Following their preparation, and exchanges with one another, the duo set about preparing themselves for the adventure going forward.
The house itself was a fairly limited space that wasn't altogether massive. However, it was much easier to explore without carrying around a flowerpot. At least, the way she used to.
Chara situated the backpack a bit, jostling around the flower inside. Making sure things were secure while heading down the hall. Trying to determine their next destination, or if they should just rush off.
"Thanks for watching my back." Chara briefly said.
"Really, gonna use that one this early?" Flowey snickered.
"Oh, I'm sure I'll repeat it again." She assured. "Maybe I'll do it a couple extra times, just for you."
"Please don't." He requested, as they passed the front door, and staircase. "Where are we going?"
"Living room." She replied, drawing near it.
"Why?" He asked, turning around in the backpack.
"You'll see." She told him.
Much as anticipated, when they stepped in, Toriel wasn't present. Some small part of Chara hoping she might be, as silly as that probably was. Venturing to the fireplace, she reached up, and picked up the book UnderFell.
"You wanted a book?" Flowey then asked. "Wait...she read this one to us."
"W-well yeah, but I didn't get to hear how it ended." Chara told him, holding it over her shoulder for him.
"Why are we taking it?" He asked in confusion.
"Because...uhm...I dunno." She admitted, before looking at the book. "Because we might...read it?"
He rolled his eyes. "Fine." He took it, and stashed it in the backpack. "This is silly. You know that right?"
"Mhm." She hummed.
Continuing her path, she made a quick stop into the kitchen. She checked the counter, and found that the pie wasn't present there. Curiously she turned her focus to the fridge, and opened it. It contained a few thins she anticipated.
Namely the half a donut, and partially consumed cider she'd brought with her. Two things she took, and stashed. However, her eyes were then drawn to a bar of chocolate, resting there. It was innocently placed, held within the side-door of the fridge. Her eyes narrowing, as a hawks might when witnessing a field mouse.
"Hey Flowey, what's that on the table?" Chara asked, watching as he turned.
Immediately she swiped it, and quickly stuffed it into her jacket pocket. Before beginning to eat the remainder of the donut. Shutting the fridge door, she started away from the kitchen area.
"What...I didn't see anything?" Flowey replied, before asking. "Do you mean the doil...doil...ee? Dohlee?"
"The cloth thing in the center?" She asked.
"Yeah that?" He asked.
"No, you missed it. It was super cool though." She lied, heading out of the living room area.
"Uh huh. Sure." He raised a doubtful brow, wondering what she'd done.
She already know that Toriel wasn't in the bedroom, nor within her own bedroom. She did briefly ponder on the last one, the one she had yet to visit. She couldn't, for the life of her, recall what was behind it.
Feeling briefly intrigued she started over. Moving towards it, she attempted to open the door. It was, however, locked.
"Why is it locked?" Chara asked.
Flowey shrugged. "I think that sign is meant to explain."
He pointed over to a small hand-written sign that had seemingly fallen from the door. Drifted over to the ground in front of the only maintained mirror in this hall. Stepping over to examined it, Chara found that the note indicated it was 'under maintenance.' She also found a key there, smiling a little.
"Hey, a key." She beamed, before catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror.
"Lucky us. I uh, thought we were headed out though?" Flowey then added. "Though, I mean, I get it. I like to explore sometimes. See the things I never got to see." He smiled. "Sort of the perk of being a flower. You can pretty much go anywhere, and see anything. And most don't even notice you, if you do it right." He then added. "You're being unnaturally quiet."
Chara looked, unnerved by something. Her entire body shivering, and shaking enough that it was beginning to rattle around the vase. The flower nudging her, causing her to blink, and turn to face him.
"H-huh, what's up?" She asked.
"What was that?" He asked in alarm.
"What was what?" She asked, glancing back at the mirror.
"You freaking out there for a moment." He then guessed. "Or are you just trying to mess with me?"
"Er, yeah. D-did it work?" She asked, laughing an unconvincing laugh.
He noticed that when she looked into the mirror, she was very close to it. And didn't seem to look forward. Instead, it was like she was looking through it as if it were a window. Staring down at something unseen. The girl promptly pulling herself away from that, shaking herself out a bit.
"Yup...sure uh...sure did." He replied. "You nkow you can tell me anything, right?"
"Of course dork. I'm...I'm just...trying to mess with you is all. No worries, I'll stop." She assured him.
With that oddity seemingly resolved, she attempted to use the key on the third door. Finding that it did indeed open, revealing to the pair something unimaginable. It was a bathroom.
There was the usual toiletries. A sink in the center of the room. And a shower slash bath combination on the right. The whole space was rather plain, and unimpressive.
Flowey asked. "Done exploring?"
"Yeah...I guess." Chara then admitted to him. "I was...sort of hoping she might...still be here somewhere." She added. "Guess we have to go...downstairs?"
"Maybe we just didn't hear the door." Flowey suggested nervously.
"She wouldn't need the jacket for the ruins dork." The girl noted.
"And she'd need it for the basement?" He asked.
"Maybe?" Chara shrugged, headed to them. "Guess we'll find out."
Chara proceeded down the stairs, hopping down it, one hand kept running across the rickety railing. Coming to the end, she jumped forward a little bit more, and landed with an amused snicker. Getting a look at the strange, and dark hall that lay ahead.
Taking a moment, she checked the items in her possession. Just to make sure she had...everything. She had a bottle of cider, like a little jug in the side pouch of the backpack. She had 3 monsters candies left, at this point. With those being their primary food item.
There was a scarf, colored pencils, paper, and a few other random things she either hadn't taken out of ir, or had stuffed in at random. Namely as she had no idea what they might encounter, or what they might need. She even put in spare socks, since, well, you never knew when you needed another pair.
She had a hard plastic knife. As it turned out, the one she picked up wound up being the same kind of knife as the ones Toriel kept in her kitchen, although those ones were sharper. While the flower was looking away, she flicked the blade, nicking her finger. Leading to a single drop of blood to drip down. She hoped her mother wouldn't mind that she swapped out the dull one for something sharper.
The last item was the donut, but she'd eaten that on impulse. So, sadly, it was gone. With this, she stepped into the dark. It was ominously unpleasant, and the further she went, the more the heat drained from the air. Becoming cold enough to see her breath in the dim, barely present light, when she rounded a corner.
"Hey, Chara." Flowey got her attention. "Reflecting on things. Maybe this is a bad idea. You don't really know where you're going, ya know?"
Despite momentary consideration, she elected to ignore this doubtful line of thought. Heading deeper into the dark, before the faintest source of light became more visible. Slipping through the cracks of some strange, large door.
She gave it a nudge, and found that pushing it, while difficult, was possible. The door groaning, as it slid slowly open. Revealing another section of space, and notably, nobody else.
"I guess we can safely say, this isn't a door anymore." Chara snickered to herself. "Since, it's now a-jar."
"Not your best material." Flowey replied.
"W-well least I'm trying." She said, proceeding down the next long hall. "Where's your puns petals?"
"I don't usually make puns. Or jokes." He stated. "After all, one of us has to at least try and take things seriously now and then."
"That is very depressing." She noted, the duo coming to a patch of dirt, with light slipping through the cracks of the very distant ceiling. "It's not healthy to be serious all the time. I read that somewhere."
"Oh really?" He asked.
"Orchid you not." She smirked.
Flowey stared at her, taking a deep breath, before saying. "You should feel ashamed of that pun."
She stuck her tongue at him for a moment, in protest of his delusional declaration. The pair proceeding until they reached the final doorway leading out of this place. The air was very chilly now, prompting Chara to adjust her coat, buttoning the top button, pulling the hood up.
"Not gonna...ask me to go back?" Chara inquired.
"It didn't work the last couple times." Flowey replied. "Do you wanna go back?"
She debated this internally. It might be wiser to. After all, whatever was behind this door was clearly the intended destination for Toriel. Though, why it would be so cold, she didn't know. In her mind she imagined a freezer, a snowy sun, and a variety of other things. But most of all, she imagined not feeling unwanted.
This door was much harder to force open. She had to lean into it. Pushing hard, her shoes squeaking some against the ground. Flowey sighed, and extended his vines, helping push. The door making a loud grinding noise as it went, the light beyond falling upon them.
Beyond the door was something she hadn't expected.
Something she both could and couldn't recall. That being snow. It was gently, softly falling from the sky above them. The word sky, playing over in her mind, sounding wrong somehow.
Stepping out, snow crunched with each step. The girl looking up. Watching the flakes falling to the world around the snow was darkness high above. And the faint shimmering of something magical deep within that dark. The barrier, it seemed.
Trace bits of light casting through this void, reflecting across each bit of frost. Illuminating the world in a soft sort of glow. A smile spreaad across her face, drawn out by instinct, her tongue following suit for a moment. Tasting, feeling the chill of the snow, snickering. A purple light shining beside the doorway, saving her progress, as she set Flowey, backpack and all, down onto the ground.
"What's going on?" He asked, feeling immediately paranoid. "Did you see something?"
"It's snowing." She nearly whispered, leaving her hand outspread. "It's so...cold."
"Then it's good you have the...jacket." Flowey blinked, watching what she did.
She didn't bother trying to understand the snow, nor did she bother to hear his commentary in completion. As he was speaking, she'd turned, and given him a little salute. Dropping back, plopping into a pile of snow. Kicking up bits of it, in a gust.
Her little giggle of amusement prompting his tension to fade a bit. He watched her arms beginning to move, alongside her legs. The flower merely observing, wondering how long it had been since he'd even considered playing in the snow.
When she was done with her movements, she rose to a sitting position. She hadn't made grand enough motions to form a snow-angel, though as she hopped up, it became obvious she had something in mind. Crouching down, she took her hand, and made little horns for her imprint.
"Check it out, I made a snow demon!" Chara declared with a gleeful enthusiasm.
Flowey snickered. "That doesn't sound right. I thought hell was hot?"
"Pretty sure it's cold." She replied, taking a second to gather snow in her hand. "I heard someone say it was frozen once."
"You mean the saying. The uh...what is it, 'When hell freezes over' isn't it?" He asked, noticing her. "Don't hit me with a snowball."
Chara let out a theatric gasp. "W-what, me, never."
Flowey squinted saying. "Uh huh...I don't have a jacket, so you can't hit me."
"Sure thing Asriel." She replied, making him blink. "Whatever you say."
"Huh?" He muttered. "Y-you...you called me-"
"That's my best friend. He gave me excuses like that all the time." She noted his confused expression. "Y-you remember my brother?" She then added. "Oh, I get it. He's not...really my brother. His family took me in."
"Yeah no, I know. I just...Chara-" Flowey began. "I need to-"
"Oh, before that. I wanted to let you know something." Chara smiled, watching him raise a brow. "I lied."
Floweys desire to inquire what she meant was cut off by a snowball smacking against his face. The backpack tilting in response to this, leading to it tipping back and bopping softly against the door. Flowey giving a menacing little laugh in response, before growing a dark grin.
"How dare you." He said in a serious voice. "So you want a snowball fight, do you, little princess?"
Faced with the menacing expression, she imagined she may have bitten off more than she could chew. However, she was loath...no, she refused to back down from this challenge. Her eyes shining, her soul shining a brilliant purple before her. She would persevere, despite the danger.
"Either get clover it, or lotus see your best shot." She punned, with a smug little grin.
"Well. You'll snow better before long." Flowey punned, darkly.
What ensued next was utter, and absolute chaos. The pair exchanging blows, while working to defend themselves from the other. The flower using his vines to grasp as many snowballs as he could.
Sending them out in a barrage, forcing her to dodge, and glide. The result being her slipping, getting hit a number of times. This barrage initially effective enough to knock her to the ground, but she adapted pretty quickly.
Darting into a weave, she began to slide around the spaces where the snow became pressed and icy. Snatching up snowballs of her own as she moved. Retaliating with precision shots, rather than emulating his scattershot approach.
The far less mobile flower struggling to dodge. Often simply sending more snowballs out, hoping to intercept these attacks. Finally, he went to snatch up snow, only to discover he'd already taken everything from his immediate surrounding.
An expression of realization spread across his face. A presence coming to loom over him, shadows cast in a menacing fashion. A tilted head, an eye giving off a faint purple glowing steam. He let out a sound of protest, only to splatted by a final snowball.
"I win." She remarked, poking him as he shivered.
"W-was that l-last one n-ne-necessary?" He asked.
"You hit me with like twelve." She recalled.
"It's friggen cold Chara!" He exclaimed.
Snickering a bit at this, she took the scarf from the backpacks other slot. Pulling it up, she then wrapped it around the flower, in careful fashion. Making sure not to cause injury to him, briefly wondering if he had gotten bigger than when they first met. Before shaking that off.
"Okay, feeling better?" She asked.
"How long has that been in there!?" He demanded.
"All this time, why?" She asked.
"W-what else is in there?" He inquired.
Chara glanced at the backpack. "Colored pencils, paper, and some socks." She raised a brow. "Did you...wanna wear the socks on your leaves or something?"
"Did I..." Flowey blankly blinked. "No. No thank you."
"No problem." She replied, picking the backpack back up. "Sorry for uh, getting distracted from the mission."
"It's snow problem." He said back, shivering while adjusting the scarf.
"Careful Flowey. You're starting to get punnier." She noted, hearing him groan. "I'm so proud of you."
"And yet, I am deeply shamed in myself." The flower replied. "What horror have I become, to indulge in such villainy."
"Nerd." She responded plainly, while looking around.
The area around them was mostly trees and forest, with a long distinct path heading...somewhere. It seemed like the blatantly correct way to go, though some part of her desired to venture beyond it. However, she didn't imagine Toriel shared her impulse, not seeming like the kind to go hanging out in the woods.
And thus, she started down the road. While traveling, she contemplated making another flower necklace, like the one she'd made in the ruins. Perhaps gifting it to her guardian, wondering if that might make her feel better. Not that the first really worked as it was meant to.
Along the road, she noticed a large branch. Pausing by it, she attempted to pick it up. She found herself partially able to, however, she also lacked the strength to reliably lift or carry the large branch properly.
"It's too big for you." Flowey remarked. "It'd take someone real tough to pick that thing up."
"Yeah, I guess." She muttered, moving on from it.
"Why do you even want it?" He asked.
"W-well...I mean. I liked the idea of being...like a knight, or something?" She admitted with a nervous laugh.
"You wanna be a knight?" Flowey asked in surprise.
"Honestly...no." She thought over the ability from the ruins. "I...I wanna be a witch but...uhm, well-"
"There are other ways to learn magic." Flowey let her know. "I'm sure Toriel will think of something, if you tell her."
"You think so?" Chara asked.
"Yeah, idiot. She loves you." He replied. "When you love someone, you help them. Simple as that." He added. "Plus, she's smart enough to actually do it, I bet."
She was about to respond with a question, the duo having gotten a few feet away. However, a sudden, loud, snapping sound echoed through the otherwise silent forest, causing a shiver down her spine. Turning quickly, she found that the branch they'd passed had been snapped in half. However, there was nobody present.
"U-uhm." She hummed. "Flowey...what uh...broke that?"
"I-I dunno, I wasn't looking." He admitted.
"Dude, you had one job!" She noted in alarm.
"J-just hurry up, let's go okay?" He requested.
Turning on her heel, she began to walk at a faster pace than before. Spotting something in the distance, that they were getting nearer to. Another sound came from behind them, like crunching snow.
Flowey whispered. "Move faster idiot, go go go!"
She began to jog, the pair getting nearer to a structure of some kind. It was a gate of some kind. Stretched far across a pit. The bars open just enough that she wagered she could squeeze through them, across a rather questionable looking bridge that ran across the pit.
Briefly looking down, she found she couldn't see the bottom of it. The concept of an endless pit was terrifying to her. Her mind briefly imagining the endless darkness, growing darker. Her breath flowing, visibly causing a snowflake passing by to crystalize in ice.
"J-just go through it." He demanded quietly.
"I-I uh-" She snapped from the thought. "W-what if it breaks?"
A sudden sensation overtook her body, her soul manifesting before her. The purple suddenly flashing, turning blue. The blue washing across her being.
Flowey briefly said. "W-wait wait wait!"
A force she didn't understand send her flying forward, slamming her against the bars. The immediate pain preventing an action, as she began to fall. Her mind dazed, as she was then slammed into the side of the pit. Smacking her head, while trying to grasp at the exposed roots of some tree.
Flowey for his part attempted to reach out with his vines but found himself unable to reach the wall from their present position. And then, everything began to get dark. The duo seeming to fall down farther, and farther. The light snuffed out, vanishing.
For a moment, Chara felt herself somewhere yet darker, than she imagined. She felt a sound, tasted it, like static. SSBzZWUgeW91Cm1ldCB0aGUKY29tZWRpYW4uCgpHb29kIGx1Y2su
She braced herself, and then felt an indescribably painful sensation. It was sharp, and yet violently orchestrated. The feeling like her body both tearing apart and exploding. Similar to the spikes, but infinitely worst, as it didn't immediately kill her.
Her shaking soul struggling to hold on, shattering in the dark, while she choked on her own blood.
