Theresa was having a hard time wrapping her head around everything. It still didn't make sense; none of it did. The flower had led her through several rooms which could've been identical, all decked in stone carvings, though some contained buttons and switches; they were mostly covered in tight vines, though. Flowey, or Asriel, or whichever he went by, didn't talk much as they traversed through the Ruins, as he vaguely called them. He merely moved forward, frowning in slight confusion and concentration. Actually, the only time they really interacted was soon after she had woken up.
She had nodded weakly in response to his comment, simply looking at him in a few silent moments, waiting for him to do something. She was just grateful she wasn't gone, dead, whatever you want to call it, even if she had no clue as to why that was. Finally, the flower seemed to make up his mind.
"So… You said your name was Theresa, right?" he asked, smiling slightly.
She nodded mutely and weakly, head still fuzzy from whatever had happened. She opened her mouth to comment, but her voice faltered and her head spun, making her shut her eyes and wince.
Tilting its head, the flower disappeared into the ground, reappearing directly in front of her. "Did that… Hurt?" he asked, though he seemed unsure, like a little kid.
Swallowing painfully, she tried to speak again. "Wh-Which part?" she managed to get out, with a cough. "Falling, tripping, tripping again, being attacked..?"
The flower frowned, but not menacingly, like before. She could've sworn she saw guilt flash across his eyes. "I'm… I guess I have a lot of explaining to do, don't I…?" She nodded weakly in response, and he continued. "I was never good with all of this talking stuff, you know. I used to get too emotional, ending up arguing with tears in my eyes," he laughed humorlessly, "but now, I can barely muster up sympathy for anyone. I wish I had those emotions. Now I'm pretty much limited to pain, I guess you could say… Pain gets anyone, even the soulless." Another laugh.
Theresa didn't comment. Her world was slowly steadying, even if it made zero sense. She was able to focus again, and felt the remnants of pain pricking her body, from when the pellets had struck her skin. What had happened with those, anyway..? She absentmindedly lifted a hand to her wrist, clutching at where the heart had been. It had become a habit over the past year. That didn't mean she didn't flinch when, even if it was for the hundredth time, her fingertips brushed the scarred, risen skin.
The flower noticed the action, though with her hand turned at the angle it was, he only saw her grabbing her wrist, not the marks on it. "Marks" was such a small word. It didn't fit. She was fairly surprised he hadn't commented on them yet, too; her sleeves were shorter, and she had never really bothered to hide them. In her world, everyone and their mothers knew about the famed suicide attempt of the spoiled girl who had everything. Instead, though, the flower interpreted it as her remembering the heart that had floated there one timeline back; he wasn't completely wrong.
"I… Let's move further in. I know somewhere where we can talk. I know you probably are very… Confused. Right?"
Another nod. Taking a breath, she attempted to stand to her feet. She swayed for a second, and willed her legs to stop shaking by locking them in place. As she grit her teeth and willed the world to stay still for five seconds, she decided to ask the flower something she had wondered earlier.
"You said that your name was Flowey, right?"
The flower smiled slightly, nodding. Surprisingly, it wasn't accompanied by a sarcastic comment. "Yeah. Why?"
"I… I just wanted to make sure. Forgetting your name wouldn't exactly be good," she joked lamely. "Anyway… Flowey, then; where did you want us to go..?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're okay to walk? You look ready to fall over."
She nodded slightly. Her arm was still throbbing slightly, and her balance might not have been the best, but she was decidedly okay to walk. He blinked and looked her over, seeming to doubt her, but nodded after a moment; he proceeded to disappear, making a reappearance near the exit of the room.
Theresa was ready to open her mouth in question, but the flower cut her off. "Just save the questions until we go a little further, then I can explain everything. Or… As much as I can," he paused a moment, glancing over her apparel, "I'm pretty sure you can get some shoes there, too. Maybe some warmer clothing. And you'll be able to rest."
The flower waited for her to join him at the exit of the room, only then moving ahead to the next exit, or to wherever he was still in eyesight of her. As they passed their third room, Theresa couldn't hold in one of her questions any longer.
"W-What about the resets?" she asked quickly. The flower stared at her for a moment, so she continued, "Y-You said that they happen and… I don't know. It sounded like they almost… Restart things, from the way you said they could… Make me forget. And that another one would happen soon enough. And what about the person you mentioned? W-What if they come here?"
He blinked at her, slightly astounded she remembered their conversation so precisely after triggering whatever-it-was to happen. He wasn't keen on trying to explain the resets at the moment, or trying to figure out what exactly the girl had done before. Flowey wasn't sure exactly how much the girl knew about whatever powers she seemed to have; from the way she was clueless about the resets, it seemed a moot point to try and interrogate her on them.
"From what I saw back there," he said, deadly serious, "Resets won't affect you like I had predicted. Apparently, they only make you dizzy." The girl blanched. That had been a reset?
"…D-Did… That p-person do that…?"
"Chara?" the girl nodded, so he continued, "Actually… No. They didn't cause that one. Theresa… I don't know how to say this, and I've never been good at subtlety. I killed you. Your soul broke. Or, in your case, it faded away to nothing; broke is too harsh of a word. You reset to a random point. Or… Loaded, I guess. Except, you had nothing to load from, so I don't know if that'd be the right word for it. You just… Came back. I don't know how to explain what I saw."
The girl had frozen where she stood, but the flower kept talking. "You didn't even disappear to a point in time. You stayed where you were, but pushed time back around you," the flower was frowning, "Normal people… Actually, no one can do that. No one should be able to do that. But then again… No one should be able to do what Chara does, either. Or what I do. Theresa… Chara, or rather Frisk, were one of a literal handful of people who can manipulate that sort of thing," he took a shuddering breath, before looking up at the girl, "Do y' get me?"
She froze, but slowly nodded. The flower sighed, and if he had hands, he would've put his head in his hands. "I can tell I just confused you even more. That's just great. Just… I'll explain more down the road. Just know, that you… You're not normal. And that's saying something, coming from me. I… I know Chara well. And, if they felt even the slightest portion of what I did when you reset, or whatever you did, then they won't destroy this timeline, or this world. Not when they realize something new is here, something fun; a new toy, almost. You," pausing, the flower looked up, making sure the girl was still following, "Heck, I barely understand ya', or what you did back there. Your soul, fading like that. Most shatter, or crumble. If I don't understand ya, then Chara might not. And if there's even the slightest chance Chara is confused right now… It's a chance to beat them, Theresa."
She hadn't commented the entire time that the flower was trying to explain their situation, and didn't intend to break her silence now. He laughed bitterly. "I know… How much pressure that is. How bad it sounds. But… Jeez, I don't know how to explain to you how bad I messed up; I pretty much screwed this world over. And, if I help you… If we can… Hurt… Chara… I might be able to make up for it, if only slightly…" He was smiling, but clearly pained. Tears would've been in his eyes if he hadn't been above crying.
He cleared his throat, pausing for a second. "You aren't affected by resets or loads, anyway. Neither am I, thankfully. If we keep moving, then no matter what Chara pulls-"
The flower stops midsentence, frowning. "Speaking of…" he murmured. His eyes widened, and he quickly looked up at the human. "I… I'm not sure how you're gonna react to this, so jus-"
A wave of nausea overcame Theresa, making her cringe and shut her eyes. The world tilted around her, and she barely kept herself standing, the walls of the room warping in front of her. Then, it froze, before a feeling of falling overcame her, as if she had been dropped off of a cliff wall, or plummeted down a cave; yes, that would be considered irony. It was over as quickly as it had begun, and she found herself standing where she had been a moment before, same as always if only slightly disoriented. The flower cocked an eyebrow at her, trying to judge if she'd pass out or not.
Swallowing the bile in her throat, Theresa broke the stretching silence. "W… Was that Chara…?" she asked, blinking away her confusion.
The flower smiled emotionlessly. "Yep. That would be Chara. That skeleton has been doing a good job of holding up against them. I'm sure your little distraction was much appreciated."
"So… Did they… 'Reset'?" she asked tentatively.
Flowey nodded, dropping the fake smile. "They were killed. Again. They loaded a point in time before they were dead, and, if I had to guess, a very pissed off version of them is currently challenging their skeleton friend one more time. Well, hopefully that. If they aren't there, then they're on their way to the Ruins. And that wouldn't be good for anyone."
Theresa nodded slowly. She was glad she had paid attention to her tutors, so she was becoming able to wrap her head around how the pretty much time-travel thing was working; she just wasn't clear on how exactly it was possible. But, she was hopeful that Flowey would answer her questions when they arrived at wherever he was taking her.
"So… We should get moving, then…?" she asked, surprisingly calm. Actually, calm wouldn't be a good word; numb was more like it. At a nod from the flower, the pair set off again, definitely more determined than when they had first met, not minutes ago. Now, they had some sort of hope, no matter how faint it might be.
It wasn't until they had been walking for a few minutes that they reached a room lacking a puzzle; in its stead was a quaint house, though it didn't seem cheery. It looked bleak, deserted. Theresa was glad they had finally reached something over than open cave walls, plus, her feet were beginning to ache from being shoeless the entire time, and she was fairly certain she had some gravel stuck in them. She walked in first, the door creaking open as she did so. It would've looked cozy, but the rooms were silent and the air was stiff. Like the rest of the so called Ruins, no trace of life could be found. What had happened here…? Did this one person, Chara, do all of this…?
Flowey came in after her, face grim. He remembered this place, and, looking back to it, no matter when he came here, he was never treated badly. It was his own fault things went the way they did after he came back, and acted the way he did. They were ready to welcome him back, even if it was pityingly. They didn't… No one deserved to die for that. Not for another's boredom. Heck, not for anything. He winced as he remembered Chara, and taking them to the surface. Had… Had it really been their plan… All along…?
He moved in front of the human girl, gesturing for her to follow him. He moved into the hallway to the left, to where a similar copy of the room he was so familiar with was; the only real difference was that this room had one bed, not two. Theresa moved into the room hesitantly, it felt like she was intruding. There were clearly memories here, and she didn't have a right to any of them. She was almost curious as to what had happened to whoever had lived here… The room was clearly meant for a young child, but, seeing what had happened to the barren Ruins, she wasn't sure she wanted to know their fate.
The flower moved forward from where the human was still standing in the doorway, tentative about going in. It'd still feel like intruding to her.
Flowey talked to her as he looked around the room, memories flooding back. He could've stopped all of the carnage. But he didn't. "There's a huge box of shoes over here, there might be some in your size… I'm not sure, though, they are for kids…" He kept looking for a moment before pausing, turning around to look at the girl. "Hey, I know you're never supposed to ask a girl her age, or whatever, but how old are ya', anyways?"
Theresa smiled; despite the situation, it was funny that he acknowledged social pretenses. "It never made sense to me either, but my mom always hated people asking her age. I'm twenty; I just turned that, actually. How old are you?" Flowey's eyebrows shot up. The girl was that old? She certainly didn't look it, with her height barely reaching 5'2. And… No one but younger kids, thirteen at the oldest, ever fell down here. She really was an odd case.
"I was only… Eleven, I think, when I changed to looking like this," he gestured towards himself, "I stopped counting after that. I'm the same age as Chara, though…" Theresa couldn't help but notice how much he mentioned Chara as if he personally knew them… Did he…? And… If so… What does it say that he was friends with the person who apparently killed this world…?
"Anyways, these shoes look like they might fit you. They're not exactly matching your outfit, but they will work better for the town we have to go through next." The flower tossed a pair of boots over his, for lack of a better term, shoulder, and they landed at the girl, or, woman's feet. She grabbed them, hesitantly moving further into the room. She sat on the bed, noticing how soft the bed was. She couldn't stop thinking about whose bed it was, and where the poor kid was now… Only as she began to tug on the soft boots did she notice that they were indeed meant for colder weather. She glanced up as she finished with one shoe, seeing the flower was looking, misty eyed, around the room, taking in the surroundings, especially the picture frame that sat on the dresser.
"So, is where we're going… Cold?" she asked.
The flower nodded, pulling himself away from the picture frame. "For now, yeah. Eventually, if we end up walking all the way to the Core to face Chara, then it'll be hotter, but for now, we're heading to Snowdin. Speaking of…" he tilted his head at Theresa, who looked so small and hopeless, shoulders curled in as she sat on the edge of the child's bed. Her right arm was where it usually sat, absentmindedly curled around her left wrist. "You're still probably wondering what's going on here, huh?" With a nod from the girl, he continued: "I guess I'll start with your soul…"
Theresa nodded, and the world dimmed slightly, and, miraculously, the heart from before was back hovering over her forearm and beating in time. It still shone pearly white, though now its sheen was rainbow colored. Flowey still stood across from her, and began talking in a confident voice; this he knew, and could explain.
"Well, the heart you have is your soul. It's sort of everything you are down here. You don't have a soul, well; you're pretty much not alive. Trust me. Before, when I… when I attacked you, yeah, it hurt you, but the goal was your soul. If your soul is destroyed, you're destroyed. Usually, you'll get into minor fights with other inhabitants here, and they'll try and attack your soul. N-Not that… Not that that's much of a problem, anymore… But, you can either attack back, or try and get out of the battle peacefully," he winced, closing his eyes, "Please, Theresa… Please, don't attack. Jeez, that's where all this started, anyway… Attacking is… Something Chara would do. Just… Please. Don't. For your sake." Theresa nodded slowly, still trying to process this.
She broke the silence that hung in the air. "So… By other inhabitants, you mean…?"
"Oh… Right. Do, um… Do you know where you are?" he asked bluntly; still, how could she not know where she was? Most of the humans that fell at least knew the rumors of the mountain…
She shook her head, patiently. "Not at all. I don't remember really anything besides getting up this morning at home, and then it sort of fades… Then I was here, you know?"
"Jeez… Well, do you know about Mt. Ebott?"
This got a look of confusion from the girl. "Well, yes, but that's… That's at least a two hour trip away from where I live."
The flower's eyes widened in turn, eyebrows drawing together. "How did you end up here…?" he murmured. "Well… Err… I hate to say it, but I can't try and figure out your past right now. I need to try and figure out what your power is… Yeah. Let's do that."
Theresa wasn't exactly confident or trusting in Flowey, but he was all she had for the time being, and with an apparently deadly threat now fully aware she was in their domain… She needed to learn this. This was the new reality for the time being; she couldn't afford to complain about it now.
"As much as I hate to say it," Flowey began, "I don't have the time to try and fully prepare you for whatever Chara is planning as we talk. I know them… They're manipulative, and will do whatever they want. Heck, I would do that… I also don't have the time to try and give you a history lesson, either. Long story short, I'm not a nice person. At least, I wasn't… Jeez, I'm not even a person… Pretty much, you're in a world of literal and figurative monsters, and I can tell you right now that the most dangerous thing you'll encounter here doesn't look like one. Chara, Frisk… They weren't the same person, but at this point, I don't know. Don't trust either of them.
"Pretty much…" he took a shuddering breath, "This timeline is done for, Theresa. I don't know how else to say it. You could count the number of living people still here on one hand right now, and the rest are fleeing. But Chara won't stop here. They… They're going to kill everyone, human or not. They're going to destroy everything, me and you included. I… I'm so sorry you ended up in this world, but," he smiled weakly, "I'm almost happy. You are a chance, and not just for me; it's obvious, if you know me, that I don't deserve one. And i-it's too late for so many people. I… I doubt you can go back that far, it'd… it'd be completely… unreasonable…"
He slowed, cutting himself off. Tears were beginning to gather in his eyes, but now he stared at her through them. A light bulb might as well have been turning off above his head.
"You've done it before," he whispered. Theresa was slightly more confused than before now. She had just been coming to terms with the fact that this world was ruined, and the most she could do would be to escape with possibly her life. What did he mean, she'd done it before?
"A-At the entrance!" he said, seemingly wonderstruck. "I-I knew you did something different than Chara, but I couldn't place my finger on it. Now, I get it! You hadn't been in the room at the time you went back to. After you died, and brought yourself back, however you did it, you didn't go back to just before your death, you came back a good few minutes. You wouldn't have been even awake in the first timeline at that point. B-But, you did it. You did it!"
"How… Are you saying that I put myself into a place… Did I teleport? Time and space wise…?"
The flower seemed to understand it a little better than she did, but even then it was clear he was grasping at straws, too. "If… If we can send you back, reset the world to before Chara found a host… Theresa," the flower looked amazed, and determined, "you… You could fix everything. Then… Then, after all of this, you'd be able to get home, too!" He added the last sentence as an afterthought, remembering the girl had her own goals in this.
Theresa was slowly understanding the situation entirely; but, she had one question. "I-I can do that," she said, determinedly, "Just… Why me…? I mean, I'm not complaining, but you said t-this wasn't normal. Why can I do it…?"
Flowey tilted his head at her. "Honestly? I'm not sure. I know that, usually, it has to do with either prior information, or… A really strong motive. I'm not really sure how you have either of those, but," he shrugged, and they exited the battle mode, the heart on her arm disappearing. This time, the flower had been glancing at the heart on her arm as it faded away, uncovered.
"Another… Weird thing, about you…" he murmured, as if talking to himself, eyebrows furrowed together. "Most people's souls are over their actual hearts. But yours… Is on your… Arm…" It was then that he cut himself off; Theresa barely flinched when she realized he was the skin on her forearm, and realized what the marks meant. She drew in a shallow breath, offering the flower a small smile, not bothering to cover up her arm; it was clear he'd seen it. Her left forearm had large, jagged scars going up and down the center, right along the veins. It had been a miracle she'd survived. It'd also been an embarrassment, for her family. The daughter who seemingly had it all, wanting more, needing more attention… The whispers never stopped after that night.
"I-It… It happened a while ago. I'm better now," and when she said it, she was proud to say she meant it with all of her heart. No one in her life had been helping her fix herself, though; she did it all her own, eventually. And it took a lot.
The flower just nodded, looking at her seriously. "You don't need to talk about it; the past is the past, right? If you say you're better now… I believe you. People change. But… It makes sense, I guess. You don't… Don't want to die now, right? That's why you're so determined… To live…" he said it quietly.
She merely nodded, smiling softly and genuinely. They both sat in silence for a moment before Flowey spoke. "I hate to make it seem like I'm rushing this, but… There hasn't been a reset for a while. Chara hasn't died for a while. That's not good, no matter what it means. We need to send you back."
She only said one word, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes. "How?" her voice was steely; determined.
"I… I can't do that for you. You just have to… Want it, I guess. We should probably get to where you need to be, though… It'd be bad if you appeared in Toriel's house…" so that's who's house it was… Whoever that was… "But, the center square of Snowdin wouldn't be good, either…"
Another light bulb went off over his head. "I… I think I know where we can put you. It'd still be risky, but… We don't have much of a choice, do we…?"
She kept quiet, letting the flower figure things out himself. It took him a few seconds, but he finally seemed to make up his mind, and reappeared by the doorframe. "We need to hurry; if Chara sees you, or me, who knows what'll happen."
She followed Flowey's lead down into the home's basement, continuing down the long, ominous hallway. As they reached the end and came across a large door, Flowey winced from where he had been looking at the floor. There was a nearly untouched pile of white dust, except for the footprints of a young child, clear on the edge as they had walked over it.
Flowey turned to her, tears in his eyes. "Just… No matter what happens… Don't be like Chara. Don't kill, please, Theresa."
She smiled at him, somberly. "I… I won't. I swear," she promised, "And… Call me Reesa, okay? My friends call me that, not Theresa."
Flowey gave her a genuine smile, and together they opened the door, revealing a snowy, almost outdoor like scene. She automatically shivered, her loose, warm weathered clothes not meant for this type of weather. Flowey noticed her reaction and frowned. "Hopefully, you'll be out of here soon…" he murmured, and they began walking. The silence was eerie. When they finally reached the town square, it looked so odd and deserted. It was clearly meant to have people milling about, smiling… She wanted to, no, she would set it back. The presents under the tree, with their careful, handwritten name tags… She would fix this.
The flower led her to one of the houses that didn't particularly stand out. "Try the handle?" he requested, looking around the village wearily. She did, and upon finding it locked, the flower muttered something, and disappeared. Moments later, the handle clicked, and the door creaked open, revealing Flowey. Theresa should've guessed that one locked door wasn't an issue in a world where time travel was seemingly possible, and monsters celebrated Christmas. She hurriedly stepped inside, grateful for the less chilly air; she still had goose bumps covering her arms, though.
"This is… You remember, I mentioned someone holding Chara off, keeping their attention? It's his house. He lives, lived, with his brother here. I'm not sure which will be more of a problem for you," Flowey mumbled. "The younger brother is fairly simpleminded, but he knows people on the guard."
Turning to her, Flowey looked slightly nervous, but determined as ever. "I'm honestly not sure how they'll react. But, it's surely better than this… Just, warn them, no matter what. And don't trust Frisk. There's no way for now to tell if they're different from Chara. I don't think it's too late for them, but… You can never be sure, okay?" She nodded.
"H… How do I… Do it?" she asked, nervously, hand gripping her forearm.
The flower frowned. "I… I don't know. Just, if you want it, it's easy, okay?" he smiled, "Be confident. And go to…" He gestured for a marker on the nearby end table, and Reesa complied, grabbing it. "Write this date on your arm, okay? It's exactly five days before Frisk falls. Just focus on it, and you'll be good."
They waited in silence for a few minutes, her eyes tightly shut in concentration. She shyly opened her eyes, slowly shaking her head. "I-It's not… Working…"
She probably would've continued, but they were cut off by a small child's laugh sounding from outside. Flowey blanched, and Reesa froze. That look of fear on Flowey's face… "It's Chara," Flowey mouthed, terrified.
A slashing sound ripped through the air, and the door fell in two. In its place stood a small child, not clearly a boy or girl, with shaggy brown hair and a knife dripping with a red liquid. "W-Who…? Did you k-kill the skeleton, Chara…?" Flowey asked in a squeaky voice.
They merely laughed, stepping forward, towards Flowey first. His eyes widened, and he momentarily turned to Reesa, and was halfway through forming a word before the child's knife flew at his, cutting clean through him. His voice cut off quickly, but it was clear he was yelling the beginning of "now!". It didn't take much concentration or effort; when those soulless eyes focused on her, and their grin widened, realization flashing across their face, the feeling she had earlier overtook Reesa's body, and she briefly held onto the image that she had scrawled on her arm, and, with the date clear in her mind, her surroundings rippled and her head felt like it was getting crushed.
She fell to her knees, faintly acknowledging both Flowey and Chara were gone. Instead, a skeleton stood in front of her, momentarily frozen in surprise. She felt her head getting fuzzy, feeling like it was getting smaller and smaller… The last thing she saw before blacking out completely was the blue of the skeleton's hoodie.