Under Water [completed]

I

= April 2022: minor edits made =

My eyes slowly opened, and I sat up on the golden flower bed. I sighed and stayed there for a moment, thinking: Why had he killed me? Was that what he had wanted all along? Did he truly not care?

Sighing, I looked around. Same old, same old, luckily. Except for an ominous wind, silently howling down the hallway. I hadn't heard this strange wind during the previous runs; or was I just hyperaware enough to be able to hear it this run?

I continued down the hallway, my footsteps echoing. I rubbed the sides of my arms; it was also cold this run. That was new?

Rounding the corner, I looked for Flowey. I found him, hiding around the corner of the second gateway entrance. Staying silent I too hide around a corner, waiting to see what he was hiding from. Then, a figure who had haunted me for many timelines came around the corner.

Flowey launched a leafy paw toward Chara.

"Tag!" The small plant announced and then disappeared.

"That's not fair!" Chara exclaimed as she ran back down the hallway from which she had emerged.

I put all my weight against the wall, keeping my back pressed against it to remind me I was here. Chara was alive in this timeline? And a good guy? Why was I here, then? How was I here?

After however long I spent processing this new timeline, I slowly rounded the corner, checking to see if they were coming back. I couldn't see them or hear them coming back. Slowly coming out from my hiding spot, I checked around the corner of the second gateway. Nothing. Thank God I had memorized this place, unless I would have been helpless without Toriel, like in the first couple of timelines.

My footsteps echoed down the, at least now, silent hallways of the Ruins. All the puzzles had been done already; presumably from Flowey and Chara running around like regular kids.

It was unsettling, to see it all done before you when you remembered everything you had to do and everything that was supposed to be done. Unsettling on many levels, the most unsettling being that everything was already so different. 

The dark oak tree came into sight with its leaves on it. Was Chara buried underneath it, all the other timelines? Or was it something else completely, a different kind of poison? 

Suddenly, Chara came running down, the flower burrowing in front of her. I gasped and ran behind the tree, praying they hadn't seen me.

"Flowey, did you see something?" Chara overenunciated her words and her voice was higher than in other timelines, very different from all the other Charas I had met.

"I did!" Flowey didn't sound depressed, just concerned. "What was it? Was it a monster?"

"I'm not sure..." Her voice sounded closer.

She gasped as she spotted me, presumably surprised at seeing another human in the Underground.

"It's a human! A human, just like me, Flowey!" Chara exclaimed, jumping up and down on the spot.

Flowey appeared beside her, scanning me for a moment.

"I recognize you! Fred, was it?"

"You remember the other timelines?" I questioned, not answering his.

"Of course," He rolled his eyes, "Why would I be any different in this timeline?"

"I'm different, Flowey," Chara looked him in the eyes for a moment, "At least from what you've told me. She may not know the different events now. And you're different, too, Flowey, nothing like the Floweys in the other timelines."

He paused for a moment, thinking over what she has said, and then nodded slowly.

"So, why are you here? The events are different; you shouldn't be here." She looked at me, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I had to reset the last timeline after—never mind. And I somehow ended up here. Wait, is the basement exit accessible?"

"The basement exit?" Chara's eyes lit up, looking down at Flowey. "We could leave?"

"Oh! Yeah! The basement!" Flowey's acting was horrible, "I forgot about that... place!"

I shook my head a little bit, cringing at his acting.

"Come on!" Chara ran to the door of Toriel's house, "Let's go!"