~ One week earlier ~

August pushed down the forward arrow key on her keyboard, sending her character forward towards the smiling flower.

'Howdy! I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower..'

She snorted, "Nice name choice, I'm Humer, Humer the human."

'D i e .' Bullets surrounded the red heart, or "soul" on her screen, growing smaller and smaller

"Flowey what the hell?! WE SHARED LOVE-"

~ * ~

Charlotte had let herself into August's apartment, currently leaning over her shoulder, watching her play the game.

"Okay, so what I've gathered so far is...You're a human that's fallen down a hole in a mountain - and somehow miraculously survived due to game logic - into the underground, a 'realm of monsters'. You met a talking flower who befriended and betrayed you in under a minute, and decided to trust and follow Tutorial-"

"Toriel." August corrected.

"...Toriel..a giant, suspiciously sweet goat-wolf-monster-creature-thing to her house...." Charlotte paused, "What's the moral of this game again? I mean, your character's a child isn't it?

"Charlotte, I literally just started the game like half an hour ago. That's a bit early for the whole plot to be presented, don't you think?"

Charlotte snickered, "Yeah well, you literally just broke the childhood rule of 'don't talk to strangers'."

"She's friendly and made me pie." August scowled at her friend's mockery.

"A "friendly" flower literally tried to kill you."

"And gave me a cellphone." August argued.

"She left bruh." Charlotte shrugged, "You're "goat mother" abandoned you, child!"

"Well, bruh, she's here now isn't she? She's reading me snail facts."

"Oh gee. So awesome." Charlotte said in a monotonous voice.

August rolled her eyes and turned back towards the game. "Okay look, I don't judge you about your Zeldanese Disease." She continued playing, following Toriel as she rushed down the stairs and into the purple halls.

Charlotte raised her hands in defense, "Hey, hey, Zelda is legendary in the game world." She crossed her arms, "Your new obvious favorite is merely a baby." She paused, "Now that I think about it, I've never even heard of this game. It was obviously made by someone experienced. And you knowing me, I know pretty much all the games new, old, and in the works. If not me then Seth. Though, I've never seen anything about it or heard about any new games relevant to this from him." She tucked a strand of her long red hair back into one of the bobby pins holding her bangs back. She had green eyes that contrasted against her tan skin and few freckles.

August shrugged, "Maybe it's a new developer? Maybe they're just a natural at this. Never know."

Charlotte nodded, "I don't know, we'll figure it out eventually."

She watched August play. Toriel was being real angsty right now.

"Prove yourself. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive." The screen flickered black and white. A battle had begun.

~*~

"Oh my god.." August froze, staring at the screen in horror.

Charlotte clasped a hand on her shoulder, "Good job, fam."

"OH MY GOD I KILLED HER!" August frantically worked to fix her mistake.

"Yes fam. Yes you did." She sighed in mocked sadness.

August reset to her last save point and fought Toriel again, this time being able to spare her.

~ Present ~

"Holy shit..." Seth mutters.

Seth, August, and Charlotte stare at the screen in bewilderment.

Charlotte laughs, "We did it." August forces down the lump of guilt that fought it's way into her throat and blinked away her watery brown eyes as Charlotte spoke, "We killed Sans!"

August took a deep breathe, she did feel a little triumphant, but his words throughout the battle - and especially at the end - hit her hard. "Whoever created this really knows what buttons to push." She pushed Frisk forward.

Not too long after, the screen went dark.

A few minutes passed. Nothing happened.

Seth huffed, "Guess that's it?"

August shrugged, "Apparently." She reached for the mouse.

"Wait, that can't be it." Charlotte protested.

August looked at her in confusion, "Uh...nothing's happening, Char. Game over." She reached again, only for Charlotte to grab her wrist.

"Just a little longer, please? The credits haven't even rolled yet." She pleaded.

August rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair, "And here I thought you weren't into the game."

~*~

Thirty minutes passed and still nothing.

Seth groaned, running a hand through his messy mop of red hair, "Charlotte, I swear, I'm going to drag you out by your eyeballs. It's midnight. Let's go!" He stood up and grabbed his keys, jingling them. He had green eyes too, matching his sister's, but way more freckles than her, some even making their way down his shoulders.

August yawned and stretched, "Give it up," she whined, "I'm tired."

Charlotte sighed in defeat, muttering things under her breath. She grabbed her bag,"Hey August, before I go, where did you say you found this thing?"

She paused, drowsily registering the question, "Oh, you mean the hard drive? I found that about a block or two away from here on the way back from Garets Café. Remember, the day you two stood me up?" She teased.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "What can you do."

The two said their goodbyes and left.

August sighed, deciding to be lazy a moment longer.

Unfamiliar dialogue sounds come from the computer.

August lifts her head in confusion, seeing a sprite. A human sprite with a green and yellow striped sweater, and what seems to be rosy cheeks. They frown at her. "Guess there is more to the game."

They were three dots. August pressed "Z". There was a pause before two options appeared.

Erase      Do Not

The sprite moved. It seemed to glitch slightly. The "Erase" option disappeared.

Another pause, more dialogue, "There's only one option left, August."

This caught her off guard, she'd named her character Bill. Her brows furrowed, puzzled.

"You're going to reset. Aren't you curious to see what happens? There is still more to see, and explore. More secrets to uncover. The game isn't over, partner." The sprite smiled, "Though I have to say...I certainly hope you're not alergic to dust." The sprite's eyes turn black. "But we've already established that, haven't we, k i d." Their eyes flash red and so does the screen. Suddenly, she was presented with the main menu.

She weighed her options. The sprite wasn't wrong, she was curious.

In the end she gave in to temptation and started the game again.

Frisk fell.

And this time, something felt off.

---

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

Imma doin it goiiiis

Please excuse me, I'm high on brownies.

NO NOT THOSE KIND OF BROWNIES.

Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. Duh.

1076 words, not counting A/N.

Leave your thoughts opinions down below! I'd love to see what you guys think and if there's anything I should work/improve on. ^_^

~ Bub =)