Determined Integrity. (English translation)

#2 An unexpected kindness.

When they got to the bottom, Manny was shocked to have survived falling from such a dramatic height and stared questioningly at the ground; had those golden flowers really succeeded in cushioning their fall...? But now was not the time to ask questions, they shook Frisk briskly to see if he was okay. Very thankfully, he opened his eyes and stuck his tongue out at them playfully – whew, everything was fine.

- Are you hurt somewhere ? Manny asked, worried about their friend - even though they themself hadn't been hurt anywhere but their hip.

Frisk immediately shook his head no, which was very reassuring to them since it showed that they were both fine - for now anyway, because the future was now very uncertain since the two of them didn't know if they were capable of getting back to the surface. Before they could ask him another question, he asked one back at them by pointing at them, also visibly anxious; and you, are you in pain ?

- No, I don't have anything either, I guess it's thanks to the golden flow-... they began before stopping dead on their track. Wait, golden flowers only grow in the city, how did they get here?

Frisk put on a thoughtful expression before putting on a triumphant smile and happily waving his arms around - he didn't even need to speak for them to understand what he meant; I knew that we would find people from the city in the hole, I was right, hoopla ! Manny rolled his eyes fondly and shook his head, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of proving him right. Frisk stuck his tongue out at him and he stuck out his in return.

- But how are we going to get out now ? they asked, hugging themself. Do you think there is a way to go up by a passage further ?

Frisk shrugged with a small smile before standing up quickly; we won't know if we ain't going to go and see for yourself, let's go. Manny followed him and they both looked around. They were in the middle of a room with only this little garden of golden flowers - room because there was an arch at the end to go into another. With nowhere else to go, they walked down the hallway to the arch, wondering who the hell had come here to build all this; it must have taken years to achieve this, so there were definitely people here. And, on the other side, they found the last thing they expected.
From the very first glance, they could see that this was no ordinary flower, not by its smiling face but by its size alone : it went to Manny's shoulders and Frisk's chest; how could a golden flower possibly be so big ?! The flower smiled seeing them, so the two friends approached it, and they were hardly surprised when it began to speak.

- Hey howdy, I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower ! the flower exclaimed in a masculine but high-pitched voice - like that of a young boy - waving its leaves in a "hello". You girls are new to the Underground, aren't cha ?
- Uh... Yes, you could say that. Manny huffed, simply speechless.
- Howdy Flowey ! Frisk then exclaimed, crouching down in front of the flower to get a closer look. You guys, I'm a boy today and Manny is non-binary.
- Oh, my poor children, you must be completely lost here, right ? Flowey asked with a pained expression. But don't worry, your new friend Flowey will help you, you can trust him !
- Oh really, you are going to help us ? Manny asked, unconvinced. Just like that, with nothing in return ?
- Of course, in the Underground we are all amongst friends ! Flowey assured with a wink. Arriving here can be very confusing and scary, but once you learn how things work here it gets much better !

Manny didn't trust the flower at all - or maybe it was their trust issues that were blinding them ? - and pouted; he was too nice for a stranger, wasn't he secretly expecting something in return ? A question suddenly popped into their head : were they and Frisk in purgatory or something like that ? A world in the beyond where the first step was to speak to a flower, a kind of angel to judge their choices ? They had to ask to find out now, otherwise it would be the only thing they would be able to think of.