I am unbelievably sorry for updating so slowly. My muse has been all over the place, and I tried to make this chapter more detailed to really make up for it. I'll try put more detail into all the chapters from now on.
Again, I'm so sorry ! Also, my bad for any mistakes. ;w;''

Switching through timelines was a funny feeling.

Abandoning the one where Sans had gone savage to restart in a fresh one was a big deal for Flowey, as he never recalled trying this type of thing before – messing with a timeline, yes, but switching through them was something he didn't really do unless Frisk decided to reset. He had his vines wrapped around them currently, one tucked between their lips in order to stop them from making those annoying squeals and protests anyone with a soul would do… Disgusting.

"I'm going to keep my word, Frisk!" The yellow flower threw the human a distorted grin, yellow petals lightly rippling with the somehow existent breeze. "In this timeline, none of your friends will survive!" He paused for a dramatic affect now, he annoyingly seemed to be picking up on a few things from Papyrus… What was it about that skeleton? "I'll leave you in this timeline, this story, where all your friends are dead! You'll be alone… You'll know how I felt… Heehee."

There was a silence between the two as Frisk let this register in their minds. There had to be a way to fix this, there absolutely had to! But as they wriggled around in the green vines wrapped around their small frame, they felt something they never recalled feeling for a long, long time.

Hopelessness.

Flowey completely ignored them, he could practically smell their determination fading away and it was perfect. They weren't even in the new timeline yet and they were losing hope, this was all going to plan and he loved it! Vines wrapping tighter around the child, his yellow petals started to flap more wildly behind him as they neared the end of their journey into the timeline – the smell of the Ruins hit them as a giant, rippling hole opened up.

BANG!

Frisk would've screamed at the sudden loud noise if not for the vine in their mouth keeping them from doing so. Colours exploded and blinded their vision, before everything went black and they were back to floating in a large void. Tilting their head in confusion, they looked around for Flowey, who had seemingly disappeared. Was it some sort of twisted dream? Was this not real?

No, it was very real!

Their eyes were forced shut and another bang sounded around them, before it all quietened and was replaced with the quiet giggling of that golden flower. Frisk finally opened their eyes to stare up at a familiar ceiling – they were in the ruins. They feel a pressure on their shoulder, like a firm but familiar hand holding them down from getting up, but they weren't going to be fooled.

It was obviously Flowey.

"This is the place we first met!" Vines tightly wrapped around their shoulder and arms moved to position the yellow flower next to their head. "Those were good memories, huh? I mean, you were such an idiot you ran into my friendliness pellets thinking they were going to do you good!" Flowey openly chuckled at remembering this scene, then lightly tapping where he would have a chin with a green vine. "Hmm, that goat lady is supposed to show up around now."

He knew who goat lady was, but he preferred to not address her as anything other than that. She was just another playtoy, just another simple being with no real intelligence – and he couldn't be convinced otherwise. Flowey refused to speak the name he once called her, it would bring back all the familiarity, and that strange feeling.. It couldn't be called sadness, he had no soul in order to be sad. But it was vaguely familiar.

Frisk chose to ignore them for the moment, struggling under the grip of his vines. They would give anything for the timeline to return back to normal, and for their friends to team up and rip that flower away – they would be free of his antics and they could do a Pacifist run, and make sure none of their friends get hurt again. The vines loosened to their surprise, allowing them to sit up but then tightening again and locking them in place. A yellow head and green stem snaked around their neck, getting a good look of the area.

"Oh! A child!" A soft voice from behind exclaimed, that made their lips turn up in a bright smile. Someone familiar, kind and loving was there now, and now they didn't feel so alone with Flowey anymore. But one glance at the flower made anxiety settle deep inside their stomach, as his face was twisted in a sinister smile. Something told them he really was serious about killing their friends, but they had been through multiple Genocide runs. It couldn't be that bad, right?

"Are you alright?" She had altered lines compared to the usual rundown, and this time Flowey was freely curled around their shoulder and smiling up at the goat, who looked quite unnerved by him. "You are not hurt, are you? It has been quite some time since a human has fallen down here… And a flower, too?" Toriel had never seen a flower with a face before, but it wasn't the strangest thing to exist in the Underground – there were living vegetables, after all.

It was the first time Frisk had finally spoken after a while, and it felt strange after hearing Flowey chatter on about his plans while they kept completely silent. "I'm fine." Their voice was quiet and surprisingly cold sounding, that even they felt bad after saying it. Flowey was grinning from nonexistant ear to nonexistant ear, though, his eyes lit up like fireworks. It was already working1 Wowie – oh jesus, he really spent too much time with Papyrus in past timelines.

Toriel outstretched her furry hand, a kind smile on her face, though to Flowey's dismay it seemed more directed to Frisk than him. Such an inconsiderate playtoy. "Come, my child, it is far too dangerous to be alone out here. My name is Toriel and I will protect you from," she squinted, "them."

Frisk wondered what had caused this dialogue change, before the vine wrapped around their shoulder snaked down and forced their arm up, pressing their hand into Toriel's. They shivered at the sensation of being forced into doing things, frowning slightly – perhaps they could try to warn her? They had to protect her from Flowey, they weren't sure how but they knew he was planning to kill her… And everybody else they had come so far with.

"Every plan you make will fail," The yellow flower whispered into their ear. "No matter how many times you stop me or kill me… I'll just keep coming back, heehee!" He grinned and bobbed his head in excitement, before tucking himself down against their neck and quietly watching Toriel. It was strange how innocent and small he looked like that, like an attention seeking cat. It gave Frisk a flicker of hope, maybe there was some good in him. It couldn't all be an act, right? Not everything?

Soon Toriel was leading them through the Ruins, through a few puzzles until they were forced to walk down the hallway by themselves – plus one flower. Every puzzle and every word they encountered, it warmed their heart just to see their mother like this. But every glance at Flowey reminded them that he had sworn to kill their friends. They could only hope, pray, Toriel would realise he was dangerous and distance herself. He had said this timeline they would be left in… Did that mean they would be unable to reset? They squinted at the flower, unsure of his motives.

Finally, after what felt like ages, they were at the front of Toriel's house. She looked in thought and almost fearful, eyes dimmed before lighting back up again and she smiled at Frisk. "This will be your new home, my child." Different lines, yet again. Frisk couldn't help but wonder why everything was so different now? Had Flowey affected the timeline that badly just by being on their shoulder? They shook their head and could practically hear the flower smile – he was knew they were trying to figure it out, and it rather sickly seemed to amuse him.

"Thank you..." Frisk smiled, their voice quiet as they tried their best to pull a happy expression off. But if they really showed their real emotion, it would be anger and somewhat sympathy for Flowey. They didn't want him to kill their friends, but they also felt sorry for him given his reasons. They were conflicted – help their friends, or help Flowey? He obviously needed a little love, instead of having so much LOVE. The child shook their head again, it was almost becoming a problem, gently grasping the furry hand of their adoptive mother and letting themselves be led into the house.

Toriel's house was warm and welcoming. It always had a strong smell of books with the faint essence of snail pie lingering in the air. At first Frisk had no idea what the peculiar smell was, but after one test reset staying with their adoptive mother they had become used to the smell of cooked snails. It actually became quite nice, after a while. They always looked forward to coming back here after every reset, and even though they never wished this to happen this was rather nice.

"Enjoy it while you can, Frisk."

They frowned at the flower momentarily before Toriel's soft voice broke the tension. "Feel free to look around! I will be in the living room if you need me." Her muzzle curved in a smile as her long ears twitched once, furry feet turning as she walked into the other room to sit on her chair. Frisk blinked a few times, considering their options. They then looked towards the stairs that led down into the place where they could escape the Ruins. Hmm… They didn't know for sure when Flowey would attempt to kill Toriel, so they weren't sure what to do.

They decided to continue the story as normal.

Frisk walked into the living room and smiled cheerily at the reading goat, hands behind their back as they engaged conversation with her. She talked about snails and stalled when they asked about leaving the Ruins, as usual. Soon she stood up dramatically with a determined frown on her face, hands lifting off the arm of the chair as she scurried towards the stairs, going to destroy the exit as she proclaimed. Frisk took a deep breath, they had to be prepared for any time Flowey might try to kill their mother.

They quickly rushed after Toriel as the story went, down the stairs as she stopped them every few seconds to exclaim a few lines. Then, they approached the door – the door they were fearing to see, that marked the end of Toriel's encounter. It marked the chance for Flowey to strike, they could already feel him shifting from against their neck, giggling quietly like a psychotic child. They had to stay determined, though!

Red soul beating against their chest, they tried to engage battle. But Toriel refused. She stepped back, eyes suspiciously looking over the child before resting on their shoulder – their stomach dropped immediately. Everything was different, so different they weren't even going to fight Toriel. This was Flowey's plan, everything was playing out different, he was trying to change everything so they didn't know what was going to happen.

So they wouldn't know how to protect their friends.

"That flower… There is something strange about him." She began slowly, taking another step back everytime Frisk desperately tried to engage a fight, trying their best to make things run the way they were used to. They had to do it, they had to fight her – Flowey would get a chance to kill her unless they didn't! The vines loosened on their shoulder and their heart rate picked up, pupils dilating as they desperately tried again and again. Toriel had to fight them, she had to, she had to, she had to -

A vine shot out, wrapping around the goat's legs and pressing them together. It lifted a shocked Toriel up and smacked her up on the ceiling then back on the ground, depleting her HP at an alarming rate. It was pure torture to watch, someone they loved dearly being treated like a baby rattle being furiously shaking up and down – Frisk was helpless to stop her, not even they could stop Flowey this early.

"Stop it!"

Up, down. Toriel knew her HP was going down, and she heard the child's cries. That flower was so familiar but not, the way he smiled and the way he seemed to cower up to her shoulder. It reminded her of somebody she used to know, had she known it was so dangerous. Her vision started to blur as she was being shaken more violently, hearing the flower cackle. It echoed around her as everything became blurred, her HP dropping lower and lower.

"TORIEL, NO!"

Her HP hit zero. It had been a total of 10 seconds and she had already gotten to zero. Toriel's eyes dimmed and she smiled softly, staring directly at the child and right through the smiling flower. "I thought you were… Familiar… It is clear that flower is not normal, is it? Heh….." Her eyes flickered down as she took a deep breath. "Hold onto your hopes, my child..." That human couldn't be bad. The shout had been so genuine, so sincere. She believed they were just being forced into the flower's company.

Then, her body faded to dust. A white soul lingered for only a few moments, before a vine wrapped around it and crushed it completely, grinding it's remaining dust against the vine surface for a few moments. It was both sickening and depressing to watch.

"Well, that was fun, right?" Flowey piped up from beside a very shocked and sorrowful Frisk. "Mmm, the remains of her soul feels really good against my vines. A reminder of a beautiful victory!" He grinned before frowning in fake pity as the child lowered thei head. A vine slowly creeped up to push their head upwards.

"Now, now, Frisk. We're only just getting started."