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Her eyes grew brighter, illuminated in a purple glow, burning out the shadows. Cold air filling her lungs, as she processed her location. The steady snowfall leaving her chilled, despite the layers on her person.
The memory firmly rooted in her mind, offering more insight to her time with Mychal. Remembering how hopeful she felt. The lesson of holding on to ones Integrity, remaining true to oneself in moments of weakness and fear, flooding her mind.
She had failed, just like he had. Yet, he tried to be better. And the idea to holding on to who she was filled her with a desire to persevere.
"Chara...we're...back here." The flower observed quietly. "Uhm...did, something happen?"
She blinked, recalling that he only saved a few moments after the door. Once more, she was haunted with knowledge that he didn't have. She didn't like that feeling, of knowing things others didn't. Especially when her actions had led to his demise, in a reckless desire to learn more.
"I'm sorry." She apologized, quietly. "I've...really been screwing everything up." She muttered. "Getting angry, getting...confused. And being...so stupid."
"What?" Flowey peered over at her, leaning over her shoulder. "H-hey now, it's...alright. Emotions were...a little high."
"I got us killed...again." She admitted, angry with herself. "I wanted to know how it happened. Who it was, and I just-" She let out a defeated breath. "marched us right back into it."
Flowey took stock that her eyes were solidly, royal purple, at this point. Whatever traces, or bits of crimson that once called them home, were gone. What it meant, he didn't know. Thinking on how poorly today had gone, he imagined that wasn't a great sign.
"Why don't we just take you back home for now?" Flowey offered, seeming to confuse her. "I'm sure Toriel will be back in no time, and it has to be safer there." He added. "After I'll...head off for the night. A good nights sleep will make things feel better, I bet."
"But-" She began.
"Chara, today has been a really...tense day, I think." He suggested, noticing her fidget. "I know I get uh...angry when I don't sleep. Or when...things go this rough."
"You're not mad at me?" She asked, adding. "You...you're allowed to be mad at me, you know?"
"I am...not mad at you." He assured. "Frustrated sometimes. Annoyed with your puns, sure. But not...mad." He told her. "It's difficult to be mad at someone as powerless as you are." He then asked. "Are you mad at me?"
She let out a warmth breath, and shook her head. "Maybe...a little bit." She glanced away. "Sorry."
Flowey considered this, wagering there was probably a good number of things he wasn't being told about. All of which she clearly kept bottling up, struggling to suppress. Which even with her momentary breaks, definitely wasn't a healthy thing to do.
"C'mon, let's...go take a seat, at least?" He offered, gesturing ot the door. "And then, we can talk about it?"
"I don't want to." She admitted.
"Yeah, but maybe you need to?" He half-asked.
She was still for a moment longer. Before reluctantly turning, starting back over, towards the door. Once there, she set the backpack down, before taking a seat in front of it. Tugging on the ends of the green hood, leaving it to cover her face.
"I don't want to seem like..." She trailed off.
Flowey waited for a continuation to this thought, but she didn't. He nudged her arm. Still nothing.
"Chara...We're a team, right?" He asked.
"I think so." She replied.
"We are." He affirmed. "And well, share stuff with each other. Or, team-mates do. Makes the team more effective, right?"
She scanned the air for a moment. "I guess."
"So, how about I share something with you, and you can share something with me?" He offered.
She seemed doubtful. "Okay?"
Composing himself, the flower contemplated what it was he intended to reveal. He wagered whatever she was hiding was something important. Important enough to try and conceal anyways.
He thought over something semi-recent that he had hidden from her. Something a bit less imposing. More reasonable to begin with.
"I uh...didn't ask the spiders for anything. Or handle that nicely." He admitted. "Actually, I threatened them."
She seemed surprised. "R-really, why?"
"They wanted a lot of G, and we didn't have enough." He replied. "I didn't want you to not have food or anything. And just...ya know, did that."
"You shouldn't...threaten people." She muttered, not sounding like she meant it. "But, I guess I don't...have room to talk."
"Yeah, I know. We both uh..." He trailed off some. "Okay...that was mine, now, yours." He hummed. "Doesn't have to be big. Just...something."
The girl wasn't quite sure what to say. What exactly constituted something big? Did she mention the strange whispers? Did she talk about the ink? After a moment, she decided.
Chara replied. "I have memories of my time with the other humans who fell down here." She said, as his eyes widened. "I was with them, beginning to end. Little more than a ghost that nobody could see but them."
"Oh." Flowey said, letting out a breath. "That is uh...are you alright?"
"I...don't think so?" She half asked. "I don't feel alright." She admitted. "I feel...wrong, somehow."
He listened, and asked. "What all do you remember?"
"I don't...remember everything." She shifted, and pushed her hands into her jacket pockets. "Every time I did, or...everytime I have, I see...another memory." She explained. "When it ends, I feel like everything is screaming. Every feeling becomes...so cold, and sharp, it overflows." She thought back. "Whether that's feeling anxious," She glanced. "feeling like I was smarter than I was. Feeling cold, and hopeless." She closed her eyes. "Or, feeling like an awful person."
Flowey sighed at that. "You're not...an awful person Chara. You're a kid who-"
"I killed the Froggit. I killed the Ghost." She noted, looking at him. "I asked Mychal not to hurt anyone...but...I didn't hesitate." She added. "I wanted the ghost to hurt. To make him hurt so much." Her eyes briefly a bit mad. "And then I hurt you. I got you killed."
The conversation had become much heavier than Flowey originally anticipated having to deal with. Though, some of it, they'd covered before. Granted, that didn't really make it any easier, he wagered. The flower leaning back, shivering some in the cold.
"I'm...guessing things weren't as bad with uh...Mychal?" He asked, getting a nod. "Guessing they got worst over time, didn't they?"
She thought back. "Some people...maybe, but...not quite like now." Her mind turned to Sans. "There weren't nearly as many cruel beings."
"Chara, just because people are...messed up right now, doesn't mean we have to be like them. If we can...don't kill, and don't be killed. Alright?" He requested. "I know that sometimes your only choice may be to run away, or...well, there may not be an option to handle it peacefully, and we have to fight." He struggled some. "I'm sorry, I'm not the best at this kinda stuff."
"I appreciate you trying, petals." She laughed weakly.
"It's uh, my turn, right?" He asked, gaining a nod. "Well you went and told me something a little messed up. Guess I should return the favor, huh?" He said quietly. "I...encouraged my best friend...into a plan that got them killed." She blinked. "I knew it would, is the worst part. But, somehow, I didn't think it would 'stick.' Like I was above consequences." He sighed. "I was...no, honestly, I am an awful person, Chara."
"What happened?" She asked, with honest curiosity.
Flowey frowned. "I uh...I used to bully them around. I'd get this friend to do things that...sometimes got them hurt." He looked at her arm, his mind flashing back to her prank with the plastic knife. "It...I treated it like it was joke, just...pranks. But it got them hurt...really hurt, both outside and in." He hesitated some. "They'd laugh, and I thought...it was fine." The flower shifted to glance at her. "Then they brought up an idea in passing...maybe it was just a joke, or, maybe they didn't want to be anymore." He was quiet for a second. "But I took advantage of it, even when they wanted to turn back. Even when they were scared, and it...it wasn't because I wanted to help them. Or, because I believed in the idea...but because...I figured it'd all work out fine. That it didn't really matter, and it'd make me stronger for a little while." He muttered quietly, while looking her over. "Nothing had ever...stuck before."
It was difficult for him not to see it all playing out in his minds eye. A constant, looping reminder. An example of how terrible he could be, if he let himself. Of how much it cost him. Of how it could have all been avoided, with just a little bit of mercy, and kindness.
He felt a hand pat him on the head, the flower having teared up. He found that she then dug out a scarf from the backpack. Taking the time to wrap it around him, his expression looking all the more guilty and hurt as she did this.
"We uh...we've really screwed up a lot haven't we?" She offered.
"Y-yeah. And to think...it's only been a day." He laughed, a sad laugh. "I'm...sorry Chara."
"I'm sorry too." She replied, sniffling some.
There was more the pair had to say to one another, more they wanted to reveal, and share. But what they had was already heavy enough, and both were in desperate need of a brief rest, and respite. The pair enjoying the quiet of this place.
The calm snowfall chilling the underground around them, Flowey much warmer than he had been before, and Chara feeling a lot less empty. It was funny, in a strange way, that she felt a sort of kinship with a flower. That it was so oddly reassuring to know this weird little monster was as messed up as she felt.
Chara finally opened the bottle, or jug...she wasn't sure which exactly, as it looked kinda like both, or spider cider. It smelled like cobwebs, and a fruit drink. A pecauliar scent mixture.
She took a drink, offering some to him. Which he took, and took a drink of as well. The flavor was surprisingly calm, the pair briefly, internally searching to discern what it was. It had a distinctly non-licorice flavor.
"Hey Chara-" He began. "how long was the scarf in there?"
"Entire time...sorry." She apologized.
"It's okay." He said. "Anything else?"
"Colored pencils, paper, and some socks." She raised a brow. "I uh...tend to lose socks."
"I think we all do." Flowey replied. "So uh, do we...continue?"
"I...not yet." She requested. "M-maybe...in a moment.".
There was something she had to do. Something she didn't do, upon resurrection, that she wanted to do again. And she had some benefit, of knowing what was going to happen.
Only this time, she'd be a little bit more fair with things. The girl getting up, stepping over, and picking up some snow. Packing it in her hand.
"What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously.
"Getting some snow." She replied calmly.
He squinted. "Chara...don't hit me with a snowball."
Chara let out a theatric gasp. "W-what, me, never."
Flowey tsk'd. "I don't have a jacket, so you can't hit me."
"A scarf is like a jacket, but whatever Asriel." She replied, making him blink.
"Huh?" He scanned her.
Recalling her words, she repeated them. "He gave me excuses like that all the time." She noted, waiting until the Flower begin to speak. "Snowball."
Flowey's desire to make a comment was cut off by a snowball smacking against his face. The Flower huffing and glaring some. Growing a dark grin.
"How dare." He said in his best 'totally serious voice'. "So, you want a snowball fight, do you?"
She felt warmer, despite the cold snow in her hand. Smirking at his 'threat.' Her eyes shining, with a purple glow. She wouldn't back down, and she wouldn't let this good moment go. She would persevere.
"Either get clover it, or lotus see your best shot." She punned, while pointing towards him in a 'dramatic pose.'
What followed next, was a familiar, but rapidly different bit of chaotic fun. The flower using his vines, to grasp snow. Attempting to barrage her with the snowballs. This proved to be initially effective. However, she didn't take it as serious, and it wasn't long before he started to play more than 'fight.'
She slid, and dove while throwing. The Flower hopping around in the backpack. Scatter shots, versus precision. Continuing into wild laughter as they went. Eventually, the two came to stop, when most of the snow around them had been reduced or compacted too much. Quite a bit chillier in the aftermath, but in much better spirits.
"I totally won that." Flowey remarked.
"Uh huh, suuure." She replied.
"It was snow problem, really." He said, adding. "I'm a professional, when it comes to this sorta thing."
"Oh no, you just made another pun." She noted. "Proud of you, petals."
"Ahh, well I am deeply shamed in myself." The flower replied. "But what can ya do?"
"Nerd." She responded, while picking the backpack back up. "Well...we should probably get back to the adventure, right?"
"I mean, yeah, probably." He shrugged. "Could still go back inside the ruins?"
"If we can't find her soon, then okay." She agreed, heading over to where she thought the Save point was. "The save is here, right?"
"Huh?" He glanced, adding. "Oh, right. I should probably save." He appeared to do precisely that. "Thanks for the reminder."
Chara felt much better. "No problem. What are friends for, right?"
