#bloomtale au

Bloomtale Chapter 19 – The suspect

Softness... warmth...

Athela opened her eyes slowly, hoping to see some light, a ray of sunshine, the trees of her home's forest... but she only got to see that familiar darkness she was already so used to.

That meant she was still underground. Well, of course... there was no way out, was there?

The young monster sighed, her mind still quite foggy form waking up, and moved her arm upwards, ready to take impulse and stand up; she had probably passed out in the snow again.

...

Her hand, however, found some resistance.

What... what was that? It felt like a blanket...

...

Wait a second.

She froze in place, confused and rattled. Not daring to make another movement; she had yet to analyze the situation. What was happening? Where was she? Did... did she die? But if that was the case, where was she now?? That wasn't snow, the air wasn't cold...

Cautiously, the skeleton moved her shoulders and neck, only to find out that her head was resting on something really soft. The surface she was lying on creaked softly as it slightly sunk, fluffiness and warmth filling her now cozy bones.

"Wha...?" Athela's voice felt rusty; her throat sore. She coughed, trying to get rid of the soreness, but it only got worse. Ugh. Well, whatever.

After making a few more movements, she arrived to some important conclusions. First of all: she wasn't dead. She wasn't back at the last save point and the usual headache didn't greet her, so she had probably survived the cold. She knew little more but one other thing: she was on a bed.

Where exactly? She didn't know.

How did she get there? She didn't know either, nope.

The last thing she had managed to recall so far... was that Flowey disappeared. And that she fainted... so, was she dead? Was this limbo? If that was the case, she would like to speak to God or whoever was in charge, because she was still unable to see a thing and it was very annoying.

...

No, wait.

She remembered now. Someone picked her up and ran. Did... did that person bring her to safety? Who was that person? Oh, if that was true she would have to thank them immensely.

So she was alive and safe. That... she almost couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true, in fact! Not like she didn't trust anyone nor anything anymore, but... why? It was not the first time she arrived to that spot, so why did someone appear? Did Flowey do something?

...

Unlikely. Highly unlikely.

Well, her glee would have to keep its cool until she actually found someone. Clearly there was no one there with her, so she would have to go look for the person who brought her there. Or... wait until they appeared. But Athela didn't want to wait, she felt too anxious.

She felt awful in general, to be honest. Her head was pounding, her bones were aching... but she felt good enough to stand up, so she got to the edge of the bed, thinking about the person who saved her. All her clothes were still on her, minus her shoes. She would find them eventually... maybe they were next to the bed. Just kneel down and... no... not there either...

...

...

Ah, there. Those felt like her boots. She carefully put them on and stood up, cautious. She still didn't know a thing about the place she was at, so she oughta be careful. She also needed to see if there was someone around to guide her, or at least to greet her.

"Hello...?" Oh no, there it was again. It was painful to speak... why? Was it the flower's fault? Was it... what was it? She coughed again, unvoluntarily, and felt even more like she had just fallen flat form the bed instead of just normally getting off it.

Shaking her head softly, she took one step forward. The floor was hard, probably wood, like the one on her own house. Athela moved her arms erratically, looking for any obstacle that she could crash onto. Eventually she found... a wall. Well, that was something, she could follow it to the door. Then, she would probably find someone... hopefully, at least.

Slowly, she got to the so desired door.

Hello, door. Are you closed?

No, you're not.

With a creak, the wooden piece opened, and now Athela was even more lost than before. Was she in a hallway, did she get outside....? Wait, no, not outside, it was too warm for it to be outside.

If she was still in Snowdin, that is. Maybe she was in another area... knowing how different the Ruins were from the forest, she wouldn't find strange another sudden change in temperature. The underground was a mysterious place...

The skelly called for help, again.

But nobody came.

Sighing, and clasping her neck with one hand, she tried to find a way out. Following the wall would be easy enough. Just how big was that place...? Ah, there you go, Athela, one step at a time. Good. Maybe find another door and...

Wait.

The floor suddenly disappeared...??

Oh no.

"Oh my GOD, I can't believe you died! What happened??" Flowey's laugh and the bitter cold greeted Athela after some minutes of darkness and headache.

She just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, cry and cry a lot.

Why did this happen to her? Now that she was safe and warm, why...? Why?? Oh, the rage was building up so fast, she might just yell so loud even her mother would be able to hear her from outside that hellish place.

Or... well, she could've done it, if not for the sudden feeling of her head being about to explode.

"Gah!" With a weak cry, the skelly held her head and closed her eyes with force, trying to resist the pain.

"Hey, hey, tell me what happened!" Flowey poked Athela insistently. That, plus the enormous headache that suddenly assaulted her made the poor skeleton curl up in a ball and whine, both from pain and disgust.

Flowey just sighed upon this and retreated his vine. He wanted to know everything, since he hadn't been there to watch first-hand, but... yeah, her annoying headaches –those now were also annoying for Flowey too because; come on! leave already and let him know what he wants to know!– were in the way. Better just wait it out.

Flowey could wait.

"..." Athela could finally think clearly again. It had been just a moment, but for her it had felt like a whole hour. Was the pain getting worse? If that was the case... she was done for. Or she would be, if the resets kept coming.

Anywho, now she could be a decent person, not curse mentally and talk properly. She patted her hair, cleaning it from snow and other things that might've gotten stuck there during her little floor struggle, and then faced the direction she thought Flowey was. There was no way to know if it was the right direction though.

"Soooo?" The little weed sounded impatient. Like he couldn't wait to know the end of the last horror show. "Come on, tell me. How did you die now? Was the cold too much and you ended up passing out? Did someone try to hurt you?"

Flowey was making up so many theories in his mind. He even thought, for a second, that a small white dog might've showed up and stole one of her limbs and then she died. That would've been funny.

But nothing prepared him for what she would say next.

"I... think I fell down some stairs..." Athela managed to mutter. It was... embarrassing enough. She would've preferred to keep it to herself, jeeze. But who knows what the flower would do if she didn't satisfy his curiosity.

"Wha... the... the stairs?" Oh. Oh no, he was about to explode in laughter. Too late, he already did. "Ahahaha!! I can't... Are you serious?? I can't believe it ahahah..."

Athela frowned, humiliated and sad. Ok, so it had been her fault for not remembering that houses could indeed have stairs, but... on the other hand, she wasn't to blame at all! Because last time Athela had been living in a house with stairs, she had only six years old! Maybe less. She wasn't used to houses with stairs... so she thought...

Oh, what was the point in trying to excuse herself. Flowey wouldn't care, and in fact he was still laughing. The poor skeleton felt her face heatening up, and she would've cried if it weren't for the flowers that were deeply buried inside her eyesockets. That would not stop her from feeling awful, anyway.

She kept silent, waiting for Flowey to finish laughing.

...

Well, technically, she wasn't silent just because of that.

What was she supposed to do now? Should she just... try again and hope that person would appear again? Should she wait for that person to get to her and rescue her? Would it be necessary to move at all from that spot? Or maybe she needed to fullfill some requirements in order for that person to appear, but... which?

Perhaps Flowey knew...

"Flowey," Athela was also curious about another thing. Her brain was working so fast, she had around a million questions. Of course, she knew he wasn't going to answer most of them, but at least she had to try.

"Oh, golly. I have to thank you for the best laugh I had in... I don't know, a lot of time," Flowey still sounded gleeful. Well, good for him. She would still ask her questions. First of all...

"Do you know where that person took me? And how much time I spent there before I..."

"Before you fell down the stairs like the blind klutz you are? Hee hee hee..." He was still chuckling. Maybe the fact that he was in such a good mood would prove useful for her.

"Yes. I just noticed... when I woke up, I felt awful," she made some unconscious hand gestures around her throat as she spoke. "And it was difficult for me to speak, but... now I feel fine."

A few seconds of silence.

"Well, it's not like your voice isn't rusty right now, you know?" Flowey giggled.

"I... It is?" What a surprise. But she felt fine... as... as fine as she could feel at the moment, that is.

"You spent there half a day, more or less." Finally, an answer. "Well, maybe you're just constipated. Would explain the throat ache."

"Consti... pated?" Athela rose an eyebrow to herself, trying to understand what the flower was saying. And even though he knew she couldn't see him, Flowey rose an eyebrow and gave her a look that said 'really?'

Maybe she could feel it if he stared hard enough.

"Yes. Constipated. Ill. You know what that means, right? You're sick, maybe you have the flu," there were many ways to say the same thing. At that last sentence, Athela seemed to recognize some of the words.

"Ah! Mom fell sick once. She told me she had the flu," Athela smiled proudly and started explaining how one day her mom had spent all day out and it had been raining and then she came back home completely drenched and the next day she spent all day in bed, red like a tomato because she felt sick. "And then I got her some wet towels because she said..."

"Aaaarrrgggghhhh I don't care what she said, shut up!!" Flowey's annoyed voice made the poor skeleton freeze up and shut it. "Okay, so you know what that is, but apparently you never fell sick yourself."

"But... I'm a skeleton. I can't fall sick, right?"

Athela heard a soft slapping sound, and then a deep, deep sigh.

What?

But could she fall sick or not??

"Whatever," another sigh from the flower, who just chose not to answer her at all. "I'll just guess that your parents did a good job protecting you from germs."

"What? But my dad..."

"I don't care!" Flowey almost yelled again as he tried to keep Athela from saying unnecessary things. "I don't care. Just... stop talking and just... er..."

Silence.

Athela wondered if something was up again, or...

"Actually, I don't know if you should just wait out again. It worked last time..." Ah, no, he had just been thinking. It seems he had problems tying up his new wicked plan. Because it surely was wicked, Athela had experience already and could tell.

"Who saved me, Flowey? Do you know?" If Athela had any other question for this wicked flower, she had forgotten by now. She was interested on other things.

"I do know," short, grumpy answer, and then some whispering that Athela managed to hear. "He almost saw me last time, would be problematic if... no, but maybe I should just make her wait and then.... but that would be boring, argh..."

"... Flowey?" Athela muttered, not really wanting to interrupt. But her thirst for knowledge was stronger than her fear. "Who was that...?"

"Shush." One short hiss was all that Flowey had to do to make the poor skeleton shut up. He sounded really angry and focused. "Gosh, you're just like a child, so inquisitive and all. Stay quiet for a second, you idiot."

Jeeze, she just wanted to know...

But... anyway, if she managed to reunite with that person again, then it would be no problem asking. Maybe she should get going and, with some luck, she would encounter them again.

...

But she still didn't know what the condition for meeting them was. Did she need to do something, or did they just appear at random? Before she had any time to double think, she had already stood up. Apparently, that confused Flowey.

"What are you doing now?" He inquired, voice still sounding annoyed. Oops?

"Er... I'm going to... the place where..." Athela didn't know how to answer in an appropriate way. Was there a way he would get less angry?

"Oh my God. You'll just die again if you do that.... ..... but be my guest, come on." Apparently not. Athela's lack of knowledge was throwing him off edge. What was she missing??

"Wait, no, but... what should I do then?" She pleaded.

"Not telling you."

"Pleaseee?" Pleading would've been completely humiliating if this wasn't really important for Athela. It was the chance to meet another friendly monster! A monster that cared enough to actually save her. There was something... that made her want to know this above anything. So she played the part. "If you tell me I will keep quiet!"

...

That seemed to convince him alright. Was Athela THAT annoying? The skelly seemed a bit hurt over this, but... Flowey was just downright mean, nothing she could do about it.

"Well, it has to do with TIME, duh," Flowey started explaining with a slow tone, as if she were stupid. Which was annoying. "The timeline in which you encountered him, you stood here for a lot of time, whining like the baby you are. Then he had time to get there to save you."

"Oooh...." That made sense. She was not a baby, but that was... obvious. How didn't she think of that too? ... Maybe because she wasn't really focused at the moment.

"So your best friend Flowey recommends that you wait here for at least twenty minutes. Then you can go and probably meet your doom!" Athela knew Flowey so well by then that she was already imagining how he was moving. He was probably sticking his tongue out at her again while he winked like a... like a ... creepy weed with... eyes and mouth.

Yes.

She needed to get better at this insult game.

Athela didn't say anything. And Flowey didn't say anything, either. They were just there, silently waiting. Oh, the wait was so hard... for both of them. Both of them were stubborn and impatient. One more so than the other.

Because she had promised to keep quiet, there was nothing Athela could say; not like she wanted to speak with her killer, but... still, silent was difficult to bear with if you knew you had company.

Tick, tock.

How tedious.

...

Athela had started counting the seconds, when a sneeze interrupted her train of thought. It was quiet and weak, but it was hers. Weird. She felt colder all of a sudden...

"Huh. Standing still must've been getting you sicker," Flowey didn't sound worried, only thoughtful. His comments were appreciated in that frozen lake of silence, though.

Anyway, Athela would've preferred her mother. She missed her so much...

"I'm moving. It's been a while already..." She indeed felt worse than before... better get moving before the cold manage to sink through her bones.

"..."

There was no answer.

That made Athela nervous. Was he still there, or did he leave? N-not like she needed Flowey to go on, she already knew the way and honestly that weed creeped her out with his every word. So it was better if he wasn't around.

But if he wasn't around she could not know where he was, if he was plotting something in the shadows... uh, that was unsettling too. It seems like no matter where or what was Flowey doing, he always managed to make her feel bad.

Well, as Athela was saying, she didn't need him. He probably just resumed his stalker schedule to see how she played his game. His game... Flowey's game...

Flowey game.

Floweystep.

Super Flowey Bros.

Athela was thinking names for this "game" as she walked. She brushed a pinetree with her left arm, and so she knew she had to change directions. It was impressive how she was able to move swiftly while being blind... she almost felt proud of herself. Not like she could feel really proud; being blind was mostly her fault for being so clumsy anyway.

Oh, but the game thing. A name for it.

It needed to have Flowey's name in it, because Flowey was narcissistic like that. Or at least, he looked like he was. So maybe... Flowey's adventure? Too long.

Floweyventure. Uh, no.

Flowey...

Floweytale!

...

"I don't have any taste at naming games..." The skeleton sighed, saddened by her poor naming skills. Well, the time to think about that was over. Now she needed to concentrate at the puzzles that were coming next.

She kinda missed the times Flowey would solve them for her to make it all go quicker.

But that was bad. She couldn't become dependent of him. Not him, of all people. She would nail those puzzles, and then she would meet the person who saved her again. Just you wait and see. She could do this.

Athela opened her eyes, waking up from her slumber. The usual blackness met her, and this time she smiled. She could feel the softness of a bed, the warmth of a blanket.

She did it.

Well, she did die once before managing to do it for real. But now she was there, safe and sound, protected inside a house away from all that snow and cold death. She sighed, relaxing at last. There was nothing to fear now. Only stairs. But that was fine, she would just stay there, waiting.

...

She... wasn't good at waiting.

Both the expectation and eagerness of meeting someone new were rushing through her head, she was literally restless. At least now she knew more or less where she was and could process everything better, but... ugh. Where was her savior?

Athela sighed, trying to calm down. Be patient, Athela. Just pretend it's like when you were back home, waiting for mom to come back from work. Sometimes she took almost an entire day, but she would always come back. This was the same, that person couldn't just go away forever, right? They had to return to check on her. Maybe they just went to... get something. Or... well, it was no use worrying about that now. She just had to wait.

...

She couldn't just wait there on that bed. She... she didn't feel really good, physically speaking, but her mind was eager. So she stood up, caressing her neck softly.

It was sore.

She coughed, and that was painful.

...

So... skeletons COULD get sick, huh.

"I'll be fine..." Athela muttered to herself as she stood up from the bed. She put on her boots again, and she started walking across the room. Of course, she wasn't going to get out of it; dangerous stairs were out to get her. Begone, foul beasts!

No, she was just going to check the room.

Patting her surroundings, the skelly made her way to a table. It had small things resting on top... something that felt like figurines. Articulate dolls? They were small... maybe the room belonged to someone who really liked playing with action figures. She liked them, too. It was fun to play and pretend they were out on a mission to save the dragon from the mean knight who only wanted the princess' money and status.

She smiled, remembering her silly games. It had been a while... maybe she should play again sometime, when she got back home.

She would do that, definitely.

Not wanting to mess with someone else's belongings for long, she moved on. Next thing she found was... a bookshelf. Yeah, she easily recognized that, she had like four at her house. Filled to the brim with books, comics, and other cool things that could be read.

This one also seemed to have a wide variety of books... thin, thick, big, small, soft, hard. Wow. She wanted to know so bad what all those books were about... too bad she couldn't read anymore.

....

Sighing sadly, she left the bookcase alone and kept going through the room. Better forget she couldn't do one of the things she loved anymore because of her blindness... by.. touching a doorknob.

Wow, what. Another door? But the door was in the opposite direction, wasn't it? Weird... was this one open?

"there are no skeletons inside that closet, ya know? except my bro, sometimes," Athela went stiff when a deep voice interrupted her train of thought and her actions. What a scare...

"I... I'm sorry, I just... wanted to check, and..." Not daring to move, the skeleton started to feel her bonecheeks heating up because of the embarrassment. Oops, she had been caught snooping around.

But the newcomer didn't seem to mind her nosiness, or at least it looked like he didn't, because he let out a short laugh.

"hey, no sweat, gal. not my closet anyway," he sounded nice. Athela liked that. And... judging by what he just said, she had been about to enter a closet. And not his closet. So this was someone else's room... which meant he wasn't the one who saved her, right? Or at least, that was what she could deduce. Her brain was working so fast due to sheer nervousness and anticipation to meet her hero. But, if he didn't save her, who did? She turned around to ask, while the other guy kept talking to her. "so anyway, i came to check up on you because holy shit your eyes."

....

Oh. Oh, no, a swear. Bad word, bad.

"Er..." Athela felt uneasy. He sounded uncomfortable. Was he uncomfortable? So far, no one had said a word about her eyes... so why did he? No, but he sounded like he was really uncomfortable. She could hear him muttering something... what? she wasn't sure. But... whatever it was, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Was she just... gross to look at, with all those flowers covering her eyes? Oh no, surely she was. Oh no, she was starting to feel anxious. No words came out of her mouth... what could she even say in a situation like this?

That moment of silence was slowly turning into a deep, awkward one. Seems like the other guy didn't know what to say either.

...

...

Uh...

"BROTHER, YOU BETTER BE HERE AS I ASKED!!" Thankfully, another person came through the door and broke the suffocating silence with his high pitched voice. Was it really high pitched or was he just really excited? Whatever it was, Athela could feel a deep relief and a sigh coming up.

"hey bro," yes, that other guy also sounded relieved. "guess what."

"WHAT? DID UNYNE SHOW UP? I'VE BEEN CALLING HER!" The newcomer... didn't notice Athela was there. Probably he was busy talking to his brother.

Wait... his voice... sounded so familiar.

"nah, not yet. it's something else."

"WHAT? WHAT IS IT?" Oh, he was anxious to know. What his brother probably wanted to say is that she had woken up, but...

"well. you could ask her," ah, there it is.

"SANS, I CAN'T DO THAT, SHE'S STILL UNCONSCIOUS!! RIGHT, GIRL I DON'T KNOW YET?"

"........." Oh, oh no. He probably saw her and he didn't realize yet. That was so... funny?? She tried hard not to break into laughter. Best thing was that the other guy... Sans? was also silent, as if he were waiting for his brother to realize. Oh no.

"..."

"..."

Oh no. She was starting to break.

"OH MY GOD!" After a few moments, he seemed to realize. "YOU'RE AWAKE!!"

"Y-yes," She managed to say. It would be really rude to start laughing now. But gosh that was adorable.

"OH MY GOD!" He repeated, gleefully. However, his tone quickly changed to a scolding one. "SANS! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? I SENT YOU HERE TO CHECK UP ON HER!"

"she just woke up, that's why."

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES." Athela was enjoying this conversation.

"hey bro. she just woke up. aren't you gonna ask... flower she doing?"

...

Well, any joy she could've felt was gone now.

What was that? Was he... making fun of her? First, he sounded kinda grossed out about her flowers, and now he did this... oh... oh no, what if the other guy was also grossed out but was too polite to say anything about it? She wanted to hide in that closet forever.

"SANS!" There, he sounded displeased. With... his brother. Not her? "I WAS ABOUT TO DO THAT RIGHT NOW!"

She heard him approach, his steps creaking on the floor. His hands grabbed hers and shook them in an excited manner.

"HELLO! ARE YOU OKAY? I SAW YOU SLEEPING ON THE SNOW AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE FEELING SICK, SO I SAVED YOU! DON'T THANK ME!" He was still shaking her hands. What an enthusiastic guy.

Wait...

HE saved her!! Oh gosh he saved her.

"yeah, don't thank him. that's just his daisy routine. helping people and all." Sans said something else. Athela didn't get it at first... daisy? A daisy was a flowe... oh. Oh.

Well, he was definitely mocking her now. Why else would he mix up words with flowers after seeing her eyes? That... that was rude. She didn't like him anymore.

"UGH... SANS!!" Even her saviour seemed annoyed at his word choices. "DON'T MIND MY BOTHER, PLEASE. OH, I LIKE YOUR FLOWERS! THEY'RE GOLDEN, AND PRETTY!"

"What...?" Athela was confused.

"I'VE NEVER SEEN ANOTHER SKELETON THAT HAD FLOWERS IN THEIR EYES! THEY LOOK REALLY COOL." He seemed blatantly honest... she couldn't help but blush slightly at the compliment. It wasn't really a compliment, because the flowers weren't really part of her body, but... he probably thought they were. Which made what he said, a compliment.

"Uh... t-thanks..."

"MY NAME IS PAPYRUS, BY THE WAY!" He just continued talking, excitedly. She felt like she would barely had time to talk, he was talking so fast... but she would manage to say her name, at least.

"I'm Athela... thanks for saving me, Papyrus," they just told her there was no need to thank him, but she would do it anyway, for she was really grateful. Also, his voice sounded REALLY familiar... when had she heard it before...? Think, girl, think...

"ATHELA! THAT'S A NICE NAME! IT SUITS YOU!" Papyrus seemed excited still. What a nice, cool guy. She was about to blush again... two compliments in a row! She felt better about being a gross flowery mess now.

"yeah, very appropriate," The other dude, Sans, seemed like he was giggling.

"UGH. SANS, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE LAUGHING NOW, BUT STOP IT. WE HAVE GUESTS!!"

"well that's because her name is a... er... ya know what, never mind," Athela got what he wanted to say. She had a flower's name. What. Was it so funny to him? Jeeze... great, she was salty again. Why did she feel like this...?

Anyway, it didn't matter. Maybe it was because she felt like a rug, her head hurt and her throat were aching... ugh. She coughed, covering her mouth because she was polite, unlike that Jerry dude from before.

This seemed to alarm Papyrus.

"OH, OH NO. SANS, SHE'S SICK!"

"just as you suspected, paps," Sans didn't seem surprised, though. "but we have medicine, so that's snow problem, right?"

"UGH. WAIT HERE, I'LL GO GET YOU SOMETHING!" And with that, Athela heard a door closing. He har probably left... leaving her alone with Sans. She was pretty sure she didn't fancy the guy that much by now.

...

Silence was uncomfortable. She decided to go back to bed, because she felt pretty dizzy. She felt like she was abusing their hospitality, but... maybe just five more minutes...

"the bed is the other way," Sans' voice made her jolt and change directions immediately.

"... Thanks."

...

There it was. The bed. She sat down and then... then what? Should she lie down? The other dude was right there, she didn't really feel like sleeping while someone else was watching. Uh...

...

This was... an uncomfortable situation, to say the least.

"so, you're not from around here, huh," Sans sounded closer now. Weird... she never heard him take a step.

"Not really, no..."

"uh... good. i guess," yep, he still sounded uncomfortable. "look, sorry about earlier. i just... i wasn't expecting to see..."

"It's okay. I get it," Athela cut him off, not really wanting to hear what he wanted to say.

Athela wanted Papyrus back.

But at least having Sans was better than having Flowey, right? She could bear this.

"welp, i think paps has it covered for now. i should get back to work," oh, he was leaving, good. Well, not 'good', but... at least the uncomfortable situation would be over...

"Fine," she answered, trying her best to not keep silent and made it all more violent.

"just a question before i leave, missy."

"... Yes?" She didn't know what to expect, to be honest. And... his voice, all of a sudden, sounded more serious.

"did you always have those flowers on you?"

...

What... was that question for?

Should... should she answer honestly? But... but she didn't feel like explaining her situation to him, and... it would be weird. Maybe he would not believe her... no, he would definitely not believe her.

And if she said no, and he started asking even more questions... it would probably become messy and...

...

"Yes," She lied. Her lie, a short and simple word, sounded heavy on her throat.

But she thought it was for the best.

". . .   i   s e e ."

Athela didn't hear another sound. The silence grew deeper... until the door opened.

"I'M BACK! I THOUGHT WE COULD SHOW YOU AROUND AND... WHERE DID SANS GO?"

"... What?" Apparently, Papyrus was back, but... Sans left?

When did he even do that?

...

Okay, Athela was creeped out alright.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Papyrus didn't even care that much, because he immediately changed topic. "ARE YOU STILL TIRED? I WOULD LIKE TO SHOW YOU AROUND!!"

"Er... sure..." Still confounded, Athela stood up from the comfy bed, and walked her way to where she thought the door was. Still unnerved.

Something was off, but she didn't know what.

Bloomtale

Chapter 18 – The Seeing Eye flower

  It was cold.

 Was she dead? Is that how death felt like? Dark… lonely. And cold. Would make sense, would match some books she had read… at the time she had been alive. Because she was definitely dead, right?

 She only had memories of darkness… and of a certain conversation with a certain flower. The feeling of his vines around her neck. He said that it would all end if she gave up. And she did. Of course she did. What else could she do? When you’re completely blind, in a dangerous world… what else can you do?

 No one to help, nothing to do. It was the only option left, wasn’t it?

 …

 Flowey said… he would revive her. And then, he would do horrible things to her again. But that was okay, she was… used to it. Kind of.

…

Well, maybe she DIDN’T want him to do that. But at least she would have her eyes again, and it would be better, right?

 In fact… maybe he already revived her. Athela was still in a limbo-state, not really wanting to open her eyes… but she had to. She needed to find out if the plan had worked. She slowly started feeling the world around her. She took a grip on her shirt, feeling a shiver going down her spine. Open your eyes, Athela…

 And so she did.

  But it was still dark.

  “Wha…?” The poor, confused skeleton made a muddled noise, not really knowing what was going on. Where was she? Was she still…? Yes, she was still alive, of course she was. The usual growing headache made sure of making her remember how good it was to feel alive.

 Sarcasm intended at the moment.

She couldn’t see a thing… and it was still cold. That could only mean one thing.

 “Huh. You little liar,” it was not long until a familiar voice made her squeak in distress. Of course, he was there too. He always was. “You said you gave up, didn’t you?” “…” Athela stood silent, not really knowing what to say. She didn’t understand. She really did; she had no hope of survival, she knew there was nothing to do. So… of course she gave up. “Hey, did you lose your voice too? Because if you haven’t, you better answer.” Now the flower sounded annoyed. Athela couldn’t quite put her finger on where he was at the moment… her echolocation wasn’t the best. Maybe it would improve with time. “Y-yes, I… I gave up. I don’t… I don’t understand…” She managed to mutter. She didn’t want to be there anymore. Why was she still there, then? “Hmm…” Flowey groaned, and then there were a few seconds of pure silence. Athela soon started feeling the freezing sensation of the bitter Snowdin cold. But she was near the save point, which provided a cozy, warming light. Light she couldn’t even see. However, she still felt the warmth, so she was fine. “Maybe it didn’t work because you didn’t feel it enough…” he continued after the pause. “I… I don’t know…” She just didn’t know anything. And it was so tiring…

“I know! We could try again!”

 Oh no.

No, no, not again.

 “W-wait, I…” Athela blabbered, not wanting to feel another death but too unsure to really formulate a proper complain.

“Oh, don’t be such a crybaby. You just have to wish you were dead even harder! Then it’ll work!” The vines again. The vines going up her body again. No, no, what a horrible feeling, get them off, get them off!! She tried wriggling, but to no avail. Flowey had her firmly gripped. “Come on, concentrate on the thought.” “I…” “No one will help you. No one will save you. And you can’t continue on your own,” he kindly reminded her of her doom-ish situation. She felt another shiver… and she also felt like crying, but no tears were coming out. It sucked.

 Oops, bad word.

 …

 Oh, who cared anymore?

 “Ready?” She heard a soft giggle. Of course the little psycho enjoyed the situation. He was surely eager to get his powers back, wasn’t he?

Even though Athela didn’t really get it… how did that work? Flowey also had resetting powers? Or at least he had them before she came? But he seemed fine… as in, no flowers on his… oh wait, he WAS a flower. Maybe that was a bit insensitive. Like, could a flower grow flowers on his body?

 …

 Or maybe he turned into a flower when he had too many flowers??

 Oh, oh no, that sounded really creepy and terrifying. Athela didn’t want to become a psycho flower. Jeeze, what a nightmare.

…

 But no, that sounded totally wrong. That surely was not how it worked. Surely…

 “I asked if you’re ready. Jeeze, I’m trying to help here, at least answer me, you skeleton!” “Oh! S-sorry, I… I was…” Athela felt guilty for being silent for so long. She sometimes wandered off in her thoughts for too long. And she was sorry, even though she shouldn’t be because Flowey was a horrible person and he didn’t deserve her apologies. “It… it doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll take that as a yes, then.” Oh, he sounded impatient for once. Athela spent her last seconds thinking about that, before she felt again her bones snapping.

  At least it was a quick death, she thought as she felt her whole body turning into dust.

  “…”

 Dark.

 Ice-cold.

  No, it didn’t work. She was still there.

 “Why? It SHOULD work! It worked with the others!” Athela was surprised when she heard annoyed hissing. Was Flowey angry?

 Wait, what others?

 “F-Flowey…” She started muttering, but she stopped when she felt the headache again. Oh, it hurt… was it, by any chance, getting more painful? Or maybe it was just her being too tired?

“Again! Let’s try again!” He was almost yelling. Why was he so angry? He sounded impatient, too…

 Athela would’ve thought more about it, but the feeling of something piercing her skull stopped her train of thought. It had been too quick to even scream.

 It all went black… and it was painful…

 Until she felt alive again. Alive and blind. And cold.

 “No! Why??” An angry voice. “Are you sure you’re wishing it enough??” “Y-yes!!” She quickly replied back. Between deaths and timelines, she was too confused to locate herself at the moment… they were… still at Snowdin… right?

 Ow, the headache…

 While the pain was still up, Athela felt a vine around her arm. That was… unexpected, and definitely not welcome. She couldn’t deal with so many emotions at once… she just died twice in less than two minutes… please, a break…

…

Of course not.

 “Maybe you’re too useless to even lose grip of your determination.” Flowey hissed right next to her. She shivered, completely terrified. “Or perhaps I have to do it slowly. There are too many options here.” “P-please, stop… it’s not… it’s not working.” She said, feeling like crying once more. Luckily, the headache was going away, so she had some time to recover. “It HAS to work. I know this has worked before, so it should work with YOU too.” He did sound angry. Athela could only imagine that he was nervous because his plans weren’t working that well. “What are you talking about? What others?” Athela wanted to know. Did Flowey know for sure it would work? Did he kill more people? Or heard about this happening before? But if it had worked for others… why wasn’t it working for her? Maybe Flowey was wrong… “…” Flowey went silent.

 And then, with no warning whatsoever, another bullet pierced her head.

  “Nope. It doesn’t work,” now Flowey’s voice sounded casual. Uninterested. Tired, even. Athela hissed, annoyed because that last death hadn’t really been necessary. “Didn’t we know that already?” She groaned, sort of angry. “You didn’t have to do… owwwww…” Damn headache.

 Another bad word. Oh, well.

 “Hee hee… sorry, but I just couldn’t resist.” He said, gleefully. Athela didn’t hear anything else while she held her skull, in pain. But when it calmed down and she tried to stand still, the flower continued. “Well. Looks like you’re stuck here for some reason.” “You don’t say…” The skeleton groaned again. She didn’t like how things were going. “That sounds more like the Athela I know. Sassy and dumb,” another giggle. That flower really got on her nerves sometimes, but… calm down, Athela. No need to say something truly dumb and cause yet another death. Breathe… “…” Breathing complete. “So… what now?” She said, really lost. “Well, you only have two options left. Staying here to die, or keep going… to die.” “…” Athela fell silent again. The situation was awful to say the least. “I… I think I’ll stay here,” she said after some thinking time. Of course, the answer didn’t please Flowey. “That’s boring,” he groaned. “I’ll stay alive longer if I do that,” the skelly sat on the floor and shrugged. She didn’t really care anymore. “Unless I kill you right here right now,” Flowey hissed. The threat kinda worked… but not completely. “Well, then we’ll be stuck in an endless loop of resets. You’ll get bored of that too.” It was a bluff for the most part. Dying wasn’t peaceful, of course, but she didn’t have anything to lose by dying. She didn’t have anything to gain by continuing.

…

Silence.

Silence made Athela nervous. She didn’t know what was happening, she couldn’t see a thing. Did Flowey leave? Was he still there? Both options were bad, actually. She didn’t want to be alone… and she didn’t want Flowey to be there. What a conundrum.

After what felt like an eternity for Athela, Flowey spoke again, and she felt at ease. More or less.

 “Look. Games are boring if you don’t play them,” he started. “Exactly. I can’t play. I’m blind, remember?” She said, pointing at the flowers in her eyes. She didn’t even know if there were more… she touched the area, softly. Apparently there weren’t any more flowers outside. Or at least, not more than she could remember. “Stop being so sassy,” the flower hissed again. He did sound irritated. Surely it was because Athela could not play his ‘game’ anymore. “So you’re saying you need someone to guide you? A charming fellow who would sacrifice their valuable time just to help a stranger? Get real, that won’t happen.” He… was right. No one would ever come to help. No one ever did. The only person who had ever given her a helping hand was Toriel, and… well, Napstablook too. But no one else. Her phone buddy could help… if she was even able to see the buttons on her phone. She couldn’t call anyone like that. She wasn’t sure she could even take a call like that.

 What could she even do…?

 …

 …

 Athela just hugged her knees, too blocked to continue. Her mind was blank, too. She just focused on the silence, since there was nothing else she could do. Just… listening. To silence. Truly an amazing thing to do. Also freeze her butt. But that was less pleasing. … It was boring. But boredom was better than death.

   … Apparently not for Flowey.

  “Okay, okay!!” He yelled, startling the poor skeleton, who wasn’t expecting that. She shook her head and listened, trying to look in the flower’s direction. “I can’t believe I’m doing this… ugh, I hate you.” “What…?” Athela was lost. What was he talking about? “Get up, come on,” he ordered, his voice sounding REALLY annoyed. So upset, that Athela took a second to react. “W-wait, what are you saying? Why are you…?” She started talking, but immediately shut up when she felt vines around her waist. Not again…!

The vines lifted her up… and…

 Put her on the floor?

Athela’s legs bent and she almost fell on her butt, but the vines gripped her firmly, lifted her again and gave a little painful squeeze. She shrieked at the sudden sting, and heard a growl coming from below.

 “I told you to get up! Come on, stand still. Don’t make this more difficult for us than it already is!” He said, still as annoyed as before. Athela didn’t really get it, but she did as she was told. Still as a stick, her feet were placed on the floor… “Yes, good. Legs still, up you go. It wasn’t so difficult, was it?” “What are you doing?” Athela asked, legitimately confused. She didn’t want to walk to her death again… “What do you think I’m doing? Snowdin Town isn’t really THAT far away from here, so… I will… ugh… help you,” it sounded as if he were actually repulsed by that idea, so… that meant… he was serious? The skeleton took a few seconds to fully get what that meant. It was so… bizarre and unexpected, indeed. “Wait, really??” She couldn’t believe it. No, she didn’t trust him. He wouldn’t really help, would he? Or was he that desperate to keep his game going? “Shut up,” she heard him hissing. “Once you get to the town, you’ll get your own seeing eye dog. And then the game will continue! But for now, if I want you to move your useless ass, I guess I’ll have to do something. We’re at an impasse.” “So… you’re going to help me,” Athela sounded skeptical, naturally. “Look. I want this game to get going. And you want to see… oh, sorry. You want to meet your mom again, don’t you?” He didn’t sound truly apologetic, but snarky… however, Athela didn’t care.

 She had forgotten about her mom.

 How could she do that? It was the only reason –well, if she didn’t count Flowey– of why she wanted to get out of that mountain in the first place. Why she abandoned Toriel at the Ruins. She was what kept her going altogether. Her smile… would she ever see it again? She truly was a horrible child. She had been so worried about herself, she didn’t even think about how worried her mother should be. Athela had been away from home for days now. She had to… go back, find her. Tell her everything would be fine.

 Athela needed to keep going. “Ouch,” the skeleton quickly brought her hands to her temples as soon as she felt a pressing pain on the back of her skull. “Wow. Rude. Ignoring my words and saving all of a sudden,” Flowey hissed at her again. “N-no, no, I… I’m sorry, I just… didn’t expect you to…” “To help? Well, I don’t see any other options right now. So just stand still, follow my directions, and remember them well. Because I will only say them once. Understood?” Wow.

 Flowey sure was bossy when he wanted to be.

But of course, Athela was not going to complain. She was… still cynical, but Flowey liked their game too much to just leave her stranded in the middle of the woods apparently.

 However…

 “And what about later on?” She asked. “What?” “I mean… I’ll still be blind when we get to the town. I can’t really play like this…” She stated, worried. Of course, Flowey would not help her forever… it would defeat the point of the game. “Oh, don’t worry. I know of someone that can help you.” Flowey sounded… happy. Suddenly, Athela didn’t trust this anymore. “You just have to play the right cards.” “Cards?” “… It was an expression, you numbskull.” The flower groaned. “You really are an idiot.” Athela felt insulted. But she was already used to it, so she just let it go. She was more worried to what was coming up next. How would Flowey exactly help…?

 “Okay, that’s enough talking, let’s get to it!” Yes, that was the signal. But… but! “Wait!” She interrupted him. That annoyed him, of course. “What now?” He groaned for at least the tenth time on that timeline. “Can you tell me what ‘others’ you were talking about before? Did you kill more people like me before?” She asked. Flowey was being really talkative, so maybe he would answer… … “Heh. No. No one like you.”

  Wow, that sounded more sinister than Athela had expected it to sound like. “Oh.” She muttered. “But… then how…?” “Do you want me to help you, or do you want me to tell you this? Because I’ll only do one thing.” Flowey surely was impatient. Jeeze. “O-okay, help me here.” Athela would have to stick with the helping plan for now. But Flowey did like talking, so maybe he would tell her later. “Please.” He suddenly said, throwing her off bait. “What?” “Say ‘please’. It’s the least you can do when you ask someone for help, don’t you think?” Oh.

 Oh you dang flower. You’re surely getting your fun out if this too, aren’t you? Great, now Athela was bitter. She heard giggling. Her face should’ve shown her annoyance.

 …

 “Okay… can you please help me here?” Yes, she said it. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be, to ask her killer to please help her. But it was still hard. Never again. Hm. Random thought.

Flowey killed her several times. Did that make him a serial killer? Hmm… but that meant he killed lots of people. Which wasn’t out of the question, but… referring only to herself… maybe instead of a serial killer, he was a several killer. Did that word exist? If not, she would invent it right now. “Very well~” Flowey seemed pleased. He went back to his bossy self. “As I said, I will only say each direction once. So pay attention and… try to remember them~” Oh well. That was going to be difficult, right? Athela took a deep breath before nodding. She felt nervous… and she couldn’t even glow her eyes to feel better. Could things get any worse?

 Maybe.

 “Okay. I placed you in the right direction, so… walk straight until I tell you to stop.” Flowey started with his directions. Athela lifted one foot… and then retreated it. She was trembling. She did NOT trust that flower. “…” The skeleton took another deep breath. She could do it. Come on. She would just walk really slowly… “Come on, we don’t have the whole day!” “Y-yes, I’m moving!” Sluggishly, she lifted her foot again, and this time she took one step. And then she took another. Slowly but steadily, she kept walking. The snow cracked under her feet. Athela could be walking to her doom again, but… she had no choice but to trust whatever that flower was saying.

 She walked until her shoulder brushed against something… spiky. Startled, she jumped aside, causing Flowey to giggle.

 “That’s just a tree, you silly~” Flowey seemed amused. Athela touched the twigs, wanting to make sure of it. Indeed, it was just a tree. But she didn’t have much time to admire the feeling of touching it, for Flowey rushed her again. “Now turn right. Come on, quick!” It was as if he knew she wanted to be careful with her steps and just tried to rush her for fun. She knew more or less where she was, though, so she could afford to walk a bit faster.

 She walked forward, and her right foot brushed on what felt like a rock. Thank God she didn’t trip on it, she thought as she kept walking. And just how long would she have to keep…?

 “Oof!” Poor Athela yapped in pain when she stumbled upon something hard and spiky. Another tree, surely. Flowey cackled openly when that happened, and it only made her feel worse about her clumsiness. What happened about being careful? The tree was also covered in snow… that was really, really cold… and she hated it so much. Now she was also feeling cold. Ghh. “Priceless,” Flowey giggled. Athela frowned. “Okay, keep going, just avoid the tree. Keep going.” She did so. Her feet soon stumbled across something soft and… cold. Ah, the snow map. Yes, there it was. Okay… she more or less had a mental image of the area, and that was good. “Now… I turn left, right?” She asked, uncertain. That got her a mocking sentence from the evil flower. “Very good! Golden star for you! At least you remember the area where you were a few hours ago!” So sarcastic, Athela felt bad for herself. But she couldn’t say anything… at least he was helping. Or so she hoped. She turned left. Walking, she noticed after a while how the floor changed. It sounded like wood… yes, that was the bridge she had crossed before. Very well. Whispering encouraging words to herself, she kept going. And kept going. … Wasn’t Flowey supposed to give directions…? She kept on walking. He would tell her when to turn, like he did before, right? …

Well, he wasn’t saying anything.

The skeleton stopped. She didn’t trust this. “What are you doing? Don’t stop.” There he was. Okay, so he WAS doing something… Athela slowly started walking again. “… Ah!!” And then her feet didn’t find any ground to hold onto. Athela jerked her body backwards, trying to stay there and alive, but… she could not.

 She fell to her doom.

  “Wow. Your skull surely weighs a lot. You fell like a rock!” “…” “I thought you KNEW where you were. What an idiot. That’s what I get for trusting your sense of direction, I guess.” “… I hate you.” Athela hissed as she held her head again, bracing for the headache that was about to come. Ah, there it was. The sudden blast of pain was way stronger than before. It caught her off guard. Athela couldn’t stand still, she fell on her knees as she tried to suppress a yell. “Wow,” Flowey sounded amazed. “It looks like it hurts a lot.” “Why did I trust you…?” Athela was talking more to herself than she was talking to the flower. “Oh, come on, I thought you would turn right.” He snickered. “You could’ve warned me.” She hissed again. “I couldn’t help it~ oh, but… technically, I just told you to keep going. I never told you that you should continue FORWARD.” “… I hate you.” Athela repeated it. It was the second time she openly confessed her true feelings, and Flowey sounded flattered. “You’ll make me blush, stop it.” He laughed for a short time, and then continued talking, with his sassy voice back. “Okay, I’ll be good this time. You better remember what I told you, because I won’t repeat myself! I’ll wait for you at the bridge~” Athela heard some muffled sound, like digging, and then silence came back. Seems like she was on her own again. Oh well. It was a good thing that she remembered the way.

And of course, she would use the things she found on the way there to guide herself. The tree… the rock… the… ouch. The other tree. Yes, she managed to stumble upon it AGAIN. And she had snow all over herself again. Yay! So cold… Sigh. The soft snow… and now turning left… the bridge. She walked forward for a bit, and then Flowey’s voice greeted her. “Very good! You didn’t die on your way here! I am amazed~” He said. Athela felt, surprisingly, a little bit better when she heard that. True, it was mostly mockery, but maybe he felt truly amazed, and in that case it would be flattery. She was a bit desperate for encouragement, it seems.

“… Now what?” Athela didn’t trust him anymore, so she would go really slowly this time. For real. She wished she had a stick or something to test the ground with… “Now walk a bit further… just a bit,” he told her. “Yes… okay, stop. Now, turn right.” “Oka… a… atchew!” The skeleton felt her bones rattling as she made that strange noise again. She shivered. The image of her mother doing something similar once came to her mind… however, her mother did a much louder noise, so… maybe it was not the same. “Don’t get sick on me. Surely a simple cold could kill you. It would be fun to see, but then we would be stuck on the same death loop and I’m not up to it…” Flowey was getting impatient, apparently, since he had decided to start pushing Athela forward with one of his vines. “W-wait! The puzzle!” Athela yelled, trying to get him to stop. There were spikes, if he kept pushing her on that direction… “Shut it. I already solved it, since you were taking so long to get here. It was easy enough anyway.” “Y… you did?”

 Wow. She didn’t expect that. That was… actually nice. Indeed, the spikes weren’t there. “What? I was bored. And wasn’t I helping you? I’m your best friend, after all~” He sounded… uncomfortable. Not as naturally giggly as before. Athela wondered why. “Well, th-” “Don’t thank me,” the flower interrupted her. “I left the next puzzle just for you anyway. So go and enjoy it, okay~?”

Ugh. Athela wasn’t up to the challenge… she was feeling too cold, her flowers were complaining and sending shivers all across her body. It hurt… but what else could she do? She sighed and stumbled blindly once Flowey let her go. Her feet found some solid surface and Athela heard a ‘click’. The switch. And the hardened snow, right in front of her. She touched it, and immediately regretted it. “M-maybe I should head back and save…?” The impulse of saving all progress was strong. Of course, Flowey didn’t agree with her methods. “No. You do this puzzle and keep going.” “But I’m cold, and…” And that meant death. “See if I care,” he interrupted her rudely. “Come on, just solve it. I’ll even help you solve it; go to the snow that’s to your right and walk straight four steps. Come on.” Sighing, Athela did as Flowey said. From that moment on, it was all a series of confusing directions that the young lady had problems with. Up, right… then up… left? No, Athela, you screwed up. Go back and press the button. The puzzle restarts. Now go back to the same spot and walk again. Trial and error, trial and error. And also some intended misdirection on Flowey’s behalf. You know, just for the funsies. Athela was almost frozen up by the time she went to the button and pressed it for the final go. Finally, the puzzle was solved. “L-let me go back… I’m freezing, literally…” Athela begged. She felt her teeth clattering, and her head was hurting way too much. She spent a long time solving that puzzle, after all. The wind was getting wilder, too. If she didn’t get to the save point soon… “Don’t worry about minor details. There should be a save point not much further ahead… I think,” Flowey seemed unsure for once. “You think?” Athela wanted to cry again. “Well, it’s not like I can see them anymore!” Flowey tried to excuse himself. “Since a certain someone stole my powers, now I can’t see them.” Oh.

So it was exactly as she thought. No one could see the save points but her. Also, no one could use the save points but her. Seemed logical. It felt good to have some verification.

Flowey kept talking. “Anyway, just continue. It shouldn’t be far, now. Not like it would be useful for you, hehe.” Athela had to agree. She wasn’t really confident about going back on her own… It was really scary to walk blindly, and she didn’t trust her sense of direction to go backwards. Also, just like Flowey said, last time she tried it, she just died on the way back. She stepped into the next room.

“I’ve never been here before… how is it like?” She asked, hoping for an answer. “Plain. Boring. Empty. Keep walking straight. It’s a loong~ road.” After that brief explanation of the room, Flowey just… stopped talking. Athela assumed he just went on ahead. She felt kind of… lonely. So she tried to rush on forward. Of course, she wasn’t careless. She placed her feet carefully on the floor in front of her, always alert, just in case he decided to trick her again. But it was not the case. Sadly, her legs were barely responding by the time she got to the next room. Athela managed to hear some dog whining before her legs failed. She fell on the floor, head first, with a weak scream. “Wow, already?” Flowey’s voice greeted her, startling her. “Well, see you on the other side, I guess… I hope you’re faster this time.” Athela let out a weak laugh as she felt her bones going numb…

It was funny how it was always dark.

 Athela let out a sour laugh as she hugged her bony legs, sitting down on the cold floor. Refusing to move. “Come on, you were so close this time,” Flowey had been trying to make her get up for a while now. Since she refused to move again. It had been two more deaths since she first died at that new room. The room she didn’t even manage to see for obvious reasons. The following time she tried to go back at the save point after solving the puzzle, but… it happened the same as before. It was too far and she was too tired and cold to move any further. So she died. And next time, she tried to solve the puzzle faster, but that only made her mess it up. Flowey laughed at her and she died on the next room. Athela had started thinking that death by freezing was not as bad. It wasn’t as painful as falling from a cliff. And it certainly was less painful than dying from crushing.

But leaving death aside… she was doomed. Again. So she would not move.

  “Liar.” She replied. “I’m not lying. And even if I were, the weather will only get worse if you stay here, so it’ll be harder for you to continue! Just go, you idiot!” “I will die anyway, won’t I?” She was kinda hopeless. “No… come on, it’s been almost an hour now. Hey, guess what… if you move now, I’ll solve the first puzzle for you. Deal?” The evil flower was kind of tired of this pulling. “Do it for your dear mother, Athela~”

Ugh. She hated it when he used her as a motive to keep his game going. But… her mother WAS worth the pain. In her mind, she managed to get out of there and she found her mom. Then she got her eyesight back and they were happy ever after. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? … She stood up. “I hate you.” She said for the third time that day. “Good. If that keeps you going~” And he was happy again. Of course, he disappeared a few seconds after. He had said it before, he would never repeat his directions twice. Good thing Athela was being careful and that she had recognizable points she could count on to keep going. If not, she would’ve surely been doomed from the very start. … Well, she WAS doomed already. But at least she had to try, right…? Of course, the road was not different. Slow, and cold. Poor Athela was too mentally tired to keep going at a fast pace, even if being slow was lethal for her. As Flowey mentioned before, the wind was getting worse, and she had to cover her eyes more than once so no snowflakes would cause her pain. Like that, it was hard to keep her balance and solve the second puzzle correctly… she took more time than expected. But she solved it anyway. The ‘click’ that sounded when the button was pressed and the spikes were lowered brought her great satisfaction. Athela managed to crack a smile as she went forward again. The smile faded once she realized that she would die soon. “Come on, just keep going, I’m sure you’ll find a save point soon. It SHOULD be around here, if my memory isn’t as bad as yours. Oh, wait. It’s not.” Flowey chuckled as Athela kept walking. It felt like she had been walking forever. The wind was too strong.

 She cried in pain when some snow entered her eyes. The flowers were withering… Too late… She fell to the floor, whimpering. Giving up again. Flowey rushed to her side. But she didn’t see him. It was all obscure. “Come on, move. Not this again.” For once, he seemed… concerned? “No. I can’t.” She whispered. She was still holding up with her arms, but… she just let herself fall on the floor. It was useless delaying it any further. “But if you just… oops!”

 …

 …

 “Flowey…?” Athela called for him, confused. What happened? ‘Oops’, what? What was that about? Did he hurt himself?

 …

 It didn’t matter anyway… it would all be gone in a few minutes, so… better just let it go.

 Or that’s what she thought, but… suddenly, she could hear cries coming from far away. A voice… that was getting closer, and closer. Who…? He sounded worried. Was he asking if she was okay? Athela could barely hear him, for the world around her was starting to fade. But she felt how she was being lifted from the ground…that new person… he held her close, and… it felt as if he were running… but… who was he? And… where…?

 Where was he taking her?

Athela fainted before she had the time to think about it.