well, not at first. It's, it's just—they were always pissing me off. They loved to garden with dad, or bake with mom, always taking away my time with them, and then, then they would try to play dumb baby games with me, like I was stupid or something."

Frisk considered him, cocking their head to the side. "What changed?"

Flowey giggled. "Well, um. I guess I finally used up all their patience with me. One day, I played a prank on them—I don't even remember what it was anymore."

*Paint. You put paint in my hair.

Chara's voice sounded lonely and far off. Frisk didn't comment.

"Anyway, they actually started shaking. I thought they were going to tattle on me, so I panicked. I tried to tease them, trick them into keeping quiet. But then…" he paused. "Then they turned to me with the freakiest look on their face. I thought they were going to murder me." He stopped, brightening. "It was so cool."

*Az. No.

"Um, come again?"

Flowey shrugged. "The look on their face. It was really creepy! They usually always had this dopey smile on their face, but that time, that time I saw something that no one else got to see. And… and I thought it was neat. It was the kind of face that if others saw, they'd never bother them again, for sure!" He paused, frowning. "I don't know why they didn't do it more often. I would have left them alone a lot faster, that's for sure." He shrugged. "But still, no one else ever saw that side of them but me. At first they made me promise not to tell anyone else, but more and more, I got to see that they weren't the little goody-two-shoes kid I thought they were." He laughed. "They could play tricks as well as I could. Better even—they were always really creative.

"But, but more than that." He paused before he smiled. "Chara was the coolest because at anytime, they could have stopped me. They could have tricked me back, could have snitched on me to mom and dad, or could have beaten the snot of me. But they didn't. I asked them once why they didn't. They said… they said it was because I was their brother." He sniffed. "And siblings shouldn't snitch on each other.

"It made mom and dad real happy, when we started to get along. They said we were thick as thieves, but that was good, because that meant we could look after each other. I, um, I tried to live up to that. We went everywhere together, even the Dump." He paused and nodded at the necklace. "That's where that came from. One day, we found a box of jewelry that had gotten tossed away. Chara found that necklace and I found a locket." He grimaced. "It was broken, but Chara liked it because it had 'best friends forever' written on it. So, I took it home and soldered it onto a necklace for them. They… they really liked it," he finished with a soft smile. "We traded the necklaces. I gave them the locket, they gave me the heart. It was… nice. For awhile everything was nice."

He paused, glancing downward. "Then we… we both did something really bad. We… we were just going to play a little prank on da—Asgore. We, we made him a pie, but instead of putting in cups of butter, we put in buttercups." He frowned. "We didn't actually expect him to eat it. We just thought he'd take a bite and then spit it out. We'd have a laugh and that'd be it. But then he kept eating. We giggled a bit 'cause we knew it had to taste terrible but then… then he started to get sick.

"Mom… mom got really freaked out. Dad was sick for a while, but-but when he got better, he told us it was a good joke, but no to play on anyone else. We, we just laughed it off, but Chara…

"Chara was quiet for awhile after that. I mean, they'd laughed it off too, but it really bothered them. Bothered them to the point that… Well. Anyway, I think it gave them an idea."

Flowey grimaced, but Frisk could feel Chara's turmoil whipping around like a tempest in their mind. Chara? Chara, do you want me to ask him to stop? But Chara only whispered one thing back to them.

*No one is above consequences.

Frisk froze in concern, but Flowey started talking again. At a loss, they let him talk.

"They started talking more and more about monsters breaking free and getting to the surface. I didn't think much of it at the time, since we, like, only had Chara there and they'd already said they were okay with living with us until they died a natural death." He shook his head. "No, they said they would have been okay with an early death too, if it meant us getting free sooner. M—Toriel and Asgore had talked to them about it and then they said they were okay with living with us. But, um. Something changed after the pie. Chara… Chara got an idea.

"Originally, my father planned to absorb Chara and then other human souls later on. But Chara said what if it was you, Az? Then we could always be together." He frowned. "It sounded… nice. Really nice. Besides, Chara was my best friend, not Asgore's. Why shouldn't we merge? But then, Chara told me the second part of the plan. They wanted me to go gather some more buttercups and then… then they ate them. And then they got sick—I-I didn't know how'd sick they'd get—I thought it would be like dad, but then… they just got worse and worse over the day. Finally, that night… they died. Mom… Dad… they were really upset. I… I-I did my part. I absorbed their soul and then we took their body to the surface." He paused to lick his lips. Finally, he continued. "The surface world was so… so much bigger than I expected. The sky just… baffled me. I'd never seen anything so big in my life. I was so caught up, Chara had to take over and take their body back while I just gawked.

"Finally, we got to their village. They laid their body down in the center of the village, in a bed of flowers. There… there were people watching me, er, us. My body. They were… scared. Really scared. But they didn't move. And—and I didn't move."

Frisk frowned. Had this happened in their own world? Was the story they were first told just a myth created by a heartbroken people, or had humans in this world been more cautious?

"I knew that I was supposed… supposed to get six more souls, but they all… they all looked just like Chara. Well, not literally. But, you-you know."

They nodded.

"I… I don't really remember what happened next. It just became a blur, but next thing I knew they were attacking me, and, and I started hitting back. I finally knocked one down, but when it came time to… to finish it, I… I just couldn't. They still looked like Chara and, and this wasn't just some prank anymore.

"I got scared. Chara kept yelling at me, telling me to defend myself, but I couldn't. And I wouldn't let them defend me either, so, so I just fled. I grabbed their body and went back to the mountain because I couldn't just leave their body with those people.

"When I got back, I was really hurt. I collapsed in Asgore's garden just as he walked in. He saw me, all—all cut up and nasty. I told him what had happened, but I couldn't get it all out. I didn't get to tell him why we'd done it or how or why I wouldn't defend myself. I just didn't have enough strength. And then, I died." He sighed. "And that's what happened. After that, Asgore just lost it. He said that monsters as they were then were too weak to stand up to humans. So, he declared that it was 'kill or be killed'. Better a weak monster die to a stronger monster's hands and make them stronger, rather than a human. Toriel, she… I think she could have been mostly fine with the 'kill or be killed' law, if he hadn't also declared that any human, adult or not, should die. Mom hated seeing kids get hurt. She left after that."

He paused and shrugged. "Or, at least that's how I guess it happened. I wasn't there for it. The next thing I remembered, I woke up in the garden."

Frisk could guess what happened next. "Alphys had accidently revived you when she injected determination into the flower that your dust had settled on."

Flowey blinked up at them. "Is that what happened in your world?"

"Yes. Do you think it happened differently in this one?"

"Well, no. I did, uh, die in Asgore's garden." He stopped and mulled the idea over in his head until he decided that it only made sense. "After I woke up, I made the mistake of trying to call out to Asgore for help. I thought… well, it doesn't matter what I thought. He didn't believe me when I told him who I was. So he… he killed me."

In their mind, Chara thrashed, leaking despair into the edges of their mind. At the same moment, Frisk leaned forward without thinking to gently stroke his petals. "Asriel, I… I am so sorry that happened to you."

He shrugged. "In retrospect, it makes sense he'd attack me. He must have thought I was just some jerk imitating his dead son." He glanced downward, detached. "Still sucked. But, after that, I just woke back in the garden. I was terrified, so I stayed quiet then. I was trying to figure out what was going on when Asgore walked in again. I thought he was going to kill me. I panicked and froze, but after a while, he didn't do anything but water the flowers. I kept waiting for him to do something, but it was like I wasn't there at all. I thought, hey, maybe I just dreamed it and tried to call out to him." He screwed up his eyes. "That was a mistake. He killed me again. And then I woke up again. That time, I escaped after figuring out how I could move around in the dirt.

"I kept fleeing for awhile. I still got killed a few times, but I found that eventually I could return to some point in the past. It wasn't the only thing I learned. Before my death, I… well, I was a nasty brat. I played tricks on people and I was mean to Chara. But, it didn't seem like anyone treated others different than I did. After my revival though, people weren't trying to prank each other. They were straight up trying to kill each other. Finally, someone spelled it out when they said it was a 'kill or be killed' world. And that I—or rather that the death of the two royal children were the reason it was like that.

"At the time, I was confused and just trying to stay alive. I finally decided to try living in the Ruins, since I thought they'd be mostly empty. And they were, but then… well, Toriel found me." He shrugged. "For a second, I thought she'd be different. That she'd recognize me and that maybe she'd help me. She didn't.

"Toriel… she used to be the kindest monster and mother in the whole Underground, but even she became twisted by this place." He was quiet for a long time before he looked up at them, his gaze steady and even. "Frisk, I want to ask you one last time. Do you really think this world can be saved? That if monsters try hard enough, they can turn themselves around and become better people?"

Frisk nodded. "If they try hard enough, if they stay strong and true, I know they can. It'll take a lot of work and a lot of forgiving on all sides, but so far I've seen nothing to change my mind. Even people like Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys, in the end, they all chose to let me go and to believe in what we're doing. The seeds of goodness are still them. With a little hard work, they can grow into something kinder. I know it."

"You promise?"

They fought the urge to smile. Most of the time I forget, but he really is still just a kid. "I swear it."

He regarded them thoughtfully before he finally smiled. "Okay then! Let's go and turn this world from 'kill or be killed' to 'save or be saved."

Biting their lip, Frisk tried not to giggle. "Save or be saved?"

He paused, looking a little sheepish. "I-is it too silly? It's silly, isn't it."

"No, no! I like it," they grinned. "When did you come up with it?"

"Um. I… I spent a lot of time thinking last night and it came to me after a while."

"Well, I think it's great." They offered him their hand; once he climbed on, they held him up to resettle onto his old perch. "Let's get going and go 'save or be saved' then."

He grimaced. "Ugh, it sounds sillier the more you say it."

"Well, I'm not stopping. Shit, maybe I'll make it my new motto," they shot him a teasing grin as they slipped out the door, locking it behind them.

"Frisk!" he groaned, lolling his head back.

With a giggle, Frisk started down the hall. Still, there was one troubling thing left. Chara? Chara, do you want to talk about this?

…Chara?

There was no answer. No matter how much they called, Chara had receded far away from their reach, curling in on themselves until they were nothing but a faint suggestion in the back of Frisk's mind.

Frowning, they headed forward and unlocked the gate to the staircase. They went down the stairs, nearly stepping onto a trap of a fake step that tried to snap under them and send them pitching forward. They hopped over it and continued down. Stepping out onto the path, they had to stick close to the wall to avoid being soaked as the rain pounded just overhead. Scurrying along, they ducked into the next room and nearly gasped.

The Judgment Hall was exactly like the one in their world, the golden tiles, the stain glass windows, the pillars, everything. It was downright unsettling. Why? Why is this place the same? Shaking their head, they squared their shoulders and started marching forward.

They got halfway down the hall when a familiar voice called out to them. "Hey, Frisk. Off to see the Overlord finally?"

Frisk turned and smiled before they could catch themselves. "Sans," they called back. Sitting at the base of a pillar, the skeleton leaned back against the column like quite at ease. In his hand, he ran a golden flower petal through his fingers. "And yeah. Been a long time coming, huh?"

"Maybe," he shrugged, idly scratching the line of his jaw. "You in a hurry to meet your death, or you wanna pop a squat with me for a bit?"

"How can I resist?" they chirped before they registered Flowey's sigh of annoyance. Still, they walked over and dropped down directly before him, folding their legs before them. "What's up?"

He kept fidgeting with the petal, but his attention was on them now. "Eh, not much. But, you know, it's funny."

"What is?"

He glanced at them and then glanced down at the petal. "Mm, let me tell you a little story first. It's about a dream I've been having for a while now. I think I must have dreamed it hundreds of times."

"Alright," Frisk said, shifting themselves about to get more comfortable. The toe of their boot tapped against his shoe, but neither made a move to pull away. "Tell me about the dream."

"Okay. In this dream, a human falls into the Underground. Just a child, really, still running around in their striped shirts. The first one in literally years. Everyone's all excited. Then they die."

Flowey stirred behind their back, but didn't dare peek over their shoulder.

"That… unfortunate for them." A chill shot up their back. What was it Papyrus had said to them? "At least you're doing better than all the other times." And before then, Sans himself who knew their name before they'd told it to him, knew that they were not 'the right Frisk'.

He shrugged. "But they don't just die once. They die… a lot." He paused. "Like a lot. Sometimes I kill them. Sometimes my brother kills them. Sometimes it's just nobody monsters that kill them, sometimes it's Undyne. But all the same, the human keeps coming back." He smiled to himself, not his usual wicked, shadowy look; Sans's smiles were an exercise in study as one well placed shadow or tilt of his head turned his static grin from pure evil to glee. Really, it was his eyes Frisk learned you had to focus on. Now, his smile was almost soft, quite the trick with those teeth. "They're a determined little bugger."

"Well," Frisk murmured, lacing their fingers together before them. "A kid after my own heart then." What about those items that weren't in Greson's shop? What if they weren't there because a human had recently come through and bought them? What if I never had an actual chance at finding the other items because maybe they'd already been found?

He chuckled. "Spitting image, really. Anyway, they're a hell of a kid. They're dead set on getting to Asgore, and they refuse to kill along the way."

"Hmm. They really do sound like me." They tried to smile teasingly, to lighten the mood. But, if there really was another human, maybe another me, one from this world… where are they now? Did, did we swap places? Their first thought was not immediately panic; from what it sounded like, the kid could use a break and no one would hurt them in Frisk's world. The problem, however, was what if they reset? What if they ruined Frisk's world on accident? They tried to push the thought away. You don't even know if that's what happened in the first place. Calm down. "You're not psychic, are you? Are you dreaming of the future?"

He snorted at that. "Fuck no. But like I said, it's funny. That kid… they really were something else. They refused to obey 'kill or be killed'." He paused, his smile dimming. "And they paid the price. Over and over again." He held the flower petal out and dropped into the palm of their hand when they held it out to them. As they studied it, he kept talking. "The last time they die, they're fighting Asgore. I get there just in time to see them collapse into a bed of golden flowers in the middle of Asgore's garden. Damnedest thing though, is that they're wearing my coat, and they're just laying there, the flowers smearing all over my coat, the petals getting into every nook and cranny."

The petal seemed to burn them through their gloves. Gently, but swiftly, they sat it to their side. If there's another Frisk, one in my world, please let them be okay. Don't let them have a reason to reset. God, I need to get home fast. "Interesting."

"It is. Just like how I keep finding petals everywhere in this damn thing," he said, reaching up to tug on his right lapel. "Strange, isn't it?"

Frisk managed a neutral smile. "I'll say." They paused, trying to look thoughtful while they began to think of a plan. "They were wearing your coat? Do you think you two were friends?" What if he said yes? What if he believed in those 'dreams'?

What if he resented their presence in usurping that other human? They'd run—they had no interest in fighting him, but then, they'd never fought Sans before either. They'd be going in blind and they had no idea whether he'd ever even offer them mercy. They most certainly couldn't attack him, even to deter him.

To their relief, he only shrugged. "Eh, probably not. Who knows why they had my coat? Probably stole it from me," he grinned at them, all dark shadows and sharp angles. "I don't have any friends, even in my dreams."

"That's not true," they insisted on reflex.

He rolled his eye. "Ah, yes. I forgot. Still, doesn't matter. Who cares if we were my friend in my dreams or not? Fact is, they died, so they weren't going to do me any good anyway." He glanced up at them. "I think that last death… I think there was something off by then. This world, it finally wore them down. They weren't even trying to fight it when they died. I just watched them slip away." He shifted before smiling a kinder smile. "Eh, maybe they're not like you. That kid, they're probably just some half-assed memory from a book I read once. Nah, reality is better. You're better."

They paused and almost forgot to hide their genuine pleasure behind a safer façade of tittering. "Oh, Sans, you shameless flatterer."

He sighed. "Don't let it go to your head. I only meant that you're way more competent than them." He lifted his chin. "Why, you haven't even really died yet. Have you?"

Frisk blinked owlishly. "Well… something like that."

"Heh. Something like that." He shook his head. "You know, I've been watching you."

"Scandalous. If I'd known I had a stalker, I would have tried harder to look better."

He shot them a disgruntled look, his cheekbones flushed. "Sometimes, I worry about you."

"Aww, that's even sweeter." They only laughed. "But I do like looking good."

"Yeah, well. Don't expect me to say something sappy like 'don't worry, you always look good'."

They beamed. "I won't. I shall just pretend you did."

"Ugh," Flowey grumbled behind their shoulder.

Sans propped his right elbow against his right knee and put his chin in his hand. "You're hopeless. And you honestly think you can get past Asgore without killing him?"

"Yes."

He looked at them, face as neutral as it could be, studying them before he spoke again. "I want to ask you a question."

So ominous. "You already have, but one more won't hurt. Go ahead."

He took his time before asking, tapping his fingers against his knee first. "Ever since you started this little trip of yours, you've had… quite the effect on everyone. Monsters have gone quiet, especially after last night's show. I haven't seen a single monster snap or try any stupid posturing at all this morning. You've got all these people breaking our sacred law. Like you're trying to incite a rebellion," he ended, sockets dark.

With a deadpan face, Frisk half-heartedly raised their fist. "Yay, anarchy."

He snorted. "All this talk about you breaking the barrier, about us going free… about you talking to Asgore, getting him to change his mind. It's got me wondering. So, I ask you. Do you really believe that even the worst person can change? That if they just try hard enough, they can be a better person?"

For a moment, Frisk was transported deep within their memories. They were eight, standing on a foggy riverbank, their hands curled into fists. Before them, a skeleton held out his arms to welcome them.

"Everyone can be a great person if they try!"

Frisk drifted back and smiled. "Yes. I do."

He had no great reaction; no laughter, no mocking, no support. At last, his smile looked wistful. "Heh. You sound like Papyrus used to."

Unconsciously, Frisk perked up. "Papyrus used to say that?"

"Mm, something like it. He was practically a baby bones at the time," he huffed, looking away.

"That's right. You said something like that before… what happened to him? To make him change."

For a moment, they thought he wouldn't answer. He seemed more interested at looking at the rain splattering against the windows. At last, he spoke. "Pap used to be a sweet kid. Cute. Coddled like no one's business—he wasn't allowed out to see other people for a while, so he was sheltered. But everyone has to meet the real world one day. It was a shock, but for a while, it seemed like he'd mostly be able to weather it. Then, one day, I fucked up.

"I was out in the Snowdin woods, looking for something. Shit, I don't even remember what it was that I was looking for. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been worth it, because I ran into the Canine Unit. And you can just bet how much dogs love skeletons," he drawled. "So, I was, to be blunt, boned. And then Papyrus…" he paused, face tight as he shook his head. "That little idiot… showed up. Tried to stick up for me, like he was the older one. Five years old don't have any business in a fight, not that those idiots care. Stupid mutts."

Frisk shuddered. "Would they have killed him?"

"The dogs? Who knows. I do know that I was old enough to be on the cutting block though. Papyrus kept trying to talk to them though, convince them to leave me alone, even going so far to try and scare them away." He paused, looking down thoughtfully. "Maybe the Dogi were backing off. Maybe Greater and Lesser Dog could have been bullied or tricked away. But Doggo… I made one wrong step and he pounced. He had his knives out, aiming dead at my skull.

"Papyrus speared him through, neat as a needle through a bug." There was neither pride nor scorn in his words, his tone flat. "Five bones spears, straight through the soul. Even a little kid like Pap could kill a grown adult with that much damage to the soul. So, it killed him. Scared off the other dogs. Made them leave us alone for a while.

"My brother… wasn't even in grade school. And, because of me, he killed and gained LOVE." He paused, glancing up at them. "You know what I mean by that."

Frisk forced themselves to nod, but they couldn't find their voice.

"So. He murdered a monster to save me, and then came to me, offering his hand and asking if I was okay. And what did I do?" He chuckled. "I just… backed away, like the coward I am. I made my little brother shank a guy and didn't even have the decency to wipe his tears away." He cocked his head to the side, considering. "Which explains a lot, I suppose. Why he keeps me around, I don't know. Probably petty revenge for the shit I put him through. Still a dick though." He glanced up at them. "So, do you really think this world that forces a child to murder another only to be cast aside is really one worth saving?"

Their chest tight, Frisk forced themselves to remember to breathe. Taking a deep, steadying breath, they reached out and took put their fingertips against the back of his hand, careful not to press down if it annoyed him. "I believe that this is a world that forces monsters to make tough choices that they shouldn't have to. And maybe it's one were sweet kids grow up to be tough adults who can only try to protect their ones they love through convoluted, strange ways. But I don't think this is a world of pure evil. I think your brother protects you, and I think you love him for it, in your own way."

He only blinked at their hand, but at least that meant he didn't shake them off. After a moment, he sighed. "You really plan to try and talk around a child murdering asshole like Asgore. You really think you can do this."

"Yes." Over their shoulder, they felt Flowey laid the side of his head against their spine, comfortingly.

He shook his head. "Frisk, have you done this before?"

They frowned and resisted the urge to scratch their neck nervously. "How would I have done this before if this is my first time through the Underground?"

He stared directly at them. "By doing so in a world different but similar to this one? Perhaps one that wasn't 'kill or be killed'?"

Flowey froze on their back while they tried to keep their face neutral. Well. Supposed this was going to happen eventually. But, you know, I think I'm tired of this avoidance game. Time to place a bet. They aimed the last thought to Chara, but there was no reply. Fighting back a sigh as well as their nerves, they squared their shoulders. "Yes."

His hand twitched, hard, but he didn't shake them off. "…interesting."

"Sixteen years ago, when I was eight years old, I fell into Mount Ebott. I found a world full of monsters. I had… a rough start, but I made friends with the monsters I met. They were all strange, but, for the most part, kind." They grimaced at the memory of being chased through Waterfall by Undyne or nearly getting eaten by spiders or their many, many deaths before they found a way to save Asgore. "With the help of a special friend of mine, I got to see the barrier come down." They smiled wistfully, remembering Asriel haloed by the lights of the souls inside him as he brought the barrier down. They shut their eyes, savoring the memory of stepping out into that golden day.

"I saw monsters reenter the world and then integrate into it. It wasn't always easy or fun, working with monsters who were trying to make a place for themselves on the surface, but the effect on them all was all positive. Not everyone left, not everyone immediately fell in love with living with humanity. But they learned and they got to do those things they always wanted to and I got to see them all change.

"Monsters in this world, they can change too. You've seen yourself that they're willing to try, even if they have to disobey the law," they pointed out gently. "I'm going to talk to Asgore and convince him to repeal the edict. Then, I'll figure out what I have to do to get the barrier down. But I have faith that it will fall, and I really do think that monsters can change." They smiled pensively at his blank face and patted his hand before pulling away. "Come on, Sans. Do you really want to stay trapped down here forever?"

Instead of answering, he raised his head, the light falling on his skull to make his grin look carefree. "Welp. Guess I don't need to really tell you how to find Asgore, do I?"

They decided to take this as a sign of encouragement. "No. I remember. Wish me luck, Sans."

"Do you really need it?"

"Trust me, you can never have too much," they shot back with a grin.

He shrugged. "Good luck then. Try not to die permanently."

"I'll try." They started to stand, but paused and looked at him. Caught by a whim, they leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his brow. He flinched away, but his stare showed only confusion. They grinned at him. "You're a good bag of bones, Sans. Thanks for everything."

He didn't answer until at last he chuckled. "You really are hopeless. Get out of here."

They shot him one last smile and stood. With a quick salute, they turned and walked out of the hall.

Sans watched them go, red eye trained on the door until long after they vanished from sight. Finally, he turned his head and glanced down at the petal, still on the ground beside him where it had fallen. He stared at it for a moment, tilting his head as the shadows played across his face. His smile turned strange.

Raising his left hand, the one Frisk had pressed their own fingers against, he lifted one finger up into the air before snapping it back down straight at the petal. A bone slammed into the floor, smashing the petal into nothing more than a smear.

Satisfied, he stood and shoved his hands into his pockets. Flickering out of sight, he shot the doorway one last look. No point in lingering. He had somewhere to be.

A/N: Ah, this chapter is blessedly shorter than last week's. So, were finally nearing the end. I think we still have two chapters after this. This seems to be moving so fast.

That said, I'm definitely thinking of writing an Altertale fic after this. I might do a sequel, but only after the Altertale fic and some sidestories I'm already working on. I wonder if anyone will read any of that?

Geust: Aw, I'm glad that you liked the Papyton phone call scene! That was one of those scenes that made me want to write TW,UD in the first place. Actually, it's funny you'd think that-the Sans and Papyrus scene from the chapter earlier was ACTUALLY the scene that was a last minute addition. I'd always planned to have the exposition scene before the fight; the Papyrus and Sans scene accidentally shoved the Frisk and Mettaton scene back when I wrote it, and when that happened I decided to separate the chapters there. I wish I could find a good place for an Undyne scene, but the scene after the Mettaton battle really took the place of the Alphys date scene (since she's already dating Undyne, that subplot got jettisoned. Frisk's a cutie, but they don't compare to Undyne for Alphys), so I could only think of scenes that wouldn't amount to much more than chatting in a chapter that already had a LOT of chatting. That said, the Flowey/Asriel conversation has been a long time in coming; it's certainly been bugging Chara who's been dying to know what Frisk was hiding. Anyway, glad you enjoyed the chapter-hope you like this one too, even if it's mostly talking.