Chapter 11: Friend or Foe?

Everything feels perfect now. It's been a few weeks since Asriel came back to us as a monster. Ever since that moment, the two of us have become closer than ever. We would do everything together. We would draw, bake, read, and even play some games. Of course, it still feels like a dream for many of the monsters in the Underground that he is alive again; I agree with them. I still can't believe that he is right next to me as my brother. I know it's been a while since he made his first appearance, but it still doesn't feel like this is real. Sometimes I worry about waking up in the morning to find him gone. I worry that this is all just my imagination or just a dream, and I didn't save him. I've tried pinching myself many times, but nothing changed. Asriel is alive. Over the past few weeks, we continued to bond with our family and friends and created memories that will last a lifetime. For the first time since I RESET, I feel like I can actually relax and enjoy my time with everyone else. The thought of breaking the barrier has slowly moved to the back of my mind. I haven't forgot about it, believe me. I still want to free monsters and the human souls that are trapped here but having my family complete makes me relax more about this situation. I don't have to worry about leaving Asriel behind again. From now on, we can work together and figure out a way to free all monster-kind from the Underground.

Many days like today, I like to venture over to Waterfall and just sit in silence. The sound of the water and peaceful music fills my ears as I sit and think about everything. I think about my family. I think about my life. I think about the future. I think about the past. This spot has become a favorite spot for me to just sit and think. Sometimes Asriel would come with me to keep me company. We would sit together and listen to the peaceful sound of water moving around us.

"You okay, Frisk?" a quiet voice bounced off the walls.

"Oh, hey Azzy. Yes, I'm okay," I reply with a warm smile.

"Just thinking again?"

"Yeah. I do that a lot, don't I?"

"You do like to come here a lot. So, my assumption is you come here to think."

"Yes, I do come here to think."

"What do you think about, Frisk?" he asks while taking a seat next to me.

"I think about many things. I think about my previous life and the life I have now. I think about my friends and family. I also think about things that happened in the past and the things that could happen in the future. Shoot, I still think that having you here beside me is just a dream."

"But I'm not. I'm here for you, Frisk. You saved me."

"And you saved me too, Azzy."

"Frisk, do you still think about the barrier?" he asks.

"Not a day goes by that I don't."

"I know you haven't mentioned anything about it to anyone since you saved me. I know mom hasn't been on board with you finding a way to free everyone."

"She's only trying to keep me safe. Still, I have to find a way. I cannot keep these monsters and souls trapped Underground. I promised the souls that I would find a way to free them and I will stand by that promise."

"Now don't you go and use your own soul for us. I can't let you leave me alone here."

I smile at his protective tone and wrap my arm around his head.

"Don't worry Azzy, I don't plan on leaving you."

He responds with a warm smile and wraps his arm around me. We sit together in silence and listen to the sound of water echoing off the walls. Eventually, after some amount of time, Asriel speaks up.

"Well, I think we should be heading home for dinner."

I nod in agreement as I feel my stomach start grumbling. We both stand up and begin our trip back home. Before we exit Waterfall, a familiar figure appears out of nowhere right in front of us.

"Hey kiddos."

"Hey Sans," Asriel and I respond in unison.

"Tori wanted me to grab you two and bring you back for dinner."

"That's where we are headed now," Asriel answers.

"Come with me. I know a shortcut."

"When don't you know a shortcut, Sans." I laugh.

We follow Sans and magically end up in the Ruins. Asriel and I both know about his teleportation powers and decide to play along. I'm sure Sans knows that we know, but just likes to play around with us. The three of us make our way inside where the smell of spaghetti fills the home.

"Hey Tori, we're back," Sans called.

"Great! Dinner is just about ready," Toriel responds from in the kitchen.

Eventually we settle down at the table and joined by the two cooks, Toriel and Papyrus.

"HELLO HUMAN AND GOAT CHILD! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAS PREPARED THE BEST SPAGHETTI YOU HAVE EVER HAD!"

Toriel laughs as she takes a seat at the table next to us. Papyrus has been taking cooking lessons with Undyne for a while now and he has improved a lot since our first encounter. It could also be that Toriel also offers cooking lessons that are less…destructive. I look around the table and see a few missing chairs.

"Hey mom," I ask, "where are Alphys and Undyne?"

"They are working late tonight and won't be able to join us. It seems like Undyne has become Alphys' lab assistant since there isn't much work in the Royal Guard. Plus, they seem to enjoy each other's company."

We eat our dinner while chatting about all of today's events. Once we finished, we dug into the pies. I stay away from the snail pie because it doesn't work out well with humans. I remember the first time I tried the snail pie. I felt like Toriel was trying to kill me. All joking aside, it was awful. Ever since, I stuck with the butterscotch or cinnamon, or butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

"Papyrus, you've outdone yourself this time. The spaghetti was excellent," I comment.

"THANKS FRISK! THIS TIME I ADDED A SECRET INGREDIENT WHICH MADE THIS THE BEST DISH EVER!"

I look over at Toriel and see her holding back from laughing out loud. I turn back to Papyrus with a little confusion and terror.

"Uhh…what was your secret ingredient?" I ask.

"WELL, IT WOULDN'T BE A SECRET ANYMORE IF I TOLD YOU!"

"Riiiiight…," I respond looking over to Asriel. He looks as confused as I am. The both of us look back over to Toriel who is trying real hard not to laugh. She must know.

"Mom, what's the secret ingredient?"

"Well like Papyrus said, it wouldn't be a secret if we told you what the secret ingredient was."

Great. I hope I'm not going to regret this later.

The rest of the day flies by as the guests leave the Ruins to go home. Once they left, we got comfortable around the fire.

"Would you like me to read you a story, my children?" Toriel asks.

Asriel and I both nod in excitement as we grab a book and hop on Toriel's lap. We huddle close together as she reads the book to us. When she finishes the book, I compliment her reading and we both look over to see Asriel sound asleep. The two of us let out a quiet giggle as we make our way into our bedroom. After she puts Asriel into bed, she hugs and kisses me goodnight and exits the room. A yawn escapes from my mouth as I drift into a peaceful sleep.

*ASRIEL POV*

I forgot how amazing it is to be loved by other people. As a flower, I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't feel the love others give to me. I was never happy with who I was before, but now, I feel like I am living inside of a dream. I admit, I was scared to come back to life because I was afraid that mom and dad wouldn't forgive me for everything that I've done. The horrible things I did as a flower…how would they even forgive me for that? Frisk said that they don't remember what happened in previous timelines. I believe that, but how did mom recognize Frisk without her telling who she was? When Frisk told me that she remembered, I lost hope because I figured that she would remember what I did as a flower. I also feared that they would not want to see me. They have moved on from me. I died long ago, so I just wanted to move on, but no. Frisk gave me a second chance. She cares about me more than anyone else. She…she is the friend that I've always wanted.

Is that so…

What was that?

Frisk is the friend you always wanted?! You didn't forget about me did you Asriel?

That voice. It's not possible.

I'm your best friend…

"C-chara?" I panic.

Yes, Asriel. It's me…

"H-how is t-this possible?"

You have a part of my soul Asriel. You have always had a part of my soul with you.

"No…I never had a soul."

You did…Frisk was right. Without a soul, how could you feel? You felt scared, angry, sad, and even happy occasionally. All because you have a part of my soul. When you screwed up our plan and died, a part of my soul died with you, but when Alphys extracted DETERMINATION into you, a part of the soul came back. Now that Frisk has given a part of her soul to you, we can finally continue our mission to destroy ALL OF HUMANITY!

"No! Why would I do that?!"

You trusted me Asriel. You were on board with this plan up until you babied out when I died. Now that a part of your soul is from me, I can control you and we can finish what we started.

"Why do you still want to destroy humans?"

Humans are scum. They never treated me with any respect. They never liked me. That hate me as much as they hate monsters. That's why humanity should be destroyed, and monsters will take control of the entire world!

"You will not take control of me!"

You were always a crybaby, Asriel. If you aren't up to the task, then I shall be the one that takes over. I'll be the one to finish the job…starting with the one right next to you.

"I won't let you hurt Frisk!"

It's the last soul we need Asriel. Once we have Frisk's soul, we can break the barrier and all monsters can be free from the Underground. Isn't that what you want?

"What I want is monsters and humans to live on the surface in peace. I don't want to destroy humans."

Time is running out Asriel…if you don't do it…then I WILL.

"NO…I won't let you…"

Or I could take over Frisk's soul and take you down myself. A part of Frisk's soul is inside of you. I gain control of that; I can transfer over inside Frisk.

"Please, Chara, you don't need to do this…"

We've already started Asriel, now it's time to finish it. Do it or I will do it myself.

The voice fades away as I jump up in my bed. I quickly look over to the other side of the room to see Frisk tossing and turning in her bed. Suddenly, she turns towards me and opens her eyes, but it's not the eyes I see every day. Her eyes are red and filled with rage.

"Don't underestimate my power, Asriel," Chara's voice changes into Frisk's voice.

Her eyes then closed, and everything went quiet. I sat in silence, afraid what would happen next. What have I done? I can't kill Frisk. I also can't let Chara take over Frisk. With Frisk possessed, Chara would probably make Frisk kill herself for her soul. My breathing intensifies as tears stream down my face. My body begins to shake as whimpers begin to escape my mouth.

*FRISK POV*

I wake up to see Asriel crying. He must've had a bad dream.

"Azzy," I whisper to him, "are you alright?"

His sobbing stops after noticing my presence.

"Y-yeah…just a bad dream," he responds shakily.

Man, this dream must of really shook him up.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

He shakes his head indicating he doesn't want to talk about it. I throw off the covers and walk over to his bed. He seems to become a little more tense as I approach him. I sit next to him and wrap my arms around him. He relaxes into my embrace and hugs back. His body slowly stops shaking and the whimpers become less frequent. Eventually, I let go and make my way back to my own bed.

"Try to get some sleep now, Azzy. It's just a dream."

After hearing him tossing and turning for a while, I hear him whisper over to me.

"Frisk…would you mind staying next to me?"

I make my way over into his bed and he instantly calms down. Whatever his dream was about, it must have been personal. I huddle up next to him as the both of us fall asleep.

He feels more comfortable when I am beside him, so I want to stay by his side whenever he needs me. I hope he can forget about whatever happened in his dream. Although, I can't say he was the only one that had an interesting dream.

Just to make it clear, Frisk and Asriel are siblings just comforting each other during a hard time. Plus, they are still very young, so that's my explanation for the last few moments here. Anyways, I enjoyed adding a new CHARActer into this story. Ha, sorry, what do you think will happen next? The story continues! Let me know what you think about this story and if you have any recommendations or feedback. I have actually took some time to plan out future events and I'm hoping this will allow the story to move more smoothly. Anyways, I hope to see you next time!