Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale or any of its characters. This story was also written without knowledge of Deltarune's plot or characters.
Author's Note: I am very sorry this took so long. I actually meant to have this ready long before the New Year. I had written and rewritten this at least a dozen times. Once again, I'm sorry, the next part won't take as long as this one did. I already have it drafted and I just need to edit it a bit.
IN SPITE OF YOUR SHADOW
-=-=-=-=- PART IX -=-=-=-=-
THE SHADOW
Asriel descended into darkness as he continued down the stairs. At the bottom was a hallway. A trail of footsteps echoed from around the corner. He chased after them immediately. As he rounded the corner he saw a shadow in an odd light that cascaded onto the wall from around another bend in the hall. He heard a loud creak and the level of light grew. A second creaking sound followed shortly after and with it the light lessened. He sped around the next corner and found a large door. The little light left in the hall was spilling in from beneath the door. He pushed the heavy doors open and was met with brilliant rays of orange light. He looked around and found himself at the barrier. Silhouetted by the shining twilight of the surface was Frisk. Asriel stepped into the barrier cavern and the doors creaked closed behind him. He had found her at last. He breathed a sigh of relief and approached her. Frisk remain stock still, as though she were petrified or a statue. It looked like she was holding something in front of her, he wasn't sure though, the silhouetting made it difficult to see. As he got closer to Frisk he could make out more details. Her posture was tense, her expression blank and unreadable, and most disturbingly, her eyes had a dark red glint to them. An uneasy feeling filled Asriel and he stopped moving towards her. Frisk gave him a cold, unblinking glare. He looked behind himself quickly. The doors were gone. When his eyes returned to Frisk, she was a step closer. He noticed that she seemed to be mumbling something.
"He's just an obstacle..." He thought he heard Frisk say, although the voice was at a lower tone. "He's a burden on our soul. We must be rid of him"
Asriel took a cautious step backwards. He didn't like where this was going. A horrific sense of déjà vu struck him as he recalled the events that led up to this moment.
He had awoken to Frisk looming over him, a dark look in her eye, not dissimilar to the one she had now. When he got out of bed she attacked him. He had to block her assault with his arms. He had shoved Frisk during the scuffle and she smacked her temple on the corner of the night table. She seemed unconscious and he ran to get Toriel. On their way up the steps, they found that Frisk unconscious, but in the middle of the hall. Asriel figured she must have crawled there from the room. Toriel took Frisk to Alphys' clinic where they strapped her to one of the beds in the ward for her own protection. Later, sometime during the early morning, she somehow escaped. When Alphys found out she called Toriel and Asgore, who promptly organized search parties. Asriel was told by both of his parents to stay home, fearing for his safety. Something was dreadfully wrong with Frisk and Asriel needed to know what, so he decided to sneak out and search for her on his own. He had a hunch that Frisk would be at their place on Voltigeur pond if she was in distress. His memories after that were somewhat foggy still. He found her there at the pond, she apologized for something, and… He couldn't quite remember what happened next.
Asriel shook his head and snapped back to attention. Frisk had stopped mumbling and had closed her eyes. She moved her hand to the side and the object it held was no longer hidden in the silhouette. Its blade glinted in the light. It was Frisk's folding knife. Asriel took another step backwards.
"Let's just get this over with," Frisk muttered, this time in her own voice.
Asriel had a good idea of what that meant and began to move away from her. Unfortunately, before he could even turn around to run, an inconveniently located stone caused him to trip. In a single motion, Frisk took advantage of his vulnerability. Within a split second, she was on top of him with her blade raised primed to strike. She brought it down, aiming squarely at his throat. Asriel managed to grab her hand. All hands were on the knife a short second later, battling to control the weapon. Frisk forced the blade down, and Asriel resisted. It was a losing battle though, Frisk was always the strongest of the two. Staring death in the eye gave Asriel the strength to resist. Frisk had to put her weight behind the blade in order to close the distance. During all of this, Asriel had only one thought on his mind.
"Why?" He asked with a raspy voice.
Frisk didn't answer. She continued to force down the knife.
"Why?" He asked again.
No answer.
"Frisk, Why-"
"Just shut up!" Frisk snapped, now looking distraught. She shut her eyes for a moment and composed herself. "J-just… just be quiet Asriel."
Asriel refused the notion of going quietly. "Why are you doing this!?" He demanded.
"I… Asriel. I'm sorry. I can't share my soul with you anymore."
"Why not!?"
"I-" Frisk stopped her response abruptly. The red gleam in her eyes brightened and she spoke again in that darker tone from earlier. "Because humans are disgusting creatures. Their depravity must be stopped and in order to do that, I must become powerful. I cannot carry out my vengeance with a leech like you clinging to my soul."
"I know you had it rough, at least if that schoolyard scene was anything to go by, but-"
"You don't know," Frisk cut him off, "what I've been through!"
Her voice shook, "how I have suffered. How I… I have been h-hurt…" She trailed off.
"You could never know," she growled angrily. "You weren't shunned. You weren't beaten. You weren't ignored when you cried out for help…"
Her efforts redoubled. The knife drew in faster than before. Her voice increased in volume with every word.
"You never had to be afraid of returning home! You were never-" Frisk stopped mid-sentence and shut her eyes, unwilling to continue the sentence. She collected herself and continued, "You had parents that loved you!"
She forced the blade down and the tip parted the fur on his neck. He dared not swallow, lest his Adam's apple scrape across it.
"You have parents that love you, Frisk!" He shouted.
The knife, its tip grazing his throat, stopped. After all the struggle for control, the blade ceased its descent right as it met its mark. Frisk still applied downward force, but only enough to keep it where was. Asriel took this as a prompt to continue.
"You have people all around you who love and care about you. Mom loves you, Dad loves you, I love you. Papyrus, Sans, Undyne, Alphys,… they… we all love you. Whenever you needed help, we were all there for you. That hasn't changed, and it will never change."
Frisk's grip on the knife loosened. Asriel gently took it from her hands and tossed it aside. She got off of him and he sat up, rubbing where the knife grazed his throat. Frisk hung her head and held herself. Asriel shuffled towards her and wrapped his arms around Frisk. After a moment, Frisk slid her arms around his waist and buried her face in Asriel's shoulder. They stayed like that for a moment.
"Hey…" Asriel began, breaking the silence, "I don't know exactly what's going on with you, or where we are, or how we're going to get out of here, but I'm here for you. I always will be."
He parted from Frisk and looked her in the eye. The red gleam was gone and they had returned to their normal shade of brown. He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb before pulling her back into a hug.
"I'm sorry…" Frisk apologized softly, "for attacking you."
"Don't worry about it. None of that matters now," He cooed. "Let's just find a way outta here."
The two stood up and looked around. The door in had vanished and the only way out appeared to be the barrier. Asriel and Frisk cautiously approached the shimmering twilight of the surface.
"Traitors."
A voice spoke up from behind them, causing them to stop in their tracks. The voice was all too familiar to them both. Frisk looked over to Asriel, who seemed to be in a state of shock. Frisk turned around slowly. Asriel was hesitant to turn and face the voice. He hadn't heard it for a long time and he never thought he'd hear it again. Asriel mustered his courage and turned around, immediately freezing over in grief and fright. An eerily similar shape to Frisk stood. Pale skinned, flushed cheeks, wide-eyed, with a red glare that was sharp enough to cut glass. It was his beloved, long since dead sister, Chara.
"Both of you!" she spat venomously.
Asriel glanced over to Frisk. She looked like she was steeling herself for a fight. He looked back over to Chara. She was clutching the knife he discarded.
"I should never have taken that deal. I knew he would be a liability." She stated bitterly, directing most of it to Frisk.
Asriel found all of this to be very uncomfortable and judging by the look on Frisk's face he wasn't the only one to feel this way. His dead sister was standing before him, brandishing a knife. Frisk had just tried to murder him. They were all in the Underground. Frisk and Chara seemed to know each other and even have some sort of history.
"Frisk," Chara began, taking notice of Asriel's confusion, "I do believe we should enlighten our dear Asriel about our little deal."
Asriel glanced over to Frisk. Shades of dread were washing over her. Chara smiled deviously. She opened her mouth to begin speaking when Frisk suddenly lunged at her. Whatever Chara was about to say, Frisk obviously didn't want it to be heard. The two were soon at blows. Asriel stood, watching in horror, not wanting to intervene, fearing that he might injure them. Frisk dodged the initial defensive slash and managed to get Chara in some sort of arm-hold. She successfully wrestled the knife from Chara's grasp, only to lose it after receiving several punches to the side. The two scrambled to the ground to get the knife. Frisk elbowed Chara across the face and snatched the knife quickly. After a hectic scuffle, the two had risen to their feet. Frisk feigned a stab to the left, Chara dodged accordingly and Frisk jabbed at the opening. Chara, however, must have seen it coming because she grabbed Frisk by the arm and pulled her in. Once she was close in, Chara proceeded to knee Frisk in the gut repeatedly. Frisk dropped the blade and Chara shoved Frisk to the ground. She quickly retrieved the knife and moved towards Frisk. As Asriel watched in self-imposed helplessness he shut and covered his eyes. All he heard was a shriek, followed by scuffling. When he finally dared to open his eyes, he saw Frisk on her knees, clutching her bleeding side, and restrained in a hold. Chara had the bloodied knife at her throat. He covered his mouth and shivered in fear.
"Tell him, or I will."
Frisk said nothing, staying defiantly silent. Chara sighed frustratedly and looked over to Asriel.
"When Frisk-"
"Don't listen to her, Asriel! She-" Chara quickly pressed the blade's edge against her throat, ending Frisk's interruption. Everyone remained still for a moment, especially Frisk.
Chara cleared her throat and began again. "When Frisk decided that the ending she got was not the one she wanted, she began… experimenting. She was willing to do anything and everything to attain her happy ending."
Frisk began struggling. Chara reasserted her dominant position by forcing the edge against Frisk's throat and ever so slightly sliding the knife, creating a small cut. Frisk breathed in sharply and ceased trying to break free.
"Frisk, quite by accident, awakened me." Frisk became restless again. Chara decided to ignore it and continue. "She did so by taking that stick she fell down with and venting her frustrations on that poor froggit. It gave her a taste of power. She thought she could use it to get her the happy ending she wanted. So she slaughtered any monster that came near her and she grew stronger. That is what brought me back. It was a… strange experience. It was like I awoke from a nightmare. I suddenly found myself floating in the back of Frisk's mind. I sifted through her memories and discovered that she and I were very similar, and not just in appearance. It was… amusing."
Frisk tried her best to look away from Asriel. Chara prevented her from doing so, she wanted Frisk to look at Asriel.
"When she finally faced our mother. She couldn't bring that toy knife she found against her. Mother used her magic and Frisk simply would not attack. When mother's sentimentality finally got to her, she dropped her guard, pulled Frisk into a hug and… well… you know what happened next. Frisk has a penchant for being a backstabber. I found the ordeal… horrifying yet also… cathartic and exhilarating. Frisk, despite her attachment to our mother, savagely and in the most despicable way possible, murdered her in cold blood. Her cruelty made me realize that my thirst for vengeance could be quenched."
Frisk's eyes were closed and her face showed a defeated expression.
"She continued her heartless butchering, with some encouragement every now and then from myself of course. Monster after monster fell before her. By the time she reached New Home, her hands were caked in dust, and all sympathy had washed away. She and I were in sync." Chara chuckled quietly, "I'm actually not sure whose actions were who's at that point. I'm surprised that I need to tell you this. You were there, after all."
Asriel didn't remember this all too well. Most of his memories as Flowey blended together, becoming somewhat amorphous. It probably didn't help that he actively repressed the memories too. A migraine flared up as fragmented memories rose to the surface. He as Flowey had mistaken Frisk as Chara at… some point. It was all terribly hazy.
"Moving on. After dispatching the final obstacles, she met me in the darkest depths of her soul. I properly introduced myself and told her how I came about. I seduced her with promises of power. I told her that together we would move on from the pointless world we existed in and move on to the next. We would shatter the barrier and, in due time, enact vengeance upon humanity. Everything was progressing as planned. She knew the required rout to shatter the barrier and guided us on the path. But then, right at the end of our journey, she became sentimental. She took a stroll back through the Underground. She had done this all before, it was completely unnecessary. She came across you, huddled over my resting place and became apprehensive. She reset the timeline. I. Was. Furious. We were once a well-oiled machine, working in tandem. All of our hard work torn asunder. We fought for control afterwards, ultimately getting nothing done. After she slaughtered her way back to me, we held a parley and came to an agreement. She would become my willing vessel, but only if I met her two conditions. The first was to allow her to enjoy life for a little while. A simple enough request and one I could sympathize with. The second condition though… was… you. She would not agree to cooperate so long as you were doomed to turn back into the flower. I rejected the condition. She refused to cooperate until my patience ran out and I acquiesced. After doing are treading the same path all over again, we went to my burial site and I bound you to Frisk's soul. Ever since then, I've regretted it. You were, are, and always will be a liability. You've turned Frisk against me and have sabotaged my plans for the last time. Saving you and not crushing Frisk's free will were mistakes. Mistakes I intend to correct."
Chara readied the knife, her intentions laid clear. She leant in and whispered to Frisk "Starting with you."
She made the motion to begin her slice. Asriel covered his eyes and cowered, he couldn't bear to watch. He heard a strange noise, followed by a pained grunt. When Asriel opened his eyes, he saw Frisk sprawled out on the ground, clutching at her neck, and Chara, now a distance back. Chara, still holding the knife, picked herself up off the ground. Asriel ran over to Frisk. He removed her bloodied hand from her neck and was relieved to see that there only flesh wounds there. He looked at her face. She seemed terribly frightened and unresponsive. He held her gingerly and comforted her as best he could. He heard heavy, angry breathing and turned to see the source. Chara stood a few metres away. She held the knife shakily, a look of seething rage on her face. Asriel held Frisk closer, in a protective reaction. Chara went to lunge at them but stopped as a ring of friendliness pellets formed around her. Before she knew what was happening, they closed in on her. The knife clattered to the floor and she disappeared. Asriel didn't summon the pellets, which meant only one thing. He looked around quickly and caught a glimpse of a flower burrowing into the ground. He let out a weary sigh. He looked back down at Frisk, who was slowly getting her bearings. After doing so she separated herself from Asriel's arms and scuttled away from him.
Asriel and Frisk sat before the barrier in silence. She didn't dare look at him. He idly twiddled his thumbs, mulling over everything that had happened. Not everything made sense, but he had put together a good-enough picture in his mind. Now he just needed to figure out a way to bring it up. He scratched the back of his neck.
"So…" Frisk piped up hoarsely. This startled Asriel, who thought he'd be the one to talk first. "You now know what I did to save you…"
He looked over to Frisk. She held herself as though she was cold, and still looking away.
"I killed everyone I ever cared about. Twice." She put a lot of emphasis on that last word. The disdain in her voice was palpable.
Asriel understood the guilt she was feeling. Seeing Flowey and hearing Chara's words dredged up a lot of awful memories. He had murdered his way across the underground many a time. She never had the grace of a foggy memory though. She probably dwelled on her actions every day of her life for all these years. He shuffled closer to Frisk and rested his hand on her shoulder.
"H-hey… I… uh… I think I have a good idea about what you're feeling right now. I did a lot of… uh… bad stuff… as Flowey." His words stumbled out awkwardly. "But uh… If you're worried that I'm angry at you, I'm not. Some of the things I did…"
Asriel trailed off, the unpleasant stroll through memory lane causing his gut to roil. He shook his head and snapped out of it. He then cast is gaze to the barrier.
"I've never told mom, or dad, for that matter. I'm petrified by the idea of them finding out. Whenever a memory surfaced around them, all I could do is bottle up the emotions and carry on as nothing happened. It's not easy to be around people you have vivid memories of killing."
He saw out of the corner of his eye that Frisk was looking at him. He looked over to her. She wore a pained expression, tears rolled down her cheeks. Frisk leant in and pulled Asriel into a hug, a gesture he gladly reciprocated. Nothing was said. Nothing had to be said. When they finally parted, Asriel looked over to the barrier.
"Do you wanna get out of here?" He asked.
"Yeah."
The two stood and approached the barrier.
"Wait," Frisk said as she stopped suddenly. Asriel turned to face her.
"I want to do something first."
Frisk put her hands to her chest. A bright light emanated from beneath them. She extended out her hands. Floating just above them was a luminous red heart. Her soul.
"What are you doing?" Asriel asked, concerned and confused.
"I'm already sharing my soul with you. I figured that you should get to keep your half."
And with that, she split the heart in half and extended one of the halves to Asriel. He reached out for it but hesitated. He looked up from the soul to Frisk's face. She was smiling reassuringly. He smiled slightly and took the soul fragment in his hand. He pressed it to his chest. A strange, tingling feeling rushed through his body. A warm feeling started in his chest and spread out from there. He smiled. It felt… nice. Frisk had returned her soul to its place. She took his hand in her own.
"Alright. Let's get out of here."
Asriel nodded. As the two passed through the barrier, a wave of blinding white light engulfed them.
