So the Undertale fandom has swallowed me whole...
Oh yeah, I'm looking for anyone who's willing to Beta this for me, let me know by PM. (this one's unbetaed)
Also - I was expecting this chapter to be about 1500 words long, maybe 2000 if I got really into it ... it's really not.
I have no idea if the other chapters will be the same length. They'll probably vary.
CHAPTER 1 – CASTLE IN THE SAND
It was strange, the Golden light that filled this particular hallway of the Underground. It almost appeared to be sunlight, but the very nature of the cavern the palace was located within made it exceeding unlikely that it was the case. Or if it was, then the King of the Monsters must be exceeding selfish to keep the only glimpses of sunlight in the Underground just for his eyes. Then again, the other Monsters had hardly been anything other than cruel and selfish, that was why Frisk has killed them. There had been no reason to expect the King would be any different.
Sunlight or no, The golden light was just so warm. It burnt away the hard chill that had clung to Frisk since they had killed their first Monster all the way back in the Ruins, that had consumed them after Flowey had abandoned them for killing Toriel.
It made them stop and think. To look back on everything they had done. They wanted to regret it. They had never once considered hurting another living being, let alone killing them, before they had fallen into Mount Ebbot. Yet they felt no remorse whatsoever. Every Monster they had killed had attacked them first, they had been acting in self defence. Besides, it was hard to truly grasp that they had killed anyone when the Monsters bodies would turn to dust and blow away on the wind before they even stopped moving.
The shimmer of a SAVE point glowed in the corner of the room as Frisk moved towards it on autopilot as they thought. As they finished their quiet contemplation of the past they crouched down before the glowing star. Running their fingers through the light they felt their DETERMINATION rise up, fuelled by their memories and latch onto this spot in time. They had SAVED.
Standing, Frisk turned to look down the hall. The gentle sunlight bathed the hall and made it seem almost idyllic. The King could not be that much further off.
Each step echoed against the tiled floor. Frisk smiled gently to themselves, closing their eyes briefly as the warm light washed over them.
"heh, heya kiddo."
Frisk's eyes snapped open, staring at the sight before them. Sans the Skeleton slumped in the centre of the hallway, his perpetual grin displaying each of his razor sharp teeth. The sunlight that had previously seemed so warm was now menacing as it reflected from Sans' single golden tooth.
"what's with that face?" Sans' smile seemed to grow. "you look chilled to the bone." He laughed, his shoulders shaking in his black and yellow fur lined coat. "come on kiddo, i'm just messing with ya."
Tightening their grip upon the knife, Frisk raised it to point towards the last living skeleton brother.
A drip of sweat manifested on Sans' brow. "no need for that kiddo. i'm just here to talk."
Frisk narrowed their eyes, refusing to lower their knife. The skeleton was dangerous. He has threatened them at multiple points on the journey, and hadn't even seemed to care when they had killed his brother. They weren't going to trust anyone who could just ignore the death of a sibling and go on to chat to his killer without batting an eye … socket.
Sans sighed. "fine. you keep that knife then, if it makes ya feel better." He leaned forward, and Frisk instinctively leant away. "well lookie at you kiddo. you've killed everybody down here." He paused. "well not everybody. i'm still here, asgore's only in the room down the hall and that god damn flower's still knocking around somewhere." He laughed. "but you've sure given it a good shot. look at you! your level of violence is off the chart, and i've never seen anyone with so many execution points. You have even more that asgore, and I didn't know that was even possible." He took one clawed hand out from his pockets and reached out towards them. Running each claw through Frisk's hair as they stood there, frozen. "i'm impressed kiddo, seriously. that's some determination you have there."
Frisk shuddered discreetly as he removed his hand, wincing as he winked at them.
"you've really proved yourself. i'll admit, when i first saw you after you left the ruins i thought you'd be dead within the hour. lv or no. but you made it all this way, you sure showed them. heh, well so long as you seem to understand how things work down here i suppose I can let you go."
Silence. Frisk stared in unhidden surprise at the short skeleton.
"what?" Sans asked. "i haven't any reason to fight you. i know how to pick my fights you know. seriously there's a reason i'm boss's lackey you know." He stepped aside. "well, what are ya waiting for? go on, asgore's just ahead. Go kill him, take his soul and head on up through the barrier." He laughed again. "i look forward to hearing about what you do to the humans."
And he was gone.
Spinning around, Frisk frantically looked back and forward, trying to see where the skeleton had disappeared to. But it was to no avail. There was not a trace of the Monster to be seen.
It was a while before they moved on, a while before they managed to convince themself that Sans wasn't going to appear in the same manner that he had vanished. That he wasn't going to attack them mercilessly, to kill them from behind. They weren't going to make the mistake of thinking he was gone. They knew how good the skeleton was at not being seen. He had snuck up on them so many times throughout their journey. Each time they had been met with a sharp bone to the back. Only their ability to SAVE had kept them alive through Sans' antics. Frisk doubted it had kept them sane though. What sane person would remorselessly kill so many people – monsters – with next to no provocation.
Eventually they continued down the hall, forcing themself to place one foot in front of the other, resisting the urge to spin around in paranoia at the sound of their own feet on the tiles.
Their hand met the door at the end of the corridor and they pushed it slowly, careful not to make too much noise. Then they were out.
The grey corridor they were met with was such a contrast to the golden one they had just left. This place spoke of foreboding and the final battle they were about to walk into. It sent a chill down Frisk's spine. Regardless they pushed on, crossing to the fork in the path in swift steps. They looked up at the door then turned to peer down the rest of the corridor. Shivering they turned back to the grand door and pushed it open.
The room before them was filled with a field of golden flowers. In the centre of the garden stood a lone chair. A throne, and within it sat the Monster that could only be the king of all Monsters. Asgore.
The great Goat Monster looked down at them, a frown deepening upon his brow.
"So you are the human who has caused my people so much trouble." He spoke, his deep voice somehow filling Frisk with a sense of calm, despite their fear. "How pathetic. That so many Monsters could not dispose of a single child. They deserved their deaths at your hand."
Frisk swallowed, the calm shattered. What sort of King could say such a thing about the Genocide of his people?
"Come then, human. We shall battle at the barrier itself. Upon your death I shall break the barrier and begin the invasion. It may be harder now, with so few Monsters left to fight for my cause. But with the powers of the seven human souls I shall act as a god and destroy the humans for their crimes." Asgore stood, and made to head out the door at the back of the garden.
"No!" Frisk shouted, surprising themself at how loudly they spoke. "No, we fight here." They weren't about to follow this Monster anywhere. Who knows what sorts of traps he had prepared for them up ahead.
Asgore turned towards them and regarded them solemnly. "As you wish human. Your death shall occur here, in this field of flowers. Ironic really. That both the first Monster and the last Human in this war should die upon the same bed of flowers."
Frisk swallowed the curiosity that began burning within them at those words, instead lifting their knife once more and pointing it at the Monster King.
The world faded away as Asgore yanked Frisk's soul from their body, leaving it floating vulnerably between the pair.
The hissing of a charging attack.
Frisk spun, knife swinging blindly at the threat they had not expected.
The crack of knife meeting bone.
Two sets of eyes meeting each other, widening in unison as bone crumbled away and began spilling red onto the floor.
"Sans?" They breathed, shocked. "What?"
"heh." The skeleton choked out. "guess that's that then." For the first time in Frisk's memory the skeleton's perpetual grin had slipped from his face. "and here i thought i could avenge you boss. heh. guess not. i really am trash aren't i boss?"
Then slowly, still dripping red onto the floor, Sans disintegrated. His dust blowing away on the wind and leaving nothing but the stain of red upon the floor.
A flash of fire, far too close for comfort, dragged Frisk back to their fight and forcing them to put aside Sans' death for the moment.
Asgore growled in fury as they dodged as quickly as they could. Their knife flashed out before them as they dash towards him.
Another spout of flame had them abandoning their charge and duck down to the ground. They did not stay on the ground for long, rolling forward and springing back up, running again. This time not directly towards the King, instead zigzagging their way across the room, allowing them to easily slip past each fireball he flung in their direction.
The Goat Monster stumbled back as Frisk suddenly appeared in his immediate field of vision.
"Boo." They whispered, mostly to themself and dug their blade forward, meeting slight resistance against his chest plate, but pushing forward then ripping their arm to the side, shredding Asgore's defences as they went.
He did not collapse immediately, he had earned his title as King of the Monsters after all. A giant paw clutched at the relatively shallow wound Frisk had managed to inflict.
A trident manifested itself in the grip of Asgore's other hand and he swung it around effortlessly, seemingly unhindered by his injuries. Flames erupted into being around him and the King now began his own charge, forcing Frisk to retreat lest they fall to his attack.
Shaking themself Frisk made to attack again, dodging a burst of flame and deflecting the thrust of the trident with the blade of their knife. Unable to swing it around to dig it into Asgore as they held it against the trident, Frisk instead kicked out blindly against the Monster.
The impact did little to no damage, yet it staggered Asgore nonetheless. Less due to the force Frisk could put behind their leg and more due to the surprise nature of the attack. Both Frisk and Asgore knew there was no chance that it would actually harm it.
But that stumble, paired with slight hesitation, gave Frisk the chance to yank their knife around and slash wildly at Asgore's midsection once again, though they had to fall to the floor immediately to avoid the retaliatory swing of the trident, no longer impeded from attacking.
In their haste to escape the magical blade, they failed to see the fire ball that impacted with their side. They let out a surprised yell and almost failed to roll back to their feet – a mistake that would have been fatal with their close proximity to the King.
The burn against their side slowed them, forcing them to make allowances for the searing pain that now shot through their side every time they moved. Pushing through the pain they made to charge forward again, but this time Asgore found no difficulty in forcing them to retreat, the swing of a blade that barely missed pushing them back out of the range of its swing.
They both stilled.
Asgore's tattered clothing offered no more protection against their blade, if only they could reach him to dig it in. His trident may have been easy to avoid before but now Frisk was injured and slow it would be all too easy for the experienced monster to cut them clean in half with it. Frisk's own clothing was falling apart now as well, what little was left of it singed and smoking. Not that it had offered much in the way of protection in the first place, but now Frisk had lost the illusion of safety that had come from the soft woollen jumper engulfing their entire being.
Their fingers lifted to curl around the suddenly far too cold exterior of the heart shaped amulet they had found earlier within the living area of the palace.
Asgore gasped, stumbling backwards as he stared at Frisk as though he had suddenly seen a ghost. "Chara?" He asked in shock, before shaking his head. "No Chara is dead, and you have stolen their belongings human." His mouth split into a savage snarl. "For that you shall feel pain beyond anything before you die human."
The overwhelming heat that threatened to consume them left them curled on the ground, gasping in pain. Their jumper had now completely burned away, leaving their skin blistering and on display to the Goat Monster as he stepped menacingly towards their helpless form.
"You put up a good fight." The King admitted. "I doubt any other could have managed to turn you in, but you sealed your fate in coming here to fight with me. You shall die here Human." He raised his trident to deal the final blow.
Frisk frantically shoved their blade up towards Asgore with the last of their strength.
And hit.
The trident faded away to nothing instantly, leaving the King of all Monsters stumbling away from Frisk clutching at the knife still buried in his chest.
Already Asgore was turning to dust. Frisk dragged themself up to watch as his skin cracked and disintegrated, rummaging around in their inventory for the healing items they knew were sequestered within.
They had torn through two Glam-burgers when it happened.
A thick emerald vine, covered in crimson spines punctured the chest of the already dying King, ending the slow death instantly and causing him to explode into dust that slowly drifted down to the ground.
The white Monster soul floated innocently right where Asgore's heart had just been impaled by the vine.
"Howdy!" Came a familiar voice from the ground where Asgore's dust now settled. "Its been a while hasn't it Frisk?"
Frisk stared wide eyed at the weak flower monster. "Since Toriel." They muttered, half to themself.
Flowey's eyes narrowed. "Yes." He agreed. "Since Toriel." He took a deep breath. "I never did explain why I so wanted you to spare her did I Frisk?" He giggled inanely, and Frisk wondered briefly if Toriel's death had affected the flower's mental health in some way. "Well I don't think I feel like explaining at all. I'm not like that skeleton. I'm not willing to pretend not to care. Not even to get the chance to end you." Flowey's face split apart in a way Frisk had never realised he could do. "No. I intend to end you in an entirely different way."
The same vine that had finished Asgore wrapped suddenly around his soul and dragged it towards Flowey. The small monster's face opened wider, and wider still, until the vine lowered the soul into his mouth and Flowey swallowed it whole.
Flowey's form bubbled, and for a moment Frisk thought that he might melt, much like Undyne had when she had finally died. But the bubbling did not flow away, instead it flowed outwards, building up till it formed a shape similar in height to Frisk's body.
Suddenly Flowey's strange reaction to Toriel's death made much more sense. The form that now stared them down was that of a Goat Monster. Much smaller than either Toriel or the newly deceased Asgore. No, Flowey appeared much younger, the child Frisk no longer felt like.
Flowey opened their new eyes and met Frisk's evenly, a tangible hatred burning within them that Frisk could not help but feel was entirely justified.
"I lied to you back then." Flowey admitted. "When I told you my name. But you see I abandoned it when I lost this form. Even now I'm only going to be able to keep it for so long." He let out a small, bitter laugh. "Asgore's soul is only so powerful, and still nothing when compared to a human's. But you know I think I'm alright with that. I only need long enough to kill you after all, I don't want to be able to feel like this after. But I suppose I'll allow you a new introduction shall I? Howdy, Frisk the not-human. I'm Asriel Dreemurr."
Frisk frowned inwardly. The way that Flowey, no Asriel was talking was rather strange. Asriel was heavily suggesting that he was about to attack them, but he was at an obvious disadvantage. Frisk knew for a fact that Flowey had been a weak monster, and had read the research in Alphys' Lab that told of how a monster soul gave next to know power. There was no reason to believe that Asriel would be able to give up much of a fight at all.
Yet the very fact that the once flower had come before them, that he had taken Asgore's soul instead of letting it dissipate, suggested that Asriel had every intention of attacking them.
A thought that was confirmed when the diminutive Goat Monster summoned up a series of small fireballs and flung them in Frisk's direction.
Fireballs that fizzled out of existence before they even reached Frisk.
A snort escaped Frisk's lips. "That's it?" They found themself asking. "After all that build up, that all the magic you could muster up?"
Asriel's mouth twisted into a sad smile. "Yeah, I never did get old enough to learn how to fight properly. Oh well, I'll have to make do. My DETERMINATION won't let me lose."
Then there was a searing heat as flames seemed to surround them from nowhere, and their soul shattered as they felt to the ground.
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
RELOADING hardly fazed them any more, as many times as they had done it they had become used to the disorientation that came with suddenly being somewhere else, and with far fewer injuries.
What did shock them was the fact that they had not reappeared back at their SAVE point. Instead they stood once again before Asriel, his Flower form already having been discarded.
It threw them for an instant. An instant that was long enough to allow Asriel to set them ablaze once more.
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
It took several more reloads before Frisk was able to grow used to being flung straight back into battle, without the chance to think through strategies, to remember previous attacks and think of how to avoid them next time. Somehow they doubted that mattered, each attack Asriel made upon them was different. The product of an enemy who was attacking based on what Frisk was doing, not their own pre practised attacks.
Had Frisk been the sort of fighter that had learnt how to fight beforehand it might have made Asriel an easy opponent, but they were far to accustomed to watching, learning and picking apart the moves of their opponents. The ability to SAVE and RELOAD had become a huge crutch, and now Frisk was struggling to fight without it.
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
Frisk came out of their RELOAD fast and furious, dashing forward and for the first time managing to plunge their knife into Asriel's fur as he stumbled clumsily away from them. But instead of turning the small monster to dust as it had to all the others, the wound in Asriel's side bubbled and closed near instantly.
They stopped and stared, a sound of frustration escaping their lips at the sight of their work being undone in seconds.
A jet of flame that they didn't think to even try and dodge.
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
This time as they dashed forwards, Asriel's stumble brought him out of the path of their blade and they were forced to retreat from the gout of fire he sent in retaliation.
They did not bother trying to keep their distance. Asriel's flames made him a long range fighter, and Frisk was forced into close combat by the virtue of their only weapon being a knife. Distance only gave him the advantage.
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
It took them a while to notice. At first they had attributed the changes to their own mental exhaustion at having to fight non stop when they were used to getting breaks after each death. But it was definitely there, Asriel was getting stronger.
"You're doing something." They accused, gasping for breath and trying not to let on how relieved they were that Asriel stopped to answer them.
"I don't know what you're talking about." A slight smirk grew on his lips. "I'm not doing anything. My DETERMINATION isn't that strong."
"You know about the RESET." Frisk murmured to the themself, then louder, "You remember."
"Remember what?" Asriel asked mockingly. "The way you killed everyone in the ruins. The way you refused to listen to me as I begged you to spare Toriel's life?" He glared. "Or perhaps you mean the way I've killed you 49 times at this point."
Frisk scowled. "Then why bother? You know I'll come back. You know that I'll eventually win. You can't match my DETERMINATION."
Asriel lifted a single shoulder in a half shrug. "So? At least I'll know I tried my hardest to end you. To stop the abomination you've become. You've fallen to the same obsession the entire Underground used to follow. The need to gain more EXP. To have the highest LV. To be the strongest of them all. I may not believe in Asgore's KILL or BE killed, but I know when I have to make a stand. I can recognise someone who's beyond SAVING."
Frisk straightened slightly, their breath no longer coming in desperate pants. "So you intend to fight me here forever? Well, until I finally beat you."
"No." Asriel told them. "I want you to know that we can still be friends. Not here, not now. But I will forgive you if you use that power of yours once more now to RESET the timeline completely. To return to the Ruins and start your journey anew. I'm willing to settle for just getting them back. I won't hold a grudge. I promise."
Wide eyes fixed on Asriel's form. It was a foreign concept, the idea of forgiveness on that level. It made them pause, to think about if all this was really worth it. Here, the only person who would remember what they had done was willing to let it go if they just turned back now.
No. They'd gone too far to give up now. They'd spent so long figuring out how to beat each member of the underground. Even those the monsters considered weaklings had stolen their life countless times. This was their own form of justice. They weren't going to give up just because they'd found a difficult enemy. Undyne must have killed them a hundred times before they finally got her.
Asriel shook his head sadly. "You aren't going to listen are you?" A ring of fire fizzled into existence around him. "Guess we'll just have to make that 50 deaths."
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
Neither party even paused at Frisk's death any longer. They were both fully aware that the other remembered each and every event, and neither of them cared to keep up the pretence that they were attacking for the first time on each occasion.
There were no breaks, and the only words spoken as Frisk fell to the ground at a burst of deadly flame;
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
Frisk wasn't one to count their deaths, that was just an easy way to lose DETERMINATION, and in a fight like this that would kill them for good. But they must have died far many more times to Asriel than they ever had to any of the monsters in the Underground. Frisk wouldn't have been surprised if Asriel had killed them more than all the others had managed combined.
With each death it was growing harder to hold onto their resolution. With each recitation of those same words Frisk felt like giving up a little more. But no, they were DETERMINED. They weren't going to lose to a Kid.
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
"That's a thousand."
The unexpected words threw Frisk off, making them blink in a stupor at Asriel. "What?" They muttered, momentarily confused.
"One thousand deaths." Asriel repeated. "How many more before you give up?"
"How many more till you just lay down and die?" Frisk shot back, irritation flaring up.
Asriel shrugged. "At least a thousand more." He told them and charged in to attack them again
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
They hesitated.
Should they really CONTINUE?
Could they keep this up?
Would it just be easier to do as Asriel had told them?
Should they reset?
[CONTINUE]
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
They weren't getting anywhere. They only knew how to use a knife so well, and Asriel was certainly more skilled with his flames. Maybe they could wait him out? He'd told them he only had so long before Asgore's soul ran out of power and they returned to the form of a flower, hadn't they? Frisk couldn't really remember. They'd died so many times now.
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
Outlasting him didn't work. Back before they'd started aiming for it they might have lasted ten or so minutes between RESETS, but once he'd realised what they were aiming for they were lucky to last even half of that.
"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."
Five thousand, two hundred and three deaths. Asriel had told them after each thousand mark and at five thousand they had started keeping track on their own.
Five thousand, two hundred and three deaths.
They were done.
No more.
They couldn't keep doing this.
They couldn't bear to die here again.
[RESET]