Sometime prior...
It was interesting to have existed to a point that memory had become a plague. It brought with it ages of regret, and tragedy that never seemed to relent. Always in the back of her thought, torturing, dragging back anger, and distress in new and unwelcome ways.
An inability to sleep, an inability to process or function in many situations. Tension when interacting with others, a shorter temper, unintentional hostility. All these things compounding, building, into one ever flooding pool of misery.
There the monster lay, on a well-worn down bead, with broken glass at the base. A bottle shattered against the wall, the room reeking of some alcoholic thing or another. Toriel pressed her hand against her head, it was pounding, aching again.
She was exhausted, twitching or shaking from that aspect alone. Critically in need of just one night's rest, where it wasn't the same thing waiting to greet her. A nightmare, a regret.
Her remaining good eye was left scanning the dark, contemplating these little haunting experiences. They had gotten so much worst recently, growing in intensity, frequency. Getting darker, and darker still, the most welcome ones being where she died quicker than not. The worst...she didn't like to think about those.
Her eyes began to close, exhaustion seeking to reclaim her, despite how restless she felt. Dragging her squirming and pained, back to sleep. Even when she tried to muster resistance to the coming unconsciousness, it didn't take long before that resolve buckled. Before the dreams flooded her thoughts once more.
Toriel was greeted with a chilly breath escaping her lungs, the feeling within like ice growing along the interior.
Chilling her form in a fashion that ached, like she might break apart any moment. A spark of flame, materialized by her person provided illumination, and the faintest warmth to her person. It took barely a passing glance to note, she was in some abyssal place, yet darker than she had seen before.
Despite that it caried an immediately familiar, yet inexplicably foreign feeling. The fallen sovereign hearing chatter from somewhere further within the dark. Turning, and looking throughout the void, she spotted the faintest bit of light shining in the distance.
Traversing this place, each step felt heavy. Then again, everything had felt heavy recently, with only a single exception. Wandering towards the shining object, she found the light was from a seemingly luminous, glowing switch. Her desire to pull it was non-existent, but she did so anyways.
A sound filled the space, like the distant humming of old fluorescent lights. Looking to the side, she found a hall had manifested itself, the way marked with flickering lights. The monster moving the sphere of fire around, looking about the other directions. It seemed, she was being guided to something, for what reason, she didn't honestly care.
Venturing forth, she began to hear...speaking. Another cold breath escaped her, the chill growing more painful, like it was spreading from her lungs. An infection, spreading, as well as a feeling growing. A sensation, like a warmer breath on the back of her neck.
Glancing back, there was nobody there, yet, the feeling of being watched remained. Far tenser than before, she continued to the source of the noise. And the voices became clearer, as she made out her own voice.
"Gorey, dearest. What is my favorite vegetable?" Her voice asked, as she got nearer, finding light coming from the small room.
"Hmmm... Carrots, right?" Asgores voice said back.
"No no no! My favorite vegetable is...Eda-MOM-e... get it?" Her voice said.
Toriel stared into this room around the corner, the place she was being guided towards. It was a living room, setup very similar to her own. With an old television set, and a series of vhs tapes on the side. The screen was flickering with static. Seeming to waver between purple and white, and red and black. Filling the dark with traces of light all the same.
"What is..this meant to be?" Toriel asked, as the VHS began to fast forward.
It suddenly began playing, Asgores voice. "Hohoho!" His dumb laugh. "You sure are excited to have this child. You know, if you keep making jokes like this..."
She felt the memory replaying, whispering along. "One day, you could be..."
"... a famous MOMedian." The VHS finished, before it clicked off.
When it clicked off, the only sounds became her own breathing, the static from the television, and the hum of the lights in the hall. The cold had all but engulfed her, and it felt like her heart was going to break in her chest. She struggled to remain standing, a sound echoing from somewhere, like a soft laugh.
Turning and igniting flame, she suddenly found herself at her home. In her living room, facing the entranceway. The hall, the path beyond this small, limited living space.
It was dark there. Darker than dark, perhaps. Abyssal, and staggeringly silent. A set of eyes appearing in it, staring back at her. They felt familiar, and unwelcome.
A hand, bearing a hole in it reached out, holding within it, a golden flower covered in blood. The second hand reaching out, holding something else. A locket of some variety, shining with a purple light in it.
"What is this?" She asked.
The thing in the dark gave no direct response, save for a flash of memories. Within her mind she witnessed a moment, when she found Chara in the garden. Coughing up blood, on the flowers. The meaning well known to her.
The second, was quite a bit different, and more alien to her. It was a glimpse of Chara, wearing something different, running about. Embracing her in a warm hug. Or, a version of herself, at least.
Toriel believed she concluded the purpose, this 'thing' this 'person' was making her an offer. A choice, the nature of how, and whom she didn't quite know. But it was simple, really.
A bloody flower, to give in and accept fate. To live with the tragedy, and let things stay as they were. Broken, hopeless, fading.
The locket, to give her a second chance. To defy the way it was meant to go. To try and do it different, better this time, if possible.
"How do I know I can trust you?" She asked instinctively, and although she couldn't see it, she could feel the wicked grin aimed back. "Repulsive creature." The hands began to draw back. "W-wait...wait..." She hesitated, before stepping nearer. "I..."
The monster reached out, her skin splitting from the ice within. She reminded herself this was...just a dream. That it didn't really matter. However, asking herself honestly, she knew what she'd pick.
Her chilled fingers grasped the locket, playing a faint lullaby. The woman prying open the edges, as one of her fingers shattered. The light flowing out, as something became visible in the dark.
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Awakening from the strange dream was an immediate thing. Leaving her groggy, a long-singed alarm clock whimpering out a warped alarm. Reminding her, that she needed to get up, and start the day.
Slouching in her depressed state, she felt like she wanted to cry, but couldn't muster the tears. It was too much, too intense. And for awhile she simply remained there, hoping she could perhaps 'fall down' while she slept, and be done.
When she finally stirred from bed, she followed her usual pattern of behavior. Eating whatever thing was left in the fridge. Drinking whatever happened to be lying around. Checking her phone to see if someone had tried to get ahold of her. Get dressed, and then head out to secure the ruins.
When she was starting out of her home, she heard a little buzzing noises from her pocket. She pulled out the main one, rather than the spare she kept on her. Checking it, it indicated she had missed a call from 'Funny-Bones.' The woman groaning a bit.
"Shit." She muttered. "Well...there goes my morning."
With this tone of defeat, she progressed along the usual movements of her day. She knew well that she wasn't going to get an answer if she called back. Since the assumption would be that she was busy, and thus, he would have gone to do something else.
The rest of the morning continued it's usual behavior. A trip to Old Home to ensure security was up to par. A check in on certain monsters who resided there, to ensure they had no intent on trying anything.
A few scare tactics, a brief fight or two. After all, it kept the peace, and it wasn't like they were any real threat to her. Even when they very foolishly attempted to be.
Next, she set about resetting the traps, checking over the various defenses, and puzzles. All of it absolutely mundane. If anything, she imagined this was how it would be for the rest of her long miserable life.
However, she began to debate the reality of her day, when she drew near the end of the ruins. That was right around the point that it got strange. When something she hadn't anticipated, occurred.
Sometimes, she liked to go to the flowerbed, in the back of the ruins. Just to see if another human had fallen down. True, it had been...a long time since the last one, she knew that.
Yet, some dumb part of her clung to that feeling. That if she could save just one, it'd all have meant something. And, at least they'd be company...something to break the deafening silence.
She was almost there, coming to the room before the staircase heading down, when she stopped. Was it even worth the effort? Had it ever...been worth the effort? Given that it always, always ended so badly?
Toriel reflected no this feeling. This despair. She'd never wanted to give up on this goal before.
The woman looked over her hand. When she was honest with herself, she doubted it very much. Maybe it was time to give up? To accept that she was just a foolish old lady, who couldn't save anyone, not even herself.
She sighed tiredly, while examining an unlit torch. She decided instead to go drink herself back to sleep again. Maybe she'd actually sleep this time?
And then, it happened. The goat-ladies ear twitching at the sound of a pebble being kicked across the ground. The momentary feeling internally was horror, and realization. There was another.
The timing was bitter, it was almost intentionally malevolent. But the sight that greeted her when she turned was one she found cruel and shattering.
"Toriel?" A hauntingly familiar spoke. "You...I..."
The woman was greeted with a sight. For a moment, she believed it to be the dummy that was dragged out by the phantom and their cruel little friends. But that was usually when she wasn't sober, and was capable of falling for their perverse and cruel actions.
But this...was different. Before her, in...a different shirt than she remembered, was a child she most certainly did. One of hers, Chara. The sight distressed, she didn't know how to process this. It wasn't...real, it couldn't be, could it?
"Chara?" Toriel asked this, the feeling, hearing it. "No..." She couldn't tell if this was real, had they figured out what she sounded like? "This is...cruel."
The rest of the encounter playing out, in a strange fashion.
Toriel spent time with the girl, and it felt like the strangest dream she'd had in a long time. It was like talking with a memory, unaware that it was one. The girl acting as though little time had passed, save when she asked if her mother was okay.
The whole experience grew to ach, more and more as it went. What a terrible dream this was. Impossibly, unfathomably worse than all the rest she'd had. As for a while, it almost felt...real.
Eventually, she decided she couldn't handle it anymore. It was so insistent; felt so real she was having trouble determining if it was or wasn't. So, when the first opportunity presented itself, she used it as an excuse to depart this segment.
However, noticing the concerned look that his Chara gave her, she gave one of her phones away. It wouldn't matter, ultimately, and she hoped she could ignore it, should the dream begin down a more nightmarish path. Yet, she couldn't just leave the girl with nothing.
And with that, she left. First igniting torches on the path. Having to remind herself, it wasn't real. Far too much for her own comfort. It couldn't be real.
She just hadn't woken up yet, that was the only explanation that made sense. It was like those dreams, when everyone was still together...right before it turned into a horror show. And she wasn't...willing to see that happen in this one.
When she finally got home, she felt in a haze. Unable to process, unwilling to deal with all this, she leaned back in her chair. Letting her mind grow quiet, letting herself drift out of this 'dream.'
Or so she imagined.
It was sometime later, that Toriel awoke, with a gasp. Looking around, initially rather confused. She wondered when she had fallen asleep on her chair. She was positive she went to bed, hadn't she?
Coughing into her sleeve, she blinked and looked around, while getting up from the rickety chair. Giving a little huff, she brushed her hair, and general fur and ears back. Checking her phone, she groaned tired. It seemed she slept through her alarms. 'Great.'
She debated what to do next, considering everything. She figured first, perhaps, she'd make something to eat. Perhaps something sweet, something sweet that wasn't good for her. Like ice cream, or pie...something she could sit down and sulk with.
Trekking into the kitchen, she began dusting off various things.
"When did I last cook?" She asked herself, removing her outer robes, setting them on the side of the counter.
The protective cloth placed to the side, leaving her in a set of jeans, and a somewhat shredded up hoodie beneath. The clothing wasn't exactly as durable, or protective as the robes. But it wasn't like anyone was going to be stupid enough to barge into her home.
Well, maybe one person, but that was different. The goat-lady messing with a bit of her hair, while opening the fridge. The light causing her to wince, looking at the rather diminished contents.
She picked up the milk, sniffing it. It smelled bad, which was impressive for magically constructed milk. She hummed and took a drink, gagging at the taste.
Hurrying to the sink, she spat it out, cringing at the flavor. Turns out, it had gone bad. She dragged her claws across her tongue, huffing, before dumping the rest. She would have to use the canned kind.
"Somehow that sounds worst." Toriel muttered to herself.
It had been a little while since she'd actually done any real baking, but the process was easy enough to get back into. Each step reminded her why she enjoyed the process, as it brought some odd zen to her mind. Inspiring her to wonder about various things she might make, contemplating the idea of bringing them to some people. To perhaps lighten the mood.
But that thought brought the enjoyment down. She knew better, chastising herself for even considering that. Even if there were 'a few' monsters who didn't hate her, for various reasons that probably wasn't the wisest idea.
With everything sorted for the moment in the kitchen, she ventured out into the living room.
"Me day." She decided.
It would be nice to just lounge around, and wait for death. She decided she'd read, and drink, and enjoy her sweets. She grabbed up a book and set it on the chair. Yeah, it'd be a good day.
Her plans, however, were destined to be interrupted.
Only having just started back into the kitchen, to check on her food, she heard a sound. This paused her movement. She could hear...talking? The realization that she had an intruder. An actual intruder left her utterly confused, impressed, and then absolutely livid.
"What fucking idiot-" Turning the corner she was greeted with...Chara.
"O-oh...hi." Chara greeted. "I'm glad you're okay!" She got no immediate response. "Uhm...are...are you okay?"
Toriel was left attempting to process this. The world around her seeming to lose some of its composure, and sense in her mind. She had woken up, hadn't she?
"Chara..." Toriel spoke the word with a confused tone.
Her red eyes turning to the creature on Charas arm. It was one she knew very, very well. The craven of the Ruins, the flower. Or, as he called himself. 'Flowey.' He looked bigger, stronger than the last time she'd seen him. But she was hardly concerned.
The more immediate, and important question she really wanted to ask was... What the hell was going on?
