"Frisk…thanks for listening to me, but you should really go be with your friends now okay?"
Those words haunted the young human ever since his first run.
"Frisk…don't you have anything better to do?..."
No matter what he did, he couldn't change them. He did everything he could, explored every path, talked to each monster he found. He always managed to save all of the monsters and, thanks to the lost prince of the underground, destroy the barrier that trapped all his friends. But it wasn't enough.
He did a TRUE RESET again and again and again, each time disappointed when Asriel Dreemurr refused to budge from the grave of his best friend. Part of Frisk understood why. The young monster no longer had a soul, having lost it when he and his adopted human brother died together after returning from the surface. After being reincarnated as a flower, Asriel had no soul and no emotions to love anyone. This lack of love turned him into the evil and bitter "Flowey the Flower". While his feelings had been returned with all the souls of the monsters and six humans in him while trying to kill Frisk as the God of Hyperdeath, he had released them all after using his power to break the barrier. Without a soul once more he was doomed to become Flowey once more.
Frisk understood this…but he hated it. It was unfair. Asriel may have made a mistake in going along with his brother's horrible plan…but did he have to suffer for eternity with no positive emotions for it? That couldn't be his only fate! He was determined to find a way to save the cursed child…and so he RESET.
But it all seemed for naught. Despite losing track of RESETs, despite exploring what felt like every possible path Frisk could find no solution. Nothing he did saved Asriel…nothing he did gave him a true happy ending.
Frisk looked at the goat-like monster's back as Asriel sat facing the flowerpatch that marked the grave of Chara, his adopted brother and best friend. The human's neutral expression hid his exhaustion, tired from going through the same actions over and over for who knows how long. Was there really no way to save him?...
The small chamber was quiet for a long while, Asriel waiting for Frisk to leave…and Frisk trying to think of a way to cheat fate. There had to be a way to save him…there had to be, and he refused to give up on him, no matter how many RESETs he had to go through!
At this internally reaffirmed resolution, Frisk felt a pulse from his soul. He put a hand to his chest…and his eyes widened in realization as an idea appeared in his head. It was impossible, a crazy plan that could only end in failure or worse for him…but he'd done the impossible before.
The human set his gaze back upon the forlorn prince, plan in mind. He banished all doubts and walked towards him. The thought that one way or another, he'd make this the final run filled him with…DETERMINATION.
Asriel Dreemurr sighed when he felt a poking at his back. "Frisk, please…don't make this harder than it already is…" His frown deepened when he felt the poking evolve to a gentle shake. Turning around to face the human, he was surprised when he felt himself trapped in a tight hug around his waist. He weakly tried to push Frisk away. "F-frisk, you can't stay here." He tried to resist the urge to cry, but he could feel the tears forming despite his best efforts. He always was a hopeless crybaby. "You can't save me, okay?"
These words only made Frisk hug harder. "It's fine, j-just go on without me please Frisk. I don't want you here wh-when I change back." He was sniffling now, pushing harder on the human as the tears started to leak. But Frisk wouldn't budge.
"No…" Frisk said quietly, burying his face into the monster's shoulder. "I won't give up." Asriel gave in and hugged back, closing his eyes and sobbing quietly. He wanted so desperately wanted to be able to go with his new friend. He wanted to go and see his parents again. He wanted to make a garden with his dad, laughing when they both came inside covered in dirt and needing a bath. He wanted to help Mom bake pies again, enjoying the tasty results with her afterwards. He wanted to go with both of them to the surface, feel the sunlight on his fur for the first time in forever, smiling in true happiness. He so desperately wanted to go with Frisk…but it was impossible.
When he started calming down the soulless prince tried to tell Frisk to leave once again, but he stopped. He felt a warmth inside him, and opening his eyes he saw a soft red glow filling the room with Frisk and himself as the source. His crying died fully as he looked upon the human in awe as he felt…something flowing into him. It took him a moment to realize that the warmth was forming up inside a hole in him.
Reaching a shaking fist to his chest, he felt a weak pulse as the warmth mixed with his magic. It was small and weak…but it was there…a soul. Asriel didn't know how to react. His joy didn't last for long as the realization of where the warmth was coming from hit him like a Gaster Blaster. He used his magic to feel out for Frisk's soul, and to his horror found it dwindling in strength.
"F-frisk!" He shouted out as he began his efforts to remove the human anew. "Stop, don't do this! Don't sacrifice yourself for me!" He begged, but his pleading fell upon deaf ears as the red glow only intensified. Asriel felt himself growing stronger as Frisk weakened in turn.
Despite his growing, and unwanted, strength, he could not remove Frisk from his waist, overpowered by the naturally superior physical strength of the human body. He began to cry once again, helpless to stop his savior. He had no choice but to wait for Frisk to weaken enough to pull him off, as much as it hurt him to do so.
Much to Asriel's surprise and relief, Frisk stopped on his own…though it occurred far later than he liked. The human slumped to the floor, thankfully landing mostly on the flower bed. Asriel took this chance to pull out Frisk's soul and examine the damage the pacifist's sacrifice had caused.
While it wasn't nearly as bad as he feared, the damage was still considerable. Instead of a defined heart shape, there was simply a weakly pulsing, half heart. Even as he watched, the remaining part of the soul slowly shifted, as if to fill in the missing half…the half that now resided inside himself.
Gently placing Frisk's soul back inside him, Asriel tried to think of a solution. He couldn't give Frisk back the half that was given, it was already mixing with his magic. He didn't know how, but it felt like his magic was filling in and mixing with what he was given to create an entirely new soul…and unlike Frisk, he doubted he could split his own soul in half.
His own soul…the phrase gave him an involuntary feeling of joy, despite the cost of it. He shook his head to focus. "Gotta save Frisk first…" He told himself. Looking over Frisk's body, he frowned as he tried to think of a way to fix him. He doubted that the soul would regenerate on its own…but what else could he do?
He thought of his own soul's adaption again and frowned. He could try and carefully push his own magic into Frisk and hope that it makes it whole like that magic did to his half…but he had no idea what would happen to Frisk if he did. He debated over it internally before deciding he had no other option. A majority of the magic he retained after he regained his real body was used to hold his form and, after Frisk's bold move, create his new soul. He doubted he'd be able to get Frisk to anyone who could help on his own, and he had just enough spare magic left that he believed would help Frisk. If he was lucky, the human would be back on his feet afterwards and they could seek better help together.
Carefully withdrawing Frisk's soul once again, Asriel looked at the half heart.. It hovered in the air calmly, the broken part of it seeming to drift into the empty spot. The goat-like kid took a deep breath. "Golly Frisk…I sure hope this works." He mumbles quietly as he took the soul into his paws. He was unsure of what he was supposed to do, but he recalled the warmth that filled him when Frisk saved him and tried to use his magic to do the same back.
Nothing happened at first, the rest of the world fading away as Asriel focused on the broken soul. He thought of how selfless Frisk was as he tried to push magic into it, how he took attack after attack from others yet refused to get mad. Frisk had even died before, yet he still gave his very best to make everyone happy with a smile on his usually neutral face. Even when Asriel had attacked him, tried desperately to kill him in a disturbed attempt to stay with his long dead brother, Frisk refused to let him return to his fate. Using these thoughts, he pushed himself harder and began to see a change.
Asriel's paws began to glow with the soft light of pure magic as he felt the energy flow out of him and into the broken soul. His eyes widened as slowly, but surely the empty space began to fill up with it. A huge smile broke out on his face as the magic began to mix with the rest of the soul, the colors beginning to swirl from red to white, pulsing stronger with each passing moment. By the time he was done the soul was whole once again, glowing a light pink as it sank into the owner once more.
He was especially glad to rest, as the process had taken a lot out of him. Asriel pushed Frisk onto his back before laying down next to him. He took the time to simply enjoy the feeling inside him. He had a new soul and Frisk wasn't sacrificed for it, he wouldn't turn back into flower anymore, and…he couldn't help the happy tears that came to his eyes or the smile that seemed stuck on his muzzle. He had given up on ever being happy again…but it seemed that wasn't good enough for Frisk. Thanks to Frisk's DETERMINATION, Asriel had his happy ending he wanted so badly. He let himself cry and smile, the emotions too strong to contain.
He was filled with HOPE.