The Ruins Part 7

"What the- what the fuck?" Frisk exclaimed.

"I'm Flowey," the flower said. "Didn't ya hear me?"

Frisk didn't know what to say at this point. Just when she didn't think things could get weirder and creepier, the previously plain flower now had a face and was talking.

"We-were you alive this whole time?" Frisk asked.

"Really?" the flower asked with a condescending grin. "That's the first thing you say to someone you just met? Not "hi I'm Frisk" or "I'm Francisca Monto-whatever-o, nice to meetcha"? How rude."

"I- I didn't really expect you to be alive-"

"Come now," Flowey said in a snarky tone. "You really think a talking flower is the weirdest thing you've seen today?"

"No that's what I meant!" Frisk exclaimed. "Can you please just… god, why is everything changing so much?! First I'm in the ruins and the next moment I'm not! I don't even know what's real anymore and-"

Frisk suddenly became very silent, and just stared at the rug with wide open eyes.

"Uhh, Frisk?" asked the flower, who had been patiently waiting for his turn to speak.

Confused, he looked down at the rug. There were a few easy to miss stains here and there but nothing really out of the ordinary.

"What the hell are you doing?" Flowey asked.

Then, out of nowhere, Frisk began to cackle.

"Of course, of course!" she said to herself and smiled. "This all makes sense now! These strange creatures, the abandoned ruins, and the idea that such a place somehow haven't been found until now! And now this!"

She laughed softly.

"None of this is real," she said with a mad smile. "I must've bumped my head when I fell down that hole! And now I'm either dying or laying in a hospital with wires stuck in me! While this… heh… this is all just some fucked up coma dream!"

Frisk began to laugh harder and harder, to the point where her laughs were beginning to sound maddening.

Flowey observed her descent from afar and sighed in embarrassment.

Suddenly, Frisk was immediately shocked back from her momentary lapse by a sharp but quick pain on her cheek.

"Ow!"

"Was that real enough for you?" Flowey asked impatiently.

Frisk saw that one of the flowers vine, or "arm", had somehow expanded in length to across the room. She stroked her cheek, feeling the fading red mark of the slap.

"God, you didn't have to do that!" Frisk protested.

"Well, you're convinced now right?"

Frisk wasn't sure about that exactly, but the short pain was so real that she found it hard to deny.

"I guess so," she said and shrugged.

"Good," Flowey replied.

He then slowly retracted the vine back to its small size and groaned as he did.

"Gah, darn it."

"Are you alright?" Frisk asked.

"Not really no," Flowey said and winced. "Haven't used my arms- sorry, vines, in what must be over half a decade now."

Frisk looked at him in slight perplexity.

Strange to see a flower in pain, she thought.

"So," she began. "You're that crazy monster guy's son right?"

"What?" replied Flowey "Oh gods no. That poor old man lost his wife and children ages ago and has been unable to move on. He must've mistaken me for one of his children simply because I share some of his… hmmm… let's say qualities. But I am not his child no, not in the slightest. I don't even have parents so to speak. I think?"

Frisk went silent for a while, thinking. It was clear that this flower knew a lot about the old hermit.

"Ok, so is there anything else you can tell me about this guy?" she asked. "Like is he dangerous, or something?"

"Dangerous?" Flowey replied as if he couldn't imagine it. "Oh, he's far from it. That old man may be crazy and a bit unstable, yes, but he's perhaps the furthest thing from dangerous that a monster can be. At least, when it comes to kids like yourself."

Frisk scoffed.

"I'm not a kid," she protested.

"Well if it talks like one," the flower said. "What are you? Like 12?"

"I'm 16," Frisk said truthfully.

"Wait really?"

Flowey stared at her befuddled, failing to find a single hint of irony.

"Huh," he began. "You humans seem to be growing younger by the minute."

"What you've never seen a 16-year-old girl before?" Frisk asked.

"Well not a human one," Flowey replied. "Now that I think about it."

"Ok, it doesn't really matter," Frisk said, trying to divert the topic onto the things that were currently on her mind. "What I want to know is what the hell is going on? Like what is this place, how did the monster find me and bring me back here in time, and why you-"

"Oh slow down, slow down, one thing at a time, ok?" the flower said. "It's true I know a lot of things, thanks for assuming, but I'm not a supercomputer or anything. I can only take so many questions at once y' know."

Frisk went quiet for a short moment, now realizing just how anxious she was feeling. She also noticed she was shaking a bit.

"Alright then, sorry," she said.

"Good," Flowey began. "Now, I know this new situation you're in may look and sound and feel completely weird, confusing, and unnatural… which it is, but can you at least give me a moment to explain the basics of this new and incredibly paradoxical reality before you go back to doing… whatever the hell you were doing back there?"

"Freaking out?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah," Flowey said. "And then, with your newfound knowledge, you can navigate this world with much more ease thanks to me."

"Wait a minute," Frisk began. "Why are you helping me?"

Flowey stopped talking for a moment, and the smug expression on his face vanished. After a short moment, he said:

"Because… you saved me, and I'm in your debt."

This answer just made Frisk more confused than before.

Saved him? she thought. From what? We've just met.

"What-what are you talking about?" she asked him and chuckled.

Flowey took a deep breath.

"Of course she doesn't know," Frisk heard him mumble under his breath.

"Ok, let's put it this way" he began shortly after. "How about… you woke me up."

"From what?" asked Frisk

Flowey groaned.

"From that immobile state I was in, what else?" Flowey said sounding a bit irritated. "Gods, how dimwitted are you?"

"Sorry," Frisk said. "It's just that this is all so weird to me."

"Alright, alright I guess that's somewhat understandable," Flowey said, sounding calmer. "Anyway, before you came along, I was practically stuck like that, immobile, for what must've been like 5 or 6 years. It was practically hell, having to be stuck with the same crazy old man for years who all this time thinks he's your dad and you have to be groomed and smothered by him on and on, every day of every year while there is nothing you can-"

Flowey stopped himself from speaking further. His face had turned red and angry before he managed to calm himself down.

"Apologies," he said. "Lost my temper for a moment there. Anyways, where were we?"

"Wow, you really hate that guy don't you," Frisk said.

"Somewhat," Flowey confirmed. "I mean, how would you feel if you had to be stuck with and harassed by a crazed hermit every day for years?"

"Uhh, it would suck?"

"That's putting it mildly. Now, we were just talking about how you saved me, right?"

"Right, how did I do that exactly?" Frisk asked. "And why are you sure it was me who did it considering I haven't even touched you since I came here."

With that, the flower opened his mouth to speak only to stop immediately afterwards as if he completely forgot what he was going to say.

"Well truth be told," he said after a while. "I'm not really sure how. Now that I'm actually thinking about it, I realized I can't actually understand the logistic behind it. But I do know it was you who saved me since you resetting in my vicinity is somehow what brought me back from limbo."

"Resetting?" asked Frisk.

Just as things couldn't get even more confusing, she thought.

"Correct," Flowey confirmed. "You see before I fell suddenly into that helpless state, and even longer before you came along, I had the same power as you do now, that is resetting. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost that ability, even though I'm still able to keep the memories after someone else resets."

"I, uh, feel like we are in different levels of mindsets over here," Frisk said.

Flowey looked at her in confusion until his expression change as if he realized something.

"Oh, you don't really know, do you?" he asked. "Of course you don't. No idea why I assumed everyone who gained this power knows of it instantly, considering it took me some experimenting until I fully understood it."

"Uh, what are you talking about?"

"Can you just wait for a moment?" Flowey asked. "I'm trying to find a way to explain this properly. Gods, you're so impatient. So anyway, how do I put this? Mmm resets, are like uh… time travel in a way. You see in this world, that being the underground we are in, humans that fall down here often gain a hidden power of sorts, which allows them to manipulate reality in a certain way because of high levels of determination in them-"

"Woah, whoah, what are you talking about?" Frisk interrupted. "Time travel, manipulating reality, high levels of determination what?"

Flowey slapped his face with one of his vines, eerily similar to a person facepalming.

"Ugh, ok let's try putting this another way?" he began "So, have you ever played a video game?"

"A couple, yeah, why?" Frisk asked.

"Good," Flowey said. "So you know how in most video games whenever you "die", you "reset" which basically just means you go back in time to your last checkpoint or save?"

Frisk nodded in confirmation.

"Well, it kind of works like that," Flowey continued. "Think of determination as being like an unlimited memory card, and whenever your determination reaches a certain level, you "save" your progress in a way, and so later on when you die, or reset, you go basically go back in time to your last "save point," and sometimes, more than just your memory of the now-erased event go back in time with you. Of course, there is a way to reset without dying, but that one is-"

"Wait, hang on! Are you saying I just died back there?!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm getting at," Flowey said in a casual manner. "Unless you found a way to reset on your own that is."

Frisk stared at him, mouth agape, feeling utter disbelief. The amount of dread she felt from this revelation was almost beyond description. But the most horrifying part was that it was perhaps the best explanation she could think of as to why she was one moment falling down a deep pit with a hard bottom, and before she knew it she was suddenly back in the monsters home. Not only that, there was not a hint of irony in the tone or face of the flower.

At that moment, Frisk wasn't sure if she was supposed to laugh or cry.

"I-I died…" she said to herself, trying her hardest to grasp it. "I have honest to god fucking died. I… ho-holy shit."

"Look, it's not that big of a deal," Flowey said.

"Yes, it's a big, fucking deal!" Frisk protested. "I-I… how does it work… is there an afterlife? Is there a soul? Is there-"

"Yes you have a soul," Flowey said bluntly.

"THERE ARE SOULS?!"

"Oh lower your voice for the angel's sake!" Flowey said, sounding irritated. "Do you want the old hermit to come here and ruin everything? Do you want the entire ruins to hear you?"

"Sorry," Frisk said. "It's just… this is so much to take in, I… sorry, just… give me a few minutes to uh, absorb this alright?"

Flowey looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds and then frowned.

"Fine," he said. "Take your time then."

"Thanks."

Frisk put her hand on her chest and breathed heavy but slow breaths. She felt the heart in her chest, pounding. It slowed down after a while, but the anxiety crawling up her spine still remained, although to a lesser degree.

Frisk looked at the flower. Now that she was calmer than before, she decided to start with one of the questions she had.

"So you said that it was possible to, uh, reset without dying," Frisk began. "Can you tell me how?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain," Flowey said. "I don't think I can explain it if I were to be honest. It's just something you have to know is all."

Frisk sighed.

"Fine, later," she said

Frisk let one of her foot dangle of the edge of the bed and finally managed to gather the last of her thoughts and question into a nice mental pile.

"So do you have any idea how I uh… gained this power?" she asked. "Flowey?"

"Oh sorry," he replied, sounding a bit spooked. "I decided to doze off for a bit since you were doing… your thing. Anyway, what were you saying?"

"I was asking you how I got this power," Frisk said. "The power to go back in time whenever I die I mean."

"Well that's simple," Flowey said. "I… I don't know."

Frisk looked at him doubtfully.

"You don't know?" she asked.

"Well, yes- I mean, no," answered Flowey. "I'm sure I did know how at some point, but in case you haven't noticed, my memory's not up to snuff now, possibly relating to my coma. I think the power has something to do with the amount of determination you have, which is like a magic juice thing inside every human soul, and since you have more determination in your soul than any other being down here, you somehow gained the ability to cheat death? I think? I'm not sure. Anyway, are you done now? Calming down I mean?"

"Yeah I, uh, think so," Frisk said.

"Great, good to hear," Flowey said. "Now can we keep going?"

"Yeah, you said you could help me," Frisk said. "How exactly?"

Flowey went silent for a moment, and then he chuckled.

"Well you want to go home don't you?" he asked Frisk and she nodded. "Well, I can help you with that. Like I said earlier, I once had the same power as you do now, and with it. I explored the entire underground from north to south, east to west dozens of times. I've read every book, burned every book, bought everything, sold everything. I've even killed people, only to reset and become a friend to the same person immediately after. I have done practically everything down here I can think of. See where I'm going with this?"

"I think so yeah," Frisk said.

"Good," Flowey continued. "Because what I'm saying is, there is not a single being that knows the underground as much as I do. I am literally the best person that can help get you home, and you are immensely lucky to stumble upon me, and the fact that you saved me, although unintentionally, makes me feel incredibly indebted to you."

Flowey's face suddenly turned a bit dour.

"The bad news is," he said. "That my memory isn't up to snuff as I said earlier. I have dozens of gaps in my mind and of some events I've been through, I can only remember the basic outlines. Not to mention, lots must've changed in the underground during the past 5 to 6 years since I was gone, so even if my memory was perfect, it still wouldn't be completely enough."

Flowey looked up Frisk who was now feeling somewhat worried, and he gave her a reassuring smile.

"But do not fret though," he said. "I still remember most of the layout of the world, including some places only a few have gone to. The underground may be magical in nature, yes, but I doubt there would be entire landscape changes and different placements of towns and or rivers in just half a decade. Now, with that said, shall we finally be off now?"

"Wait," Frisk said.

She had just realized something she forgot to ask. Something important.

"How do I know if I can trust you?"

Flowey became silent again, and his smile waned as if he didn't know how to proceed. He stared at her for a good few seconds before he chuckled and talked again.

"Well that's the thing isn't?" he began. "You don't know that. And frankly, you don't have to. Honestly, I really should have been clearer in my intentions here. You see, I'm not trying to make you trust me. I'm not begging or threatening your life for you to take me along. I'm merely presenting you the option to have me as your guide so to speak. Of course, we can all just… go our separate ways now and then this moment will be the last we ever see of each other, for the time being at least. Who knows, maybe you really don't need my help or even any help for that matter. Maybe you can solve this puzzle and get home all by yourself."

"But," Flowey continued, and his tone seemed to change again. "I have to be perfectly honest. I would really appreciate if you'd at least consider my proposal. You saved my life after all, and I really want to reward it to you somehow, even if just a little. On the other hand, though, you are a young, although nearly adult by human standards, 16-year-old girl who just a few hours ago learned that magic and monsters exist in the world, so I don't blame you for not trusting me immediately. Hell, you're probably thinking that I could be lying about all of this. Then again, most humans and monsters didn't make it far in their lives if they didn't take any risk or two. So, with that said."

Flowey slowly extended one of his vines until it was only an arm's length from Frisk. There he held it floating in the air like he was waiting for a handshake.

"Do you want my help?" he asked calmly.

Frisk stared at the floating vine, thinking. Normally, she would absolutely refuse help from a stranger, especially in this kind of situation. Once Frisk became a teen and was no longer considered a child, she believed she understood the world better than most.

But now, everything was different. Frisk now felt like the things and people she would normally trust or understand no longer held the same benefit of doubt and vice versa. It was if the world had turned on its head just overnight.

As for the flower, Frisk felt he was sincere in his tone and that he truly wanted to help her.

He could also have been lying, about her power and everything, and now wanted to use her for some malicious purpose.

What could be the worst that could happen should I not take his offer? Frisk thought.

Well, the first that would happen, Frisk wondered, was that she would say bye to him and go back by herself into the ruins. Maybe she would do much better than last time. Maybe she would die again and fall right back into this place where the flower would ask her the same questions again. Maybe she would accidentally put him back into a coma that way.

Frisk also didn't know how to "save" as Flowey put it, at least not consciously, so she could always fall back to this exact place and time over and over again and have to redo the same hours, maybe days. Or maybe she would accidentally save at some unfortunate moment and be stuck in an infinite loop with no one around to save her.

So many dark possibilities flew around in her head. All this was, of course, assuming Flowey was telling the truth about her powers.

But as strange as it sounded, Frisk found this hard to deny. She suddenly felt as if somewhere deep within her soul and mind, there was another mind where she knew and understood this power. Like a consciousness within her consciousness.

Maybe though. Frisk wasn't sure. Of anything anymore. This was all starting to feel like a dream to her.

Maybe this really is a dream, she thought. Maybe I should just act like it is, and go through the motions, blindly.

"Well?" Flowey asked impatiently.

Then, as Frisk looked at the flower's eyes, she suddenly felt the same imaginary place within her soul, stirring as if it was trying to speak.

Take it, she felt it say. Take it.

And so, despite everything her guts were telling her to, the deep parts of Frisk's soul proved stronger

"Screw it," she said out loud and grabbed hold of the floating vine and shook it. "I'll take it."

A huge, satisfied smile formed on Flowey's face.

"Ahhh, it's a deal then," he said, "Now hold still for a moment."

Then, before Frisk could react, Flowey had lengthened the vine Frisk was holding to be even longer, and it crawled up her entire hand and all the way to the point it reached her back. Then Flowey used that same vine like it was a small, thin robe to pull himself out of the pot, which gave of a noticeable pop sound, and landed on Frisk's hand.

"Hey! What are you-"

"Oh, you try walking again after not using your legs for who knows many years, or in my case, roots!" Flowey said while he crawled up her arm.

Frisk felt the flower and his vines tickle a bit as he crawled to her back where he used the same vine to tangle around her shoulder like a strap, and then he formed another vine to cover the other one. He now felt like a strange, organic backpack.

"Well, you could have at least asked me beforehand," Frisk said, sounding somewhat irritated. "But anyway, what's-"

"Oh, lords!" Flowey suddenly said.

The two vines around Frisk loosened and the talking flower fell limp of her back and straight onto the floor.

"Flowey!"

Flowey now remained nearly motionless on the floor, groaning in pain. Frisk turned around and looked at him. This was the first time she got a good look at Flowey's "body". It consisted of a single, long green stem with two vines to the side working as it's armed. At his bottom was a large, brown root still dirty and covered in mould from being so long in the flowerpot.

Frisk kneeled down on the floor feeling a slight worry.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Why am I worried for him, Frisk thought.

The flower groaned again.

"Ugh, no, not really," he said. "I think I may have underestimated just how weak I am exactly. Didn't consider for some reason that not moving for like 5 to 6 years might have some effect on my muscles and grip strength, or whatever it is that keeps my vines strong."

He then looked Frisk straight into the eye with a look of complete sincerity.

"You're going to have to carry me for the time being," he said.

"What, no way," Frisk said.

"Oh come on, it's only for a short while," Flowey said. "Just until I get my stamina back. Won't take that long. Besides, it's not like I weigh that much. Wait, are you even paying attention to me?!"

Frisk didn't seem to notice him anymore as she was looking at something in the corner of the room.

"I have a better idea," she said.

"Oh, what could you-"

Flowey stopped as he realized what she was looking at.

"Oh no," he began. "No, no, no, no."

"What you got a better idea?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah, the one I just told you about!" he answered. "I ain't gonna be treated like I'm a freaking tool or a plaything."

"Well I ain't gonna carry you with my hands for hours or days," Frisk protested. "And it's not like you can fit into my pockets either way."

"But it's… dark in there. And tight."

"Then I'll just keep it open."

"But… but… oh fine!" Flowey said in complete defeat. "Just try to be careful and don't make me it too uncomfortable for me ok? If it will be, then you'll not hear the end of me complaining."

"Deal."

Frisk leaned down and grabbed Flowey by the stem.

"Hey, hey, gentle. Gentle!"

"Sorry," Frisk said.

Holding the sentient flower in her hand, Frisk walked to the pink backpack and put Flowey as carefully as she could into the largest opening.

"Is this ok?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, stop asking with every inconvenience and hurry up alright?"

With the flower now placed inside the backpack like it was a large pot of pink leather, Frisk slowly picked it up and put her hands through the straps in a unique way as to not turn it over, which proved to be more awkward than she expected. When she was done with that, she adjusted and tightened the backpack to make sure it wasn't too shaky or loose for her new passenger.

"Ok, what now?" Frisk asked.

"First things first," Flowey said as he adjusted himself inside the backpack. "You should open that other box."

"Why, what's in there?" Frisk asked.

"Something that will be of much help to us."

"Wait how do you know what's in it?" Frisk asked.

Flowey replied that question with another question. A question that immediately put Frisk on edge:

"What, you think you're the first human kid to fall down here?"

"What?" Frisk exclaimed.

She had suspected for a while now that she wasn't the first human here, what with the stories of missing children that dated to even a hundred years ago, but the sudden confirmation was still felt completely out of left field and thus was very unnerving for her.

Of course, I wasn't the first, Frisk thought. I should have known. But wait, if I'm not the first human here then… why the hell has nobody returned from this place?

"You're really surprised?" Flowey asked condescendingly.

"Not really," Frisk admitted "I should have guessed it though from all the stories and rumours. But wait, if the old man isn't dangerous, then what happened to the others?"

Flowey went eerily quiet.

"Flowey?" Frisk asked.

"I don't know," Flowey confessed. "Maybe I did know the truth about it once, but if that's the case then it's, unfortunately, one more thing that I have forgotten. Eh, we'll burn that bridge when we get there. Why don't you go open that other box now?"

"Right," Frisk said.

As she went over to it, Frisk couldn't shake off that dreadful feeling, even though she tried to. All she could think of while she tore open the lacklustre packaging was of the other people who came before her. Because of it, she barely even noticed the metallic clanking sound that came as the box shook.

"Come on," said Flowey. "Hurry up."

"Calm down," Frisk said, feeling a mild shock after being pulled from her thoughts. "I'm almost done."

"Well can you keep it up a little."

"I'm going as fast as I can. Besides, what could be so possibly important inside this-"

Frisk finally opened the box and saw the deadly, metallic instrument within.

"A knife?" she asked. "What the- why the hell would the monster give you a knife as a present?"

"Well, would you believe me if I told you this present was actually meant for you and the necklace was for me?" Flowey said.

"What, I mean no, maybe," Frisk said. "I mean, he's unstable as hell so I shouldn't be surprised."

"Well at least you're not as surprised as the last kid who came here," Flowey said. "That time, the old man didn't mix it up as he did with you. Gods, you should have seen his face after the kid accidentally cut himself on the knife, just after opening the box."

"Other kid?" Frisk asked. "Can you tell me about them?"

"Nah, I'll tell you about him later," Flowey said. "Once we are out, that is."

"Alright then," Frisk said. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Great idea," Flowey said. "Because I'm sure to forget."

I feel like I keep getting new questions at every second, Frisk thought as she pulled out the knife from the torn box which she then threw nonchalantly on the floor.

The knife looked somewhat inhuman and magical in design, despite being indistinguishable in size and shape from an ordinary combat knife and it fitted nicely in her hands. The handle was mostly plain, being nothing but black metal with some dark brown leather sewn on it. The blade, which had the most noticeable aspect, was mostly ebony coloured with an unmissable, blood red hue on it that seemed to glow like it was forged in some evil place.

"What's the deal with this knife?" Frisk asked.

"Well, it's a knife," Flowey said. "What else."

"It doesn't look or feel normal, is all," Frisk said.

Is this just how knives made by monsters look like? she thought.

"Anyway, what am I supposed to do with it?" she asked Flowey.

Frisk was starting to feel nervous, even more than she was already, at what could possibly be the purpose of needing a weapon like this.

"Well you need it to cut open the door out of here," Flowey said. "And when we're through, who knows? Maybe we fall into some vines or have cut our way through some thick foliage."

Frisk felt a bit of relief hearing that answer.

"Also," continued Flowey. "If the old man comes and tries to stop us, it would be nice to have this thing to, y' know, shank him."

"What?!" Frisk exclaimed

Despite having only known him for a few moments, she couldn't believe what he was suggesting.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" she asked. "I ain't gonna kill him!"

"I didn't say you have to!" Flowey replied. "I merely said it was a possibility that there be a situation where you have no other choice. And if not him, then maybe someone else you see?"

"Oh, I'm not killing anyone!"

"Fine then," Flowey said with a hint of sarcasm. "Let's go with your idea and be all willy nilly to anyone who hunts us down and tries to kill us. Who knows? Maybe we can be friends to them."

"You- you do realize there's like a fine line between killing someone and trying to befriend them!" Frisk said.

"Of course I know that!" Flowey said. "Just don't be surprised when you hit a wall dozens of times because you keep being killed by the same person over and over again. Sometimes, you have to take drastic measures to survive in this world."

"Alright look," began Frisk. "We can waste our time here debating the morals and justification of murder all we want, but it's clear we aren't gonna go anywhere with this soon and right now, I think I just wanna get the hell out of here. As you said, we'll burn that bridge when we get there."

"Fine," Flowey said. "Your choice. But I will prove you right, no worries."

"Whatever," muttered Frisk.

She flipped the knife upside down and put it blade first into one of her pants pockets.

"Anything else I need to do in here?" she asked.

"No," confirmed Flowey. "Not unless you wanna take home those books and toys for souvenirs."

"No, I don't."

"Great, then let's finally go."

Author's note:

Woah.
This was a really, REALLY, long time coming. Sorry

I really don't have a good excuse for this month and a half long hiatus. Except for maybe the fact that it was a terrible time to work on an original short story. Turns out, writing an original short story... is not that easy. When you are making your own world, you have to also remember the rules you made for it, and make sure it's cohesive as hell. I thought at first that it would take me at least two weeks to finish the first draft, but I've barely just finished the introduction to the story, and may I remind you, it's a short story for crying out loud. And then came the tests. Off the tests. Also took much of my attention this month.
But as I was just finishing them, I realized that it had been a long time since I made updates to this fic, and I really hate to keep people waiting.
On the bright side though, during this long hiatus, I was able to brainstorm dozens of ideas for this fic, and even fill in some gaps I wasn't thinking of. Honestly, though, I am not gonna abandon my "proper" writing at all. I am still going to finish the story I had in mind this summer, but that does NOT mean that I am going to abandon this fic any time soon, far from. I am just going to hop between my original stories and this one. The bad news is that it could mean that waiting may be a bit longer than usual. But I'll try my hardest not to make it as long as the one between this and the last.
Thankfully, the next chapter won't be so long away since I have already finished a decent portion of it. Don't know when I can finish it so I won't promise any release dates, sorry.

And to make a long story short, thank you, readers, who haven't abandoned me yer and I'll see you guys soon. Adios.

Oh and one more thing.
Since you guys have been so patient, how about a little treat. I'm gonna tease something that I have been planning for a while. It's not a major spoiler, don't worry. I am not giving away a plot twist or a vital scene, but it will be a large hint of what's to come., but to those who are desperate to avoid spoilers for anything, even if it's minor, I suggest those folk to stop reading from here on out.

Still here?
Alright, here we go.

There will be at least one (maybe 2), non-canonical ship later in this story.

I ain't telling who are involved, or even what kind of ship it will be except for that it's indeed romantical. I want it to come organically, and fit the tone of the story, and it also might not come until much later.
All I will say about is that it is a semi-popular Undertale ship that formed about the time the game first came out, and it's 100% consensual.
That's all I will say about so start speculating people.

And before you ask, no it isn't Frans. Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not really my thing. If you ship it though then fine. You do you alright?