DHHW: Hey readers. We are pretty much at the midpoint of this story now. But that doesn't mean that there aren't more things to come. On the last chapter, Undyne and Chara battle each other. Undyne wasn't able to beat Chara with his demonic and godly power, yet she was able to get out alive. Meanwhile Frisk and Asriel are still training with Kelder and Ronin.
Frisk: I learned magic.
Asriel: About time, dude.
Frisk: Hey! It's not like there's an instruction manual for humans on how to use magic.
Asriel: To be fair, there's probably is somewhere in the world.
DHHW: Even with your magic, you still haven't mastered your true powers yet. If you two want to stand a chance against Chara, you better step it up.
Frisk and Asriel: What do you think we've been doing?
DHHW: Holding yourselves back.
Frisk and Asriel: WHAT?!
DHHW: Face it. Neither of you two is considered 'fighters'. But let's see if that will change with this chapter.
Asriel: We can only hope so.
Frisk: Otherwise, this was all for nothing.
DHHW: Let's start the chapter.
Chapter 9: The truth is Reveal: The origin of the war.
For many days, Frisk and Asriel continued to train with Kelder and Ronin guiding them. The two have gained many experience from all the training. Mastering their fire magic and defending themselves in combat. Doing such has made the both of them a little stronger. However, according to Kelder and Ronin, the two are still holding back their true power for some reason.
Currently, both Frisk and Asriel were channeling the power of their souls again. Frisk glowed with a red aura and Asriel glowed with a gold aura. Kelder and Ronin watched them, yet it still felt that something was off with them.
"After us training them, both of the boys have gained quite an amount of strength." Kelder said to Ronin while stoking his beard.
"Indeed. Both them and their powers are growing." Ronin said agreeing with Kelder. "However..."
"... they are both still holding back their souls' power." Kelder stated.
"You notice it too." Ronin said to Kelder. He then put his left paw on his chin. "For some reason, it like they are knowingly holding themselves back. But the question is... why?"
"I can't be sure. So all I can say is that we need to find out how to unlock them." Kelder said.
Kelder and Ronin walked over to Frisk and Asriel and tapped their staff on the ground near them.
"Okay boys. That's enough for now." Kelder said to Frisk and Asriel.
Both Frisk and Asriel nodded and dispurts their auras.
"How was that, masters?" Asriel asked Kelder and Ronin.
"Still the same as before." Kelder stated to the boys.
"Really? But we were really trying to tap into our souls' true power." Frisk said boldly.
"Are you really?" Ronin asked raising an eyebrow.
Frisk and Asriel both looked away from their masters and at each other. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they both really were holding back their true powers mentally. But this was to be expected. The two were still conflicted about all of this.
"Look, we understand everything. Frisk, up until now, you've been a straight pacifist. And Asriel, you thought of this Chara as your own brother." Kelder said. "But you both need to understand that things won't be as simple as talking to him."
"If what you told us is true, fighting him might be the only chance you got." Ronin stated.
"TCH!" Asriel grunted while gritting his teeth.
As Frisk and Asriel both looked down in the ground, Alphys walked over to them.
"Frisk! Asriel!" Alphys shouted out to get the boys attention. "Undyne's on the phone. She... wants to talk to both of us about something. Something important."
"Huh?" Frisk and Asriel said both looking confused why Undyne was calling them.
Frisk, Asriel, Alphys, Papyrus, Kelder, and Ronin all gather round as they video chat with Undyne. Undyne had a few bandages all around her face and body which surprised the others for a bit. But not as much as what Undyne told them. She decided to tell her about her encounter with Chara.
"YOU... WHAT?!" Frisk and Asriel shouted out. "YOU FOUGHT CHARA?!"
"Yeah... I did." Undyne admitted to them.
"Are you out of your mind, Undyne?" Frisk asked sounding pretty pissed off. "You're lucky that you still breathing."
"Don't you think I know that?" Undyne replied. "But I couldn't just let him get away with everything he's done. Besides, it was only by chance that I ran into him. Once I knew it was him, I just... had to face him."
Both Frisk and Asriel had serious looks on their faces. Both of them also had some anger that stirred inside their bodies.
"Undyne... I want you to answer me honestly." Frisk said in a serious tone. "Since you're still alive, that only means two things. One, you defeated Chara, which I highly doubt. Or two, he put you in a spot and you had to run away. So, that leaves me with saying this. Was there a chance you would have been dead right now?"
"Frisk, I..." Undyne said looking sad.
"Answer his question, Undyne. NOW!" Asriel said sounding very serious.
Undyne's lips quivered before speaking again. "Well... when I battled Chara, I was filling myself with my own determination. If I had kept going, my body would have melted and... I would have died... even if it meant taking Chara out. But... now that I think about it, he probably would have sneak attack me when my guard was down. He wasn't that easy. So... to answer your question, yes. I would have died for nothing."
Frisk and Asriel didn't say anything. Both of them went silent and their eyes were covered by a shadow. But then, a powerful aura surrounded both of them. A red aura surrounded Frisk and a gold one surrounding Asriel. This surprised everyone around them, including Kelder and Ronin.
"Both... of their auras..." Kelder thought as he glared at the boys.
"... They... spiked up beyond belief." Ronin thought a bit stunned.
Frisk opened his eyes, showing it's crimson red color.
"Chara! Damn it!" Frisk said angrily as he cringes his fist.
Frisk wasn't the only one angry. Asriel was just as ticked as he was. More even. Black marks appeared on his face and his eyes went black. He went Hyperdeath again.
"He was close to killing Undyne? Is he even the same person I knew?!" Asriel said while gritting his teeth.
"Frisk, Asriel, you both need to calm down." Papyrus said patting both of them on the back.
"Yea.. yeah. Please? Don't need to worry. Undyne's okay." Alphys said breaking a sweat.
After taking a deep breath, Frisk and Asriel's aura subsided. Frisk went back to closing his eyes and Asriel reverted to his normal form.
"*sigh* As long as you're alive, that's all that matters." Frisk said rubbing his forehead.
"I'm sorry." Undyne said feeling bad for making them worry. "I let my pride and anger get the best of me."
"None of that matters anymore." Asriel responded.
After calming down, Kelder and Ronin whispered to each other.
"You saw and felt that too?" Kelder asked.
"I see. Hmmm. So that's the power the boys have been holding back." Ronin whispered to Kelder with his hand on his chin. "And now we know how they can trigger it."
Neither Frisk nor Asriel was mad that Undyne chose to fight Chara so long as she didn't died. Undyne then realized that she didn't tell them much about the details of his battle.
"Wait! Wait! I got to tell you guys something. It's very important." Undyne stated firmly.
"What is it?" Frisk asked.
"During our battle, Chara, he unleashed some incredible power out of nowhere." Undyne stated. "Like, 'straight out of an anime' powerful."
"Anime?" Alphys said confused.
"What do you mean?" Frisk asked.
"I mean what I said. His power went up tenfold. He had these red marks on near his eyes and his hair went completely black." Undyne stated.
"What? His hair changed colors?" Asriel asked looking surprised. He then started to rub his chin a bit "Hmmmmm..."
"Chara posses a powerful form? Is that he was talking about to me in my dream before?" Frisk thought. He then spoke out to everyone else. "That must be the what Chara was talking about."
"Huh?" Everyone else went.
"Chara told me in my dream about unlocking my determination at its full power. He said that humans who can unlock the power of their soul can become stronger than you can imagine." Frisk stated to everyone.
"That's pretty close to what he told me." Undyne said. "So I guess he really DID talk to you in your dream. Man, that's pretty creepy."
"I know. Don't remind me." Frisk said with his arms crossed.
"On another note, if Chara has a power like that, then we better keep training. And quick." Asriel said sounding serious.
"Yeah. This doesn't change our plans. We still have a few days left before we have to go back." Frisk said to Asriel. He then looked at Undyne from the phone. "Undyne, this time, don't try to take on Chara again."
"I couldn't even if I wanted to." Undyne said to Frisk. "I'm still too injured from that battle."
"And mom and dad?" Asriel asked making sure Asgore and Toriel still don't know anything about Chara.
"I told them I just went a little overboard with the training. Don't worry. I'll be sure to still keep the truth away from them." Undyne said.
"Thanks. Alright. Get some more rest, Undyne." Frisk said. "See ya, soon."
"Frisk, Asriel, listen. You two don't HAVE to do this." Undyne said with concern.
"If we don't, who will?" Frisk asked Undyne before hanging up.
It was pretty obvious, Frisk had some angry stirred inside him when he hanged up on Undyne. He then walked away from everyone else with Asriel.
"Come on. Back to work." Frisk said firmly.
"Yeah." Asriel said nodding.
"Frisk, Asriel, you boys alright?" Ronin asked concerned for them.
"Oh yeah. We're peachy." Frisk said sarcastically.
"Look, I know you boys are having a hard time. But you still need to get ahold of yourselves." Ronin told Frisk and Asriel.
"Master Ronin, you don't get what we're dealing with." Asriel said. He then called out his golden soul. "I'm not supposed to have a soul like this. I'm not supposed to have a soul this powerful. Alphys told us that we have the strongest souls a human or monster can possess. That basically puts the whole world as we know it on our shoulders."
"I may be mature for my age and Asriel's suppose to be at least in his 40s, but we are still young. Now we're supposed to fight someone who might ruin everything we worked hard for?" Frisk shouted out. "The same person who the Dreemurrs treated like family, yet still screwed them over?"
"It may be very conflicting, but you both need to keep your focus and understand the power you weild." Kelder said.
Frisk and Asriel were gritting their teeth and feeling pretty stressful. Neither of them wanted to be put into a situation like this. Them being the only ones capable of taking on Chara and that they may not even be strong enough to do it.
"Frisk. Asriel. Earlier, both of your powers went up immensely." Ronin said. "Do you know how you triggered them again?"
Frisk and Asriel remained silent and rubbed their shoulders. They didn't want to say how they triggered them.
"Don't want to admit anything, huh?" Kelder asked as he stroked his beard a few times. "Very well then."
Kelder then started walking. Ronin was following as well.
"All of you follow us back to the cabin." Kelder said as he looks back to Frisk and the others. "I believe it's time to tell you a story."
Frisk and the others were a bit curious about what Kelder meant by a story, so they all followed Kelder and Ronin back to their cabin. After a few minutes of walking, they made it back to the cabin and sat inside. Kelder and Ronin sat on chairs, while Frisk, Asriel, Alphys, and Papyrus sat on the ground.
"Do any of you know the story about the war between humans and monsters?" Kelder asked the gang.
"The war? You mean when the humans sealed the monsters in Mt. Ebott?" Asriel asked.
"Yes. But do you know how the war started in the first place?" Ronin asked.
"What?" Frisk said looking surprised. "Are you saying that you know how the war was started?"
"Indeed we do." Kelder replied.
"Wowee! That's... amazing." Papyrus said impressed.
"Even we don't know how the war started." Alphys said. "It was before we were born. There were also no real records about it nor did Asgore talked about it."
"So masters, are you really gonna tell us what happened?" Asriel asked.
"Now before we do, you should know. The things we are about to tell you aren't for the light-hearted. Each of you might have some 'conflicting' feelings once you hear the full story." Kelder told them.
"With that said, do you still want to hear the full story on how the war started?" Ronin asked.
Frisk turned to Alphys, Papyrus, and Asriel. Each of them nodded, willing to hear the story. Once they agreed, Frisk decided to nod as well. So they all agree that they wanted to hear the truth.
"Very well. We shall tell you the full story." Kelder said.
"It was many, many years ago..." Ronin said beginning the story.
Frisk, Asriel, Papyrus, and Alphys started picturing the past and what happened as Kelder and Ronin told the story.
"... humans and monsters existed in this world together. As different as they were, both sides wanted nothing more than peace." Ronin said.
"We all agreed to work together and make our world a better place as time goes by." Kelder said. "Humans provided things like knowledge and the growth of many foods. Monsters provided forming services and use of their magic. To a point, everything was perfect."
"So what happened to change that?" Asriel asked.
"*sigh* It goes back to one human and one monster." Ronin said. "It was said that there was a young human that became part of a family of monsters. The son of this family treated this human like their own sibling."
"This sounds just like Chara and I." Asriel thought.
"As the years went by, the two became closer and closer as they made it to adulthood." Kelder said. Then the tone of his voice changed to a sadder one. "Then... something happened."
"Wh... what happened?" Frisk asked sounding worried.
"The human, he got very sick... and he didn't make it." Ronin said.
"Wha... what?" Frisk said shocked to hear that.
"He died?" Asriel asked.
"Yes. Leaving the monster friend to be in complete pain and sorrow." Kelder said.
"This is creepy. It's like with Asriel and Chara." Frisk thought a bit freaked. "Guess history really does have a habit to repeat itself."
"The monster thought that would be it for his friend. But then... something popped out from the human's body. A human soul." Kelder said. "Curious about it, the monster walked over to it and then touched it. Just like that, the monster absorbed the human soul and the great power from it infused into his body."
"Just by simply having the one soul, the monster felt as powerful as a god." Rorin said. "It was also said that he could hear the voice of the human whose soul he absorbed."
"Makes sense." Asriel thought. "It was the same case for Chara and I."
"At first, the monster with his friend's soul used his power for good. He defended the innocent and protected his village. Many that were both human and monster looked up to him as a hero." Kelder said.
"You talk like something happened that changed him." Frisk stated.
"That's because he did change." Kelder stated.
"What happened to him then?" Frisk asked.
"He became greedy." Kelder answered.
"They say one day, a thought came to his mind. 'If I'm this powerful with only one soul, how strong can up become if I gain more souls.'." Ronin said. "That day was when darkness started to reach his soul."
"Soon after, the monster wanted to nothing but absolute power and to rule the land." Kelder said. "During the time, he began his rampage and harmed quite a few humans. He claimed the lives of five humans and absorbed their souls. He posses a total of 6 and became nearly unstoppable. So to bring an end to his chaos, 7 strong humans, each with souls of the 7 traits, Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, Justice, and Determination, stepped forward to oppose him."
"The battle was fierce. At some points, it seems like the monster was too strong for the humans. But then, something happened deep inside the monster's body." Ronin said.
"What?" Frisk asked.
"Do you honestly think it's possible for a monster to control six souls without repercussions?" Ronin asked. "The six souls, including the one that was his former friend, refuse to let him continue with his madness."
"Regaining their free will, the 6 souls inside the monster rebelled against him. Tearing the monster apart from the inside." Kelder said. "The monster controlled them and eventually subsided. When the six souls came out of his body, it leads to the monster being ripped apart and die. A victim of his own lust for power."
"He couldn't get full control of 6 souls." Alphys stated. "Guess using the power of the souls isn't as easy as obtaining them."
"The human soul is quite an interesting thing." Ronin said.
"After the monster was gone, the humans started to think. If one monster could be this dangerous than all monsters could be just as dangerous." Kelder said. "They couldn't risk other monsters doing the same thing with human souls. That's when it happened."
"The war between humans and monsters." Kelder and Ronin said at the same time.
Everyone's hearts quivered as they hear that. They all know too well about what happened in the war. Humans and Monsters fought against each other. As heated as the battles were, the humans were too strong and claimed many lives of the monsters. While the monsters could even beat one.
"After fending off many of the monsters, they chased all of the ones they could to Mt. Ebott. There, the 7 humans from before joined together to form a magical spell. Creating the barrier and sealing the monsters away. Well, most of them anyway." Ronin said.
"After that, only humans lived in the surface while the monsters were forced to live in the underground. But you all already knew this much." Kelder said.
"And that's the whole story." Ronin said ending everything here.
Everyone was pretty much stunned by all the details they heard. So that's how the war was started. It was because monsters have the ability to take human souls and turn it into raw power for themselves.
"So... that's how everything started." Frisk said looking said. "If... if what you say is true, then..."
"Monsters are the reason that the war started." Asriel said looking sad.
"I can't... I can't even think of what to say." Alphys said looking as said as Frisk and Asriel.
"We told you it would be a lot to take in." Kelder said. "Are you all okay?"
"Yeah. We'll all be fine." Frisk said with his hand on his head.
"So after one monster went mad with power, humans thought they all would go mad." Asriel said. "That was... a bit over critical."
"Indeed. It's why some of us humans didn't agree with it." Kelder said being one of the humans against sealing the monsters away. "But it still didn't help much. Cause if it were the case, the barrier would have been broken by now."
"It doesn't really matter now. The past is the past." Kelder said. "The only thing that matters now is that history doesn't repeat itself."
"The way your story was, things almost were." Asriel admitted since his story wasn't that different from his and Chara's.
"So, do you understand the story and why we told you it?" Kelder asked Frisk and Asriel.
"It only took one person to ruin things for everyone. Question is, what will you do to prevent something like that to happen again?" Ronin asked.
What would Frisk and Asriel do? Clearly, they both didn't want another war to happen. But they also still conflicted about fighting Chara. Frisk more on fighter and Asriel more about fighting his former friend. Even with all of that in mind, the two boys knew what they had to do. They opened up they mind and felt deep down in their souls. Frisk and Asriel then got up from the floor.
"Asriel, let's tap into our power one more time." Frisk said looking determined.
"Yeah. Let's do it." Asriel said determined as well.
Frisk and Asriel ran outside of the cabin and then sat down on the ground, similar to the way they were during their soul training. The two of them then took a deep breath.
"Our minds are open." Frisk said getting into the meditation position, The Quarter Lotus.
"Keep calm and be focus." Asriel said as he closes his eyes and getting into the same mediation position as Frisk.
"Focus... focus..." Frisk and Asriel said in unison.
As they focused, Frisk body glowed red and Asriel's body glowed gold. As the boys glowed, they didn't absolutely nothing. They didn't open their eyes. They didn't speak. This just stayed in the Quarter Lotus position. Kelder, Ronin, Papyrus, and Alphys watched the boys meditate.
"Frisk? Asriel?" Papyrus said trying to get their attention. There was no response. "Friiiisk? Frisk the Human? Prince Asriel?"
"Don't bother. They can't hear you." Kelder said to Papyrus as he strokes his beard.
"Frisk and Asriel are both in a complete state of mind." Ronin stated.
"State of mind? Well... when are they gonna get out of it?" Alphys asked looking concerned.
"That's... completely up to them." Kelder said.
Papyrus and Alphys can only look at Frisk and Asriel with concern. Yet, what were Frisk and Asriel doing in the states of their minds?
Darkness. Nothing but pure darkness as far as the eye could see. That was all one could see.
"Where... where am I?"
"Hello? Is someone there?"
"Asriel? Is that you?"
"Frisk?"
The two voices were Frisk and Asriel's voices. It seems that both of them just happen to be in this dark space. The two started to walk around to find each other. Still, little did both of them know, something was... off.
"Well... it's good to know I not alone is this dark place." Frisk said happily.
"Yeah. Hey, is it just me or is your voice a little dif... fe... rent..." Asriel said as he freezes at the sight he sees.
Asriel said that Frisk's voice sounded different. The reason for that... was because Frisk was different. But not just Frisk, Asriel was different too. As the two look at each other, they both realized... both of them... looked younger. As in, back at the underground, younger. They were even in their old clothes. Frisk was just in his blue and pink striped shirt with blue pants and Asriel was in his old green and yellow striped shirt and black pants. The two said nothing for over several seconds before responding.
"WHAAAAAAAAAATTTT?!" Frisk and Asriel shouted out loudly. "WHY DO YOU LOOK SO YOUNG?! WHY DO I LOOK SO YOUNG?! WHY DO YOU?!"
Frisk and Asriel then took a good look at themselves and started to... frisk the parts of their body.
"Oh my gosh! What's going on? How come we look exactly how we did when we first met?" Frisk asked Asriel.
"Wait? Exactly how we met?" Asriel said looking a bit ill. "If that's true, then that means..."
Fearing the worst, Asriel slowly reached his hands over his head. Frisk had an expression on his face that said "Don't do it. Don't do it." Asriel felt the top of his head and realized that they were gone. His horns. He had no horns on his head.
"WAAAAAAHHHH! MY HORNS! MY HORNS!" Asriel shouted out in panic. He then started kneeling on the ground and wept. "NOOOOOOO! MY HORNS ARE GONE!"
"Asriel, calm down." Frisk said trying to ease his friend.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!" Asriel shouted out at Frisk before getting back on his feet. "Do you know how important a goat monster's horns are to them?" Asriel asked as he grabs onto Frisk's shirt. "I never got my horns when I died as a kid. So when I finally started growing some, it was the best day of my life. So just when I finally have something I waited so long to have, they're taken from me again."
"Whining about it will get you nowhere. We have bigger problems to deal with right now." Frisk stated to Asriel. "So first thing, deep breaths. Both of us."
"Al... alright." Asriel said calming down.
After taking some deep breaths, both Frisk and Asriel calmer now.
"Okay, so... why are we younger?" Asriel asked Frisk.
"Maybe it has something to do with our adventure in the Underground." Frisk said. "I mean, we were about this age when everything happened."
"Guess that's all we can go on for now." Asriel said taking Frisk's answer. "Second, where exactly are we? This isn't a dream, right? I mean, this doesn't feel like a dream."
"Hmmm, if I had to guess... we must be in the bridge between our souls." Frisk said while scratching his chin.
"The bridge between our souls? What the heck does that mean?" Asriel asked looking confused.
"How... should I put it? We're not in my soul and we're not in your soul. We're in the space between them." Frisk stated.
"Oooooookay. So how is this even possible?" Asriel asked still needing more information.
"Think about this. Chara talked to me because my soul and his are connected. Since your soul has some of my determination and my soul has some of your essence, it only makes sense that our souls can connect to one another." Frisk stated.
"That... does seem like a possibility." Asriel admitted. "It's still weird though."
"You're telling me. What are we suppose to do here?" Frisk asked.
"Uhhh... maybe... call out for some help?" Asriel asked while shrugging. He didn't really know what to do either.
Frisk looked out at the darkness and tried to call out to anyone that could hear him.
"HEY! IS ANYONE OUT THERE?!" Frisk shouted out. No response.
"I don't anyone heard you." Asriel said.
Before they knew it, a giant light appeared from up top of them from the sky.
"Oh. Nevermind." Asriel said knowing he was wrong.
From the light, came down six different colored orbs of light that surrounding Frisk and Asriel. One orb was light blue, one was orange, one was blue, one was purple, one was green, and the last one yellow. Frisk and Asriel were both confused by this. But it would only get more confusing with the next thing that happens. The six orbs... turned into human children.
The light blue orb turned into a pale-skinned girl with brown hair and a light blue dress with a white strap around her waist. She also had a pink ribbon in her hair and carried a toy knife. The orange orb turned into a darker pale-skinned boy with short dark brown hair. He had on a red sleeveless shirt and gray pants. He also had on a red bandana and boxing gloves on. The blue orb turned into a dark-skinned girl with black hair in pigtails. She had a blue shirt on but was also wearing a pink tutu and ballet shoes. The purple orb turned into a pale-skinned boy with short light brown hair. He had a purple hoodie and blue jeans. He also wore glasses and was carrying a notebook. The green orb turned into a tan-skinned boy with short black hair. He was wearing a green shirt and tan jean. He also had on a cooking apron and was holding a frying pan. The last and yellow orb turned into a slight tan-skinned girl with blonde hair in a ponytail. She was in cowgirl attire wearing a white button shirt, brown vest, jeans, and boots. She even had on a brown cowboy hat and a toy gun. These six children all surround Frisk and Asriel with smiles on their faces.
"Hello, Frisk and Asriel." The girl with the toy knife said greeting the two.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Frisk and Asriel went still confused on what was going on.
"Hmm. It appears that we have left the two befuddled with our entrance." The boy with the notebook said as he fixes his glasses.
"Just... exactly... who are you guys?" Frisk asked the kids.
"Who are we? For real? You haven't figured it out yet?" The boy with the boxing gloves said looking disappointed.
"Don't blame him. It's not like they have seen us like this before." The girl in the tutu said sincerely.
"Seen us like this before?" Asriel said repeating the girl's words. Then, he started to think really hard. "Wait a minute. WAIT A MINUTE. Six children. The items they have."
"Hang on. Don't tell me these kids are..." Frisk said as he starts figuring things out too.
"... THE 6 FALLEN HUMANS!" Frisk and Asriel shouted out.
"Bravo!" The boy in the apron said happily while clapping. "You figured it out."
"Now that you know who we are, I reckon it's time that we had a little talk with y'all." The girl with the cowboy hat said with a grin.
End of Chapter 9.
