marrow-au

[marrow-au]

*Flowey had been sitting under the sun in the flowerbed when he became overcome by a sense weightlessness. As though the weight of his petaled head got much lighter. And in this lightness, a doorway.

He did not understand how he could perceive a genuine doorway within his mind or how it had gotten so light in the first place, but he did not question it. Many strange things have happened throughout his existence.

Regardless of a slight apprehension of *the light*’s significance, curiosity wins the battle and he reaches out for the space beyond the doorway.

But as he does, his mind began to buckle and he fell forward. Yet, rather than hitting the ground, he continued through and past.

As his senses come back to him, he snaps up from the ground and finds himself peering about in a field of grasses. He takes in his surroundings, puzzled. He could still be asleep. No… he feels too grounded for that compared to the earlier sensation. Suddenly, the mental pun hits him and he grumbles, staring at his roots. *grounded.*

Anyway. Did that door warp him into a future of his timeline? They were only in progress of carrying out the plan to break the barrier. It isn't already broken, so why…

is he *here?*

In front of him - a village. And behind him, the typical mountainside of Mount Ebbot, except dotted with various homes and houses.

What he had looked past - the people milling about in the town - was a girl heading his way. Now taking notice of her, he could take in spare features as she came into view. Brown hair, brown eyes, a beige shirt with grey collar and cuffs, and blue jeans that ended in dark shoes.

She did not take notice of him - even passing him at first. She seemed determined to get somewhere. Fast.

Curious about learning where he is and what could be a fun story from this frenzied girl, a root “accidentally” catches one of her feet and causes her to stumble to the floor.

Following her crash, a little flower appears, its… face? How odd. Its sentient face hovers over her with a concerned look.

“Golly, you outta watch where you're running! Wouldn't want a poor kid like you to trip into something more than just grass. What’s the rush for?”

If Elys were to look down at her leg, they would notice they somehow managed to get twisted in the brush worse than they thought. Either that or the vine was moving. Every time they looked down it seemed to have tangled worse and worse.l

Stumbling and flailing her arms as she took frantic steps forward to regain her balance - she fell face-first into the dirt. Scraping it up as she groaned into the grass.

As Flowey popped up in front of her, she made her way up to sit back on her knees, dusting the bits of dirt away from her face and clothing.

“Ow - ow - ow”

She muttered repeatedly and winced as she felt her skin redden along her face and palms, scraped up by the fall. Small specks of bright red peppered her face and palms - places where the skin had been scraped raw.

“Wh..”, she began, a bit disorientated as she looked down at the speaking flower with a surprised expression, “You’re talking. I'm talking - you’re talking. Do flowers usually talk? I don’t think so. Maybe I’m - what’s the word? - Hallucinating?” The girl began to think aloud, practically rambling, voicing her confusion and taking in the facts of the situation. She had collapsed, likely tripped on something, and now in front of her was a talking flower.

Speaking of tripping; Elys glanced back to her leg, realizing how badly she had fumbled and fallen over. Looking at the vines for a moment, she attempted to yank her foot free. Hoping that worst case scenario: she would lose her shoe. Either way, she would should be fine.

“Oh, right. You asked me somethin’! I’m going to the mountain. Mount Ebbot. I'm running away and going to the mountain! Why? Uh…”

She halted her attempt to free herself to look back at Flowey, conflicted now.

“I found out my dad isn't a good person. I want to do good and help, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to do that. If I go to the mountain, maybe I’ll know! They talked about the monsters like they might be dead. I really hope… I don’t know what I hope, Flower. I just wish I knew what to do. But I can't go home now, so I’m just gonna do - something! Anything!”

She smiled. Then frowned softly as she turned her head back to look to her leg, trying to shake it free of the vine that gripped it tightly, worsening by the second.

“Jeez I got myself caught. Like a fish in a net!”

Elys chuckled, then winced as she pulled at the greenery wrapped around her limb. Pushing against it with her foot to try to loosen it as well.

“ow- is it just me or this getting worse….?!”, she questioned with slight panic rising in her voice.

( @justanechoflower 🤎)

[marrow-au]

Elys’ Last Day

“Are you sure you want this?”, the man asked the other with terror in his eyes. “Of course I don’t! But everything has gone offline and I doubt anyone else will be so willing to go down. How do we know if it is working or not? What if they are still…”, the other trailed off - stopping before continuing, “Alive?”

Maybe if Elys hadn't gone downstairs so early in the morning, then maybe she wouldn't have happened upon this conversation. But once she had overheard the words: ‘What if they are still - alive?’ - she couldn't help but withdraw into the nook beneath the staircase, listening in. Breathing in and out through her mouth to avoid the whistle of her nose.

Too engrossed in conversation, these three adults thought aloud and with great conflicting emotions. The woman remained silent the majority of the time, allowing the other two to bicker like children. (I’m not touching you! I’m not touching you!)

Elys recognized their voices, but was surprised when the woman spoke up as a stranger. Locke and Gaster, one built like a somewhat muscular and broad-shouldered individual, and the other quite scrawny. The first she had heard speaking, asking the question the entire discussion was based upon, was Locke. In response, the stranger argued, “Likely not. And any that remain will be too little to deny.”

“Deny what?”, asked Locke.

“Deny the fact they are going extinct. The entirety of Monsterkind has long existed far before humans ever came around. We see bits of them everywhere. From the relics left behind to the inventions we have put to further use”, she spoke with a strange bitter tone. As though in a constant state of offense. “With them gone, we only have to scrape what remains and rid ourselves of this. All of this.”

“Well”, Gaster sighed and leaned over the countertop, cradling his head in his hands, “All we need to do, then, is make sure they've all dusted by now - But surely, you don’t mean to check yourself. That’d be suicidal and get us nowhere! Heh.”

Locke was quick to snap back, “says you. This is YOUR father’s legacy. And his father before him. And his father… or mother before him? So on so forth. Your legacy is the one filled with death. I'm just the guy who's making sure we can put this behind us. So if you want to complain then please keep it in your head.”

“I actually agree with the beefhead”, the feminine voice quips.

“I can’t believe either of you. I don’t think going down there will bring any good - especially unprepared.” Scooting back from the kitchen island, Gaster got up and began to pace about. “I mean it! If you go down there alone, unprepared, and overconfident then you will surely die.”

“Then come with me!” Locke suddenly stood, grabbing up Gaster’s hand and looking him dead on. “If you believe I am doomed from the start, then join me and we’ll surely be fine. You’re the brains to my brawn. Let me lift you up - and you - uh - keep me down! Deal?”

Looking back, astonished, G shook away his head and his disbelief away. “I can't do it. I can't go down there, whether or not they are still alive. You don’t understand what we've unleashed - How many have died because of us - How little would remain of cultures and livelihoods we once coexisted with. To go down there would be like spitting on a grave, Jacob.”

A rare occurrence, to hear this other name from his lips, Elys did not often experience this. Jacob seemed to be his first name. But they always insisted she refer to them by their last names. She never thought too hard on what it meant.

“I mean it”, he insisted.

Then, with a steady and slow clap, the woman chuckled coldly. “Well, it seems we have a trip to make. You may be the two assigned to the maintenance of this - project - but I was the one sent to assist. I INSIST I join both of you on this suicidal escapade. Now, if you will, I’ve someone to check on.”

“Let me. She doesn't know you, Bax, not like she knows either of us. She…” Gaster trailed off.

“Is naive”, ‘Bax’ finished. “When do you plan on telling her anything? You did plan for her to take on YOUR legacy - did you not? The same murderous and treacherous (added for flair) pathway your own father coerced you into?”

Slipping out from under the stairs, Elys slowly creeped up them and allowed the voices to drift further away from her. Yet, they remained the same pitch as the people approached the stairwell.

“Now isn't the time. Elys doesn't need to know. Hell, I didn't even know until I was in my twenties. And even then, I thought it was all just a trick. A joke. A lie to get me back - close to him again.”

Then, the stair gave a loud and jarring creak as she came upon the second-to-last step. Giving a surprised squeek, the girl bolted up the final step and into her room, slamming the door closed. She was sure the stair had given her away, and soon enough, the strange woman would be there to get her. So, running on adrenaline, she rushed forward and grabbed hold of her bed-side dresser and pushed against it. Allowing it to fall onto its side in front of the door.

“Elys! Elys, open the door!”

Refusing to respond, she hurried through her room and past the many stuffed animals that littered her floor to scoop up a backpack. Stuffing unfolded clothing articles into it, she shouted back, “No! Get her out of here and then I will!” But without response, her muddled thoughts only grew more erratic. She was going to die if she didn't get out of here.

Tossing open the window, Elys tossed her back pack out first. Watching it slide off the side of the rooftop and plummet down into the soft grass below. Next, she threw herself out, tumbled down the roof with a panicked scream and fell down onto the ground. There was a moment - a single moment - when she swore she remembered someone. But just like that, she hit the ground that awaited her. It was not like the soft green embrace she once imagined, but more of a jarring experience. Like slamming a door shut kinda jarring. It was sudden, and the impact startled her, causing her to monetarily forget what was going on.

And then, someone scooped her up by her underarms. A woman with dark hair and seething grey eyes.

Elys shrieked and shouted once more, “Get away from me! I don’t want to die!!” Collecting a sizeable group of concerned individuals, curious as to why this child was yelling that she wished to live.

“She literally jumped off the roof! Why are you all so- so f@#king stupid?! I came to visit and now this delusional little-”

The child kicked her hard. Causing the woman to drop her with a yelp as she darted off, weaving through the crowd of the worried public.

Snatching up her backpack, Elys set her eyes on the mountain and ran.

Elys made her way to the base of the mountain, never once doubting herself that day.

What was more surprising wasn't the fact she ran away; It was that no one came after her.

[Asks are now open for Elys as she makes her way to the mountain. Starting tomorrow, I will be starting collaboration with @justanechoflower

Check them out!!]