Started as a Feeling

Chapter 16 - Born Again

Walking down the sidewalk, Frisk and Sans head towards the school. From time to time, Sans would look over to the flower Frisk was carrying, glare at it, then look back forward. Frisk kept quietly to himself, and Flowey kept staring down at the dirt. Sans finally speaks up, "So, school project huh?" Frisk looks up to Sans and smiles, "Yeah." 

"Hmph." What a load of bull, if the kid was going to lie, at least make it believable. Eventually they reached the school gates, monster kid wasn't there waiting like last time. "Where's Bucky?" Sans asked, but Frisk just shrugged. Sans rubbed the back of Frisk's hair, "Alrighty then kiddo, I'll see ya later then." He stretched out his arms for a hug, and Frisk sat Flowey down on the ground and gave him one. Sans pats the boy's back and let's him go, "Be good ya hear?" Frisk gives him a wink and picks up Flowey. He starts heading for the school doors, and Sans turns around to walk back to Toriel's house. 

As soon as Sans was out of sight, Flowey whispered, "Alright, let's go!" Frisk looked behind him, making sure he was alone. As soon as the coast was clear, he ran back out of the gate and down the road. Sans turned his head to the side as he hid behind the first building he passed. He was now undercover.

Frisk reached the city with Flowey in hand, he was looking for Alphys's new lab. As businessmen and women passed the boy and flower, they gave weird glances. Flowey became agitated, but kept his mouth shut. He just had to hold off until they reached the lab. Street after street, they finally came to a huge white building. It was strangely built next to a Starbucks. As Flowey and Frisk reached the door, Frisk rang the convenient doorbell. They sat and waited a few moments, until they heard a crash from the inside. Undyne's screams could be heard from the other side. "I poked myself, AGAIN!"

Flowey recoiled back a little, and Frisk took a step back, Alphys's muffled voice came through, "Y-you'll be okay U-Undyne! It's j-j-just a little prick! H-Here I will go get a band-aid!" With a sudden whoosh, the door slid out and Alphys stood in the way. Frisk slid Flowey behind his back before Alphys could see. As she looked up, she jumped back, surprised. "Frisk! I, uh, was g-going to fetch Undyne another band-aid!" Frisk shyly smiled at Alphys, "Oh can that wait a minute, we need to talk Alphy." Alphys fixed her glasses, a serious look taking over her face, "What is it?" Frisk bit the side of his cheek nervously, "May I come inside?" Alphys let a snorted laugh escape, then invited Frisk in. Frisk continued to hide Flowey behind him as he stepped through the door. Alphys walked in behind him and shut the door. She waved Frisk to come with her, "I-I have another private area w-where I do all my experiments! C-come, we will t-talk down there." She walked over to an elevator and Frisk followed. They walked in and she called out to Undyne, "I'm going downstairs f-for a minute Undyne!" She hurriedly pressed the down button. Before the door closed, Undyne's voice rang in, "WHERE'S MY BAND-AID?!"

Sans leaned against the side of the Starbucks building. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the elevator stopped on the bottom floor. The door opened and Alphys stepped through. Frisk followed her to a desk full of potions, gizmos, and gadgets. She turned suddenly and peered deep into Frisk's eyes, she's excited, "S-SO! Wh-what did you want to t-t-tell me?" She gave him a waiting smile and Frisk gulped. He slowly revealed a shy Flowey behind his back. Alphys's eyes grew wide, and she froze with a nervous smile on her face. Flowey looked up to the yellow dinosaur girl. After a long pause, he decided to speak, "Uh... hi. I need help, you see... my name is Asr-" Alphys let out a shriek and hid under her desk, shaking with fear. Frisk gently placed Flowey's pot on the long white desk and hugged Alphys, "Alphy, please stay calm. He needs help!" Alphys, still shaking, grew a little braver and walked out from under the desk. She slowly stood up to meet the plant face to face. Flowey was a bit unsettled, but he stared back. Frisk sat up, "May I explain?"

"Y-yes."

"I found him in the Underground, Alphys. It's kind of hard to explain... but this flower once was a monster. He was a monster that you used to know as Asriel." Alphys cupped her mouth with her hands and shook her head in disbelief, "That can't be... D-did my serum a-actually work?!" She placed her palms against the sides of her head and began to panic, "Th-that would mean-! Wait." She uncovered her hands, "How do I know you're not some phony?" Flowey shrank, "I-I am, but I have no soul..." A lightbulb went off in Alphys's head. Of course he would have no soul, Asriel's soul would have vanished a long time ago, but there was a solution. Maybe she could finally finish Asgore's request! "I h-have started a project about bringing the r-real Asriel back to life... I was able to accomplish it once, on a g-g-golden flower. B-But! The flower died shortly after! I t-tried a second time, but it didn't work. Could, it be...?" She racked her genius mind around. Frisk stepped in, "Alphy, he needs a soul, if he has a soul... he could be brought to normal again! Right?" Flowey looked up to the dinosaur with hope in his eyes. Alphys remembered something, "Frisk, take this flower and f-follow me." She scurried off into the next room, Frisk picked Flowey back up and carried him after Alphys. 

In the next room, there were empty glass cylinders on shelf after shelf. Shelves, actually, filled the room. Alphys was at the end of the room, typing in a password on a keypad attached to some sort of glass case. The case suddenly opened, and Alphys reached in with careful hands. She held in her palms a glass case that held a grey floating heart. She spoke low and serious, "In our studies, the past scientists and I, we were able to retain one monster soul." Flowey and Frisk looked into the glass with awe. Frisk spoke softly, "Why is it grey?" Alphys shrugged, "I h-have no idea." 

After a moment of staring at this wonderful miracle, Flowey spoke, "So, how do we do this?" Alphys smiled at the flower, "Follow me." 

In another room, Flowey sat in a glass chamber connected to a large machine filled with knobs and buttons of all kinds. Alphys typed in codes on the keyboard, then placed the encased soul in a storage unit also attached to the machine. She looked back at Frisk, "A-are you sure that this is a risk you are willing to take?" Frisk nodded, "He's the one Alphy." Alphys nodded and pressed the enter button. Sans peered around the corner and watched. Suddenly, the machine started to whirr and the chambers filled with an ominous glow. An a electric shock coursed through Flowey's body, which caused him to scream in horror. Frisk worriedly glanced at Alphys, but she was calm and collected. She was sure this was going to work. Five minutes pass, and the screams subsided. Sans walked out from his position, and made his way towards the two, "Alright! I caught you red-handed kiddo!"

Frisk whirled around, surprised. "Sans! You don't understand!" Frisk pleaded.

Sans shook his head, disappointed, "I do understand, you can't just lie to me and-" The door wooshed open and fog escaped the chamber, cutting Sans off mid-sentence.

Sans stared at the chamber, filled with shock, "Holy... shit."