Chapter 9: Freedom and Forgiveness

It has been a few weeks since I arrived back in the Ruins. The thoughts about the barrier and Asriel still flood my brain every passing minute. As the days add up, I begin to lose hope. I begin to feel like I can't instead of I can. What if there is no way to free monsters? What if there is no way to free the souls? It's a lot harder now because Flowey refuses to take the souls. He fears that he will be too strong and let the power control him. There is another way I can still accomplish both. I can give up a part of my soul to Flowey so he can return to being Asriel. When my soul heals up, I can give it to the monsters for their freedom. That would mean sacrificing myself. That would mean giving myself up to save everyone else. I wish there were another way to do this, but there isn't. Alphy's isn't having much success with creating a soul. So far, every experiment has failed. I believe in her, but…it hurts me to think about trapping monsters back underground. Toriel believes that everyone is fine, but I know that they aren't. Sans remembers, and so does Toriel. They remember what it was like to live on the surface. They were so happy to be out of the underground, but now, I trapped them again. I do feel like monsters have given up hope. They already believe that they will never see the light of day again. However, Sans knows what it was like. He remembers every RESET. He remembers everything that happened before. He trusts me, and he cares about me. I remember the first time I met him after the RESET. I felt horrible. He remembers that freedom, now it's all gone again. If it comes down to sacrificing myself, I will do it.

I sit alone in my dark bedroom, thinking of all the good and bad things that have happened since I pushed that button. I have also had the occasional thought of doing it again. I have thought about hitting that RESET button again so I can do better than I am doing right now. I feel like I failed everyone. The thoughts quickly disappear as a knock of the bedroom door brought me back to reality.

"My child, are you okay?"

The door opens slowly, allowing the light from the hallway to illuminate the room. I avoided her gaze.

"I'm fine," I respond. We've already had this conversation before, so there is no need to bring it up once again.

"You don't look fine. Is something bothering you?" Toriel asks.

"You could say that."

She takes a seat on the bed next to me and embraces me. All those thoughts rush me, and tears begin to stream down my face. She does not say a word. She just holds me close and comforts me.

"Is this about trying to break the barrier?" she asks.

I nod. She sighs at my answer. Every time we have had this conversation, it would lead to the same place. I would say that everything is my fault and I'm sorry, and she would say it's not. This conflict is fighting with my hope the longer I am here. I can't be here doing nothing; I have to at least do something.

"Here," Toriel takes my hand, "come with me."

She leads me out of my room and into the Ruins. She takes me to the flower patch that rests at the bottom of the cliff.

"Lay down, my child."

I did as she requested. I lay myself on the flower patch and look at the giant hole above.

"You remember this place very well, do you not?"

"I do remember. This is where I fell."

"Right. Do you remember the first time we met?"

"How could I forget?"

"This is where your adventure began. This is where you changed our lives. You made us feel like we are a family, even before the barrier was broken. You see, it doesn't matter what happens with our freedom. When you fell, I brought you in as my own child. You chose to leave this place and explore the rest of the Underground to try to get back to the surface. In the end, you didn't leave us. You became friends with everyone here and we were happy to be in your life. We left together; you didn't leave us. Your presence here is what makes everyone happy. I look around at everyone that interacts with you, and they seem to forget about the feeling of being trapped here. We have all we need down here. There is no fear of humans. There is no war. There is no fighting. I would rather spend my entire life down here with all my friends and family than going to the surface where people have their hatred towards us. You are all we need, Frisk. We don't need to be on the surface to be happy. Although, that is a nice thought, but that's not the point. Do you understand what I'm trying to say, my child?"

I pause to take in all the thoughts.

"Yes."

"Good, now would you like to come back and make some pie with me?"

"I think I'll stay here for a while."

"Okay, child. You know the way back."

She makes her way back home, leaving me alone in the flower patch. I stare at the giant hole above, thinking about everything Toriel told me. Did I influence them to stay? They tried their best to keep me here, but did I really try to keep them here too? Everything is so confusing now. I believe Toriel when she said that everyone is happy that I'm here, but are they really happy living down here? They do pretty much the same thing every single day. I mean, I know that's life, but they should be able to try new things. Wait, could this be a way to try to make me forget about their freedom? Or is she trying to keep me safe? I think I told her I'd sacrifice myself, so does she believe that there is no other way to get the last soul without this method?

"Wow, I've never seen mom act like that before," a familiar voice enters.

"Hey Flowey, you saw that too?"

"She seems to really want to protect you."

"I know she does. She says that she doesn't want the freedom on the surface. I don't understand why. I did it last time, and they seemed happy to be there."

"She's doing this because she knows that you will do whatever it takes to free the monsters from the Underground."

"So, she believes that I will take my soul and use it for their freedom?"

"Exactly. Everyone cares about you, Frisk. Mom, dad, Undyne, Alphys, Sans, Papyrus, they all care about you. Do you think they would want to go to the surface if you took your own life for them? What she said was true, you changed their lives, including mine. You became friends with everyone and risked your own life when I fought you just to save them. You could have left and never came back, but you didn't. Before I explained the power of the RESET to you, I could see how they reacted after you left. They were sad, depressed, and they lost hope. A part of it was my fault too, but after you left, they were broken. They tried their best to stay positive, but they couldn't. Everyone missed you. Mom is trying to protect you from leaving them. If you want to free them, you can't use yourself as the last soul. They would love to go to the surface, but not without you."

"Thanks, Flowey. I understand now but…what about you?"

"Me, Frisk, I've told you many times not to worry about me."

"And yet, I still do…"

"There is no hope for me. This is who I am now. I have accepted who I have become, and I am at peace."

"Are you really at peace with being a flower?"

He hesitates.

"Do I like being a flower? No. After everything I've done in previous timelines, this is what I deserve."

"Flowey, you remember I forgave you many times."

"You have, but everyone else wouldn't."

"How do you know? How do you know they want to see me? How many times do I have to tell you that they have moved on?"

"No, they haven't."

"And how would you know?"

"Toriel's room, there is a journal that she writes in. I looked in it in a previous timeline. The entry was the same date I fell into the Underground. She wrote about me, and how she wanted to protect me. It has been a long time since a child was here before me. It reminded her of you. She remembers you every time she looks at me. She immediately saw me as a fearless and determined child, just like you were. When I was in the castle recovering from my injuries, I saw numerous pictures of you with Toriel and Asgore. They never forgot about you, and they never will. They miss you, and I believe you deserve a second chance."

"Even if I want to be my old self again, how do you plan on doing that?"

"Simple."

I pull out a knife from my back pocket and hold it into view.

"Wh-where did you get that?"

"From my bedroom."

"Frisk, I'm not letting you cut your soul. It's dangerous."

"Dangerous, I know."

"B-but you'll die."

"I'll die by giving you another chance at life. You deserve to live, Flowey. Your life was cut short, and you didn't deserve it. They have already had their time with me. Now, it's time they have the rest of their life with you."

"Remember what mom just told you?! She doesn't want you to die! How do you think she would feel if she walked back here and saw me alive and you dead?"

"Asriel, my soul will be with you, therefore, I will always be with you."

"N-no. How would everyone else feel? I can't tell everyone that I was Flowey. They wouldn't believe that you took your own soul and gave it to me. They would believe that I took it from you. I-I'm not gonna let you die, Frisk. I d-don't want your soul. There has to be another way."

"There is no other way, Flowey. I mean, you could absorb the human souls, but that wouldn't help at all. Please, you have to stay positive. There is a chance I might die, but it's not certain."

"You don't know that! You've never tried this before! How do you know if you'll die?!"

I shrug in response. At this point, Flowey is practically begging me not to do this. I'm trying to save him. I didn't before, but I will this time. He can be the one that frees the monsters from the Underground. I don't know if I'll live or die. I need to stay DETERMINED.

"Flowey, you do it."

I toss the knife to the ground because I am scared to do it myself. Tears filled his eyes as he looked up at me. I close my eyes to avoid watching what will happen. Suddenly, a voice rings from the hall next to us.

"My child, are you alright?"

I open my eyes and look back down at Flowey.

"It's now or never," I whisper, "Take my soul and transform before she sees you as a flower."

I close my eyes and hug the flower as I feel an extreme amount of pain fill my body. All my strength is gone. The weight of my own body is too much to handle. I collapse to the ground as darkness consumes me.

Hey everyone! If you haven't noticed some moments will be more extreme like what you just read. Due to this, I changed the rating from K+ to T just to be safe. Anyways, I enjoy leaving on a cliff hanger because it makes me want to continue. Guess you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out what happens. Please let me know what you think of this story! I am curious to know how you are feeling about the direction this is headed. Also let me know if you want to see some more romance in this story and tell me who you ship. Until next time, STAY DETERMINED!