Chapter Text
“We’re good, Mira.”
“See?”
“Everything’s fine.”
(Mira takes a tentative step forward, and everyone else follows.)
(You turn around.)
(You walk further into the corridor.)
(Mira is talking about something behind you.)
(Odile is muttering.)
(Isabeau is humming.)
(Bonnie is skipping.)
(Everything is normal.)
(Everything is fine.)
(Everything is—)
(A rumble.)
(A shadow.)
(A boulder that shouldn’t fit in the hallway but does anyway.)
(You don’t scream.)
(You don’t think.)
(You don’t have time.)
(Just—)
(Impact.)
(Darkless.)
(Nothing.)
(And—)
You died.
✦ Start Again Quit
[LOOP 1]
(You wake up.)
(You shouldn’t wake up.)
(The sky is too bright.)
(The grass is too soft.)
(The air feels like it’s waiting for you to say something first.)
(You sit up slowly, like your bones are trying to remember how to be bones.)
(You remember dying.)
(You shouldn’t remember that.)
(You shouldn’t remember anything.)
(You just died.)
(...The trap! You idiot! You stupid fool!)
(It’s your job to take care of traps, and you got taken out immediately!!!)
(You didn’t even see a glimpse of the King!!!)
(And it’s your job, stupid!!!)
(It’s your job to see ahead, to take care of traps!!!)
(You couldn’t even do your blinding job and now you’re dead because you did a sloppy awful terrible job,)
(And you died!!! You died!!!!! You felt your body being crushed, and—)
“Howdy!”
(You flinch.)
(You don’t recognize that voice.)
(You turn, and—)
(...There’s a flower.)
(It’s an odd shade, one that makes your eyes hurt.)
(It’s smiling.)
(A flower is smiling at you.)
“Golly, you look all kinds of mixed up!”
(Its voice is bright and sunny and feels wrong in a way you can’t name.)
“Don’t worry, Siffrin! It happens to everyone their first RESET~!”
(You blink at it.)
(Your mouth feels full of cotton.)
“Uh.. Hello...?”
“Oh, you can talk! I was starting to worry you couldn't, heehee!”
“...Who… are you??? Why am I seeing a talking flower???”
“Gosh, where are my manners?”
“I’m FLOWEY! FLOWEY the FLOWER~! He/Him~!”
“And you’re Siffrin~! He/They~!”
(The star in your chest stutters for a moment.)
“How do you–”
“Oh, I know lotsa things about you!”
“I pay attention!”
“It’s important to pay attention, don’tcha think~?”
(You don’t answer.)
(Your hands won’t stop shaking.)
(Flowey leans forward.)
(His petals are fluttering in a non-existent breeze.)
“...Gee, you look like you had a rough day! Well, Dying’ll do that to ya!”
(!!!)
(You freeze.)
“But don’t worry!”
“You’re all better now~!”
“...Well. As better as you can be.”
(You swallow and go to speak.)
“...I don’t understand.”
“That’s okay!”
“You’re new! Fresh!”
“Untouched by all of the FUN stuff that comes later~!”
(His voice dips for half a second, then brightens back up cheerfully.)
“You’ll catch on quick. I just know it~!”
(You wrap your arms around yourself.)
(The meadow feels so cold.)
(It feels so bright.)
(It feels so wrong.)
(Flowey winks.)
“Aww, don’t look so scared. I’m here to help you~!”
“Someone’s gotta guide you through all this!”
“All.. what?”
“Why, the RESETs, silly~!”
“The… ‘Resets’?”
“Oh, you’ll see~!”
(Flowey’s eyes gleam.)
“You’ve got a big journey ahead. Lots to learn. Lots to fix.”
(He giggles.)
“And I’ll be right here to help you every step of the way~!”
(You don’t understand.)
(You don’t understand any of this.)
(But Flowey’s smile is so bright, so confident, so certain.)
(It’s easier to nod, than to question it.)
(Flowey beams.)
“I just knew you’d be a fast learner, heehee!”
(...Flowey tilts his head.)
“...Oh, don’t look like that! You’ll get used to it! Promise~!”
(You blink.)
(A moment passes.)
(And then–)
“–frin!”
(Flowey’s smile freezes.)
(Like someone tugged the wrong string on a marionette.)
“Siffrin~!”
(His eyes narrow, just for a moment, before his smile snaps back on.)
“Well, that’s my cue~! See you around, Siffrin!”
(Flowey sinks into the ground.)
(Unnaturally.)
(Too quickly.)
(Just–)
(Down.)
(Like the earth itself swallowed him whole.)
(The grass settles.)
(The meadow hums.)
“...Siffrin?”
(You are alone with Mira.)
“Good morning!”
(Her voice is bright.)
“Or, more like, good afternoon, I guess…”
(She hovers over you.)
“Were you taking a nap? That’s just like you…”
”Only you could sleep peacefully at a time like this, hehe!”
(You stare at her.)
(You don’t tell her about Flowey.)
“I guess that’s smart…”
“We better get some rest while we can! We have to be ready for tomorrow…”
(Mira beams.)
“So we can finally face the King tomorrow!”
(You blink.)
“...You’re still half asleep, aren’t you?”
“Hm… Okay, then…”
(She begins walking away.)
“You can sleep for a little longer, but not too long! Come to the village when you’re ready, okay?”
(She heads north over the bridge to Dormont.)
(...)
(You lie back down.)
(The sky is too bright.)
(The air is too still.)
(The Universe feels like it’s waiting for you to understand something you don’t have the words for yet.)
(You close your eyes.)
(You don’t sleep.)
(You don’t rest.)
(You just wait.)