Undertale: Fragments

Chapter 23: Goodbye

                  I desire the things

that will destroy me

in the end.

♡Sylvia Plath

                  

☼Frisk

            "Frisk, wake up! Frisk!"

            "Flowey...?" I mumble, still stuck in the haze of sleep. It's cold. Where's his coat?

            "G's gone!"

            The desperation in Flowey's voice, the panic, the words. I bolt up, finding the golden flower right beside me. Dirt pills out of his flower pot as his wide eyes find mine.

            "Flowey, where is he? If you did something to him—"

            He immediately cuts me off, gasping, "Chara did something."

            My tongue freezes in my mouth. My eyes set on the plant. The sudden fear of finding dust on my clothes forces my vision to remain firmly on Flowey.

            "What..." I slowly unthaw my jaw, "What did he do?"

            "I don't know, I only heard the last bit of the conversation before G left. Then Chara laid back down, going to sleep. I just hope it was you I was waking up." The flower says, the tip of his two leaves touching together like hands. The soulless being still knowing fear. "Frisk... I think G's going to do something stupid. Chara was talking about the DT Extractor."

            The DT Extractor. The machine that Alphys built. The machine that faintly mirrors Omega Flowey. The machine that sucked the Determination out of the six human souls.

            The breath leaves my body. A ghost stealing it from my lungs. A force hitting me in the chest.

            There are only a few things G can do with that machine. Any possibility is terrifying.

            "Frisk, Frisk. I don't know what he's going to do, but Chara must have convinced him of something. He didn't leave too long ago, so we can—ugh!"

            I grab the flower pot and take off. Sprinting back down the Core, towards Hotland. A dead sprint carrying me as I clutch Flowey to my chest. He tries to speak to me several times, but he quickly gives up after I only keep going. The muscles in my legs burn as I keep pushing myself harder. My thoughts timed with my breathing.

            Inhale.

            What is G going to do?

            Exhale.

            He wouldn't let Chara influence him like that, right?

            Inhale.

            I'm going to reach him in time.

            Exhale.

            I have to.

            As my heart pumps blood faster and faster through my veins, my Determination keeps me strong. Any thought of slowing down is replaced with G's skull. Every step is fueled with love for that skeleton.

            When I finally find the Lab, Flowey says my name. I don't slow, running my shoulder into the door. As I nearly fall backwards, my hand grasps the door handle. I jerk it open. My lungs heaving as I continue onwards. The pounding of my feet echoes against the hard floor as I race for the elevator. Slamming my fist into the button. I brace one hand against the wall and lean over, my hungry lungs taking in the oxygen. Flowey tells me to slow down and breathe, he's practically bouncing against my side as I heave my chest up and down. Then the door opens, and I force my way through the crack before its halfway open and stumble inside, hitting another button. The door takes an eternity to close, but it does.