I do not own Undertale or any characters or ideas created by Toby Fox and their associates.
…
Now, with that out if the way, I would like to apologize for my absence as of late. Most of it was just depression, and schoolwork getting in the way. Sorry about that.
Ugh. You have no idea how badly I wanted to get this out of my system. I've had writers block like crazy, and finally writing again is great! WRITING IS MY DRUG I'M PROUD OF IT DON'T JUDGE ME!
Also, writing gender neutral characters is weird. I subconsciously refer to Frisk as a she. I discovered this while typing the beginning of the story, and found that I accidentally wrote "she" a lot, instead of "they." Weird…
Listening to the Undertale OST while writing a story… it fills you with Determination.
Oh god! I bought the soundtrack/game bundle, and was listening to the music. I was writing one of the "day mare's" and the song "His Theme" began playing. The person I was writing about at the time was Flowey…
Holy crap… Writing the part near the end of the chapter, yet at the beginning of the underground… With the royally screwed over character… Yeah… Him… I cried...
WARNING!
This story will contain spoilers about the game Undertale. Please do not read unless you have played the game… Or don't listen and read anyways, forcing yourself to look up random things about a game and miss out on a wonderful experience.
Also, feelings… (To be honest, I cried a little at the ending of the True Pacifist end. It was so happy/sad!)
By the way, I recommend listening to the song "Reunited" by Toby Fox while reading most of this chapter. Once you're near the ending when Frisk meets… That character… I recommend changing the song to "Memories" or "His Theme"
Anyways, enjoy.
(also, maybe pay special attention to the words during the day mare…)
One Last Soul to Save
Frisk stood in front of all their friends, a small smile tugging at their lips.
They had done it.
The barrier trapping all monsters underground had been shattered. The age old curse had been broken… But at what price?
Frisk looked around the grey, dusty smelling chamber. To the right was a door way, with a light breeze fluttering through. Behind them was the path back through the castle and to the more wild parts of the underground.
And in front of them?
All of Frisk's friends.
Undyne, the blue, scaly, fish like head of the Royal Guard who, after a brief (and incredibly violent) pasta making lesson became Frisk's best friend, or "besties" as she called the two of them. She was loving and tough, ensuring that no one would be harmed under her watch… Unless it was her doing the hurting, such as suplexing an innocent boulder to show off. She was very… Passionate… About things she liked.
Alphys, the yellow scaled Royal Scientist. Incredibly smart, but extremely lacked self confidence. She was always second guessing herself, and trying to hide away from people's attention. However, whenever she became really invested in something, it was like she was another person all together. As long as Frisk didn't ask her about Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, they should be fine. She had a secret lab detailing her experiments with Determination, a force that allowed souls to persist after death… Perhaps some things were best left alone for now.
Asgore, the king of the Underground. Frisk hadn't really gotten to know him in the brief time he was trying to kill them, but from what everyone had been saying about him, he seemed to be extremely friendly. He seemed reluctant to fight Frisk when they had met. Asgore resembled a goat, with his long floppy ears and horns.
Papyrus, the overzealous skeleton with a big heart (figuratively speaking). He was rather tall, and usually only wore his "battle body" as he had named it, which was just a costume for a party he and his brother had made several weeks ago. Papyrus seemed to lack an inside voice, and would become anyone's best friend the moment they mentioned Junior Jumble and spaghetti.
Sans was the brother of Papyrus. He was a shorter skeleton, constantly wearing a light blue sweater and slippers. Sans loves to make terrible jokes and puns, all of which Papyrus despised. Though Frisk had never seen Sans attack, or even hurt anyone for that matter, Sans occasionally looked at Frisk as if remembering something they had done, sending shivers down Frisk's back. He was lazy, and would expend so much energy being lazy, it was almost ironic. He seemed to appear randomly, claiming his quick traveling to his "shortcuts."
And finally, Toriel. She had come to Frisk's rescue after being deceived by Flowey the Flower, a not-so-evil being. Toriel was extremely motherly, and caring. More than Frisk's parents could ever be… Toriel had immediately showed Frisk how the Underground worked, and taught them valuable lessons that had helped them survive the trip to this room everyone was currently standing in. Toriel also seemed to be goat-like, with long, floppy ears and small horns adorning her head. From what Frisk had learned, she had been Asgore's wife, and the Queen of the Underground; nose nuzzling champions before they had broken up.
Frisk stood there, tears threatening their eyes as they looked at their friends in admiration. Frisk could see the worry in their eyes as they looked back at them, but they remained strong for Frisk. Asgore glanced wistfully at the archway leading towards the surface, before turning back to them.
Frisks friends began conversing with one another, some introducing themselves for a second time since their memories had been wiped of the last hour or so. A few truly happy laughs were given when the realization that everyone in the Underground was free finally surfaced.
No more fake stars on a cavern roof.
No more hopelessness of being trapped forever.
No more waiting in hopes that a human will never fall into the Underground.
For once they could finally see the stars again. Feel the grass under their feet and the sun on their face.
Yet…
Something was missing.
Someone.
Frisk needed to see one more person before they could leave. Frisk approached Toriel timidly, feeling bad for asking them to wait a little while longer. Frisk tugged on Toriel's sleeve, making her kneel down to Frisk's height. Frisk quietly explained that they needed to tell someone goodbye before they could leave, and apologized in advance.
"Do not worry, my child." Toriel soothed, a motherly smile easing Frisk's guilt. "We will wait for you to return before we ascend to the surface." Toriel gave Frisk a warm, fluffy hug, before standing up and sending Frisk on their way back through the castle.
Frisk took a couple steps back, turning to give a quick wave to their friends and semi-acquaintance. A chorus of "goodbyes" and "good lucks" was given to Frisk.
"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL MISS MY COOL FRIEND UNTIL THEY RETURN!" Papyrus shouted, echoing around the room.
"keep an eye socket out, kiddo." Sans smiled, giving a quick wink.
"Stay safe, little one." Asgore rumbled, a small frown of concern showing.
"Human! Call Papyrus and I if you need help!" Undyne exclaimed, flashing a bright grin. "That's what friends are for!"
"I-I will make sure t-to monitor your progress j-just in case something h-happens." Alphys stuttered quietly, nervously wringing her hands.
"Please be cautious, my child." Toriel gave the warmest smile, and a slight wave.
Frisk realized that all of their friends really cared about them. Not like those in Frisk's life who had lied about caring. Why had they even wanted to return to the surface?
Frisk shooed such thoughts from their mind, and set off down the castle once more, casting a final glance behind them before rounding the corner, a small smile plastered to their face.
Knowing that Frisk's friends would keep their word… It filled them with determination. They felt a surge of power rise up in them, and a small magical text appeared in front of them, asking if they would like to save.
Save
A small flash of energy filled their vision, and a tether tying them to this point and time appeared in the back of their mind.
~{o}~{o}~
Frisk hadn't really played around with their new found abilities, they mused while walking towards the elevator. It was intimating to Frisk, knowing that they could undo any event that happened between then and their last save.
Frisk entered through the elevator doors, and selected the button that read "L1," referring to left side of the first floor of Hotland. Memorizing where each button lead to was important when navigating an area as large as this.
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open noiselessly. A wave of heat rolled trough the open doors, making frisk gasp. They exited the elevator, blinking tears out of their eyes as the faint smell of sulfur tickled their nose.
Frisk quickly made their way down towards the area in front of Alphys' lab. The large structure loomed above them, although there was no shadow to the building. The entire area was lit by lava, making Frisk slightly nervous when approaching the bridges spanning between the solid rock platforms.
Frisk looked down at the prompt, asking them if they would like to save.
Return
Frisk decided not to save currently. They had just gone through hours of walking around, hugging and talking to random monsters to make it to the end of the Underground. The barrier had been taken down. If anything happened… They decided to play it safe and keep the save that would jump them directly back to their friends should anything go wrong.
Frisk cast one last glance at the laboratory, before descending down the stairs that would lead them to the ferry person.
Just as Frisk had begun their climb down, their phone rang. They took their phone out of their pocket, looking at the weird modifications Alphys had made to it, before answering the call and holding it to their ear.
Big mistake.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed through the phone. Frisk jerked slightly at the loud tone, but continued to listen to the obnoxiously loud skeleton. "MY PHONE IS ALMOST OUT OF BATTERY, SO I DECIDED I WOULD CALL YOU TO SAY-" The call ended.
Frisk shook their head, giggling at Papyrus' unfortunate timing. They put the phone back into their pocket, and began their descent once again.
The steps led them below the level where the lava should have been. The bright red and orange colour of the rocks leading to a darker purple and blue as the sound of rushing water echoed up the stairs. The bright red stairs stayed the same colour, contrasting brightly with the dark walls around them.
In what seemed like no time at all, Frisk was at the bottom of the stairs. They furrowed their brows, and looked behind them at the impossibly long staircase leading back up to the area in front of Alphys' lab. There was no way they could have gone down all of those stairs that quickly, short of falling down them. Frisk decided not to question it. After all, they were in an enormous underground cavern, filled with magical monsters and mystical powers of the soul. A little magic short cut or two wouldn't inconvenience anyone.
Frisk turned to face the ferry person once again. The figure was wearing a hooded cloak, covering their face in shadows. This was a person Frisk would normally talk to up on the Surface, but here, nothing was the way it seemed to be. The figure was sitting atop a… boat? With a wooden dog head at the front. The ferry person was humming to themselves quietly.
Frisk walked up to the cloaked person, and gave a gentle tug on their sleeve. The hooded figure looked down at them, a surprised sound escaping them.
"Oh hello there." The river person said politely. "I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?"
Frisk nodded and affirmative, and smiled, clambering onto the boat behind the hooded figure. Frisk asked the person to take them to Snowdin. They weren't sure why they wanted to go to Snowden, other then a feeling inside them telling them that it was close to where they wanted to be.
The boat suddenly lurched upwards, seeming to rise a distance out of the water. Frisk looked down at the sides of the boat, finding short dog-like legs on the sides, standing on the water.
The dog-boat took off down the river, running incredibly quickly. The ride, however, was smooth. Some water splashed up and hit Frisk in the face whenever one of the paws on the boat slapped into the water.
The river person was humming to themselves again, seeming to be much happier sharing the ride with someone.
Frisk sat down on their knees behind the river person, keeping one hand on the cloak at all times.
Frisk thought about their time in the Underground. They had fallen down the hole near the midway point up Mount Ebott. The golden flowers that Frisk had landed on were extremely springy, like an extra bouncy trampoline. They had been scared, looking around at the dark cavern with tears in their eyes. Frisk had called for help for half an hour before they realized that no one was coming for them.
Frisk hadn't even been down there for an hour before they had met someone… That tried to murder them. Toriel had been there just in time, launching a fireball at the evil flower before healing their wounds. Frisk had felt so terrible when they left the ruins after being told to never return.
On the way to the castle, they had encountered the others, all of which tried to kill Frisk, except for Sans, and Papyrus had merely wanted to capture them. Frisk couldn't be upset at them though; with what Frisk had learned, they had every right to hate humans. If one person was standing in between your entire races freedom, wouldn't you take that chance?
Of course, all of those attempted murders were nothing compared to what Frisk had to face when they had defeated Asgore. Flowey had absorbed all six of the previous humans souls, and turned itself into the most terrifying thing Frisk had seen. Flowey had taken control of Frisk's saving power, and abused it to kill them time and time again.
Finally, Frisk had defeated Flowey, the six human souls causing Flowey to implode. Of course, it wasn't dead. Frisk woke up surrounded in darkness, with Flowey sitting in front of them, telling Frisk to kill them.
Frisk refused... Time and time again.
Flowey hadn't been able to understand how someone could be so compassionate, even after they had tried to destroy the entire Underground.
Finally, Flowey had given up on trying to make Frisk murder them. Flowey had given Frisk one last piece of advice before they had left.
"Be better friends with Alphys."
So that was what Frisk had done.
Frisk had woken up outside of Asgore's castle; everything had been reset back to before the two of them had fought. They had immediately left for Alphys' lab, when they had gotten a call from Undyne telling them to meet her in front of Papyrus' house in Snowden.
So they were back to the same boat, riding to the same place, from the same place.
Frisk broke from their thoughts, deciding that they had thought of the past enough for now.
The ferry person wasn't humming to themselves anymore. Frisk couldn't hear the splashing sound of water… Or anything for that matter.
Everything was silent.
This had never happened before.
Frisk got to their knees, and placed one hand on the boat near the edge; their other hand was gripping the river person's cloak tighter. Frisk leaned out over the boat to look down into the water.
The water was still. Several droplets hovered into the air in from of them, reflecting the area around them. Frisk moved their gaze to a relatively flat area of the frozen water to look at their reflection.
They froze.
Their heart began beating madly in their chest, as if trying to escape.
Frisk's breathing was loud and quick in their ears. They began to hyperventilate, beginning to feel light headed.
A knot formed in Frisk's stomach, panic setting in.
Staring back at Frisk was a pair of red eyes, dripping blood. It was the same face, and the same expression. The shirt was different though, with one yellow stripe in the middle of the green long sleeved shirt.
"YOU KILLED THEM, DIDN'T YOU?"
Frisk tried to look away, but their eyes were glued to the reflection. Frisk's vision was growing red around the edges, their heart hammering loudly.
Images of Frisk's friends appeared before them. In a bright flash each of them was cut down before them, large slashes and cuts across their bodies.
Frisk was standing before Toriel, in a small room carved from the purple hued stone. Behind Toriel was a large archway. Through the arch was a large, purple door at the end of a stone hallway.
Toriel was blocking the way through, staring down at Frisk with a sad look.
Frisk was also having a difficult time thinking about killing Toriel. She was almost a mother to them. They had only known each other for several hours, but in that time they had grown to know each other.
Toriel was caring and kind, as a mother should be… or at least how Frisk's parents should have been.
"Don't care about them." A voice spoke in their head, muting their thoughts. "You wanted to see what would happen, and now we're doing it."
"I-I changed my mind..." Frisk thought, shaking their head. "I'm going to reset."
"No, I can't let that happen now. Let me take control."
Frisk struggled internally for a moment, fighting the growing pressure at the back of their mind. The pressure began to overwhelm their thoughts; Frisk was unable to keep them out.
Frisk began to black out, but their body was still standing.
"Ahh… That's better..." The voice spoke. Frisk felt their fingers moving, but not due to their thoughts.
The fading of their mind stopped. They were brought back to the front, able to control their own movements once again. The human looked at Toriel with a kind of glare, their thoughts warping and twisting to conform to the presence in their mind.
"You want to leave so badly?" Toriel asked, a small bite to her tone. She looked as if was fighting to keep herself from just letting the human child through. She gave a sigh, shaking her head as she looked to the side, refusing to look directly at the human. "You are just like the others."
"The others were not as determined as I am!" The human thought to themselves.
"There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself..." Toriel stared directly at the human, her expression grim. "Prove to me you are strong enough to survive."
Toriel stood resolutely, waiting for the human to make the first move.
Suddenly, without warning, the human lunged forwards. The sharpened toy knife was in their hands in a flash. The blade tore through Toriel's flesh like a knife through butter. The human tried to remove the knife, but it was too deeply embedded in Toriel's body. The human released their grip on the knife, and took a step back, grinning.
Toriel stood there, a shocked expression plastered to her face. Her eyes were wide, filled with both emotional and physical pain.
"Y…" Toriel struggled to speak, the wound in her stomach began leaking dust. "You… really hate me that much?"
The human felt a satisfying pain in their chest as Frisk tried to reset. They could feel Frisk trying to fight their way back to the surface, desperate to save their "Mom."
"Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here." Toriel forced her words out. Her legs were beginning to give out, shaking violently. "Not you… But them!" Toriel finally sank to her knees, cradling the knife in her stomach with one hand, the other on the floor of the ruins, supporting herself.
Toriel laughed weakly, and quietly. Her body began to crumble, dust falling to the purple floor.
The human gave a silent chuckle, and stepped forward to retrieve the toy knife from the dust pile. They brushed some dust from the handle, gave it a flick, and then continued on their way.
…
Suddenly, the human was standing in a snowstorm, wind ripping at their clothing as they squinted to see who was in their way.
Papyrus materialized in front of the human next. He was offering a hug of acceptance. Papyrus was determined to turn around the human's life, regardless of the innocent monsters they had slaughtered. Papyrus believed that the human could be a better person, as long as they had the right person to guide them.
In a bright flash of light, Papyrus' head toppled from his shoulders into his waiting hands. Papyrus' body disintegrated, dropping his head to the ground on the pile of dust.
"W-WELL, THAT'S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED..." Papyrus seemed to lose that sparkle in his eyes, as he realized that not even he could change what had become of the human. "BUT… ST… STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU!" Papyrus seemed to have accepted his fate, and breathed his final words, encouraging the murderous human to be a better person. "EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO! I..." A tear leaked from Papyrus' left eye socket, wetting his own dust beneath him. "I PROMISE..."
Papyrus' head added to the pile of dust, a small amount of it floating away on the wind.
…
Undyne was standing before the human, large, gray mountains towering before them. The wind was howling between the rocks, and there were clouds swirling above, giving the area an ominous feel.
"Alphys told me she would watch me fight you..." Undyne was standing in front of the human child, body beginning to turn to dust as she spoke her last words. "And if anything went wrong, she would..." Undyne had to catch her breath, almost deeming to be forcing herself to stay alive for several seconds longer. "She would evacuate everyone. By now she's called Asgore and told him to absorb the six human souls." Undyne's body began to disintegrate, dust floating off of her to the ground slowly, collecting in a pile around her feet. "...And with that power..." Undyne's words were forced out; she had seconds left. "...This world will live on..."
Undyne's body turned gray, and crumbled to the ground, turning into a fine powder.
…
The human was standing in a large, golden hall. There were large pillars supporting the structure towering over their heads. The windows were allowing bright light into the hallway, but from where the light was coming from, they had no clue.
The battle with Sans had been a long one. The human had died more times than they could count, but they kept coming. Each battle becoming easier as they predicted Sans' attacks, dodging each one with a grace that sent shivers down Sans' spine.
Sans had attacked relentlessly, even attacking the human outside of his magical attacking turn. His attacks ignored the small resistance buffer the human soul put up after being struck. Truly, he was the last line of defense for the rest of the Underground.
Sans appeared still before the human. Time seemed to move in slow motion as an attack headed directly towards the exhausted Sans, who seemed to be sleeping while standing. Sans dodged out of the way of the attack at the last second, barely missing him. He smirked, a cocky smile spreading across his face.
"heh, didja really think you would be abl-"
A second attack from the human caught Sans off guard. A large gash appeared in his chest. Sans crumpled to the ground, breathing heavily as he tried to slow the heavy bleeding with a hand, the other being used to prop himself up. Blood began to trickle from his mouth, down his chin, and onto his blue sweater.
Sans glanced down at the large wound in his chest, before looking back up at the human. He managed to crack a grin, eyes closing for a moment.
"...so." Sans looked like he was on the verge of tears. Everything he had fought for had been for nothing. All his friends, and family. Gone. There was nothing left for him. With the barrier still up, no monster would be safe forever. "guess that's it, huh?"
Sans looked down at the ground, and sighed, a look of acceptance settling. "just… don't say i didn't warn you..." Sans sat quietly for a moment, closing his eyes, struggling to breathe. He finally pushed himself upwards, stumbling to his feet. "welp." Sans sighed, taking his hand off his bleeding cut. "i'm going to grillby's." Sans shrugged.
He began limping away, taking a sharp right, disappearing from the human's vision behind a pillar.
"papyrus." Sans said weakly, his voice seeming to be distant; echoey, as if he were traveling through a tunnel. "do you want anything?"
And then there was silence.
…
The human was standing before King Asgore. The large monster was easily a couple feet taller than any human Frisk had met. A panicked looked Flowey was hiding in the shadows behind the King's throne.
The human and King Asgore were currently standing in his garden, a beautiful area teeming with golden flowers and green grass. Birds were chirping above the three, without a care in the world.
"Oh…" Asgore began, looking down at the small human child with a confused look. "You must be the one Flower just warned me about."
At these words, the human shot a glare at Flowey, who all but vanished into the ground. He looked extremely anxious.
"Howdy!" Asgore raised one hand in a small wave. He was immediately glared at by the human, who was holding the knife in their hand so tightly their knuckles began to turn white. "Erm…" Asgore cleared his throat, and looked towards the child before him. "What kind of monster are you…?"
The human realized that Asgore couldn't recognize them as a human. They had no soul, no heart, and could easily be mistaken as a monster by anyone kind enough.
In fact…
The human was a monster… Not the friendly kind, who had been trying to free themselves… Oh no…
The human was a murderer.
"Sorry, I cannot tell." Asgore admitted sheepishly. "Well, we can always-"
Asgore was cut off by the human initiating a battle with them. The human looked down at their chest and watched as a small, heart shaped object began to glow red… It looked horribly misshapen and deformed.
"Now, now…" Asgore chided, looking at the human child with mild concern. "There is no need to fight." Asgore was wearing his armor, but had yet to absorb the six human souls. Nothing could go wrong. "Why don't we settle this… Over a nice cup of tea?"
The human was standing quietly, a sadistic grin slowly spreading across their face; their eyes shadowed by their hair.
The human felt compelled to attack Asgore; wanted to kill him.
Instinctively, as though relying on years of experience, the child took a small step forwards.
The human suddenly lunged towards Asgore.
The metal blade in the humans hand cut through the armor Asgore was wearing, rending it right down the middle. The blade sank into the soft flash of Asgore's stomach, slicing through him as if the human was doing nothing more than cutting up a pesky weed in the garden.
The human wrenched the blade from Asgore's body, taking a step back to view their handiwork.
"Why… You..." Asgore began, sounding more surprised than angry. It was if he couldn't comprehend how anyone could be this heartless. He collapsed to the flowery ground in the garden, his body shaking as he tried to keep himself upright.
The human was trying to decide on whether or not to let Asgore slowly succumb to their wounds, or to kill them outright, when they were interrupted.
A ring of "friendliness pellets" (bullets) surrounded Asgore, spinning recklessly. They launched towards his weakened body. The bullets collided with Asgore, instantly turning him to dust.
Flowey sprung up out of the ground in front of the human, before even the dust had settled to the garden floor.
"See? I never betrayed you!" Flowey smiled too widely, his eyes betraying his carefree look. The human could tell he was scared. "It was all a trick, see? I was waiting to kill him for you!"
The human took the knife in their hands, and pressed the tip of the blade gently in their palm, beginning to spin it slowly.
"After all, it's me, your best friend!" Flowey's expression changed. His eyes were looking glassy, his lips trembling as he looked at the human. "I promise I won't get in your way!"
The human looked through Flowey, seeing him as nothing more than an annoying object; whatever was left of a previous life.
"I-I can help..." Flowey's voice was shaking. "I can… I can..."
Flowey began crying, his petals drooping as his stem began shaking.
The human took the knife, and hid it behind their back. They slowly approached Flowey, sporting a fake grin, trying to seem as happy as possible.
The golden flower was visibly trembling as the human approached. He leaned backwards when the human knelt down in front of them.
"Please don't kill me!" Flowey's voice trembled, tears flowing freely.
The human gingerly grabbed hold of his stem, causing Flowey to stop shaking.
Flowey calmed down immediately, a small spark of hope in their eyes. Flowey looked up at the human, a small smile forcing its way onto his face.
The human took the knife, and slashed at the flower.
Once. Flowey looked up as his figurative heart broke. He knew he was going to die. He was devastated.
Twice. Flowey's eyes became black voids. His stem crumpled, and his petals began to turn to dust,
Thrice.
Four times. Flowey was little more than a crumpled ball of plant, a terrified expression glued to his face.
Five. Nothing was recognizable of Flowey anymore.
Six. The human slashed at whatever petal was left, cutting up the plant into bits before Flowey could turn into dust.
Seven. The knife plunged into the Earth where the remains of Flowey were sitting.
A total of eight slashes to the defenseless flower. There was nothing left of the golden coloured flower.
...
Frisk was shaking hard, their ears ringing. Tears were streaming down their face as they denied what they were being shown.
"YOU ARE A MURDERER!" The reflection spoke, both aloud and inside Frisk's head.
Everything resumed. The boat lurched forwards , and Frisk stumbled back into the middle of the boat. Frisk buried their face into the cloak, and sobbed quietly.
The river person seemed oblivious to the freezing time. They stopped humming to themselves to deliver their random advice that they would give every trip.
"Beware of the man who speaks in hands…" They spoke ominously. Frisk felt a shiver travel up their spine at the words. Frisk took several deep breaths, thinking about the friends and family they had waiting for them near the Surface. Slowing their breathing, Frisk wiped their eyes, sniffling slightly. Frisk finally calmed down enough to think again.
During their entire trip in the Underground, they had never met anyone who had spoken in "hands." Whether that meant sign language, or some other form of communication, Frisk didn't know.
And Frisk wasn't sure if they wanted to.
~{o}~{o}~
The boat arrived in Snowden rather quickly. It came to a quick stop on the water, pulling up to the shoreline. Snow began falling around Frisk as they stepped off the boat, wishing the Ferry person well.
Music started up out of nowhere. Frisk was used to it by now. It was all in a days… Half a day? Several hours? Frisk wasn't sure how long they had been down here. It couldn't have been too long since they weren't absolutely exhausted.
Frisk stifled a yawn, eyes watering, as they walked South towards Snowdin.
Frisk paused on the way down. Right beside the ice cube creating building was the Ice Wolf… Not throwing ice blocks into the river… The large, brown furred Ice Wolf was just standing there, as if waiting to talk to someone… Or waiting for a new pair of pants… Frisk hadn't realized it before, but Ice Wolf had never been wearing pants. He had probably been too busy throwing the ice blocks into the river to go clothes shopping. Maybe that would change now that the barrier was down.
Frisk continued on their way, waving slightly to the Ice Wolf. His hand twitched slightly in return.
Frisk walked down past several houses, before coming to the main street of Snowdin. To their left was a group of the dog-human monsters they had fought earlier. All of them were standing around this tall, white, gooey looking dog.
Doggo, Dogamy, Dogaressa, and Greater dog were all looking happily at their… Relative? Discussing about how their family was all connected now. The Amalgamite was looking happy as well, it's tail whipping happily back and forth.
Frisk was glad that they were happy.
Frisk continued on their journey, the small sensation telling them to go further. They turned to the right, and began strolling through an empty looking Snowdin. There was a large amount of footprints, all leading West, towards Waterfall. Maybe some monsters had heard of the destroyed barrier already.
Frisk passed in front of Grillby's, giving a half wave to the bear standing in front of the restaurant. The bear gave an overly friendly wave, no doubt wanting to talk Frisk's ear off about "politics." Frisk highly doubted that was how politics really worked, but then again, they were ten. They had no want to learn about it anyways; it seemed like complicated adult stuff.
As Frisk walked up to the Christmas tree, they couldn't help but talk to the monster child. He was wearing a yellow shirt, with three brown stripes on it. However, Frisk was curios about how they could get the shirt on with no arms…
"Hey, dude!" The child called as Frisk approached. "Wow! Did you hear the barrier was brought down? I heard by someone it was a human that did it, but I believe someone else took it down." The monster child obviously had a case of verbal diarrhea: they could not stop talking. The child took another step forwards, leaning closer to whisper to Frisk.
"I believe my hero took down the barrier!" The child whispered excitedly. "Wanna know who it is?"
Frisk nodded, and waited for a long rant about how cool, and awesome Undyne was.
"Papyrus!" The child smiled, taking a step backwards. "The great Papyrus took down the barrier!" The child was doing its best impression of the obnoxiously loud skeleton. He was honestly pretty good at it. However, he could probably never reach the same volume as the tall skeleton brother.
Frisk feigned their surprise, pretending to not know about the barrier. The monster kid spoke about the bright flash of light, and then everyone knew about it being down.
"How could you not know about it!?" He exclaimed. Maybe he would reach Papyrus levels after all.
Frisk told the child that they had been in the bathroom at the time. That seemed to be all that was needed, as the child immediately changed the subject.
"Dude… Why's everyone staring at you?" The kid asked. Frisk looked away from the monster child, and found that several people down the street were looking at them with a kind of curiosity and awe. "Wait! I forgot! You're a human!"
Frisk nodded, giggling at the child's energy.
"Oh my gosh! Dude! Now I can tell them that I met a human… And that Undyne touched me!" The monster child raced off, tripping and falling into the snow, before jumping back to their feet and running off again.
Frisk hadn't told the child that telling his parents that Undyne had touched him was not, in fact, the best choice of words.
Frisk shrugged, and continued past the tree. They looked down underneath the tree as they passed, a fleeting hope that their name was on one of the presents for once.
It was not.
But it didn't really matter. As long as everyone else was happy, it was fine.
Frisk flushed as they realized that people were really staring at them as they walked. Attention wasn't really what Frisk wanted at the moment.
Frisk passed in front of the Inn. They thought about renting a room for a few minutes to get a nap. They remembered, unfortunately, the loud monsters in the next room over, and decided that maybe getting a room was not a great idea. Besides, Toriel and the others were still waiting for Frisk.
Frisk stopped in front of the strange box beside the store. Frisk's stomach rumbled noisily, making up their mind for them. Frisk walked up to the large box, and opened it.
The box was filled with a multitude of items Frisk had collected during their journey. It had a stick, an old dusty tutu, a pink glove, some old ribbon, and a Bisicle (a two pronged Popsicle, so you can eat it twice).
Frisk took the Bisicle from the box, relieved to see it was still good, and closed the box. Frisk put the item in their inventory, where ever that was… To save it in case they really needed it.
Frisk left Snowdin, the tugging sensation leading them further back into the Underground.
Frisk crossed the long, terrifying bridge that spanned across a gap in the mountain. Below the bridge was a long fall, and a large forest of Pine trees. Frisk continued quickly across the bride, refusing to look down after that initial glance.
They journeyed past the intriguing snow poffs, and the Greater Dog house. How it could house such a large dog...
Frisk honestly had no idea how half of the things in the underground worked. All they knew was that they did.
~{o}~{o}~
Frisk's walk took them past puzzle after puzzle. Papyrus sure did enjoy his puzzles. They passed by the Lesser Dog snow sculptures, all of them fallen under the weight of their long necks. Frisk walked for about fifteen minutes in the slightly chilly weather, regretting the fact that they hadn't worn anything warmer.
Eventually, Frisk had come to the frozen plate of spaghetti Papyrus had made to them. The microwave beside it was unplugged, and only had spaghetti settings. However, the spaghetti had a small nibble taken out of it, obviously from the mouse.
Frisk had still refused to save, needing the lifeline of their friends just in case anything went wrong.
They continued on, passing by Sans' word search. Frisk had passed by the snowball golf course, and the Nice Cream stand, but slowed down a little when crossing the bridge. Frisk really disliked heights.
The tugging sensation had led them on past there. Frisk slid across ice, passed by both Sans and Papyrus' sentry stations, and the conveniently shaped lamp, which still filled them with determination.
The tall, bare trees towered over Frisk as they walked down the long stretch towards the ruins. Frisk had tugged their hands into their pockets to keep them warm, but did nothing to warm their feet, which were becoming numb with the cold.
Finally, the doors to the ruins were before them. Frisk turned their head to the side, looking at the bush near the door. They caught a glint of light off of an object, which the quickly identified as Alphys' camera. The red light that indicated the camera was active stayed off.
Shrugging their shoulders, Frisk pushed open the doors to the ruins, and entered.
~{o}~{o}~
Frisk walked down the long, purple hallway, lined with darker purple brick. Frisk paused once they stood in the spot where they had killed Toriel in the vision, a chill running down their spine. Frisk reminded themselves that Toriel was, in fact, alive and well.
But frisk couldn't shake that feeling. Frisk took their phone from their pocket, and was about to call Toriel when they noticed the notification telling them of several text messages. Frisk checked her messages, pleased to find that Toriel had texted them while Frisk had been gone. The text's consisted of several messages of Toriel learning to text, as well as a few jokes; eventually leading to a fight for the phone with Sans as the two tried to make fun of each other through the texts to Frisk.
Frisk remembered to never have Sans as a transcriber of their texts.
Frisk continued down the hallway, taking a sharp right turn to follow the hall. They could see the steps in the distance leading up to Toriel's house. Frisk took off at a run, the pull in the back of their mind stronger than ever.
Frisk's lungs burned as they sprinted down the hallway, their hair blowing back a little. They could feel their heart beating faster as their feet collided with the floor, only to push off once more.
Frisk raced up the steps, a grin on their face as they burst into the middle of the house. They could feel the adrenaline rush of excitement. The house still felt homey, even with no one living there. Would Toriel come to get her belongings later?
Frisk shook their head, and continued to follow the sensation. The pull was leading them out the front door, past the large, black oak in the front of the yard. Frisk passed through another arch, before taking a sharp right, racing into the room with the rotated pillars.
The pillar room hadn't really been difficult to solve, since Frisk had been able to see around the pillars to activate the colored switches. The three grey pillars could hide nothing from them!
Frisk made four quick lefts, and exited the puzzle room… Only to enter another puzzle. Of course, all of them had been previously solved by Frisk when they had originally fallen into the Underground.
Frisk slowed down finally as they walked through another room with six vines on the north wall, and six pits to fall into. The pits were highlighted with a darker purple than the rest of the room.
Frisk was breathing hard, a light sweat forming on their forehead. It felt good to run. They hadn't done it for almost a day now, when they had climbed Mount Ebott. However, Frisk didn't want to think about what they had been running from.
Eventually, Frisk passed through that room as well, passing through a stone door frame and entering a new room. This room was rather plain, with nothing other than three Froggits (frog like monster's with a habit of frowning) and a sign at the end of the room.
Wait… four Froggits. If frisk squinted, they could see a tiny Froggit, the size of a small ant, in a crack in the wall.
As Frisk passed them, they gave each a small 'hello,' earning Frisk a croak in return.
Frisk continued out of the room, moving South into a small area. To their left was the spider bake sale, and to the right was a small red leaf pile, with cheese placed on a table slightly beyond that.
Remembering their battle with Miss Muffet, Frisk turned to the left to go see the spiders.
Frisk entered the room, noticing several spiders crawling across the floor and walls. Frisk thanked them all for sending a telegram to the spiders in Hotland. If they hadn't… Frisk would most likely have been giant cupcake food. Frisk knelt down, and set a stack of thirty (30) gold coins on the purple floor beside a small spider web, telling them to keep it as a thank you for helping.
Frisk did feel slightly bad that they hadn't had any money in the beginning to purchase a spider doughnut, but smiled as a smaller spider, most likely a baby, crawled down from the ceiling. The mother spider was directly behind the baby spider. The baby gave a little wiggle of one of its legs to Frisk, earning a small wave back from Frisk. The baby spider crawled back up to its mother before the two went back up the wall.
Frisk smiled and stood up, their heart feeling lighter than it had before they had come here. Frisk left the room, taking extra caution not to step on any spiders on the trip out.
Frisk was back in the small room with the leaf pile. Frisk took a running start, and jumped into the leaf pile, giggling playfully.
A Whimsum was watching her from the corner of the room. The small, moth like creature lost its fear for a moment as it watched the child play, before floating above Frisk and out, intending on leaving the Underground. It had a long trip ahead of it.
A single red leaf landed on their nose when Frisk had thrown some leaves into the air. They smiled, and grabbed it gently between their thumb and forefinger. Frisk set it down with the rest of the leaves, and pushed them all back into a pile with their foot.
Frisk felt a little lonely, playing in the leaves by themselves. However, they did have… something… to complete, and that gave them the determination to continue.
Frisk left the small room, and paused to look at the wooden table with the cheese set on it. There seemed to be a small nibble out of it. Frisk glanced down at the mouse hole, a small smile creeping across their face. They turned to the cheese and broke off a small piece, before setting it in front of the small hole.
Frisk left the mouse to its own devices, or lack of, and entered another room.
The water on both sides of the room were a welcome change to the constant purple of the Ruins. The room had three switches in it. Two were pressed down by rocks, and the third… A sentient rock.
Frisk crossed over the line of grates, with holes that would shoot spikes upwards the instant one of the switched lost its signal.
Frisk made sure to quickly pass over the spike plates.
As Frisk made to pass through the room entirely, they were called to a stop by the sentient rock.
"Hey, Pumpkin!" The rock called out. The rock was the only one who called Frisk by that name. "I'm in a bit of a predicament, if you don't mind helping me out."
Frisk approached the rock, asking it what its trouble was.
"You see, Pumpkin, now that the barrier is down, I would like to go the surface. However, the darn spike trap won't let me go past it." The rock sighed. "The water on either side isn't deep, but… I never learned how to swim." The sentient rock admitted, seeming to redden slightly. "So, whadd'ya say? Would you help me out?"
Frisk agreed to help out the rock, and proceeded to stand on the pressure switch for it.
"Thanks, Pumpkin!" The rock seemed happy as it magically slid over the spike trap, and out of the room. "I won't forget that!" It called from the other room.
It wasn't a problem to Frisk. They could always just wade through the water, and cross it without another weight on the switch.
Frisk stepped off the switch.
Click!
A sharp noise sounded, and the spikes sprung back up, effectively trapping Frisk until they decided to get their shoes wet.
Frisk smiled to themselves, and walked in the opposite direction the rock had gone. They left the room, hoping that there weren't as many puzzles as they had remembered, or else they would be disappointed.
Frisk was disappointed.
The next room over was a large trap, with only a certain pathway a person could take. Any wrong moves, and said person would fall… Into a large pile of leaves.
Feeling adventurous, Frisk just raced out into the middle of the room. The floor dropped out from under them, and they gave a cry of joy as they plunged into the leaves.
Frisk shuffled around for a moment before emerging, once again covered in red leaves. The red contrasted nicely with the still purple room (which was beginning to irritate Frisk).
Frisk strolled to the end of the pit, and stepped up to a large doorway. The door led to a closet sized area, with a ladder leading upwards to the level Frisk had just fallen down from. Frisk climbed up the ladder, and slid out on the slide exiting onto the floor.
Frisk stood up, and brushed their pants off. They gave a small smile at the exhilarating ride, and proceeded towards the next room.
Frisk passed through the next two rooms with ease, one with an already solved pressure switch spike trap, and the other with a drop down into more leaves, before climbing out again.
Frisk briefly wondered where all of the leaves came from. The only thing that had produced leaves that they had seen in the Ruins was Toriel's… Tree… Frisk came to the conclusion that Toriel had walked back and forth between her front yard and these traps, placing leaves down so that no one would be injured. Frisk hadn't noticed, but the ends of the spikes had been melted down, most likely with fire magic, rendering them mostly harmless.
Frisk eventually came to a room with several piles of leaves, and a Froggit standing at the North end of the room. There was a light colored purple path that led to the next room.
Frisk followed the pathway, passing by the Froggit. Frisk gave the frog-like monster a smile, making its frown disappear. It gave a happy croak, and watched Frisk enter the next room with a small smile.
Frisk looked down the long hallway of the room with anticipation. They remembered this room perfectly. Toriel had run off to the other end, leaving Frisk on one end to test their independence. Frisk had had more than enough practice being independent.
The pull in the back of their mind was strong, leading them in an almost straight line now.
They looked at the end of the hallway with a challenge, and began to run towards the end. Frisk began sprinting, their shoes slapping against the rocky floor. They eyed the end of the hallway with determination, refusing to give up, even as their legs began to feel numb. The pathway drifted to the left and right, but Frisk continued straight.
Halfway through the hallway, Frisk tripped over their own feet, tumbling to the hard rocky ground. Frisk placed their hands out to soften the fall, scraping the skin from their palms.
Frisk felt tears welling up in their eyes as they laid on the ground face down. Refusing to give up, Frisk pushed away any pained thoughts, and pushed themselves up. Their left knee was already beginning to feel sore, and their hands were tingling. Frisk wiped their hands on the hem of their striped shirt, smearing a little blood on it.
It could always wash out.
Frisk continued down the hallway, but at a slower pace. The tugging sensation wasn't going anywhere.
…
After what felt like ages, but in reality was only thirty seconds, Frisk reached the end of the hallway. They carried onto the next room without hesitation, an almost giddy feeling rising up in Frisk's chest as they realized that they were nearly there.
And then they remembered the room.
Frisk stopped right before they planted their foot onto the spikes. There was a large bridge covered in spikes, and from what Frisk could remember, there was a particular path to go along…
Frisk couldn't remember…
Taking a deep breath, and mentally preparing themselves, Frisk stepped out with one foot aiming directly at the spikes.
They shot downwards, disappearing into the grate below.
Frisk took another step, and another. Then they stopped.
The spikes stopped disappearing.
Frisk took a sharp left turn, and began with the same process: placing one foot in front of the other, stopping to turn only when the spikes wouldn't move.
Eventually, after several close calls, Frisk made it to the other side. They told themselves that they should remember that for later.
From what Frisk could remember, there were no more puzzles that could be hazardous to their life. Frisk began walking slightly faster, knowing that the end was just ahead.
They passed through another two rooms, one with several switches on the wall that always stayed active, helpfully labeled by Toriel, and the other… With a somewhat angry looking Dummy. Frisk politely refused to talk to the Dummy, remembering that there was another angry one further down the road in Waterfall.
Frisk approached a large set of purple doors, with a large symbol on them. Frisk recognized this as the "Angel of Death" that several people had referred to.
Frisk pushed open the doors, entering a smaller room, with an open doorway leading down further into the Underground.
Frisk walked through, and down a set of stairs that led downwards once they had passed through the doorway. The purple in the room began fading, leaving place for more normal looking stone. Frisk was glad to see the irritating purple brick finally leave.
Frisk walked towards a rather large purple arch, complete with carved columns and an image of the "Angel of Death" engraved above the stone entrance.
Frisk had entered a dark room, with a single beam of light shining down on a grassy patch in the middle of a floor of stone. They couldn't tell where the borders of the room were, as there was not enough light to see in the darkness.
This was where Frisk had first met Flowey.
Suppressing a shudder, Frisk quickly walked through the room, and through an arch identical to the one at the other end of the room.
Frisk could feel the pull, tugging almost frantically now. Frisk looked to the right to see a figure standing in front of golden flowers, watering them with a small watering can. The figure was wearing a green shirt, with several yellow stripes running horizontally across it.
As Frisk approached, they noticed more of the person they were being led to. The soft looking white fur, and the long, floppy ears, similar to his parents.
Asriel tried not to acknowledge Frisk. The smaller monster child had specifically chosen this spot to leave this world. This was both the most inconvenient location to travel to…
And because this is where both of his human friends had fallen down.
Frisk walked right up to Asriel, looking confused as the tugging sensation in their chest finally disappeared.
Asriel gave Frisk no notice as he leaned further out to water the springy golden flowers, which bounced around under the water droplets. The already watered flowers had left over water droplets on them, allowing the sunlight from directly above to glint off of them, making them appear much brighter in the light than they actually were.
Deciding that he could ignore the human no longer, Asriel set down the watering can, which vaporized the instant he let go, and turned to face the human.
"Don't worry about me." Asriel said quietly, a sad smile coming to rest on his face. "Someone has to take care of these flowers..."
Frisk stood quietly, refusing to move from their spot. Seeing this, Asriel gave a watery sigh, and continued talking to Frisk.
"Please leave me alone..." Asriel told them quietly. "I can't come back… I-I just can't."
Frisk knew that Asriel was trying to get them to leave, so that Asriel could just pass without having to face any difficulties. However, if Frisk did leave, they would feel bad every time they say Toriel or Asgore. Knowing that they could have made their child happy in their last moments, but chose to be selfish instead.
Frisk knew that Asriel would fade soon. With no soul to sustain him, he was running on residual energy from all of the souls he had previously absorbed.
Frisk stubbornly sat down, motioning for Asriel to come and join them. With a heavyhearted breath, Asriel sat gently down beside Frisk, leaving an extra amount of space. It seemed as if Asriel was afraid of hurting Frisk.
"...you know it's better if they don't see me." Asriel finally spoke, breaking the silence.
Frisk looked at Asriel sadly, a knowing expression crossing their features.
"Why are you still talking to me?" Asriel asked, shifting around a little. "You should go be happy with-" Asriel's voice cracked slightly. "W-With your new family..."
Asriel made a move to stand up, but Frisk suddenly leaned towards him, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. Frisk asked Asriel if he would like to talk for a while, at least until Frisk had to leave. Frisk intentionally left out the part of Asriel leaving. They didn't want to believe it. It wasn't fair.
"Y-yeah… Okay..." Asriel gave a watery chuckle, and sat back down, a little closer to Frisk this time. Frisk refused to release Asriel's hand, but it didn't seem like he objected. In fact, Asriel's fingers wrapped slightly around Frisk's.
They sat in silence for a little while, just keeping each other company. Suddenly, Asriel reached over towards Frisk, and removed something from their shoulder.
It was a red leaf.
Asriel held the leaf gently, as if it reminded him of something.
"Did you bring this for me?" Asriel teased, a fraction of a smile showing.
Frisk looked at the leaf in confusion for a moment, before a grin grew on their lips. Asriel began laughing at Frisk's expression, causing Frisk to begin laughing as well.
The two weren't sure whether it was the seriousness of the situation, or their bottled up emotions, but it didn't really matter.
The two giggled and laughed for a long time, tears streaming down their faces as they hugged themselves. Their stomachs began hurting from all the laughing, which in turn made them laugh with each other more.
The two laid back onto the bed of springy flowers, giggling as their laughing fit finally subsided. Asriel and Frisk were facing each other, smiling fully for the first time in what felt like forever. For both of them…
"Frisk..." Asriel sighed, his smile finally draining away. "Why… Did you come here? Everyone knows of the legend. 'Travelers who climb Mount Ebott are said to disappear…'" Asriel recounted what he had been told from… His previous human friend. "Why would you go to a place like that?"
A brief flicker of emotion crossed Frisk's face. Although Frisk tried to hide it, Asriel managed to catch it. Asriel immediately felt worried, because if what Asriel was thinking of was true… Frisk and… his deceased friend weren't too different…
"I guess only you would know though." Asriel immediately shifted the conversation from Frisk to himself to avoid causing Frisk any emotional distress in his last moments. "I… I know why..." Asriel had to take a breath to force himself to speak their name. "Why Chara climbed the mountain..."
Asriel explained to Frisk that Chara had climbed the mountain for an… "Unhappy" reason. He told Frisk of their hatred of humanity, but confessed that he had never known why Chara had hated people so much.
Frisk began to look somewhat sad as they were told of Asriel's childhood friend.
Frisk wouldn't speak a word of what they had learned in Alphys' True Lab. Not a word about Chara poisoning Asgore as a joke, or making Asriel cry. The one thing that scared Frisk the most though, was of learning that Chara had poisoned themselves to allow Asriel to absorb their soul. Chara had wanted to destroy humans so badly, that Chara had killed them self, and tried to use their adopted sibling to do it.
Asriel began to worry that Frisk was thinking that he was comparing the two of them, and quickly made amends to his statement.
"You're nothing like them though." Asriel reassured Frisk with a small smile.
Frisk realized that Asriel may have been taking their expression the wrong way, and quickly nodded to tell him he knew so.
"Even if you two do… Dress similarily..." Asriel gave a quiet laugh. His expression, however, grew serious once more. Asriel sat up, and watched as Frisk did the same. "I-I don't know why I kept calling you by their name… I know that you aren't them… I guess I… I just wanted to see them one more time..."
Frisk reached towards Asriel once more, and took hold of his hand. Asriel looked down at the meaningful gesture, cupping his other hand around Frisk's as he looked at the human.
"Frisk… You're…" Asriel sniffled a little, his eyes beginning to water up once more. "You're the kind of friend I wish I had before…" A single tear leaked from his eye, wetting the fur on his cheek.
Asriel released Frisk's hand to wipe the tear away, when he noticed a smear of red on his hand. Asriel held up his hand to look closer. Realizing that he didn't have any form of external injury, Asriel immediately turned towards Frisk.
Frisk immediately apologized for staining Asriel's fur. Frisk looked at their hands, which had only one or two deep cuts, before placing them on their pants.
"Frisk! You're hurt!" Asriel began to panic. He already felt bad for trying to kill Frisk once. If Asriel didn't do anything about Frisk's injury, he would feel even worse.
Frisk protested, insisting that it was just a small cut, and that it would heal by itself over time.
"No." Asriel said. His expression looked an awful lot like his mother's expression when she was worried. Asriel ignored the human's protests. "Give me your hands." Asriel said politely, although he wasn't giving Frisk a choice on the matter.
Frisk reluctantly turned their hands palm up, a flush of shame coming into their cheeks. Frisk hadn't realized that their hands were bleeding that much.
Asriel took his hands and placed them over Frisk's. Asriel began using some of his left over souls energy to heal Frisk's wounds.
Frisk immediately realized what was happening, and yanked their hands back. Frisk stared in horror at their hands as the small cuts began to stitch them self shut, the scraped off layer of skin reforming quickly.
"There…" Asriel sounded tired, as if he had just gone for a run. He slumped backwards slightly, a numbing feeling coming to his fingers and toes.
Was this it?
Was this where Asriel would revert into Flowey?
Frisk called Asriel an idiot for wasting his own precious time to heal a cut that wasn't even that bad.
"It's not a waste…" Asriel smiled. "If it's for someone I care about…"
Frisk wasn't sure how much time Asriel had left, but Frisk knew for sure that Asriel's last minutes wouldn't be spent fighting with them. Frisk asked where Asriel had learned healing magic.
"My mom showed me." Asriel said proudly, a smile returning to his face. He didn't seem as tired anymore. "I'm… Not the best, but I do try."
Frisk thought about what Asriel's mother had shown them as well.
Thinking for themselves, patience, friendship, and helping your friends. However, one lesson stood out above the others.
Never give up on someone.
Toriel hadn't given up on Frisk, so Frisk wouldn't give up on Asriel!
Frisk opened their inventory (Frisk had decided it was some magical pocket dimension) and removed the Bisicle. Frisk split in half, offering one side to Asriel, a quick smile flashing on their face.
"Frisk..." Asriel smiled, grabbing the stick of the Unisicle (one half of the Bisicle). "My mom says these aren't really good for you." Frisk could imagine Toriel saying that, and then offering then a slice of snail pie. "But… Today's a special day. I guess I can make an exception."
Frisk and Asriel ate their food in silence. Asriel only thought of the food item as an offer of friendship. Frisk thought of it as a way to get some more time.
The tingling sensation in Asriel's fingers and toes faded, replaced with a warmth that filled their body. Monster food really was neat.
Asriel began speaking again, but Frisk was only listening to half of it.
"I was born in the Underground." Asriel stated. "I didn't see the sun until… Well..." Asriel began playing with the Popsicle stick he had cleaned off. It vaporized, leaving Asriel slightly disappointed. "Until Chara died."
"It was actually a nice day out there. The sun was just setting, and the moon was coming out from behind a mountain. The skies were pink and purple. There were birds that flew over my head, twittering without a care…" Asriel described the day, a wistful look in his eyes. "I… I want to see that again."
Asriel described the rest of the day to Frisk. Asriel spoke of how Chara had taken their own body, and left the Underground. How Chara had been the one to set their body in the flowers, and how Chara had been the one that wanted to use their full power to kill the humans. Asriel had been the one that fought against Chara, resisting the overwhelming urge to slaughter them all. Asriel had been the one to take the brutal attacks from the humans, refusing to attack, even though he had the power to kill them all.
Asriel had held onto his friends dead body as he was beaten, and finally, after the humans relented, seeing that Asriel was still standing… He picked up the body… and walked away.
Asriel walked all the way home, back through the barrier, and into the garden. Asriel's body up until that point, was being held together through sheer determination. Now that Asriel was home… He let go…
That was the last thing he remembered before… Asriel didn't want to talk about it after that.
"You really should be going now..." Asriel sighed, a sad smile creeping onto his face. He could feel his fingers and toes becoming numb again. "J-just… If you see… me again, please don't think of it as me." Asriel gave a sad sigh as he stood up, before turning around to help Frisk to their feet as well. "Remember me as..." Asriel paused, his eyes becoming watery. "Am… Am I your friend, Frisk?"
Frisk nodded immediately, making Asriel smile.
"Aww..." Asriel sniffled, his eyes beginning to water. "Thanks, Frisk. You're… You're my friend too."
Although Frisk was composed and looked calm on the outside, inside they were panicking. They were running out of time, and they knew it.
"Frisk… Please realize that there a lot of people out there like Flowey..." Asriel began. They both really hated goodbyes. "Soulless and think of the worst in everything. Sometimes… Sometimes it's just better to leave than trying to talk to them. You… You can't s-save them..." Asriel's voice trembled, tears beginning to run freely down his face. "Don't kill, a-and don't… Don't b-be killed, a-alright?"
Asriel looked like he really didn't want Frisk to go. Frisk didn't want to go either. Asriel turned around, his back to Frisk as he began to cry.
Frisk quietly walked up to Asriel, and rested a hand on his shoulder. Asriel gave a surprised sniff, and turned around, only to be wrapped up in a warm hug by Frisk.
Asriel hesitated, afraid of harming Frisk, before finally giving in and hugging them back. Asriel cried into Frisk's shoulder, trying and failing miserably to stifle the flow of tears.
Frisk felt choked up. They had failed Asriel. Frisk hadn't been able to think of a single way to save him. Frisk felt as if their heart was being ripped in half. Their eyes watered up as well, and-
Wait…
Ripped in half…
Frisk had an idea! Frisk thought that maybe they could share their soul with Asriel, neither of them would have to go.
Frisk focused power on their soul, still hugging the crying Asriel, and thought about dividing it into two equal portions.
Nothing happened.
"H-hey..." Asriel began, sniffling quietly. "W-where did you get this necklace…?" Frisk tensed up, not knowing if Asriel would be mad at them. "I… I tried looking for it before I came down here, but it was gone..."
Frisk tried to apologize, but Asriel interrupted them.
"I… I was going to give it to you…" Asriel pulled back a little, and smiled. "I already have one like it." He wiped a tear away, and reached into the collar of his shirt to remove a similar looking, heart shaped necklace, with the words 'Best Friends Forever' on the locket. "M-maybe… You'll remember my by it… And s-always have me b-by your side..."
The set Asriel off again. This time, Frisk cried too. This surprised Asriel, but he just hugged Frisk tighter.
Frisk focused on splitting their soul with Asriel, putting all of their concentration into breaking it right down the middle.
Frisk gave a small sound of pain, as a tiny fracture ran across the surface of their soul. A straight line, running right to the bottom of it. The fracture hurt a lot, more so than when Frisk had died when fighting Flowey.
Asriel startled at the small sound, but refused to release the hug.
"I-I don't want to l-let go…" Asriel admitted into Frisk's shoulder. "I…" Asriel's voice cracked once more. "I'm so s-scared!" Asriel bawled.
Frisk threw everything they had into splitting their soul. All of their determination, hopes, dreams, love, and worry. Their desperation, and their fears. Worry and sacrifice.
Besides, everyone would probably be more happy to see Asriel return home, than care about one human when there were close to eight billion (8,000,000,000) on the surface.
One human wouldn't be missed if anything went wrong.
A white hot pain seared through Frisk. It felt as if their entire body was being ripped in half from the inside.
Asriel suddenly let go of Frisk as they screamed. Asriel began to panic, not at all sure why Frisk was crying out.
The sound was torn from Frisk's throat, and they felt their consciousness fading. Frisk weakly struggled, their chest glowing red for a moment before darkness took them. Frisk collapsed to the ground, falling onto the bed of springy golden flowers.
Asriel was paralyzed. Frisk hadn't made anything louder than a simple greeting when they had been fighting. Even when Asriel had used his full power to try to stop Frisk, they hadn't cried out in pain as their soul was being destroyed.
But this terrified Asriel.
"Frisk!" Asriel shouted, dropping to his knees and cradling their head in one hand. "Frisk, can you hear me!?" Asriel turned away from Frisk for half a second. "Someone help!"
But nobody came.
Asriel placed his ear against Frisk's chest, trying to listen for a heartbeat.
A sudden red glow made Asriel's blood run cold. Asriel sat up slowly, watching in horror as Frisk's soul floated up out of their body. It floated for a moment, making Asriel anxious.
And snapped in two.
"Frisk!" Asriel cried, his heart aching. He began to sob, another friend of his lost. "I'm so sorry!"
But the soul stayed in tact. Two floating pieces, each moving around, independent of each other. One was gradually floating towards Asriel, while the other…
Dropped back into Frisk.
Asriel noticed the strange behavior, calming himself down just enough. He snuffled, and tried to push the other half of Frisk's soul back into their body.
It refused.
The soul stuck to Asriel's palm.
Asriel began panicking again, and tried to shake it off. The soul melted into his palm, and vanished.
Asriel felt a warm sensation running through him, something he hadn't felt since he was younger.
He had a soul.
Asriel could feel the numbness of his hands fading away, leaving him feeling whole once again. Asriel realized that Frisk had done this intentionally, and gently hugged Frisk's limp body.
"Thank you, Frisk." Asriel sniffled, cradling Frisk's head in one hand. He pressed his cheek against theirs, a happy feeling running through them.
Asriel could still feel Frisk's soul, indicating that they were alive. Asriel gave a relieved breath, and looked down at Frisk with watery eyes.
"Why did you do that?" Asriel wondered aloud, his eyes watering again.
Asriel realized that Frisk was still unconscious. He wanted to call for help, but realized that no one was around to hear him. Asriel recalled a smaller house that looked identical to the one he had lived in previously. It was getting late, and the small cavern was becoming colder.
Asriel looked at Frisk, filling with determination.
He knelt down next to Frisk, and wrapped his arms around them. Asriel tried to lift Frisk, but failed, laying them back down on the golden flowers.
With a huff, Asriel tried again. He managed to lift Frisk up a small amount. Eventually, he settled for half-carrying frisk, allowing their feet to drag along the ground.
"You're heavy." Asriel groaned as he took several steps towards the exit of the room. He paused, realizing that what he said could be considered rude. "N-not like that, I mean."
Asriel was too worried about moving Frisk to see the figure standing in the corner. It's left eye was glowing a bright yellow, a faint blue glow radiating from them. It watched Asriel drag Frisk through the arch, wondering if he should kill the monster child, or wait until Frisk was safe.
They decided to wait. Turning around, they took a single step towards the wall...
And vanished.
...
Authors Note
So, that concludes chapter 1. I whipped this up in about 5-7 days of non stop typing. Honestly, I want to write more, but I'm going to do more Graveyard Shift before this.
Anyways, what did you think? Let me know in the reviews.
Thanks
InfamousVenous