It was worse than when she woke up before, in the clearing. Back then, it had mainly been disassociation with the world, a headache coming with it. But she was on her feet soon enough, and had been automatically able to move. Maybe, the situation had something to do with it; who knows. In the room at the beginning, Flowey wasn't looking to hurt her when she woke back up. He was clearly interested in her, seeing a spark of hope that had been wiped out completely before; waking up, she wasn't in danger, only slightly confused. And, back then, she had been able to think. She had moved automatically, and her head was working well enough for her to realize that her heart was gone. Now…

She wasn't thrown abruptly into consciousness, like before. No, she faded in, if that makes sense. There was no line between reality and wherever she was. There were just times when her head heart more than usual, and times when the darkness she was in was more appealing than others. Eventually, her head began hurting more. She wasn't really sure when that difference happened, though. Time wasn't making sense right now. Heck, it wasn't making sense even when she was fully conscious, she honestly shouldn't have expected this to be any better. Anyway, eventually the black around her began to fade; the blocks on her senses were slowly being pushed away, except for the pain that encompassed her head.

One of the first things she noticed was that she wasn't collapsed on the floor, like she had anticipated. The next thing was that, despite the intense throbbing in her head, she remembered everything with Flowey perfectly, no gaps whatsoever; if only she had that with the events leading up to her falling… She'd be a lot better off. Her body was still sluggish, though. As she began sifting through her memories with Flowey, it clicked in her mind that she wasn't really awake yet, like when you realize you're in a dream.

Head foggy, she tried to blink open her eyes to make herself wake up fully. Hesitantly, she succeeded, and her senses faded back to life. One of the first things that caught her attention was how cold she was, and she instinctively pulled her arms closer to her torso, shivering slightly. Her thin clothing really wasn't meant for chilly weather; it was fit for warm evenings lounging about in the humid air, or sitting in a window, the slightest hint of a breeze keeping you cool in the summer heat… But… Not anymore… She winced; the light of whatever room she was in wasn't helping the post-travel headache, and bringing up painful memories of summer nights… stolen kisses… angry, pain filled, yelling… pain… blades… pushing… falling… executions. She was awake now.

The next thing she noticed as she tried to clear the blur of sleep from her eyes was that someone's gaze was clearly on her, sending chills down her back. She lifted one of her hands from their resting position, curled on her left forearm, and rubbed her eyes, trying to gain the ability to see clearly, then brushing her hair out of her face and behind her ears, attempting to subtlety open up her peripheral vision, since she was still laying flat on her back, but it was challenging as she was still out of it. Whoever was obviously in the room with her hadn't said anything yet; she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Flowey had said before that she was in the home of two previously, or, now, going to be dead brothers… Was one of them here, now? Was it the "simpleminded" one, or… She cringed inwardly. The one who had managed to hold off the person who had slaughtered nearly every inhabitant of this world…? She didn't like the thought of that. Not at all. If she had to guess, though, she would think she was dealing with the "simpleminded" one. I really wish I had thought to ask what their names were… Inwardly saying the violent one and the childish one wasn't going to work for long, especially considering she had been in their house.

Oh, God. She didn't think this through. The house of the only person who could hold off Chara, the apparent psychotic child with unreasonable strength who was going to destroy this world, again, in a few days. Maybe less…

This Chara person… They had killed Flowey, hadn't they..? Reesa hadn't stayed in that… "timeline"…? Yes, that "timeline" long enough to see what happened after the knife slashed through the flower, but it was implied no one could survive a hit like that, much less a plant, despite how strong Flowey claimed to be. W… Would he be…? Alive, now…? If I really am in the past…? She paused in her thinking, then mentally shook her head. She would have to figure that out after she solved the current problem; who knows, maybe whichever brother this was would have the answer…? As she had been thinking before interrupting her own train of thought, she was fairly confident she had the simpleminded brother right now. It was clear she had been moved from where she vaguely remembered collapsing; she had without a doubt fallen on the floor, and now as her headache was slowly clearing it was blatantly obvious she was on a couch or loveseat of some sort. The other brother didn't sound like the type to do that, based on how Flowey had talked about him, with a mixture of awe and fear…

Speaking of… The brother would've noticed by now that she was awake, if she was right in feeling that someone had been watching her as she completed her inner monologue. She was sure she wasn't exactly subtle when she opened her eyes and shifted her hands to where they were. Theresa was fairly confident she was fully awake and competent now, but didn't want to move from her uncomfortable resting position on the couch. This wouldn't be a fun conversation. She didn't even know the names of these people; all she knew was that Chara slash whatever else Flowey had called them… Risk? Was that it? That they were bad, and Flowey might have been bad, but wasn't in the future… Did these people even know about the timeline problem…? Did they know she was a human…? Did they kill humans, here…?

She wanted to shudder at the thought, but refrained. Instead, she decided to shakily take in a deep breath, and attempt to sit up; even if she had done this timeline thing correctly, Flowey made it very clear she was on a time limit, and didn't get a second try at this. Once Chara knew the full extent of who she was, what she could do… They would most likely kill her as they did to others, then ruin this world in whatever way they wanted to. They had come into the house drenched in… Was it blood…? Even the person holding them off eventually failed. There really was no hope if she failed at this…

Breathing out slowly, a calming technique she had learned long ago, she moved her right hand and ever so slowly began to turn herself to the side, sitting up and supporting herself on her left side, keeping her eyes cast down. She was now sitting at an angle, with her legs folded together and feet pointing at the end of the couch she was on; her hands were propping her up, and she didn't bother trying to hide the scars, which were prominent and facing outward at this angle. It really was the least of her problems at the moment. Her head spun from the movement, but it cleared after a few seconds. Whoever was in the room with her still hadn't spoken.

As her eyes focused, Theresa was fairly confident that the dizzy spell was over. The one with Flowey had subsided after she started moving around, and she hoped the same could be said for now. She couldn't afford being dizzy, or falling, right now. She had a lot of explaining to do.

She looked up from where she had been staring, apparently enthralled with the zigzag blue and purple carpet that coated the floor. She hadn't noticed it when she came in with Flowey; the house also just… felt different. Less abandoned, if that makes sense. It was still chilly, but compared to the cold emptiness of when she was here a week later, it was a big improvement. Her eyes drifted upwards, taking in her surroundings. It looked the same, but, as she said earlier, different. A television set was parallel to her, and the loft like area with the two doors was the same. As she scanned the room left to right, there was one fairly noticeable difference. At the entrance of a connected, tiled room, a fairly short person was standing, gaze intent on her.

She made eye contact, and felt herself blanch, gaze widening as much as it had when she had first set her black eyes on Flowey, back in the caves. Only now, she was far less keen to be stuttering; she was too busy being frozen in fear to make busy, awkward conversation.

What she had originally thought was a fairly normal person, like her, was actually very different. Of course; she should have anticipated this. Flowey had made it clear the usual rules don't apply in this world; monsters lived here, and she was the one intruding, the outcast, the human. W… What… She had also heard Flowey's constant references to the one brother; "the skeleton". That implied both of the brothers were skeletons; but, skeletons… They are the stories told to little children, to keep them in line and in bed at night. They were never meant to be real…

Even if she had been paying enough attention to anticipate that she would be facing a skeleton and had prepared herself for that, there was no way she could be prepared for the look he was giving her. The lighting of the room just highlighted the huge dips on his face from where the… God… the bone was curving, and it was emphasized by the huge shadows that were his eye sockets, both of which were completely black, devoid of pupils. She might've been imagining it, but she could've sworn his left eye had a blue, shifting tinge. It could've just been some reflection of the blue hoodie he was wearing. Do skeletons even get cold…? She couldn't help the silly question from forming in her mind. Whether or not skeletons needed heaters wasn't exactly the issue at hand.

He broke the silence, seeing as the frozen, literally and mentally, human with her mouth slightly agape in fear wasn't going to be much for conversation. "Let me get something clear, before the pleasantries," he began. God… Why, why, did he have to be smiling like that…? If it was meant to be throwing the human into even more fear and doubt, it was working. "The reason you're not dead where you stand is because, I have to admit, I'm curious."

This made her mind freeze up completely. Flowey didn't warn me about this. How do I help if… If I'm dead before I can even try…? Oh God… I don't… I-I don't want to die… She froze up completely. Even if she wanted to reply, or try to run, she couldn't will muscles to move; fear held her in place like a trap.

"So, kid," he began again. Now she was sure she wasn't imagining it; his left eye was definitely bluish and wavering, "Care to explain how and why you ended up in this house? Cause last I checked, I didn't invite you in."

The smile was getting to her. She had no doubt that she had been wrong in her assumption; this guy seemed more than capable of holding off the murderous child that was Chara. So, that's why she mentally slapped herself, repetitively, when the only thing she could say after that was to blurt out in a small voice, "D-Don't call me kid." She was bracing herself for whatever the skeleton would do when she commented on that, of all the things she could've said… But… the last person who called her kid… She was tempted to frown at the memory, and would've if not for the situation. Sure, she had talked to that man a few times over the past year, but the one memory with him that stuck. There was a reason she was afraid of heights. She couldn't go back to that memory, though, not now. She just had to remember, she was alive now, and that was all that mattered.

The skeleton's face changed slightly, looking almost amused; it almost looked like he raised an eyebrow, except, well, for the lack of eyebrows. He laughed slightly, but it was pretty humorless.

"'K, then, human. Why are you here…?" he asked. His face wasn't showing any hint as to what he was feeling, but it was pretty obvious to Theresa that she was getting low on time before he lost patience with her. His not so discreet threat… She had no doubt he wouldn't hesitate to go through with it.

"I… I…" she hadn't moved from her uncomfortable, forced position on the couch, and her arms were beginning to shake with strain and fear. Plus, she was beginning to get uncomfortable with her scars being pointed almost directly in the guy's direction. They tended to make conversation awkward, and she had enough of that at the moment. So, very slowly, so as to not make the skeleton do anything rash, she moved her legs to the edge of the couch, shifting her skirt meanwhile. As she adjusted her weight, so she could sit up without supporting herself by her arms, she hesitantly folded them, bringing them closer for heat and a feeble sense of protection. The skeleton hadn't said anything to her movement, though he was clearly still on guard and threatening. "It's a long story," she finished meekly. "I… Y-You have a brother, right?" She was grasping at the feeble straws of information she had on this guy, and she couldn't exactly use the piece about him fighting off a murderous ten year old who had destroyed everything in his world.

This was the wrong thing to say. Very, very wrong thing to say. His eye was unmistakably blue now, and the other was as pitch black as her own. His hand had a blue glow to it now, too, almost looking like it was surrounded by blue flames.

"W h a t. d o. y o u. k n o w. t. s," he said slowly, grin wide as ever. She froze. Or, stayed frozen more determinedly; she was already pretty unmoving. She didn't have much time to reply to that, because before she could tell what was happening, in a brief flash of light, a large skeleton like head appeared, like that of a… Goat, maybe? A deer? She didn't have time to figure it out because, at that moment, it opened its maw and fired a seemingly huge beam of light at her; she had a feeling it wasn't good.

She screamed, panicked. I didn't have a chance. Or, I did, but… God, I messed it up. She blindly threw up her hands, knowing in less than a second the beam would collide with her body. Guess the guy had lost his curiosity. I never even learned his name, did I…?

As soon as the beam hit her outstretched hand, though, and the pain began to hit her, it froze. Her eyes had shut themselves as the bright light came at her, but now she hesitantly opened them. The beam was frozen, barely touching and burning her hand. Slowly, she pulled it backwards, looking up and around it. The skeleton was frozen where he stood, hand outstretched, and the flames in his eye unmoving. What…?

Realizing that the beam couldn't hurt her or progress any further, she hesitantly put her feet on the ground, pushing herself to a standing position. She carefully walked away from the skeleton and the couch, instead positioning herself by the staircase. Had she… Frozen time…?

It honestly wouldn't surprise her at this point. She took in a shaky breath. Now… How exactly do I unfreeze time…?

She stood there for a few moments, willing it to happen. Suffice to say, it didn't. She bit her lip, nervously. This was not good. Being frozen in time… Not going to get anyone anywhere, will it…?

Maybe…? A trick she always used to wake herself up out of stupors, she lifted her left hand, pinching her right arm hard. At the spike of pain, her eyes widened, and time's wheels began turning again. The beam quickly cut itself off, and the skeleton flinched, turning quickly to see that the girl had somehow moved from where she had stood to across the room. She had barely noticed that, in her panic, the heart that rested on her forearm had reappeared, with its rainbow-esque sheen. The skeleton opened his mouth as if to speak, but shut it moments later, while Theresa stood there in silence, mentally preparing herself for a getaway.

Finally, the skeleton spoke. "Well… That's new."

Theresa simply nodded. "Y-Yeah… I thought so, too."