Chapter Two
Retelling A Story.
AN:So, I forgot to mention, You DO NOT need to have read the previous story Journey tale to enjoy.
The 'Bard' is an extra bit added from that story for the readers of it to have excess dialog and reading.
The views of the past are NOT needed if you have not read JouneyTale, They are backstory for those
who have.
Enjoy the story.
"And so we begin…"
"Time to retell something we have heard before"
"It began… with a pulse of a heart beat."
"And it will end with the same."
Present Time Year 201X
June 17th
Emergence
The man watches from a cliff above, he sits on a rock with his hood over his face. His furred hands writing down in a journal as he looks to the sky.
"Hmm, perhaps the two should go on an adventure… oh its almost time. I best get back to paying attention… I have plenty of time to write my own book." The man glances down as he looks at the plateau cliff ledge with a dark cave entrance open against the mountain leading deep inside.
Henia City.
"So for this I may need climbing gear…" The young girl with brown hair says as she thinks about her trip to the mountain. She stands infront of a closet in a rather girly room.
"Climbing Gear? Where you heading this time sis?" A male voice says causing the girl to turn around instantly. Behind her was a young man with brown hair and eyes, he was wearing a casual pair of thick gray winter pants and a heavy black jacket.
"J-Jake?! I thought you were out with your friends?!" The girl says with a fright in her voice, her left hand over her heart showing her sudden scare. Jake laughs as he shakes his head.
"They called it off, said they had other things to do, so where ya going Penny? Not like you to go off on an adventure without me." He says with a smirk, curious what her sister was getting herself into. Penny looks away with a frown.
"I…" She held a look into her eyes.
"That look, you were at Frisk's grave again weren't you… your not actually going to do what I suggested she actually did before she vanished are you? Mount Ebott is dangerous, hell its cursed." Jake says with his smirk vanishing and a serious look grows on his face.
"I heard a voice, it told me that I should go there, that the mountain calls me to the mountain's true entrance. The one that no one could ever reach before finding themselves standing at the foot of the mountain again." Jake glares at her. His expression never changing, while Penny stares at the floor.
"Are you fucking stupid?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" He yells as he walks up to her. Penny closes her eyes before taking a serious expression herself and glares back into Jake's eyes.
"No, but I will admit. I want the truth of what happened to my best friend!" She replies sternly, Jake stares at her before closing his eyes and sighing.
"You know what happened… they said her Guardian was found dead at the foot of the mountain with her scarf, and with no sign of Frisk's body they assumed she died and the animals-"
"Bullshit! I don't know why you still believe that shit!" Penny yells with anger in her eyes, her sudden yell cutting her brother off. "The Frisk we knew would never fail at climbing. She was always the most skilled in climbing, and I know she wouldn't have died to something so easily, she was smart despite her shyness, she was the one to always point things out to me when I should have noticed something!" Penny snaps with her anger filled eyes.
Jake stood still with nothing to stay, he turns his head before looking out the nearest window towards the mountains.
"Fine. But if we are going to do this, we do this right. Our climbing equipment is all crap now. I'll pick us up new sets and some supplies from intown." Penny's eyes widen as he walks away. "Your right though, I do want to know why our friend is gone, but it was easier to accept the quickest statement before me, I hope whatever we find doesn't disappoint you sis." Jake says leaving, Penny sighs before turning back towards her room's closet.
"I know… it scares me to think of what we might find..." Penny says to no one, as she considers the worse case scenario, the image of her friend's body up in the mountain causes her eyes to tear up.
Mount Ebott
June 17th
The Underground.
Waterfall Bench
A young girl with a blue sweater and purple stripes, and blue shorts. She wore a pair of worn out brown boots. She rests on the bench looking at the three floating options that glow gently before her, each one she recalls clearly of what they do.
True Reset Continue Quit
It had been a while, but she had pressed each one atleast once, if she chose quit she would find herself standing outside where she fell, only to chose to fall again and bring the menu with the same three options.
Continue to press on and leave the mountain, but she didn't feel ready to leave the mountain, she didn't want to leave the residents in this state, there was still more to do.
True Reset, it reset back to the start where nearly everyone in this underground cave would forget her… everyone except… one.
"Hey Kiddo, you decided what to do next?" The voice came from a skeleton wearing a white shirt, a pair of black shorts and a blue jacket with white lining the hood. "Ya know kid, I already am prepared if your worried about True resetting… I am used to it now." He says with pain in his voice. The skeleton looks to be Five feet tall, giving him a more chubby appearance in his clothing.
"I don't want to though..." She mumbles, the girl pulls her knees up, causing her feet to leave the floor and rest on the bench. The knees press against her chest as she stares at the ground. The options vanish for the time being. The skeleton sighs as he walks over to her.
"You alright kid?" He asks as he takes a seat next to her, she shakes her head.
"No… I am.. so tired of resetting I just want this to be over." The skeleton looks at her with a questionable look on his face.
"Then just head to-" She shakes her head cutting him off..
"...not without him. Not without Asriel..." The skeleton blinks in surprise.
"Him again… Frisk, why do you want to help him?" The skeleton asks as she tightens her grip around her legs.
"Sans… I just can't leave him, I can't explain the feeling, but leaving him here causes my chest to hurt. My heart begins to ache in pain and I don't want to do anything but cry." The skeleton's expression widens as he smiles and looks away.
"So… is that it?" Sans asks as she shakes her head.
"I want… to make Toriel happy too… she smiles, but it feels so empty. Shes hurting when she looks at me, I remind her of Chara and Asriel in one sitting." The name 'Chara' causes Sans' eyes to narrow.
"I see, so do you have any idea of what to do for this problem or you just gonna reset and keep trying to find an answer." He asks with a glance at her.
"I… have an idea, but I don't know if it would work." Sans hums before shrugging.
"Well, you can tell me about it, but first lets get out of this setting, this place is too gloomy for a kid like you to be sitting in alone at. You could use the fresh air outside of here." He says as he stands up. 'That, and I can't help but feel Pap trying to spy on me 'n the kid. I got some questions for her… and the Frisk needs her space from others about this crap. They just wouldn't understand about the resetting.' He glances back at her before reaching his hand out to Frisk. She glances up at it and takes it as she lets him pull her off the bench.
Once Frisk was standing, she could be seen to be five foot two in height. Her sweater also showed to be a little short as it shows a bit of her mid-riff, yet it also shows she is malnurished and under-fed. She was skinny enough to show her bones. Sans winces as he sees her physical condition.
'How has she even managed to stay awake? She should be starving and yet shes not… damn it sans… you should help take better care of her. Shes family now...' Frisk turns her head to the side as she notices Sans staring at her.
"Sans?" She ask with confusion why Sans was staring at her. Sans found this lucky as he looks up to her face and smiles.
'And thank goodness she isn't on the know of birds 'n bees… or i'd feel like a creep.' "So, I got a question..." He says as he turns and motions for her to follow. After she starts following the two of them find themselves walking in the cold of outskirts of Snowden. "What do you think of little prince, I am just curious what you fancy about him to try so hard." He says with a smile. 'More like, confirm if my theory is right.' He glances his eyes back towards her as she raises her head up and looks at the falling snow.
"Hmm… Hes nice, really sweet I can tell. And fun! Definitely seems like the sort to be fun and funny." She starts off, Sans just smiles as he listens. "And his heart… its good too, when we fought… I could tell he was hurting. He missed his brother, but at the same time I feel he resented his brother." San's eyes widen as he turns and looks at her. "He holds pain and regret, and I want to help heal that. I could feel his sadness even when he was trying to fake it, and he was hurting to think he needed to be left and forgotten." She says with a gentle smile.
'Kid, what are you? You talk just like… Gaster, who would go on about emotions and how he could feel them across the entire underground and how it was his responsibility.' He shakes his head as he thinks about it more. 'And yet you also show you like him more than your saying… Your in love, damn kid you don't make this easy, if it was as simple as using a favor to make you forget… it'd be for naught if you love him.'
"Other than that… I just feel safe when I am near him, like nothing will ever hurt me again." Sans snaps out of his thoughts as he hears Frisk speak again. "I guess its why I don't want to go back to the surface..." Frisk mumbles quietly, but Sans heard her clearly.
'Don't want to? Kid… I have wondered why you came down here… you were wanting to die weren't ya? Damn it Sans way to make yourself feel like the bad guy, this kid has been through enough.' Sans smiles as he wraps an arm around Frisk's neck. "Don'tcha worry kiddo, I gotcha back. So you said you had an idea to save the prince?" Sans asks getting things back on track.
The two walk down the snowy pathways as Frisk gives a nod. She glances up to the stony sky that shines with the stones above, they had simulated a perfect outside with only one thing, no sun no clouds. It just fell from the stones and froze instantly into snow flakes.
"Yeah, I had thought about it.. and before I explain, I have to get something off my chest." She stops as she glances to Sans, her eyes were filled with a sadness. "I need to apologize…" She says as she falls her head to the ground.
"Kid?" Sans asks with a question as it suddenly hits him. She suddenly grips him tightly in a hug as he can fill her teeth gritting against each other as she buries her head into his neck. The damp tears soaking into his jacket.
"I am so sorry Sans, I didn't want to… I just thought that maybe… I could… save Asriel if I..." She goes on as she starts to breakdown into tears. He shakes his head as he pulls her off him and smiles at her.
"Frisk, no need to cry. Your not a kid anymore you know, you know better now. You were like what? Ten? Your fifteen now… hell I forgave you a long time ago." She continues to cry in his hands as he hugs her. "Now, lets focus on the now, everyone is still alive right now, so don't cry over the past." 'Still can't believe she held that in for five years… Kid is tough, but she is breaking. Figures, shes only human.' Sans gives a chuckle as he looks to the sky. "Now we should go before you turn into a snowflake with all them tears your producing." He felt a gentle poke from Frisk as she wipes her eyes.
"T-That was the worse joke I heard from you Sans." She sobs a bit, she tries to control her sobbing as best as she can, Sans offers her a tissue to blow her nose.
"Eh, twas just a flake of my puns." He says with a smirk as he looks at her before sighing. "Now lets get onto buisness, you said you had an idea to save the prince." Frisk, finally done blowing her nose glances at him before looking away.
"Two… actually. I was, considering breaking my soul into two halves and give him one." Frisk says only for Sans to grab her and look her dead in the eyes with his eyes wide.
"Kid are you serious?! That would likely- No it will kill you! There is no way you could survive that!" Sans exclaims with fear and worry in his voice. 'I should know! I saw… I… have done that too some of the souls Gaster's had on his request. I can't see that again, god the screams.' He mentally shudders, he suddenly feels Frisk's hand slowly peel his hands off her arms where he had grabbed her.
"Then, my second option was to… see if I could get some sort of template of my soul made for Asriel, I figured out that hes only around right now after the fight because of Toriel and Asgore, and if he had a way to store the power..." Sans stops and thinks it over as he looks at Frisk.
'It… is possible. A container of soul power… It would have to be… but its still dangerous. Yet… safer.' Sans glances at Frisk and sighs. "If I said I wouldn't mind one more run, you wouldn't do it to think this over would you?" He asks her calmly as he weighs his options before him.
"No… no more resets. No more of this place… I… hate it for one reason, the pain I put everyone through." Sans gives a loud sigh hearing Frisk's words. He smiles as he nods.
"Your a brat you know that? No matter which route you go, you cause me trouble..." Frisk smiles gently as she looks at Sans.
"I know Sans, that is why I enjoy talking to you. Your the only one that understands me right now." Sans chuckles as Frisk pulls out her phone and looks at it. "There isn't much time left… Sans, please tell me you will help." She pleads, only for Sans to smile at her.
"Sure thing, kid. A template is what you said right? Would a vessel work better?" Frisk's eyes widen a bit as she looks at him.
"Y-Yes! I mean I wanted to give his soul power a chance to rebuild his soul, but if we can give him a new soul vessel for his power it would do the same effect." Frisk exclaims with glee, she smiles at Sans. "Is it truly possible to make it?" Sans nods his head with a smile as he reaches into his pocket.
"We need a certain lizard girl's help. But yes it is." He says with a smile as he pulls out his phone and begins to dial on its keypad with one hand.
"Thank you Sans." He just smiles before his smile fades away during the phone's ringing.
"H-Hello, S-Sans Is there something y-you need?" A voice says on the phone as Sans looks up.
"Heya Alph. I need yer help on something important. Like vital, hush hush important." He says with a smirk.
"W-What? B-but I am k-kinda busy, c-can't it wait a bit longer?" Alphys replies, her stuttering worsening.
"Sorry, but it involves the kid." Sans says as the line go silent. He waits a moment before speaking up again. "You still there?" He asks.
"Y-Yeah… W-what do you need exactly?" Sans shakes his head.
"Not over the phone, meet us at your lab. And prepare your operation room." Sans says.
"W-Wait what-" Sans suddenly speaks up over Alphys.
"Oh yeah, don't tell anyone about this, like I said. Hush hush vital." Sans says as he closes his phone, hanging up on Alphys.
"That was kinda rude..." Frisk says watching Sans, whom shrugs with carelessness.
"Eh, Im the careless skeleton, whatcha expect kiddo?" Sans says with a smile. Frisk smiles and sighs as she glances up.
"Shes gonna be a moment, can you take me somewhere else real quick? Someone I need to talk to inside the ruins..." Sans glances at her. Did she mean Toriel? No Toriel was exploring the land getting supplies… then… Asriel. It had to be.
"Sure thing kid, where to exactly?" Sans asks as he walks up to Frisk and places a hand on her shoulder.
"The room right before the entrance I came in at." She says and confirms his suspicions. She wanted to speak to Asriel.
"Sure thing, lets go." Sans says as he lets go and starts walking away, Frisk follows after him. They past by a tree and then before she knows it, they are standing in the room where she met Flowey.
"Thank you." She says as she walks to the closest door of the dirt mound. Walking through the door she sees a male monster with a white fur sitting down at the foot of a flower bed. He was wearing a green and yellow stripe shirt. She stops and stands there. A memory calls forth as she recalls her her previous run through.
Previous Run
Waterfall- Statue
A gentle tune is played as rain falls and hits the umbrella over the statue in sync.
"Hey Frisk, I still don't understand why you want to spend time with me. Im here on stolen power, I don't deserve this kindness." A young male monster says as the two stand there at the statue.
Frisk just smiles as she looks over at him.
"Because Asriel, I told my self… I wouldn't leave you. I'll be here till your ready to leave." She says with a smile, yet he could see past her smile. Her eyes were in pain.
"You need to let me go Frisk… I can see your hurting." Frisk recoils as she glances away.
"I… Don't want to leave yet." She says as she looks away.
"Huh?" Asriel says looking at her.
"I don't want to leave. Not you, not Toriel… no one. I don't want to leave anyone. And I know you don't remember, but I wont give up yet. Each run has taken me between eight and fifteen hours to complete… I have been doing this for a little over… six years." Frisk says as she looks at him.
"W-What?! F-Frisk this is insane, what do you mean each run?! Six years?!" He says with confusion boggling his mind.
"I promised, to my self.. to you… to Toriel. That I would bring you home. So please, promise me you won't give up the hope of going with me and everyone else. I know you want to leave too." Asriel was baffled, had Frisk really been running this entire place for six years?
"I- Frisk, this doesn't seem..." She shakes her head as she looks at him, her eyes filled with tears.
"Please, Asriel. For me, promise me… I don't want to let go yet… please hold onto me until im ready will you?" Frisk pleads, Asriel didn't know what to say, as she takes him into a hug.
"Okay. Promise. I promise to hold onto you until its safe for you to go." She smiles as her hug tightens around him, and he gently returns it.
"Thank you Asriel..." She says as white light envelopes them.
Present time.
The Fall
She walks forwards as her steps are finally heard. The boy turns to reveal his green eyes staring vibrantly at her.
"Frisk? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to the surface with everyone?" He asks as she walks up to him and sits down.
"I am, this is part of it. I needed to come talk to you Asriel." She says as he chuckles.
"Oh right, I guess you gotta say your goodbyes right? You seemed like the type of person to never want to let someone go without saying farewell." He says with a smile, it hurt to see it.
"Your truly okay with staying alone?" Frisk asks, Asriel flinches as he looks away.
"Its fine, someone has to care for the flowers..." He says as she sighs.
"Because it wont belong before you turn into a flower yourself again?" She says causing him to stop talking all together.
"..." He glances away with a frown. "Don't you have anything better to do Frisk?" He asks avoiding eye contact.
"Nope." She says dryly. He looks at her.
"Are you okay?" He asks as she shakes her head.
"Not really… its almost over, again. Its never easy." His face turns to confusion.
"What?" She smiles.
"Asriel, if I manage to save you from becoming a flower, will you return to the surface?" Asriel's face then turns to surprise.
"Whoa Frisk where is this coming from?" He asks as she looks at him.
"Will you?" She repeats. He didn't know what to say.
"I uh…" He was backed into a corner. 'Should I? … If she does… if I don't go I will have wasted her kindness…' He looks at her and gently nods. "Yes..." He sighs.
Frisk leans over and hugs him with a smile. He gently returns the hug as he felt a warmth and safety in her arms that he never noticed before with their previous hug.
"Thank you." She says as she lets go and stands up, as she starts walking Asriel stands up and calls out to her.
"Frisk! … Just be safe okay? Don't do something and lose your life for mine okay?" She smiles as she walks away, neither accepting his request or acknowledging it. Causing a ping of pain in his chest. "Frisk..." He says as he sighs as he watches her vanish into the darkness of the doorway.
Frisk walks back to where Sans was as she finds herself with Sans inside Alphy's lab causing her to look around as she sees Sans behind her.
"Ready kid?" He asks getting her to nod as the two start walking down the main room past the large monitor, heading towards a door labeled 'Operation Room'. She takes a deep breath and exhales, Frisk knew what was to come next. Walking into the room they see Alphys wiping a table down with instruments around it.
Silence rings in her ears as the two wait a moment to see if she notices them. Sans knocks on the doorway causing Alphys to look ups with a jump of freight.
"W-Who- Oh. I-Its you two, y-you scared me S-Sans..." Alphys says with a sigh. She glances at Frisk as she glances back to Sans. "S-So what is this about S-Sans." She asks as she felt the tension around Frisk and Sans. The air felt thicker than the last time she spoke to Frisk.
"Its for me Alphys." Frisk says taking a step forwards. Her eyes lock onto Alphys' eyes with determination. "Sans says you can make a soul vessel. Something to contain soul power." Frisk says out right as the aforementioned monster glares at Sans.
"I-I thought we agreed never to b-bring that up again!" Alphys yells out at Sans whom shrugs.
"Sorry, I owe the kid more than I care for my agreements… 'sides. It was the least I could to prevent her from doing something stupid." He says as Alphys looks at Frisk.
"I need this done, you can use my soul as a template for the vessel…" She starts off as Sans talks over her.
"She was gonna rip her soul in half if I didn't suggest it." Sans says seriously as Alphys' eyes look at Sans then back to Frisk.
"I-Is this true Frisk?" Frisk nods as Alphys' eyes widen. "W-Why? W-Why?! What i-is worth t-the risk?!" Frisk takes a deep breath as she looks at Alphys with her determined stare.
"Asriel. Asriel Dreemurr. Hes alive, but dying without a proper soul." Alphys continues to glare at Frisk.
"T-That doesn't explain WHY?!" She screams at Frisk, her hands grab her chest. "A-After everything you did for us… we… we can't m-make it without you and if you died..." Alphys' eyes were wide and filled with tears, Frisk takes a step and places her hand on Alphys' cheek.
"It will be fine, its why if I can take this route…" Frisk's smile glows brightly to Alphys. "I know everything will be alright." Alphys' tears fall as she rolls her head into Frisk's hand.
"A-Are you sure? Please, don't do this recklessly Frisk..." She mewls in worry, Frisk's smile just grows a bit more as she nods.
"Yeah. I am positive." She responds. Alphys nods into the hand.
"O-Okay… Okay…" She removes her head from Frisk's hand as she looks to Sans. "W-Would you try to keep everyone busy, least someone finds out and t-tries to stop me… i-it'd even more dangerous…." Alphys stutters, only receiving a nod from Sans whom walks away from them as Alphys takes Frisk's hand and begins to walk towards an operating table with her.
Base of Mount Ebott
Present Time
"Jeez is it just me or did the mountain get bigger since we last came here?!" A young man with brown eyes yells as he and his female companion arrive at the base of the mountain. The young woman was wearing a grey tank top with a pair of baggy pants, with some mountain climbing gear attached about her clothing and a harness. The young man was wearing similar with a brown t-shirt instead.
"Calm down Jake. It looks the same to me… then again you have not been here in a while." Jake glares back at his sister Penny with distaste.
"Just because I don't spend every day morning of our lost friend, don't mean I don't recall the mountain we all played at. This mountain is bigger, something has definitely happened." Jake says before sighing. "Its been years Penny… do you truly believe that she is still alive and that this 'mystic' voice isn't just you losing your mind?" Penny walks up to the start of the hiking trail up the mountain.
"I know she is… I feel it and the voice was real. Its been years and yet… I could still feel her soul… silly ain't it? We speak as if people can physically feel one's presence by their soul… but… we don't even know what a soul truly is if it is just an artificial idea created by us to feel… needed or if someone truly crafted a spiritual body of us to have in another life." Penny says with a smile. Jake stares at her with wide eyes.
"No..." He says as he follows after her. She had merit. When ever he was around others, he felt something different about them… as if he could feel their very presence. "Your right, it is like she is still around. I can feel it too, I thought it was just my mind playing tricks, but if your feeling the same thing..." He says smiling up at Penny whom continues up the trail.
"Then you can feel her presence ever more strongly as we go higher then?" Jake nods as the two begin climbing up the mountain.
"So, I have to ask… do you think the rumors are true? That there is a race of monsters living in Mount Ebott?" Jake ask as they make their way up the foot path. Penny hums loudly before nodding.
"It has to be, and they must be good people if Frisk is actually inside. Think about it… its been years since she vanished… hope shes been eating well and staying healthy." Penny says as Jake chuckles. Penny would worry that far… she was very much a motherly friend to Frisk, something about their friend that caused Penny to worry so much about her. Then again… he had defended her plenty of times from bullies, without even needing a reason. He just felt drawn to do so.
'Could it be… that we are all connected somehow? And thus we are able to sense her… or other's souls? We are just humans… why would we be so sensitive to such as that? It don't make sense.' It didn't make much sense to Jake, then again its all felt odd and yet familiar. This draw, this need to make sure their friends were safe. 'Friends… I feel like, I have friends waiting for me here. I can feel emptiness inside, its sad, and alone. Afraid. Who is this? Why do I urge to see them? To protect those who wait… What… is going on?! No Jake, if you freak out now things will get worse. Focus on finding Frisk. Things have a way of showing the truth in time.' Jake shakes his head as he continues following Penny.
"So, Jake what do you think?" Penny calls out to Jake before stopping and looking at him. He stops just before her and gives a questioning look at her.
"Huh? Think of what?" Penny rolls her eyes as she looks at him.
"Think of what these 'Monsters' look like? Demons? Abominations? Some sort of other horror inducing creation?" Penny asks as she looks at him.
"You got me… what do you think?" Penny hums before smiling.
"I think they will be friendly, some may look very pretty, and perhaps I believe they will be more varied compared to us humans." Penny says with a smile as she turns and returns heading up the trail. Jake stares at her flabbergasted. She had a weird way of thinking and it always caught him off guard. He sighs before pressing on wards following her. The massive mountain looming overhead as the two walk up the path.
The familiar hooded figure watches from above, blending into the mountain side as he watches.
"So they arrived… Penny and Jake. Ah Its amusing to watch these new turns… for the painful future still resides. Hopefully they can ease the pain or even make it far from as bad as it could be..." The figure speaks as he stands his furred hands in the open show the wind as his fur moves in waves.
The Underground
Ruins
Present Time
"Frisk…" A young male goat-monster says as he gently pokes at a flower at his feet. He lets out a loud sigh before he hand returns to his knees. He crouched down with only his feet on the ground, hugging his knees as he stared solemnly at the ground. "Why?" He softly speaks. His voice filled with pain, as his hands tighten to his knees. He fails to notice a new presence that enters the room.
A skeleton walks softly up behind him as he cries out.
"Why do you do this… for me!?" He exclaims in a quiet tone. "I am nobody! I hurt everyone, my own family even! I… lied to people." He continues, the skeleton's hand tightens at their side. "I don't get why you want to save me?! I hurt you! I did such cruel actions to stop you… I tried to KILL you!, and yet you want to save me… a worthless being who was filled with nothing, but hatred and sorrow." The hand softens as he lets out a sigh.
"Kid, you just don't get it do ya?" The sudden voice causes the young man to turn suddenly and fall onto his backside.
"H-Huh?! S-Sans?!" Sans smirks as he walks up to the monster.
"Asriel. She can see more than just a 'worthless being who was filled with hatred and sorrow'. The fact you regret your actions, that is enough for me to allow her to give ya a second chance." He smiles gently. "Kid, listen she was gonna do this even if I didn't decide to give ya a second chance… and if I took action, everyone would be hurt I went against Frisk's wish… she sacrificed so much… risk her life for us all. I'd have to be a real asshole to take away her wish for this world." He says before taking a seat.
"I-Is that so?" Asriel says getting comfortable sitting across from Sans.
"Yep, and I have to say… I can see it. The real you is still sitting here with me. The one that I saw hundreds of years ago running around with a human child." Sans says causing Asriel to jolt with surprise, his face shows a shade of red through his white fur. "She likely saw the sadness in you before I noticed… so that now brings me to why I am here." Sans ways as he looks at Asriel with a serious look.
"I… am not surprised. Some sort of catch that your gonna tell me about being brought back?" Sans shakes his head. His eyes narrow.
"No, I want your word." Asriel felt a tension as the air started to cool around them. "I want you to promise to never hurt Frisk, to never make her regret this action." Asriel swallows the saliva with worry, his eyes wide as he looks at Sans. He was being serious and threatening.
"I..." Asriel had no words so far.
"You will be taking the mantle I was handed… when Frisk arrived here… I promised to your mother I would protect her and watch over her. Now, I am passing that to you, because it will be the least you can do for your life to be return. Surely you can see that, right Asriel Dreemurr." Sans says his voice filled with a threatening tone.
"..." Asriel looks to the ground as he closes his eyes. "Yes… your right. I will do as you ask." Sans gives a low growl.
"Promise me." Sans says as Asriel nods.
"I promise." Asriel replies, and like that the cold veil was gone as Sans lets out a sigh.
"Sorry for being harsh on ya, but my trust in everyone is so little… I want people to understand what needs to be done. And you need to do this." Sans says with a smile. "And… well… eh nevermind." Sans chuckles as he stands up before turning away from Asriel. 'I think it'd be best to see how deep this feeling Frisk has runs for you… Shes a human, and humans live short lives. Your a monster, we don't die with age… will she move on, or will she sacrifice her life to make you happy? Then again, you were so worried that you were about to cry from her tryin to save ya… perhaps you feel the same. Eh should be interesting to watch them, Tor might just make me do so anyways heh.' Sans walks away before half-heartily waving 'bye' before he vanishes into the dark doorway.
"..." Asriel sits there in silence, he glances up to the hole letting light peering down inside, it was starting to change slowly in color showing the day was slowly coming to an end. 'Frisk, I… will make it up to you for all you have done for us.' Asriel gently smiles as he looks down to the ground. However, he failed to notice a person a bit shorter than him wearing a green shirt with a singular yellow stripe, and brown shorts standing behind him looking down upon him. They were only partially visible as if they were transparent. Their ruby red eyes glaring down at him with anger. Their face had two red circles on their face that made it seem like they were in a fluster.
"How could you! We had a plan, and you ruined it! And yet now your leaving me behind for this GIRL?!" They scream but their voice goes unheard. Another being in a hood comes up from behind in a similar fashion.
"You expected different? Then again I should have expected this to go the same way. Watching this world in repeat for the final time… will be interesting." The hooded figure said as the child figure turns around.
"What the?! Who are you?!" The figure shakes his head.
"Don't matter who I am. You won't remember me. It is as it is ordained. I am only here to say he cannot hear you. I only wish to say I am sorry that things didn't go well last time. I wish you luck in the future." The figure says as suddenly he was gone. The child blinks before looking back to Asriel.
"I hate you Asriel… you were my brother.. my… tool. We were supposed to eliminate the human race… but you had to go soft on me.. then again you didn't expect me to try and steal your body." The child scoffs as their eyes narrow.
"I wonder… what Chara would think of this..." Asriel says silently. The child's eyes widen as they lock to Asriel. "He'd likely laugh darkly and say that this was silly. Calling me weak or pick on me some… before we went and talked to mom about something." He says with a sigh. He reaches into his shirt and pulls out a golden heart shaped locket, the child's eyes shake slightly with surprise.
"Y-You still..." The child says as they walk next to Asriel and look at it.
"Chara, don't be mad okay?" He says as he opens the locket. Inside was a picture of him, a boy with a green shirt with a yellow stripe standing before two larger monsters that looked a lot like Asriel. "But maybe its time I let go of the past..." He closes the locket and reaches behind his neck before unhooking the locket from his neck and holds it out infront of him. "Rest well brother." He says as the spectral child's eyes widen and narrowed in rage.
"LET GO?! I WILL MAKE YOU ALL RUE THIS DAY! I WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN, I WILL NOT BE LEFT ALONE! I WILL GET MY VENGENCE, I MAY NOT USE FRISK, BUT I CERTAINLY WILL MAKE SURE I CAN USE EVERY CHANCE I CAN TO MAKE YOU SUFFER! FOR I AM CHARA DREEMURR AND AS THE ANAGRAM STANDS I WILL BE THE MURDERER OF YOU ALL!" The child stands and yells at Asriel. 'Chara' screams in fury before running off.
Asriel places the locket down in the flowers with a gentle smile. He glances up at the light peering through he felt a wave of relief wash overhim as time ticked by.
"Well… Frisk. I wait for the next move… only six hours left till I am gone again..." Asriel says with a smile as he looks at the hole in the ceiling. 'Not like I have to worry, she will manage it. She always has managed to do what she wanted.' Asriel closes his eyes and dozes off to a gentle slumber.
Just a few rooms away…
Sans could be seen as he walks down the ruins, he comes to a halt at a house standing before a single large tree. He stares at it for a moment as he smiles and reaches into his pocket. Opening the flip phone he begins to dial a number. Upon pressing call he places the phone to his head while watching the home.
"Hello, this is Toriel." Came a soft and kind voice.
"Heya Toriel. How are you doing?" Sans asks, he glances around the room looking at how well kept this place is.
"Oh Sans! What a surprise, hope Frisk isn't being trouble." Sans chuckles as he shakes his head.
"Nah, in fact Frisk wanted me to spread word and see if you can get everyone rounded up at your place in the ruins." He says causing Toriel to give a 'Humm'.
"What exactly do you mean everyone? I can't exactly fit every monster into my home..." She says causing Sans to chuckle again.
"Nah, just the main group. Mettaton, Undyne, Muffet, Asgore, Papyrus. Ya know the main group of us when we found out the barrier was gone." Sans says, he walks up to the tree and rubs a hand across it.
"Ah I see. What about Alphys? And can I assume you will be bringing Frisk?" She asks with a curious tone to her voice.
"Yep, and ill take care of Alphys, I needed to talk to her about something." Sans quickly says writing off an excuse for no one to bother Alphys.
"Okay then. I will get them together… I just hope my idiotic ex does not cause trouble…" Sans' smile turns to a smirk.
"If he does, just burn a few hairs off… nothing will get his...goat more than being a bit bare." Toriel give a chuckle before she speaks up again.
"Sounds good Sans… I will go get them, see you there soon then I hope." Toriel says before hanging up.
"Me too Toriel… if Frisk don't make it, well… I may not want to show my face again." Sans says to no one.
Mount Ebott
Present Time
"Hey Penny, how much further till the next rest point?" Jake calls out as he slams his climbing pick into the steep side of the cliff side. Ahead of him was Penny whom looks up the path they took.
"Not much further. Good idea back there instead of the normal path. I think you were right that the place is bigger, it would have taken us all day." A chuckle comes from Jake as the two continue to climb.
"Told you! … I wonder, how different Frisk will look after all these years." Jake says, starting to believe that his friend is alive. Penny stops as she looks down at Jake with a smile.
"I don't know, but I feel she will be as beautiful as she was back then when you had that big crush on her." She says with a smirk, Jake's face quickly snaps away hiding his easily noticeable fluster. Penny chuckles before she continues climbing up the mountain. The wind blows against them as they climb, the sun slowly starting set as the color of the sky now looks white. Mere moments before the sky begins to absorb an orange hue. Penny reaches the next cliff ledge as she pulls herself up on it and places her climbing equipment away before helping Jake up onto the ledge. It was decent in size they could both rest, Penny glances about before noting that it has its own path forwards towards their objective.
"Haa, why have we not done more physical activities that are exhausting?!" Jake says as he leans against the mountain taking deep breaths.
"Its not that we are exhausted, its the air. Its thinner and we haven't done much climbing before so its affecting us." Penny says taking a seat next to Jake. Whom looks up and gives her a dry expression.
"Is that so?" He says before reaching to his side where a canteen rests. Taking the Canteen he unscrews the top and takes a drink while Penny takes the time to adjust to thinner air. It was weird, earlier when she was looking at it, she could easily see that unreachable entrance, now it was much further away, yet it wasn't seemingly impossible to reach anymore. It was within her grasp to finally see what lies ahead.
"So there is a path that leads straight to the entrance here, we should take it easy and not accelerate our climb like we did and just take the path, it will take us a bit longer by maybe ten minutes, but we will not feel the air thin out as much." Penny says pointing to their right, where the path was. From what she could tell it zig-zags to the entrance.
"Sounds like a plan… so what do we do if we find Frisk? We haven't spoken about that… she has no home anymore, after all she was gone for years and..." Jakes eyes look away from Penny whom stares into the sky.
"And when that idiot drunkard who came from the small town in the forest just below our city. Calling her and her guardian abominations." Penny says with disgust. "I hope hes still rotting in jail for that." She says before standing up and offering Jake a hand. He recaps the canteen and takes her hand letting her pull him up as they stare at the path ahead.
"From what I heard… he was killed soon after arriving from that incident. Apparently the other inmates didn't take kindly to the boasting of harm upon a child. Its funny how people in our prison are all people who have had children and families at one point before they lost it all." Jake says as Penny jabs him in the side.
"Nothing funny about that, its sad. Frisk would visit them once she found out about that and they enjoyed her company. She brought the best out of people, it was nice." Penny says as she presses on. "Come on we got to get a move on." Penny says as she follows the path, Jake following after her as he looks around before sighing.
"Hey Penny, I got to ask… does this all feel weird to you? Like as if we are going for more than just Frisk?" Penny just nods as she glances back at Jake.
"I can't explain it, but there is someone else I feel inside that I have a desire to meet, they feel empty, yet right now they feel very happy as well. Full of hope and at peace." Jake just blinks in surprise as the two keep moving down the path. "I guess, we are special to Frisk and them. This ability of ours, its definitely not normal. However I am glad I have it, whenever Frisk got hurt or was being bullied we were always able to find her and help her. Heck I was even able to help some other people with it." Penny says as Jake smiles.
"Heh, maybe we can eventually learn magic if the stories of the monsters are true, that is if we are are so special." He says with a smirk.
The sun continued to slowly fall, it would soon be setting in the horizon. Above on a cliff ledge the hooded Bard sits watching the two below.
"Smart… much smarter. They are acknowledging gifts given to them, and yet they are not fully realized. Perhaps Penny was not given enough credit in the previous timeline. Shes intelligent, but also very secretive. She could be amongst the gods with her poker face, I fear even Hades wouldn't dare play against her in a round of poker." He says as he stands. "Though Loki, would have a field day if he could train a being on the mortal realm." He says with a chuckle. "However their story is only beginning, their time to meet the gods are far from now. Much farther than one would guess." He says as he pulls out a small lute and begins to play it. The gentle tune hides in the winds that pick up
Back into the depths of the underground…
Alphys sighs as she works above Frisk's unconscious form. A red soul glows gently above her, with red strings tying it down towards Frisk. These were the binding strings that kept one's soul from being stolen while alive. Beside her soul was a tool holding something of magic in place, it looked like an outline of Frisk's soul glowing gently, but only as half as brightly. The thing was incomplete as only three fourths of it was there, and Alphys picks up an odd instrument of magical design, however her hand was sweaty from the work and worry that it easily slips from her hand smashing into Frisk's soul. Everything slows down for Alphys as a chunk the size of small ball rips off the corner of it where it hits.
'No! Nononono!' Alphys screams mentally as she scrambles to get the piece of the soul, she had to act quick for a soul that fractures like that is quick to shatter… or so she feared. As she returns to Frisk's soul she notices that the soul was visibly repairing its self leaving her with floating piece of soul in her hand, one that didn't start to decay from being removed from the core. It didn't make sense as she stared in awe.
"F-Frisk… w-what are you?" Alphys asks loudly, knowing she wasn't going to get a response she walks away and places the piece of the soul into a container for later study. She only hoped Sans never sees it or she would never see the light of the day. Once it was placed away, she returns to Frisk and begins the final bit of what needs to be done. Wiping her hands onto her coat she grabs the tool and begins to gently press it again Frisk's soul as it glows.
'T-This is the least I can do… Frisk.' Alphys thinks as she works diligently, It didn't take much longer as she had done this three times now. Four parts, that is the design of the vessel, created with the template of someone's soul genetics, a finicky thing to mess with yet doable. Once she places the last part of it to the vessel she gently glides her hand across the parts where it connects and manipulates the magic that resides in the soul vessel for stability and sews the connections. Doing so she sees the vessel repair its new cracks after finding a proper connection with the new quarter.
"T-There. I better get Frisk's soul back in her and then wake her up." She says while moving away from her work spot to catch a breath, after moving away she lets out a sigh she swear came from the moment she started this operation.
Time had passed, and further into the underground Asriel waits. He tends to the flowers for possibly the last time he ever will and only hopes that they will survive without anyone to come and care for them. Looking up at the natural skylight he lets out a sigh, an hour remains. He gently smiles before he closes his eyes.
"I guess that is what I get for getting my hopes up..." He says before a hand places on his shoulder startling him, snapping around and stepping into the flower bed. His breath fast and heavy with wide eyes stare at Sans whom waves at him.
"Heya." He says with a smile.
"SANS THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!" Asriel yells at Sans whom only chuckles in response.
"Eh I thought it was down right humerous." Sans says ever so calmly. Asriel only glares at him for his pun.
"Anyways!" Asriel looks away with annoyance. "What did you come here for now?" He asks, Sans tilts his head before leaning forwards a bit.
"Is it just me or do you seem cheerier than earlier?" Sans asks, his smile grows a bit more as he stands straight. "I came cause someone asked me to get ya." He says before sticking his hand out. "And from what I can see ya only have an hour left of this form. So come on kiddo lets get moving." He says holding his hand out waiting for Asriel to take it, whom turns with a surprise and glances at his hand. Asriel reaches out hesitantly before Sans snatches his hand and the two suddenly vanish in a blink of an eye causing Asriel to fall back and land on his backside in surprise as they arrive in Alphys' lab. Residing in the main hall Sans lets out another chuckle.
"H-Huh?! W-What? How did you-" Asriel shakes his head in disbelief he couldn't believe his eyes what happened. One second he was in the ruins flower bed, next moment he found himself on the floor in fright again.
"Just a trick of mine, now head down to that door." Sans says stepping to the side and turning pointing towards the door obviously labeled. "Alphys is waiting for you. She will explain things further." Sans says as Asriel looks at the doorway. He looks back up to Sans to see him no where to be found suddenly. He stands up and dusts his legs off from the dirt he acclimated while tending the flowers. Walking forwards towards the door he swallows the saliva building up in his throat.
'H-He said Alphys? Not Frisk? Is she okay? DID SOMETHING HAPPEN?!' His mind goes into full panic of the meaning of this, his biggest fear… Frisk is gone. He didn't know how he could cope with such news if that were the case. Upon arriving at the door, it opens on its own to reveal Alphys double checking the soul vessel. He walks towards her as his palms begin to sweat heavily. The fur on his hands quickly begins to dampen with the sweat as he fears the worse.
Alphys whom notices quickly Asriel's presence looks up with a smile. She walks towards him and grabs his hand and was quite surprised to feel his sweaty palms.
"H-Hello you must b-be Asriel! I-It is a pleasure to meet you." She says with a smile, Asriel looks around for Frisk with no success.
"Y-Yeah… where is… Frisk?" Asriel ask with worry. It suddenly made sense to Alphys whom smiles at him.
"S-She is in my lab's shower, d-despite being out of it her body did g-go through pain during this process a-and thus b-built up a bit of a sweat." Alphys says with a smile, she ushers Asriel towards the contain as she looks at him. "S-She said we didn't have much time s-so said to g-go ahead and have you use the soul vessel." Asriel stares at it as her words finally sunk in. Frisk was safe, and for some reason he felt overwhelmed with relief and joy. He didn't understand why he felt so happy to hear Frisk was okay, but it did make him happier than he ever could imagine.
"R-Really? So that means this is for me… and that I will finally… be back for good?" Alphys nods her head with a smile.
"Y-Yes, Y-Your original soul was destroyed… b-but Frisk g-gave a solid theory saying that your p-prolonged appearance is due to your p-parent's soulpower being transferred to you, and if you had a way to c-contain it… She explained it to me once I w-woke her up so. S-She is a smart girl… b-braver than most too, doing this w-was the least I could do for her after a-all she done for us." Alphys says with a gentle smile. She opens the container and moves a frontal glass plate away allowing Asriel to gently reach out and take the vessel in hand.
"So… I just place this to my chest right?" Alphys nods as she stops him for a second.
"I… w-will warn y-you it will cause p-pain due to n-new magic p-pathways f-for you, b-but since i-it is a h-human type soul, i-it may even a-act as an enhancer f-for you." Alphys says as Asriel gives his own nod before she removes her hand and resumes placing it to his chest. Once he hugs it into him, he feels his body pulse as he gasps for air, it felt like magic was attacking his very soul for a moment before he fell to the floor and finally regains the ability to breath. Inhaling a large amount of air he gasps as another wave hits. It hurt, but not as bad. It repeats for a third and finally a forth before the pain stopped being unbearable. His body felt sore, yet his body felt stronger magically. He slowly felt a familiar feeling… he could feel his soul actually existing again.
He felt alive.
A door opens as footsteps are heard.
"I hope I didn't miss much" A voice calls out, Asriel stands up before turning to the voice, there stood Frisk, a towel around neck and her clothes looking a bit cleaner. Her hair was past her shoulders and was still wet some as she smiles at him. "Hi Asriel, welcome back." She says, Asriel starts slowly walking towards her before he bursts into a spring and hugs her.
"Frisk!" He cries out, his eyes filled with tears as he holds her tightly. "Thank you." He cries as she holds him ever so gently, his head rolls into her shoulder, feeling his tears dampen her neck. She smiles on and looks at him.
"Welcome home Asriel." She says softly into his fur.
Several minutes of crying and joy from the young monster soon dies down as Frisk soon looks at him.
"Frisk… I didn't actually think you would succeed… I was hopeful, and glad you were going to do this, but… I was afraid you'd fail… and then when I didn't see you I was afraid you didn't make it and sacrificed your self for me." He says looking to the floor, she reaches out and lifts his head and tilts her own.
"Its fine Asriel, I want to be there to make new memories for you, for us. Its the least I can do for you, we are friends, family even I say." Frisk says as she takes his hand. "One last thing now, Sans told me he gathered everyone at Toriel's I say its time to make your return." Asriel looked away in fear, before nodding.
"N-Not like I can avoid it c-can I?" He says stuttering, Frisk gives a big smile and nods as suddenly Sans walks into the room.
"Everyone ready?" He ask as Frisk and Asriel nod.
"We will let Alphys go in first." Frisk says as Asriel looks at her. "I wanna talk with Asriel a bit before we go in." Sans gives a nod as he motions for them to all follow. Alphys sheds her lab coat and places it down as she walks up to the group before they all go after Sans. The door closes and lights go out behind them, leaving a red glow from the back of the room.
As they were walking they suddenly arrive at the base of a large tree. Alphys looks around before moving on to join the others. Sans stands there as he looks at Frisk and Asriel.
"Ya want me to go in or you mind if I wait?" The skeleton asks. Frisk shakes her head.
"I don't mind Sans." She turns her head to Asriel. "Now, I wanted to say…" She stops and considers her words. "Things may seem weird, but you need to tell Toriel and Asgore the truth later. I will be there with you, but it needs to be done." Asriel looks away with shame, his eyes soften with sadness. "It will help you heal Asriel, I wouldn't ask this if I didn't think it would help." He nods before turning back to her.
"Yeah… your right. It needs to be said by me. I need to confess my actions." He says before she nods.
"Only your actions without the reset. Only what they would know now, the reset stuff can come later." He nods before smiling gently at her.
"Yeah… thanks Frisk, again for everything." She smiles and hugs him. However their little moment was broken by footsteps.
"This place looks so abandoned… the only place that look even remotely alive was that lab in the freaking middle of a lava pit!" A male voice says loudly. The steps grow louder causing Frisk, Asriel and Sans to look at the direction.
"Hey perhaps you should CHILL, I mean that last place looked like people had ran through recently, perhaps everyone that lives here is at some sort of festival or something. I am surprised we found a way past that door via that cliff ledge you spotted." A female voice says as a sigh follows. "Perhaps what ever caused us to not reach this caused them not to leave so now they are with friends and family getting ready to leave?" The voice says as it gets louder.
"Those voices..." Frisk breaks her hug with Asriel, her eyes gently widen as two people suddenly come into view. Both Human.
"I mean come on, lets go this way there is a house with… lights." The female's voice drags on to a stop as she stops when she had glanced Frisk's way. The male turned and stopped too.
"N-No way..." Frisk's voice drags on as the face of the female was very familiar. The girl slowly walks towards her… Asriel and Sans get slightly startled at the new humans' appearance.
"F-Frisk… its..." She suddenly dashed towards Frisk and embraced her into a hug before anyone could act. "Its really you… oh my god, Its you…" The girl's voice breaks into happiness and tears form.
"No freaking way… it really is you Frisk. Damn you have… not grown much." The two humans were easily a foot taller than Frisk and Asriel as the woman cries into Frisk's neck.
"Penny… Jake." Frisk says with surprise. "H-How did you..." She was caught off guard by her childhood friends. Sans and Asriel relax a bit. Penny breaks the hug and looks at Frisk.
"Its been years, but your eyes… they are still golden as ever." Penny says with a smile. "I was told to come here to meet someone, but I couldn't wait at the entrance I had to find you, I refused to believe you had died." Penny says as her tears continued to fall.
"A-Are these friends of yours Frisk?" Asriel asks worried, Frisk dumbly nods as she is still in shock. Breaking away from Frisk Penny back away and stands next to Jake.
"Let me introduce us, I am Penny Sulavan. This here is my brother Jake Sulavan." Penny says as she gets a good look at Asriel, she smirks at him with a look as Jake jab her in the side causing her to break her look and glare at him.
"Sorry about her. Shes a pervert." Asriel quickly hid behind Frisk hearing that, and Frisk gave Penny a glare unknowingly
"Sorry… But it was a surprise to see how handsome a young monster such as him is..." Asriel gives his own glare.
"I am sixteen thank you! I am a young man!" He pouts as Penny backs off a bit.
"Your the same age as US?!" She replies with surprise. Jake gives a laugh.
"I don't know who you humans are… but you two tick me off..." Sans says dryly. "The only reason your not dead yet is cause you know Frisk-" Frisk jabs Sans in the side lightly with her elbow.
"Don't be rude Sans!" She exclaims before sighing. "This is Sans, Sans the Skeleton… and this is Asriel Dreemurr… Now… I would love to know how you two found me… but first we need to attend a get together. Simply put Its important and we will talk later… can you two… wait out here?" Penny looks at Jake as the two nod.
The two walk back to the hall. Penny turns and waves to Frisk with a smile.
"We plan to explore a bit more, but we will be back in an hour." She says as Frisk nods.
"Don't kill anyone you got it? Tell them you know me." Frisk says as Penny nods.
Frisk and Asriel turn to face the next thing… everyone else…
To be continued...