Chapter Text
Every night, you have the same dream.
It always starts on your balcony. You retreat to your bedroom, where your door opens to the Nexus. That's what you call it, anyway -- a ring of twelve doors, each leading to subsequent 'worlds' for you to explore.
There are creatures that occupy your dreamscapes. Some are fairly humanoid, but most are nonsensical, resembling shapes you are unable to describe. You feared them at first, but you've grown used to their presence. Every entity in your dream ignores you, besides the beaked people that chase you like lunatics until you're caught. But none of them speak to you.
You are alone.
The creatures aren't the only things you find in your worlds. Each location has its own scattered assortment of Effects for you to seize. The Effects grant you special abilities upon your use. One lets you ride a bicycle, another turns you into a traffic light. Hence, you started experimenting.
You used your flute to play music. You transformed into a traffic light, flashing red to freeze every movement, and grew cat-like features to attract the entities toward you. It changed nothing.
You tried something else. You began killing the creatures in your dreams. You would stab them with your knife, then pinch yourself awake. They all reappeared the next time you slept.
You didn't believe it at first. You tried it again. Again. It changed nothing. Your senseless violence is ridiculed. Your hard work remains unrewarded. The creatures continue to be unchanging. They ignore you. They do not speak.
You are alone, still.
Maybe it's your fault. You are the one who locks yourself in your room. But every time you lay a hand on your door, you are unable to bring yourself to open it. You have experienced it before. You will never forget. The outside scares you.
You stay in your room. You keep dreaming.
You dream until there is nothing left. You checked. You have explored every door, every world, and every room until there is nothing else to find. Every experiment you tried ended with the same result. You know everything, now. The world is not as colorful as your dreams.
There's no point in continuing.
You changed nothing.
This time, you stand on your balcony, but it's not the one in your dream. You climb the staircase near the railing, the cold air hugging your figure. Bells ring in the distance.
You smile. You understand.
You embrace the wind, and from the balcony of your tiny apartment where you once dreamt, you jump.
You're dreaming.
It's your first thought when you awake. You don't see why else you'd be sprawled against a bed of shrubbery.
That's the only logical explanation. You've got to be dreaming. Maybe you didn't die upon impact when your body hit the streets, and you're in a hospital, unconscious, and dreaming.
This is a new dream. You did not start on your balcony, or open a door to the Nexus. This is different. A twisted sense of excitement bounces inside you.
You stand, abandoning the flowers where you laid. There were never many flowers in your dreams. There was once a tunnel that lead you to a patch of white lilies, but these flowers are gold, and seem to be well-tended. This is different, you remind yourself. Unfamiliar.
You have something to cling onto again, something to traverse until nothing new remains.
It gives you purpose.
Approaching a lone flower in the distance, you squint at its odd movements. Scrutinizing its every detail, you realize it appears to have a face -- which isn't the weirdest thing you've seen, all things considered.
You instinctively bring out your knife. It's just another one of those creatures you see in your dreams. You wonder if stabbing it would give you a new Effect; it's how you gained some of your Effects previously.
Nearing the flower, you let your legs go loose.
"Howdy! I'm Flowey, Flowey the-"
Your figure blurs, dashing to the plant and gripping its stem. Dropping to your knees, you pin it to the floor. There's no glint in your eye as you raise the knife. You've done this dance before. One cut, and it will be gone. That's all it ever takes. You just need to cut. Cut cut cut cut cut-
You falter, something winding inside your brain.
It talked.
You let go of the flower instantly, backing away. The creatures in your dreams never speak to you.
A grin spreads across your face.
This is a first! It talked. It talked to you.
You start jumping in place, a sense of glee unfurling.
You can't believe it. You have to try everything now that a creature is talking!
You switch Effects, reducing yourself to a severed head. It doesn't seem to do anything. How about the one where your head turns into a lamp? You flick the lamp's light off and on. It doesn't do anything either. Oh! You should try the one with the cat. You paw at the flower, and it scoots towards you. That did something! You transform into a traffic light, switching the light to red. The flower stops moving. What else should you try? This is so exciting!
"Listen. You're not actually a human, righ-"
It talked again! You shift to another Effect, equipping a bicycle. You pedal around the creature in circles. Oh, maybe it'll follow you if you back away. You zoom to a door ahead of you on your bicycle, wondering if the creature will trail behind you.
The flower is left to idle, stem tilted in a mix of horror, wide eyes, and confusion. Hesitant, Flowey lowers himself to the ground with a sigh. He breaks into the soil, traveling underground in hopes to keep up with the fallen human, who really seems to be more of a monster.