Anger

If there was one thing that passed with the sands of time, it had to be hatred. Hatred is what brew anger and anger was an emotion that no one; monster or human could resist. At the time he had been consumed with hatred towards those insufferable humans who dared to attack his children. His precious Asriel, soft and kind, couldn't have been a threat to those who were much bigger than he. When his son vanished into dust he took Asgore's heart with him and left a hole that could not be filled. But in the back of his mind, behind all of his grief at the loss of both Asriel and Chara, he wondered for Toriel. His wife had become distant and would absentmindedly bake her pies. Leaving two extra plates only to realize that whom they were intended for would never come back to claim them.

His wife's tears and distraught cries fueled the hatred within his heart which soon formed anger. His SOUL couldn't help but flare and his harsh decree had been made. Even now he could remember the horror that befell his beautiful Queen's features. How quickly she left him behind and how cold the nights were despite the usual temperature in the Underground. Toriel had been his warmth and his light once Chara and Asriel faced their untimely demise and that warmth steadily faded as the light grew dimmer. He searched for her whether anyone would have believed it or not. In the dead of the night when he was sure enough that most of the monsters were sleeping, he searched for her. Ignoring the heat of the hotlands and refusing to stop even after falling into the Waterfalls one too many times.

Asgore wanted to find her. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to hear her voice and feel her touch and know that since she was there – all would be okay. Because just like anger, hatred soon faded. But he couldn't take back what he had said. If he renounced his word then the people would lose their hope and thus feel as if their lives would soon be next. He had to stay strong and keep his word. Because as a king, he could not falter. As a king he could not turn back and as a king… he must do what was best for his people despite his feelings. Many of the children who fell into the Underground died before stepping foot within the throne room.

For some, that would have been a blessing. The more children foolish enough to die on their own would mean the more souls that could be gathered and the quicker vengeance would come. Asgore could feel a scraping at his heart, at his very SOUL, and his DETERMINATION was waning. Every soul that came to him was colored a different hue and he made sure that the tomb of which the bodies would have been buried was kept orderly by W.D Gaster. Although those children were seen as "enemies" by those in the underground, they were innocent. Asgore knew that and it only rekindled the hatred within his own heart. The hatred pointed towards himself, the hatred towards the humans who forced them underground and even more so – anger at his own foolishness.

It wasn't until that one child fell to the Underground that he felt things would begin to change. That child who befriended the Bone Brothers, whom escaped the clutches of the spiders, ate dinner at Grillsby, spared Undyne, and befriended Alphys. The same child that stood before him and attempted to spare him only to his own chargin because he could not spare himself from the mess that he caused.

He didn't want to their sympathy.

He didn't want their kindness.

He didn't deserve it.

But that child still fought on and with their DETERMINATION and kindness, destroyed the barrier and after all of those years – Asgore felt the sun on his skin. That human child… no. FRISK reached out their hand and touched the massive paw belonging to the caprine who looked down at them with wide eyes. FRISK smiled ever so softly and held his hand in their own urging him silently but with enough DETERMINATION to which Asgore could not refuse.

*YOU SPARED ASGORE*

The tears that welled up in his eyes at the thought and memory of the child's bravery and kindness overwhelmed him. He cried. He cried for Toriel, Asriel, Chara, the monsters in the Underground, and most of all for the humans that had to die due to his inability to make a choice. Frisk didn't seem to mind being held close to the wooly king and instead curled in closer to him as to hear the thudding of his heartbeat.

Hatred faded over time, anger would disappear as well and there was always room to forgive.

"Thank you."