The underground looked just like it always had - a massive, dark cave. All light came from artificial sources, magical in nature; it was the only thing that kept the monsters from living in complete darkness. The only place that ever experienced real sunlight was the small field of flowers planted at the bottom of Mt. Ebott's gaping hole. The precious rays of light filtered down through the opening, gracing the lucky flowers with genuine light as they grew on the cave floor.

Toriel had planted the flowers there long ago, for reasons that were her own. It wasn't hard to imagine why, as the lush flower bed had saved the lives of several humans as they found themselves plunging to the depths of monster hell.

But more than that, the flowers served as a marker for Chara's grave.

Chara gave a thoughtful hum as she stared up at the ceiling, through the massive hole. It brought back many memories, of when she first made her trek to the realm of the monsters. There hadn't been any flowers to break her fall.

It had hurt like hell.

Chara grinned as she let out a soft giggle. She had survived, though with quite a few injuries to her credit. The fact that she survived at all was a testament to her determination, as she would never allow something as insignificant as pain as to stop her.

The fallen child doubted Toriel truly understood how helpful the flowers had been to Chara and her needs. Her 'mother' had done it as a memorial for her departed daughter, and to make sure no other humans shared her fate. It served its purpose well, very well. It kept the humans that Chara had called in from dying instantly.

After all, it would've been a huge inconvenience for them to die in the ruins.

"Seven human souls," Chara murmured as she closed her eyes. Technically, they should have only needed six, as her soul should have counted as the seventh. But after everything her 'father' and his nerd lizard friend had done to it, her soul had been stretched far too thin to be of much use anymore.

But that was fine. Something far more interesting came from her soul, from her determination, being used in such a way. It had opened doors that Chara didn't even think were possible, opportunities that fell into her lap with no one the wiser. And she was in no rush, no deadline to gathering the souls she needed.

Besides, the journey was part of the fun. Chara had quite a bit of fun seeing how far she could go with each human, and how much trouble they could cause as she guided them to their deaths. Most, particularly the first few attempts, hadn't even made it to Asgore, though he collected their souls all the same. It was fun trying to avoid the eager little beavers, and the suspense of which monster would actually get lucky and land the killing blow was always enjoyable. By the end, she had gotten rather good at getting past the peons and facing her 'father' himself. The look of anguish on his face as he was forced to kill a child had been beautiful. It reminded her of his anguish when she had died, and unlike then, she was actually in a position to enjoy it.

Chara would have owed Alphys some gratitude if she didn't find her so pathetic.

Besides, during her runs with Frisk, it had always been Alphys who had ruined her fun by evacuating everyone. Watching through the cameras like the delusional voyeur she was, the lizard would always see Chara massacring the ones unlucky enough to be caught unaware and quickly whisk away the rest. Chara's body counts were much lower than she would have liked thanks to the good 'doctor' and her meddling. Chara never even got the opportunity to properly 'thank' her, as Alphys was far too cowardly to confront her directly - she would always send her robot to his death, instead.

Chara imagined that once Alphys knew just what her experiments with the young girl's soul had wrought, the full extent of it, the scientist would no longer hesitate to do what she should've done a long time ago. The sheer weight of Alphys' actions would hang around her neck like a noose, one of the coward's own making. The lizard, and Asgore, should never have underestimated the power of her soul, of her determination. What was hers would always be hers, and that was a lesson that even Flowey and Frisk would soon learn.

Chara simply couldn't wait.

"Speaking of which," Chara said. She lowered her graze, her piercing red eyes focusing on the far entry way. It was the doorway that lead to Flowey, and where he had spent his days skulking about. No doubt he had already noticed Chara's arrival, especially since it was always marked with her determination overpowering his, and the powers he had stolen from her returning to where it rightfully belonged.

But she wasn't interested in Flowey, not yet.

Soft movement appeared in the entryway, nigh invisible against the darkness to the point that one would only see it if they were specifically looking for it. And then, eyes - a multitude of eyes - appeared in the darkness, like little pinpricks of light against the blackness. The eyes focused on Chara, who in turn returned the gaze with one of her own.

Chara's smile widened. "Let's get down to business, shall we~?"

The first thing Frisk saw when she opened her eyes was the gaping maw of the hole she fell through from the surface so long ago. As soft as the bed of golden flowers beneath her felt against her skin, she had long since realized that it was almost certainly magic that kept her alive after this and every other fall she had taken in the realm of the monsters.

The sight was so painfully familiar, but there was no comforting sense of nostalgia to it.

Back here again…, Frisk thought with a weary sigh as she raised a hand to the sky, focusing on just how small it was. Although she had spent far more years than she could count in the underground in a never ending time loop, somehow the few years she had been allowed to grow on the surface made her forget what it was like to be this size.

After so long without a reset, Frisk thought for sure that maybe, just maybe, she was done. All the times she wished she could save Asriel along with everyone else… In those moments of weakness, she always came back here to start all over again, but she never found any way to prevent him from changing back to Flowey.

Frisk thought she had finally accepted it, that the best thing she could do for Asriel was to take Flowey from the underground and use her determination to teach him to love again. She knew she was getting through to him, bit by bit, and she was so careful not to wish to try again; she tried so hard to live and enjoy each moment rather than rob everyone of their happy ending one more time.

Even the dark presence haunting her had finally gone silent after an eternity of struggling with her nearly every second of the day. Now, Frisk could see that it was foolish to think Chara had given up, or at least gotten bored with all the resets and the 'game' they were playing. The demon simply waited a lot longer this time for an opportunity to reset.

Frisk brought her hand over her heart and squeezed her chest as tears trickled down her cheeks. The pain she felt now after losing so much more than any other reset was undoubtedly exactly what Chara wanted.

"You're so cruel," Frisk whispered into the darkness.

The sound of her voice startled Frisk, and her brown eyes flew open wide. Instantly, she bolted upright. "I… I can speak freely? Without prompts?"

It might have been a while since Frisk was back underground, but one thing she knew for certain was that the possession rendered her almost entirely mute, save for a few key moments. She suspected that it was because of two consciousnesses with equal determination fighting for control over her body and soul. The only times she could say whatever she wanted was after she went to the surface where Chara had far less control over her body.

As Frisk climbed to her feet and dashed away her tears, she found herself moving far more freely than ever before. She was almost too light, as though she had finally broken free of chains dragging her down. The feeling was equally exhilarating as it was terrifying, but this new freedom filled her with determination.

There was something else different; Frisk was certain of it. It felt as though the very fabric of the world had changed all around her somehow, but even as she looked around, everything still appeared to be exactly the same as it always had. The change felt important, significant, but it was completely beyond her grasp to explain.

Whatever had happened in this last reset, it had changed everything.

As Frisk made her way towards the next room, she wondered if this meant that everyone would still repeat the same actions they made before. Would they have some memory of the surface beyond an inexplicable photograph? Would the Flowey greeting her be the same one that knew nothing of love and kindness, or would he actually remember the surface and his brief time as Asriel again? She could only wait and see what happened next as she went through the old familiar motions.

Of all the decisions that lay ahead of her to make there was one thing Frisk knew for certain - if Flowey was the old Flowey yet again, she was not going to fall for his 'friendliness pellets.'

When Frisk entered the next room, she had to pause in the doorway at the sight of the smiling yellow flower on top of the small hill of grass. His saccharine expression said it all; nothing had changed for him even in the slightest.

Frisk felt her heart give a painful twist as all the time they spent together underground and on the surface drifted through her mind, all the pain and healing Asriel went through again and again, only for a reset to take away not only his memories, but leave his heart as empty as when they first met.

It wasn't fair.

Words failed Frisk as she approached the falsely friendly flower so that they could have their first meeting all over again.

"Howdy!" Flowey said, cheerfully with the same faux cheer that was harder for Frisk to stomach each time she heard it. "I'm Flowey, Flowey the Flow-"

"Asriel!" Frisk blurted out as a tide of emotions came crashing over her. "Can't you remember me at all?"

It was a mistake to reveal so much. Frisk knew it even as Flowey's expression shifted from shock to a warped smile that was even more fake than the last, but far more menacing.

"You…," Flowey said in a gravelly voice, his eyes now blackened pits that bore through Frisk. "You know what's going on here, don't you?"

Knowing that it was too late to take back the hand she had revealed, Frisk instead chose to move forward. "Asriel… I know right now you can't feel anything but hate and sadness and loneliness, but-"

Flowey interrupted Frisk with a twisted cackle. "You don't know anything! Don't think just because you know… that name means you're anything special. That smiling trashbag must have gotten to you before I did, didn't he? I knew I should have-"

"No!" Frisk shouted, feeling her eyes sting with frustrated tears she forced not to fall. "Why does this keep happening? Why do you remember everything except learning how to love again? I'm your friend, Frisk. We've been through so much together, but every time… every time…"

Frisk furiously wiped away the wetness from her eyes with the sleeve of her old, well-worn sweater so that she could stare directly into Flowey's eyes, searching for some tiny glint of Asriel still left inside the golden flower. "Why do you only forget changing back to Asriel? Why do you only forget when we become a family?"

A war was being waged on Flowey's face as Frisk's words pierced through him. Eventually, however, his overly sweet smile returned, and he batted his eyes with faux innocence. "Golly, family? Really? Gosh, that changes everything."

Frisk felt the tension creeping into her muscles, readying to start dodging the attack she just knew was coming next.

"Well, pal," Flowey said, bobbing his head, "then you won't mind doing me a favor…" His face twisted into something hideous, his voice distorting with malice, as a halo appeared around Frisk in the form of his signature circular attack. "...And give me your soul."

Frisk waited for the world go go dark around her to signify the start of the battle, but the two of them simply stood there, squaring off. Her view of herself didn't change and reduce itself to just her soul on an expanse of black, penned in by a border of white when it wasn't choosing buttons, with the intimidating figure of a monster firing bullets at her from all around. She could feel Flowey glaring right through her, staring right into her soul. Just as he she noticed that the pellets weren't a solid shade of white, but hovered with a glowing golden glow, they abruptly winked out of existence.

Flowey's twisted sense of bravado disappeared as genuine fear came flooding in to replace it. "What did… What did you do?"

Frisk had no idea how to answer that question. The battle system had changed, or at least was absent, it would seem. What that meant for her upcoming conflicts, she wasn't sure, but she knew that the 'game' had completely changed. She could only think of one other person with the power to upturn reality so completely; the same person who turned her entire world completely inside-out.

"Chara," Frisk whispered.

Flowey flinched at the name, his petals folding back much like a cornered animal would cant its ears. He continued to stare at Frisk, straight through her to the brilliant light of her soul as it remained locked away securely inside her. The words this human spoke to him, this familiarity that even now she showed in the concerned gaze she fixed on him; it filled him with too many emotions to comprehend, and none of them good.

But it was the changing of the game entirely that sent Flowey retreating into the ground, completely abandoning his usual attempts to trick and murder Frisk.

Frisk felt mildly surprised that Flowey fled without so much as a sputter of protest or eerie barb meant to unsettle her. For someone like him, who was not unlike a god with his power to reset, having that power taken away and all the rules change at the same time must have been quite a blow. The only reason why she could deal with the changes so much better than he could was because she remembered how the world worked on the surface, and there were no buttons there to use or destroy there.

Perhaps that too was because of Chara.

Frisk had no doubt that Flowey would simply shadow her movements like he always did, looking for some sort of advantage to turn him into a god, especially now, but that was nothing new. Her worries focused on someone far, far worse than even the heartless Flowey could ever hope to be.

"What are you planning, Chara?" Frisk whispered, not expecting an answer.

A ghastly scream tore through the air and pierced Frisk's heart. She took off running for the sound even before it fully sank in that she recognized the voice in such pain. "Mom!"

Just through an ornate archway, Frisk found Toriel lying at the center of a familiar expansive room. Fallen red leaves scattered on the floor framed the boss monster like blood, making her look to be the victim of a crime scene, complete with a huge gash starting from her stomach and ending at her side.

There was no time for Frisk to think, only act. She tore the bandage off her wrist as she raced for Toriel's side and slapped it onto the wound, praying that it would still work. As always, the small adhesive strip that she had used time and time again on the surface had somehow gained magical properties in the underground and disappeared after it was used one final time.

While Toriel's torn dress remained unchanged, the wound it exposed was now closed, at least on the surface. There were signs of discoloration on her skin exposed by a large patch of missing fur, but Frisk hoped that would go away after she ate some food.

Frisk would steal the entire bowl of monster candy if that was what it took to save Toriel.

A low moan escaped Toriel as her eyes fluttered open. "Ohh…" As her gaze settled on Frisk, she recoiled from the little girl. "Chara-?!"

For a single moment, Frisk felt her heart stop as she saw the fear in Toriel's eyes directed at her. Only Flowey had ever mistaken her for Chara before. No one else in the underground seemed to notice any resemblance between her and the fallen child, not Asgore and not Toriel.

Until now.

Toriel squeezed her eyes shut then opened them again to better focus on the young human in front of her. A myriad of emotions played across her face, going by too fast for Frisk to take in, before finally she furrowed her brow. "Oh… Forgive me, my child. I must have been dreaming." Slowly, she rose to her feet with a smile to mask the discomfort she felt as she moved. "I am Toriel, guardian of the ruins."

"Are you okay?" Frisk asked, sparing a brief glance to the empty room to verify that no one was there with them. "Did Chara do this to you?"

Sadness mingled with unease crept into Toriel's smile. "No, no, I… I must have been dreaming after tripping down the stairs." She looked back at the two staircases not that far behind her. "Yes…," she muttered more to herself than Frisk, "that must've been what happened."

The sight of that discolored patch of skin on Toriel's stomach, completely bare of her soft white fur, only made what happened feel all the more real to Frisk. The wound was in the same spot. The exact same spot as every other time she died.

In her mind's eye, Frisk relived all those deaths, how her mother's dust coated her hands afterward and never went away. She felt so overcome with emotion that without considering the potential consequences, she threw her arms around Toriel and hugged her mother for dear life.

"Oh!" Toriel gasped, startled by the sudden action, but she didn't hesitate to return the favor. "There, there, my child. It's alright. There's nothing to be afraid of. My magic can heal this wound as though it were never there at all, and I'll use it to protect you, I promise."

Frisk shook her head a little, but said nothing. It was a lie, not even one Toriel realized she was making, but a lie nonetheless. It was up to Frisk to save everyone, and no one could or would fight these battles for her. "Mom…"

Toriel's eyes opened wide. "Huh? Did you just call me… 'Mom'?" A bittersweet warmth filled her chest when Frisk mutely nodded, bringing a much more genuine smile to her face. "Well… I suppose… Would that make you happy? To call me… 'Mother'?"

Frisk clutched Toriel's dress tighter as she hid the tears that stung at her eyes. These were the same words as always, ones of a sweet woman who was flattered by a strange child who grew so quickly attached. She didn't trust herself to speak right away, merely nodding, as the mother she loved so much had forgotten her completely.

Joy lit up Toriel's face as she bent down to give Frisk a proper hug. "Well then, call me whatever you like!"

It was painful, but Frisk forced herself to swallow her true emotions and hide them away along with her tears as she smiled a little at Toriel. There was nothing she could do to make her mother remember all the precious moments that they shared. To the queen of the monsters, she was a helpless, scared, and lost little human child who was going to be the target of every monster she came across. To make her seem like anything more risked making Toriel fear her and destroying their precious bond. Just one glimpse of the fear in Toriel's eyes alone was more painful than any death she ever experienced.

Frisk did nothing to resist as Toriel took her by the hand and led her along through the ruins at a pace that was far more brisk than usual. She did her best to stop thinking about what she had lost and focus on the present. Even if her mother didn't want to accept it, Toriel had been attacked, and the culprit was only all too obvious.

What did you do, Chara? Frisk thought as she scanned the room with a sense of dread. Everything appeared the same as always, but as they started to climb the staircase that was when she saw it, one tiny but crucial detail that was different - the golden star that served to make her save points was gone.

It shouldn't have been that big of an issue - Frisk had long ago learned how to dodge attacks so well that she didn't even need the save points anymore - but its absence sent a chill up her spine. She couldn't even ask Toriel about it because no one except those with the power to reset could see them. Even Sans never seemed to notice them, despite everything he figured out about the resets using scientific means.

Frisk didn't know for sure what it meant, or what other changes Chara had in store for her, but she had a feeling that she could no longer rely on the power to reset if something went horribly wrong - not this time.