{} Things in brackets signal a memory or dream.

The transition was almost instant, one second, he was lying on the ground on the edge of a burning courtyard, and the next, he found himself on a bed of yellow flowers.

*Sigh*

Frisk had mixed feelings. Right now, he was relieved that Toriel should still be alive. It also helped that his body didn't feel like it would collapse. Frisk put his arms out in front of him and flexed his fingers. There was still a phantom pain where the thorns had dug in, but that faded after a couple more seconds.

But while he was excited that he had defeated Flowey, he still couldn't bring himself to feel good about what happened. Those days with Toriel were gone, replaced with the memory of her being impaled through the chest. His plan had completely faile-

Frisk's eyes widened as vines burst from the ground around him. He was utterly unable to react as they wrapped around his limbs and lifted him into the air.

"Gotten complacent now that you've killed me, huh?" Flowey's voice ground out in anger. "You are much easier to manage when I get you early. Maybe that's a sign that I should finish you off right here and take your SOUL." Flowey contemplated.

Frisk struggled with his bonds for the first part of the speech but realized that wouldn't do him any good. Frisk concentrated on the magic within him, PERSEVERANCE might not have built up enough, but JUSTICE should do the trick. He reached into his SOUL, looking for that buzzing feeling that signaled the presence of his magic. He brought to mind the feeling of righteous anger that he had-

*OOF* A vine slammed into his stomach, not hurting all that much through his Aura but disrupting his attempts at reaching his magic.

"IDIOT! Do you think I would just watch you get stronger like the last time?" Flowey screamed out. "Do you think I'm stupid?!"

"K-Kind of." Frisk choked out.

*HGG* Frisk grunted in pain as the vines pulled around him tighter. His Aura shimmered around his body, trying its best to defend against the attack.

"Hmmm, I guess I have been too merciful to you. Making all of your deaths quick." Flowey smiled as Frisk realized the implication. "This might teach you some humility."

Frisk's Aura, which had continued to struggle against the constantly increasing pressure of the vines, finally gave out. Shattering into yellow-purple shards and leaving him unprotected. Small thorns grew from each of the vines that surrounded his limbs, shredding the sleeves of his sweatshirt and stabbing into him.

"Just let me know when you have learned your lesson," Flowey whispered as the vines started to move, dragging the thorns across Frisk's arms.

"AHHH!" Frisk cried out in pain.

"It's been a while since someone has managed to kill me. But don't worry, I always manage to pay them back. Hahaha!" Flowey laughed and was about to start on Frisk's legs before his head turned to the exit and scowled.

"Damn, I forgot to distract her this time." He turned back to Frisk, contemplating just resetting and doing this again.

Frisk was pulled back down to Flowey's level and made to face the flower.

"I do hope this has been an enlightening experience for you, but I will have to cut it a little short." Flowey explained, "You have 1 day from now to leave the RUINS. This might start happening more often if you don't." He finished before digging himself into the ground, leaving Frisk to land awkwardly on the floor.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth," Toriel said as she ran towards Frisk. "Ah, are you alright, my child? I am TORIEL, caretaker of the RUINS. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. Let me help you with those wounds."

Toriel's hand started to emit green light, and she reached down to put it on Frisk's injuries. Frisk was surprised when almost immediately, the long gashed began to close in front of his eyes.

"Does that feel alright, my child?" Toriel asked, looking towards Frisk.

"Uh." Frisk looked at Toriel.

{"How about no," Flowey said with a grin on his face.

*Slam*

Frisk froze in his advance as a thorned vine drove itself through Toriel's chest.}

"Yeah, thank you, Toriel." Frisk looked away.

Toriel looked down at Frisk with undisguised worry. "Then let us leave this place. Here I will take you to my house to rest." She said and moved to pick Frisk up from the ground.

"No, thank you," Frisk was able to say as he pushed himself shakily onto his feet. His Aura-shattering had taken a lot out of him. "I can move on my own." He didn't need to burden Toriel any more than he already had and was going to in the future.

Toriel looked skeptical but consented to the request, grabbing Frisk's hand just in case.

The trip through the RUINS was filled mainly through Toriel explaining some of the puzzles to him. It was oddly calming after that ordeal with Flowey. The straightforward task of following Toriel also let him contemplate his next move. When they got to Toriel's house, she escorted him to the same room he woke up in.

"Please stay here, my child. I will be running some quick errands and will return shortly." She said, turning around to leave the room. But she seemed to remember something. "Ah, I almost forgot. Which do you prefer? Cinnamon or Butterscotch." She asked.

Frisk was about to respond but was interrupted, "Wait, do not tell me. Is it Butterscotch?"

Frisk was confused for a second before responding. "Actually, I like both."

Toriel seemed surprised for a second before responding, "Very well then. Please rest while I'm gone." With that, she left the room.

*Sigh*

Frisk leaned back onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. He had to make a decision about what he was going to do. Flowey had given him a deadline, and Frisk knew he wasn't joking. However, Frisk also couldn't really see any way of getting out of the situation as it was now. If he asked Toriel, she would just end up dead again, and this time Frisk might not be able to force Flowey to reset the timeline and save her.

His only real choice was to leave the RUINS. Maybe his interactions with Sans and Papyrus would open up some more options.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The only question now was when.

→ [2 Hours Later]

Frisk jolted awake from another nightmare only to find the room darker than when he had fallen asleep. Sitting up and stretching out his arms, Frisk still felt low on Aura, but the fatigue was gone. With a groan, Frisk got up from the bed only to see a slice of pie sitting in the center of the room. His mouth watered.

After finishing the pie, Frisk wiped the corners of his mouth with his ripped-up sleeves. His Aura was now almost completely full, and he had decided to stay for a night and leave in the morning. This decision had nothing to do with the prospect of more pie and was completely logical.

Frisk made his way out of the room and down the hallway. He glanced at the stairs to the exit before shaking his head and making his way toward the sitting room. Where he found Toriel sitting in her chair by the fireplace.

After a quick conversation with Toriel, where she told him he could stay here, Frisk sat down and decided to enjoy the rest of the day sitting with his Goat-Mom. They spent the rest of the day either reading by the fire or talking about random things before they broke for dinner, eating the rest of the pie.

Frisk went to sleep that night with a bittersweet smile on his face.

→ [Next Day]

Frisk sat on his bed, checking over everything for the last time. He had the cream-colored backpack that Toriel had given him yesterday, matching the lime with cream-colored striped sweatshirt that replaced his old tattered one.

He had just one more decision before he left. And that was if he was going to tell Toriel or just try and sneak out without a confrontation. The strategist in him knew that it would probably be easier to sneak out. But the person within him knew how much that would hurt Toriel, and this person had been saved and loved by Toriel too many times to disregard her feelings for convenience.

With his decision made and his right eye glowing a dull purple, Frisk stood up and made his way down the hall.

This time he did not spare a look for the staircase and walked right into the sitting room. Where Toriel sat, seeming like she was waiting for someone.

"I was wondering if you would try and sneak out." Frisk flinched at the melancholy in her words. Maybe he wasn't as subtle as he thought last night. "I'm glad you didn't." She looked at Frisk with a hopeful expression.

"I couldn't just leave you like that." Frisk started, "I don't think I have an answer that you will accept, but I have to try." He watched as Toriel's face grew into a deep frown.

Toriel looked into Frisk's eyes, and she was even more depressed when she saw his right eye gleam in the light of the fireplace. She stood up as fast as possible and rushed past Frisk and to the stairs.

"Toriel!" Frisk called out, following behind her, "Don't do this. Please."

Frisk followed Toriel through the long tunnel that led to the exit of the RUINS. Toriel stopped near the door, and Frisk stopped behind her.

"Every human who comes to my home meets the same fate." Toriel began, "They come, they leave… Then they die. I have seen it again and again. If you go out these doors they… Asgore. And the rest will kill you. Please go back to your room. You must understand!" She begged and looked at Frisk pleadingly.

"Sorry, Toriel, I can't. How could I break the barrier if I can't leave the RUINS?" Every word seemed to strike pain into Toriel's heart.

"So you know about that too, and yet you still seek to change fate, even somehow knowing what you do, you still can't see reason." Toriel's face hardened, "You are naïve." She finished.

"I don't know if I'm still naïve." Frisk said with a sad smile, "More stubborn or persistent." he finished and dropped down into a ready stance.

The shadows in the tunnel lengthened. "Then you will prove yourself able to survive in this world," Toriel said as balls of fire formed around her, flickering with the shadows.

"I suppose I will," Frisk responded. He needed to be able to dodge all of Toriel's fire attacks, and that meant speed. Which also meant his JUSTICE magic would be the best option. But without a strong moral outrage to tie it to, his JUSTICE power only felt like a slight buzzing in his SOUL.

It was hard to be mad at Toriel when what she was doing would be the right thing from her perspective. Luckily Frisk could get around this by focusing his anger on the flower that put him into this situation. While it wouldn't be as powerful, it should work as a stopgap.

The balls of fire that Toriel had been preparing launched towards Frisk, and he dodged out of the way. This time he was more aware of his surroundings when trying to activate his magic.

Frisk finally managed to bring out his JUSTICE magic, and his left eye shone with yellow power. Then, taking what was available to him, Frisk infused the energy into his Aura, and small arcs of electricity sprang to life all along his body.

This time when Toriel swept her paws through the air, flaming spheres formed in its wake before shooting off towards him. Frisk was ready for them and easily danced through them with his newfound speed, only to be caught by surprise when a sphere bounced off the wall and smashed into Frisk's shoulder, tossing him in the air with its power.

"Please give up, child," Toriel said, stopping her attacks for the moment. "I do not wish to harm you any further."

"Don't worry about that," Frisk replied, standing up. Then, revealing that the attack had done no discernable damage. "You won't," Frisk said, returning to his ready stance.

Toriel's face twitched, breaking from her façade of harshness. This time she held out her hands, and twin fire streams came blasting at Frisk. Electricity arced across Frisk's Aura again, and he dashed to the left. It was difficult to avoid the twin streams in such a constricted area. Still, all Frisk felt through his Aura was uncomfortably hot when they nearly grazed him.

This was completely different from fighting Flowey. Frisk himself was weaker, and Toriel's attacks hit with much more force than the flower's blows. But there was just something… repetitive about Toriel's attacks. She took a while to switch from one attack to another and sometimes used the same spell she had just a few seconds ago. If Flowey was like dodging an MMA fighter, then Toriel was like avoiding a Boxer, if said Boxer only knew a few very powerful punches.

There was also the fact that as the fight continued, Toriel seemed to be slowing down. It didn't seem like she was tired, just that she was slowly losing the will to go on with the fight. All of that suddenly changed when something unknown to Frisk caused Toriel to regain her will to fight.

This time Toriel put a lot of effort into one attack. With a flourish, two massive fire tornadoes spun to life and roared towards where Frisk was backed up against the wall. There didn't seem to be a way to get out of this without taking a hit. However, since the fight had begun, Frisk's PERSEVERANCE magic had been responding to his will to win this fight, growing stronger. Even before the battle had started, Frisk's goal had been unconsciously boosting his power in preparation.

"HAAAHH!" Frisk yelled as his eye sparked purple, and the fire of PERSEVERANCE encased his Aura, boosting his endurance and allowing him to jump straight through the middle of the two attacks unscathed.

Little explosions rocked Frisk's Aura as the two traits combined uncontrollably. Frisk frowned and quickly dropped his JUSTICE enhancement in order to not explode.

Toriel had been completely taken off guard when Frisk had blown through her tornadoes and started to explode. This allowed Frisk time to bring his hands up to his chest. His hands sat there, one on top of the other, acting like he was holding a pole.

Toriel's stony expression broke into one of surprise when purple fire exploded in two columns out of Frisk's hands. The out-of-control energy slowly condensed itself smaller and smaller before finally settling in the rough shape of a spear.

Toriel broke out of her surprise when she realized what was going to happen. With a wave of her arms, more fireballs launched themselves forward.

Frisk no longer had the overwhelming speed to dodge all of these attacks. But right now, he didn't need it. His right eye was burning with PERSEVERANCE as he split the attacks apart with his spear left and right.

Deciding that he had to go on the offensive or risk running out of energy, Frisk dashed toward Toriel. She had already started losing the will to fight when she saw his spear. But it was even more apparent as Frisk easily dodged or deflected her attacks, getting closer and closer.

Toriel fell, kneeling on the ground in defeat as Frisk stopped his spear just short of her throat.

Both were panting from exertion, but Toriel had a look of utter defeat on her face.

"Pathetic, is it not? I cannot even save the life of a single child." Toriel looked down.

"You're wrong!" Frisk said with conviction. "You saved me… more than you know; you saved me." He finished.

Toriel looked up with confusion in her eyes. "What do you mean I saved you? I only sought to keep you down here to protect my own selfish feelings."

"Toriel…" Frisk hesitated before responding. "I heard a quote once, 'If saving others is selfish, then being selfish is the right thing to do.' You're an incredible person Toriel so please don't change. Just let me be selfish too." Frisk let his spear dissolve and put out his hand to Toriel.

Toriel looked at it for a second before grabbing Frisk's hand. But instead of pulling herself up, she pulled Frisk down into a hug.

"My child, thank you. You are so very mature for your age." Toriel put her arms around Frisk and hugged tight.

"Hahaha," Frisk awkwardly laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am."

They both sat there hugging it out for a few more seconds before Frisk broke the silence.

"Does this mean you're ok with me going?" He asked.

Toriel looked down at Frisk and sighed. "I suppose there is no stopping you. You are one stubborn child. I can't foresee anything that could get in your way for long."

"Thank you, Toriel," Frisk smiled, "for believing in me.