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Despite the thick darkness having finally lifted, the air in the Flower King didn’t feel any less heavy. Despite his dark world form slipping from him, Flowery still felt a distinct apprehension as the gazes of the two children fell on his broken form. And despite his utter exhaustion, he couldn’t help the sharp jolt of adrenaline straight to his core.
The first one to move was Susie. She let out a sharp curse, before sprinting off to find tape, some sticks, anything she could to help his condition. Flowery didn’t feel very optimistic, but he appreciated her efforts anyways. The vibrations of her footsteps grew fainter and fainter until only himself and Kris remained in the cold, empty back room.
They remained still, listening for the sound of returning footsteps, before letting their shoulders relax (but only a little. Kris was never truly relaxed these days, he’d found). They shuffled around the dingy little room for a while, poking aimlessly at Asgore’s meagre possessions, before circling back around to stand before Flowery. He barely registered their presence before they dropped suddenly to the ground before him. Slowly, shakily, they lifted their hands, and began to sift through the scattered soil of his broken flowerpot.
After a painfully long moment, they pulled out two things.
Wait… two?
Flowery felt what little of himself tense as he watched Kris lay their finds out on the cold, dirty tile. Their eyes flickered to the small, folded paper slip that held the code to the shelter, and that he expected. He knew they were the one to create the fountain, so he expected they were, in some form, allied with that wretched knight. He’d expected it when they didn’t even flinch as it swooped past and snatched Asgore away from them, only watching on with something raw and hollow in their eyes.
What he didn’t expect was for their gaze to fall on the little packet of seeds next to it, and for them to pick that up first.
Despite his thorough caretaking, Asgore always kept the seeds of whatever he grew, just in case. Normally he’d store them in the glass cases near the front of the store, but these seeds were different. Their packet was littered in bright yellow warnings that flashed in the dim light. Flowery knew that only a handful would be enough to poison even a monster as big as Asgore himself. So, in order to keep his customers safe, he hid them deep in the soil of Flowery’s pot, tucked safely beside the little paper slip that now sat plainly in the open air.
From underneath their tangled mop of hair, Flowery heard Kris sniffle. With shaky hands they reached forwards and cupped the packet, bringing it up to their face. Then, horrifyingly, he heard them laugh, a coarse, wet, humourless sound that echoed across the room and through the floor. Their hair parted just enough for him to properly make out their face, and Flowery marvelled at just how young they looked at that moment. Tears ran down their face in rivulets, just like they would when he watched them dart through the kitchen to huddle in front of the TV when the house got too loud, all those years ago.
A sinking feeling grew in Flowery’s wilted core. Throughout the day Kris had acted vastly different to how he remembered them, and he had declared as such, but at that moment it felt like they hadn’t aged a day. Just how much had they really changed?
Kris reached up to rub the tears from their eyes with their sleeve, smudging little flecks of dirt on their cheeks. Their thumb grazed along the bold text printed on the packet. Then, in a barely audible mumble, they spoke.
“Well… this is it.”
Somehow, the room grew colder.
“…Not quite. I… I’m still… I still have a promise to fulfil. They won’t let me go yet. But I guess that’s only fair.”
A shiver ran through them. Distantly, Flowery realised he never considered what Kris might have been going through during all this. He’d been so wrapped up in making Asgore happy that he hadn’t cared, but with him gone it was laid out so plainly for him to see.
Distantly, he realised he never even apologised for what he’d said.
“But after that…” They inhaled a shaky breath. “It’s… for the best. They won’t want me around when I’m done, anyway.”
They stared at the packet in silence. Their bottom lip began to quiver, and they ducked their head down. Flowery watched them hug their arms to their chest in an attempt to console themself. He found himself wishing he could reach for them and try to offer some comfort, but what good was a flower’s wish in the face of something as big as this?
They unfurled after a moment. The hollowness from before had returned to their eyes, and without another glance they slipped the packet into their pocket. Trembling fingers found the paper slip, and they grasped both sides tightly.
As Kris twisted the paper and began to tear, Flowery felt the phantom sensation of a blade cleaving through his torso. And just like before, he was unable to do anything about it.