Chapter 26- A Family Torn

Well, the path is bleak and gray. Kinda like how I'm feeling now.

Do I really have to kill the king in order to get home? I mean, everyone here loves him.

After a long walk, I came to a familiar-looking cottage. This one looked like Toriel's house.

I entered. Yep, even the interior looked like Toriel's house.

I'm getting the feeling that I've been wrong about Goat-Mom the entire time. There's a high likelihood she was not the Royal Nanny.

I walked down the hall and entered some kind of kids' bedroom. Two beds, a chest of toys, and other furnishings. I also saw two gift boxes on the floor. I took a locket out of one and put it on. The locket was pretty.

Two Froggits approached me.

A long time ago, a human fell into the ruins. Injured by its fall, the human called out for help.

I know I'm not the first kid to fall down here. But who was the first to fall?

I found a key on a table in the hall. The next room was Asgore's room. The journal entries all said "Nice day today". He had a Santa Claus outfit in his closet. Must I kill this guy? The more I learn about him, the less I want to fight him.

Two Whimsums fluttered in.

Asriel, the king's son, heard the human's call. He brought the human back to the castle.

I never knew the king had a child.

I entered the living room and a trio of Moldsmals greeted me.

Over time. Asriel and the human became like siblings. The King and Queen treated the human child as their own. The Underground was full of hope.

Wait, queen? Asgore is married. I don't think I'd want to make his wife a widow.

I examined the trash can in the kitchen. It was full of crumpled up recipes for butterscotch pie. I picked a key off the kitchen counter and headed to the basement stairs. The padlocks unlocked and I descended the stairs.

A pair of Migosps stood near the bottom of the stairs.

Then, one day, the human became very ill.

This first human got sick.

The talking carrots reappeared. The three of them whispered...

The sick human had only one request: to see the flowers from their village. But there was nothing we could do.

I walked down the hall. Two eye-beasts (Loox) stood there.

The next day. The next day. The Human died.

So the first one to fall died?

A pair of Snowdrakes stood in front of me.

Asriel, wracked with grief, absorbed the human's soul. He transformed into a being with incredible power.

More walking. I was about to turn a corner when three Ice Caps approached.

With the human soul, Asriel crossed through the barrier. He carried the human's body into the sunset. Back to the village of the humans.

Why do I get the suspicion that this story ended tragically?I kept walking and turned another corner.

Three Woshuas approached.

Asriel reached the center of the village. There, he found a bed of golden flowers. He carried the human onto it.

More walking. Why couldn't there be a shortcut to Asgore's castle? There was, but it's in use.

I approached Shyren and what I assume were two of her sisters.

Suddenly, screams rang out. The villagers saw Asriel holding the human's body. They thought that he had killed the child.

Yep. This tale only ends in tragedy. I walked further and met three training dummies.

The humans attacked him with everything they had. He was struck with blow after blow. Asriel had the power to destroy them all.

Still walking. Knight Knight and Madjick approached me.

But... Asriel did not fight back. Clutching the human, Asriel smiled and walked away.

My feet are getting tired, but there's more story that needs to be told. Three Final Froggits stood before me.

Wounded, Asriel stumbled home. He entered the castle and collapsed. His dust spread across the garden.

Three Whimsalots (like regular Whimsums only warriors) fluttered in.

The kingdom fell into despair. The king and queen had lost two children in one night. The humans had once again taken everything from us.

I cringed. But I still have no idea who this Queen character is. Have I met her and didn't realize it? Wait a second. Asriel... Asgore... Toriel?

She wasn't the Royal Nanny. She was the queen.

Things make a lot more sense now.

I approached a trio of Astigmatisms.

The king decided it was time to end our suffering. Every human who falls down here must die. With enough souls, we can shatter the barrier forever.

I kept walking. I guess I'm almost there.

Loox, Migosp, and a Moldsmal approached.

It's not long now. King Asgore will let us go! King Asgore will give us hope! King Asgore will save us all.

Pyrope and two Vulkins showed up seconds later.

You should be smiling, too. Aren't you excited? Aren't you happy?

I walked further. The end of the path is in sight.

A single Froggit appeared.

You're going to be free.

I swallowed hard and took a right turn. I was in some richly decorated palace. I walked down the hall. No, I'm not looking forward to meeting Asgore. I don't want to kill him and make Toriel a widow. Or she probably hates his guts now because of the "Humans must die" rule he imposed.

I saw a shadow about my height close by. Sans?

Bells chimed in the distance.

"So you finally made it," Sans uttered. "The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together, you will determine the future of this world. That's then. Now. You will be judged. You will be judged for your every action. You will be judged for every EXP you've earned."

What's EXP?

"What's EXP? It's an acronym. It stands for execution points. A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases. When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases. Love, too, is an acronym. It stands for Level of Violence. A way of measuring someone's capacity to hurt. The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others.

I don't remember hurting a single soul.

Sans regained his humorous demeanor. "But you, you've never gained any LOVE."

Thank God!

"Course, that doesn't mean you're completely innocent or naive. Just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart. No mater the struggles or hardships you faced, you strived to do the right thing. You refused to hurt anyone. Even when you ran away, you did it with a smile. You've never gained LOVE, but you gained love. Does that make sense? Maybe not. Now, you're about to face the greatest challenge of your entire journey. Your actions here will determine the fate of the entire world. If you refuse to fight, Asgore will take your soul and destroy the entire world. But if you kill Asgore and go home, monsters will remain trapped underground."

I don't know if there's a solution to this problem.

"What will you do? Well, If I were you, I would have thrown in the towel by now. But you didn't get this far by giving up, did you?"

I never gave up. I've been through hell to get this far.

"That's right. You have something called Determination. So as long as you hold on, so as long as you do what's in your heart, I believe you can do the right thing. Alright, we're all counting on you, kid. Good luck." He vanished as quickly as he appeared.

All right. Deep breaths, Frisk. Asgore is right around the corner. Don't let him know that you're afraid.