"Howdy Papyrus!"
"HELLO, WHO'S THERE?... WOWIE! ARE YOU... A TALKING FLOWER!? HOW DID YOU KNOW MY NAME?"
"Hee hee hee. Yup, that's me! I know many things, but right now I could really use your help. Do you think you can handle a small favor for me? It's something very important."
"OF COURSE, SMALL FLOWER PERSON! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS HAPPY TO HELP OUT A MONSTER IN NEED! WHATEVER THE TASK MAY BE, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME!"
"Golly, you really are the greatest..."
The best thing about time travel were the second chances; no matter how many times you screwed up, you could always go back and try again. No problem. The sense of deja vu was uncanny as Flowey sat in the early morning sunlight. It was funny to think that, the last time he'd been in this spot was almost a year into the future, yet at the same time, only a day and a half ago.
And only he would ever remember it.
The chamber was empty as usual, It made for a good place to think. He'd been doing a lot of thinking lately, mostly to plan out how to go about this timeline. Most monster's issues wouldn't be too hard to fix now that he knew what he was doing. He hadn't given up on the possibility of getting his soul back, either. But beyond those things he had no solid plan...
Faint, familiar footsteps echoed through the old archway. Flowey ducked underground.
"Howdy!" He chirped, resurfacing in the center of a grass circle.
Toriel stumbled backwards, losing grip on her rusted watering can. It hit the ground with a loud Clank! and sent water flying everywhere... but mostly onto her robes. Flowey had to hold himself back from laughing at the sight - she did NOT look happy!
"Greetings." She said with visible effort not to yell at him. Her expression soon softened into a more confused one, though the signs of irritation never went away. "I am sorry, I was not expecting anyone to be out here."
"That's okay, I wasn't expecting to find anyone here either!" He lied, taking a moment to drink in the look she gave him before adding. "I'm sorry about startling you."
Toriel didn't reply immediately. She stooped down, brushing vainly at the sodden patches on her robes as she reclaimed her watering can from the ground. When she returned to full height she looked considerably more composed.
"It is fine, it was just an accident." She said finally with a small smile. "I did not know anyone besides myself came to this part of the ruins. Do you come here often?"
"Oh gosh no. Just once or twice, but no one was ever around."
"Ah I see." She appeared to have relaxed. Her smile grew more serine and she took a moment to enjoy the quiet... or perhaps it was the company? Flowey knew from the first timeline that she never really spoke to the monsters living in the ruins. They were all too afraid of her. "It is calming here, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it's nice to be somewhere with real sunlight, so few places in the Underground get that. If you listen closely, I think you can even hear the birds on the surface." He smiled, projecting a sense of tranquility. "And I feel much safer, knowing a big locked door is between me and whatever it was out there." It was hard holding his face straight as he spoke that last line.
He watched closely for the reaction from Toriel; she looked surprised, then a concerned frown wove across her face. "What do you mean?"
She was buying it. Good. "Something was in the woods outside Snowdin town. I didn't see it myself, the Royal Guards came to us and told us to find a safe place while they tracked it down and captured it. Whatever it was, it must have been really dangerous for so many of them to be out there at once! So I came here. There's no way it could ever get in here!" Being a part of Mettaton's shows had really helped with improving his acting skills.
Toriel's eyes grew wide. "No no. You must be mistaken." It sounded more like she was talking to herself than to anyone else.
How interesting... "Oh no, they were very adamant about it! They said it was important for this creature to be captured and brought to the king." He watched her fidget and break eye contact. "I think I might have heard it on the way here, but i'm not sure. I heard a sound like a scream, then it started crying. It sounded so genuine that I wanted to help but... the leader of the Guard told me it was a trap."
"Did they." She said slowly through clenched teeth. "I need to go."
She turned around and headed briskly back towards the heart of the ruins. Flowey ducked underground and followed, watching quietly as she marched through the crumbling corridors and ancient puzzles until she was back at the old house. He was about to burrow past the entrance to Snowdin when he heard her footsteps stop. Several seconds passed, and they didn't start again.
What the heck is she waiting for?
He surfaced in a corner of the tunnel where water had eroded the rock almost to a powder, well away from the the patch of sunlight. She was here, standing by the door. Not doing anything, just... staring at it. When he looked closer, he saw that she was trembling. Why? Was she afraid of leaving? Had she been down here so long now that she couldn't face the rest of the Underground anymore? It looked like she wanted to run away and hide, but something was keeping her in place.
Isn't a life worth overcoming your fear for?
Slowly, she reached for the door-handles and rested her hands upon them. Taking in a deep breath, she pushed the door open, releasing a frigid gust of air into the passageway.
Thank you. Flowey thought feeling a small glimmer of hope.
She strode though the forest without the slightest hint of hesitation. Once the sounds of shouting and barking drifted through the town she increased her pace; it was becoming hard to keep up as the permafrost numbed Flowey's body.
"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" She shouted, bursting into the clearing.
All went silent... Flowey surfaced behind a tree to watch. The residents at the town gathering had all turned to face her; the dogs - who's mouths were overloaded with balls and frisbees - cocked their heads curiously.
"HEY! Who the heck are you?!" Undyne marched up from crowd to stand toe to toe with the queen. "And whoever you are, what makes you think you can come over here and tell us to stop?!"
Toriel watched her icily. "To whom am I speaking?"
"That would be Undyne, Captain of the Royal Guard." She grinned, revealing her large, pointed teeth. "But I think I asked you first, punk."
Undyne's aggressive tone did not seem to phase Toriel, at least, not on the surface. Her voice took on a dangerous edge. "Greetings miss Undyne, as the captain of the Guard i'm sure you can answer my question. Where is the human?"
Undyne's smile fell. "What human?"
"THERE'S A HUMAN HERE?!" Papyrus chirped. "SANS! THIS COULD BE MY BIG CHANCE!" He rushed towards his brother's sentry station where the Sans leaned against the counter. The smaller skeleton looked like he'd just woken up and wasn't sure what to make of everything.
Soon the entire crowd was abuzz with chatter about humans, this only served to fuel Undyne's annoyance. "Ngahhhh! Everybody be QUIET please while I sort this out!" She commanded the crowd. Once the chatter had died away, she addressed Toriel again. "Are you telling me there's a human loose in the Underground right now?!"
The queen's assured expression faltered. "I was told th-"
"Tori?"
Everyone turned to face the new arrival in the clearing; it was a voice they all knew well.
"Asgore...?" She gasped, momentarily dumbstruck before her features filled with rage. "Why have you come here?!"
The king seemed taken aback, he held out his arms as if to gesture to everything around himself. "I think I may go where I please within-"
"He was invited." Undyne Interjected.
Asgore turned to her, a kind but strained smile on his face. "Please Undyne, I appreciate the gesture but I can handle my own battles." After a moment, Undyne begrudgingly stepped down and joined the rest of the Guard in spectating. He turned his attention back to Toriel; despite her scornful gaze, he seemed strangely happy. "But that doesn't matter right now. Because, Tori... after all this time, you came back!"
"Don't 'Tori' me, Dreemurr! You pathetic whelp." She scoffed. "I am only here to protect another innocent life from being cut down by you."
Asgore's smile slipped and his gaze fell to the ground. "I did what I had to do... to bring everyone hope."
"You call this hope? If you really wanted to free our kind, you would have gone through the barrier after you got ONE soul, taken six souls from the humans, then come back and freed everyone peacefully. But instead, you made everyone live in despair. You're a coward, Dreemurr. You couldn't follow through, instead you waited, meekly hoping another human would never come." The crowd watched in shock as the queen's words tore into Asgore like a knife through butter.
The king looked smaller than he'd ever been before in the wake of her wrath. "Tori... you're right. I am a pathetic creature."
But she ignored him. "I'll ask again... where is the human?"
There was a long silence, whether out of confusion or fear, no one dared answer her. Undyne came to Asgore's side and wrapped her arm around him, but he pushed her away.
"No one has mentioned anything about a human in the Underground, to me." He said, looking up confused.
"Even if there was one." Undyne spat, still holding herself defensively beside Asgore. "Would you really stand in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams when we're only one soul away from freedom?!"
"The price of freedom is never worth a life." She said simply. "Human or monster. You will have to find another way."
"don't mean to interrupt or anything-"
"That voice." Toriel spun around to see Sans approaching from the crowd in his usual, casual manor. She smiled uncertainly. "Hello, I think we may know each other...?"
"i recognized your voice too, it's nice to finally meet you in person... just kinda wish it was under better circumstances." He stopped before the queen and looked around at the spectators, their expressions still displayed a vibrant mix of shock and confusion. "but I gotta ask, who exactly told you there was a human here?"
A small shiver ran down Flowey's stem; leave it to Sans to be the first to start putting the pieces together.
"Oh, it was a strange monster. It looked like a talking flower." She said thoughtfully.
"WHAT A COINCIDENCE! A TALKING FLOWER TOLD ME TO TELL UNDYNE TO CALL ASGORE TO COME TO THE GATHERING TODAY! HE SAID IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT, BUT DIDN'T SAY WHY... MAYBE IT'S THE SAME FLOWER?!" Papyrus added enthusiastically.
"uhu.." Sans nodded and looked towards the treeline. "you can come out now bud, we know you're here."
Welp, looked like the show was over - he may as well make his appearance. Flowey popped up in the middle of the clearing. "Howdy!"
Everyone immediately turned to stare at him; it would have been unnerving, but he wasn't worried. He smiled up at Sans and waited for the skeleton's response.
But it was not Sans who spoke first. "Why..." Toriel, her face filled with confusion and anger. "You lied to me...? Why did you lie...? Make me think someone was in danger so I would leave... why would you put me through this?"
His smile grew wider, he had to keep himself from grinning too broadly at the satisfaction. "Because." He started. "I wanted to know the truth. The FULL truth, and I'm sick of being ignored, turned away, redirected and lied to!" He shot a frown towards his father; the king looked more broken than he'd ever seen him before. "You broke my trust, you both did. I wanted you to know what that felt like!"
"But we don't even know you!" Toriel gasped, her eyes glistening with tears, confusion replaced by exhaustion and pain. She looked so pathetic. His former self, before he'd died, would have felt bad for them, would have felt terrible for what he'd just done. But he was done pining over that part of himself.
"I'm not sorry." He said coldly, not a single waver in his voice. "But non of this will matter anyway, I got what I came for."
"What sort of miserable creature are you!?" Toriel wailed.
I'm your son. He answered mentally, then ducked underground before anyone could say anything more to him.
Sometimes horrible things had to be done to find the truth. He wished he didn't take pleasure in seeing his parent's pain, but after what he'd gone through it was hard not to... especially when he felt no guilt to stop him. Ugh, this whole situation was messed up... at least it could all be undone. Toriel and Asgore would never need to know this happened, and he would still keep his knowledge.
It seems the only way to truly know the soul of a monster, was to push them. He hoped he would never have to do that again.