Toriel hummed to herself as she made her way through the ruins. She did not meet a single monster on her daily travel towards the opening to the surface. It seemed they did not dare to engage in conversations with her. This did not displease the old queen, she had gotten used to the loneliness of these ruins anyway. The monsters had made it clear that they did not desire her company when they chose to listen to Asgore this fateful day.
Every day, she followed this same path in case a human had fallen down. She hoped that she could save the next human from Asgore's wrath.
When the light from above shone above Toriel's face, her glare fixed itself on the golden flowers that surrounded the grave of her child. Toriel had been the one to bury golden flower seeds together with Chara, these seeds were among those that were brought from the surface when Asriel...
Their favorite flowers for their grave. It only felt right.
Those golden flowers were indeed pretty, Toriel thought as she took a moment to admire their beauty.
Suddenly, the queen thought that she saw something move. Was it just her imagination ? Was her loneliness getting to her ?
The queen's answer came soon enough, one of the golden flowers in the midst of all the others turned around and looker at her.
"Mom ?" The flower asked her.
Toriel's heart stopped.
"Mom ! Its me ! Asriel !" The golden flower repeated.
Unable to believe her ears, the queen knelt down next to the flower and examined it closer. It looked like any other flower, except it had six petals and a face.
"A-asriel ?" She repeated. "Is it really you ?" Was this a dream ? How was this possible ?
The flower nodded with a sad expression. Toriel carefully took it from the ground and gave it room on her shoulder before deciding to bring it, no, him, to her home.
As she walked, Asriel interrupted her again.
"Mom ? Can i ask you something ?"
"What is it ?" Toriel stopped and looked at the flower still on her shoulder.
"...Why did you leave ?" He interrogated her.
"What do you mean ?" Toriel asked for clarification.
"When we died, why didn't you stay with Asgore ?" Asriel wondered, his voice sounded genuinely sad.
"Your father had taken a decision that i couldn't follow." Toriel hoped to stop the conversation here for now, she didn't want to have to have this talk with Asriel so soon.. They had just gotten reunited !
"But dad needs you" The prince insisted.
Poor Asriel didn't understand the truth...
"Asgore is not the same man he was, i cannot go." The queen tried to get him to understand.
"He's changed !"
Toriel put her foot down. "Asgore is a grown man able to make his own decisions, he has chosen to renounce his past to pursue a senseless freedom that comes at an unacceptable price. All i can do is stay here and hope that his plan will never be allowed to succeed."
"But what about the people ?" The flower added. "Your kingdom needs you mom !"
"The people have made their choice. They have chosen to follow Asgore's lead, i will not stop them."
The golden flower was about to say something again, but instead went silent and faced the floor.
As Toriel got back to herself and was about to try and cheer up Asriel after this bitter conversation, her son lashed out at her.
"You idiot !" The flower exclaimed, without even realising that he was quoting the last words Chara had told him before their death. "Can't you see that what you are doing is senseless !"
Before Toriel could respond, the flower sighed.
"See you in the next world, mother."
FILE 8 LOADED
"A-asriel ?" She repeated. "Is it really you ?" Was this a dream ? How was this possible ?
The flower nodded with a sad expression. Toriel carefully took it from the ground and gave it room on her shoulder before deciding to bring it, no, him, to her home.
As she walked, Asriel interrupted her again.
"Mom ? Can i ask you something ?"
"What is it ?" Toriel stopped and looked at the flower still on her shoulder.
This time, Asriel decided to bring on the subject more directly. "Dad has changed, he doesn't want to do this. He feels forced to because of the people's hopes but he wishes not to hurt another soul. He needs you to come back."
Toriel's expression melted on the spot. How did Asriel know this ? How was Asriel even here ? Why was he a flower ? So many questions burned through her mind.
The queen recomposed herself. "Asgore is a grown man able to make his own decisions, he has chosen to renounce his past to pursue a senseless freedom that comes at an unacceptable price. The reason the people want this in the first place was because of his own decision. Those are the consequences of Asgore's actions and i wish not to participate in this miserable tale. All i can do is stay here and hope that his plan will never be allowed to succeed."
The queen was surprised to see no understanding but rather annoyance if not anger on her sons' face.
She had just said... Basically the same thing as last time ! She had buried herself in her fog so deep that even when the question was asked differently, she recited the same nonsense like a book. Was that really it ? Did context had no effect on her words ? Did she even care that it was her son at all who was asking ? After all, she had replaced him didn't she ? All those other humans...
He wasn't giving up on this. he would change her mind.
FILE 8 LOADED
"A-asriel ?" She repeated. "Is it really you ?" Was this a dream ? How was this possible ?
The flower nodded with a sad expression. Toriel carefully took it from the ground and gave it room on her shoulder before deciding to bring it, no, him, to her home.
As she walked, Asriel interrupted her again.
"Mom ? Can i ask you something ?"
"What is it ?" Toriel stopped and looked at the flower still on her shoulder.
Clearly asking about Asgore wasn't the right way to get her to react. She had spent who knows how long here trying to prevent Asgore's plan from working...
Asriel, going from his old life, had reflexively assumed that talking about Asgore, who she loved so much, would be the best way to get a reaction. But he was wrong. This was not the Toriel he knew, this Toriel had built up years of resentment against Asgore. If anything, it was counterproductive.
No, he needed to strike where it would hit her hard.
"Do you not care about me ?"
Toriel's expression melted on the spot. Again.
"Of course i love you Asriel, i will always care about you my child."
The prince did his best to not tell her a piece of his mind about that one...
"Then why ? Why did you abandon the kingdom ? We wanted to set monsters free, why did you choose to stand in the way of that ?" Asriel put fake sadness on his face again.
"Asgore may have decided to free our kind, but he wants to do so by killing humans like Chara. I can never accept this. What if our dear Chara was to fall today ? Asgore would kill them. What he is doing goes against what you both meant to us. A peaceful future between humans and monsters. All he would bring us is another war."
Asriel realised the mistake he made halfway through listening to Toriel's response. By asking the question that way, he had incited Toriel to defend her actions by demonising Asgore. This of course was not the right path of action if the goal was to get her to forgive Asgore.
FILE 8 LOADED
"A-asriel ?" She repeated. "Is it really you ?" Was this a dream ? How was this possible ?
The flower nodded with a sad expression. Toriel carefully took it from the ground and gave it room on her shoulder before deciding to bring it, no, him, to her home.
As she walked, Asriel interrupted her again.
"Mom ? Can i ask you something ?"
"What is it ?" Toriel stopped and looked at the flower still on her shoulder.
"Why did you leave ? Asgore was right..." Toriel would not dare to talk that way about Asgore this time if he immediatly asserted him as being the one that he supported the decisions of over her.
Toriel's expression melted on the spot. This was getting more boring every time it happened.
The queen sighed, closer her eyes and sat down, looking at Asriel sadly.
"My child, Asgore has chosen to follow the path of war, what good would come out of breaking the barrier this way ? It would only lead us into another war. This is a cause i cannot support."
Asriel interrupted her before she could finish her trail of thought as he knew that she would think of comparing the fallen humans to Chara next, which would lead her to demonising Asgore again and thus to another failure.
"But mother, you could have talked him out of it. Why did you leave rather than try to calm Asgore down before he made any anger-led decision ?"
"...Asriel, i think that we are both too tired to discuss this for now, would you rather come home with me ? I could make you a slice of pie."
The prince didn't expect this. Why did Toriel react this way ?
Suddenly, it clicked. He started off by saying Asgore was right, then when he thought of questioning Toriel on a new angle regarding why she didn't stop Asgore, that insinuated that he considered Asgore was wrong. This inconsistency must have led her to conclude that he didn't know what he was saying or was too confused to think properly. She won't take his words seriously enough now. Thus he had once again failed.
FILE 8 LOADED
"A-asriel ?" She repeated. "Is it really you ?" Was this a dream ? How was this possible ?
The flower nodded with a sad expression. Toriel carefully took it from the ground and gave it room on her shoulder before deciding to bring it, no, him, to her home.
As she walked, Asriel interrupted her again.
"Mom ? Can i ask you something ?"
"What is it ?" Toriel stopped and looked at the flower still on her shoulder.
The prince had another idea, but first he would need to test the waters of what Toriel would respond to this...
"Mom, do you still love me ?" This was just the first question of course and the answer he would get was obvious, but he needed to ask it before moving on to the interesting part.
"Of course i love you Asriel, i will always care about you my child." She had... Already said that as well in another attempt didn't she ? It was interesting that people seemed like they often said similar things when in similar situations. Even in different iterations of the timeline.
"Even if i became a flower ?"
"Always" Toriel pet her sons' petals.
"Even if i became a soulless husk of who i once was ? A creature with no emotions ?" This wasn't entirely true, but it was what he needed to say to her. He needed Toriel to tell him that even someone like what he had just described was still worthy of love.
The queen was a bit concerned by what he had just told her. Soulless ? Emotionless ? Was this true ? "It doesn't matter my child. I will always love you no matter what."
Asriel smiled. Not because of what Toriel said, but because he knew he had a real lead on how to do this now.
FILE 8 LOADED
Toriel hummed to herself as she made her way through the ruins. She did not meet a single monster on her daily travel towards the opening to the surface. It seemed they did not dare to engage in conversations with her. This did not displease the old queen, she had gotten used to the loneliness of these ruins anyway. The monsters had made it clear that they did not desire her company when they chose to listen to Asgore this fateful day.
Every day, she followed this same path in case a human had fallen down. She hoped that she could save the next human from Asgore's wrath.
When the light from above shone above Toriel's face, her glare fixed itself on the golden flowers that surrounded the grave of her child. Toriel had been the one to bury golden flower seeds together with Chara, these seeds were among those that were brought from the surface when Asriel...
Their favorite flowers for their grave. It only felt right.
Those golden flowers were indeed pretty, Toriel thought as she took a moment to admire their beauty.
Suddenly, the old queen swore that he heard something.
After listening more attentively, it sounded like... crying ?
As Toriel approached the golden flowers, the sound got louder until she localised the source. It came from... one of the flowers ?
Was a flower crying ?
The queen knelt down to notice that the six petaled flower was shaking as well.
"Are you alright ?" The boss monster asked. She had never seen a flower cry before.
Suddenly, the flower turned around and looked at her in the eyes.
"Mom !"
The old queen was confused, why did it call her this way ?
"Its me ! Asriel !"
Toriel's expression melted on the spot once more.
"A-asriel ?" She couldn't believe her ears, could this really be him ? Was her son... a flower ? Was this a dream ? How was this possible ?
"Mom..." The prince retook the initiative. "Why are we still down here ? Why aren't we free ?"
Toriel took a moment to think of what to answer.
"I don't understand... Chara and i gave our lives to free everyone ! What happened ?" The prince feigned ignorance.
"Y-your lives ?" The old queen repeated.
The prince hid a malicious smile behind a sad frown. "Did you really think we just wanted to bring Chara's body back to their village to make them see the flowers one last time ? No, we wanted to get six more souls, we wanted to break the barrier !"
Toriel gasped. This... couldn't be right... Was this really what had actually happened behind her nose ? And most importantly...
"What do you mean by 'we' ?"
The flower cringed when he heard the question. He had said too much again...
Wait, actually, bringing up at least partially what role Chara played could actually turn the tide in his favor. By neglecting some details and emphasing others...
FILE 8 LOADED
"Mom..." The prince retook the initiative. "Why are we still down here ? Why aren't we free ?"
Toriel took a moment to think of what to answer.
"I don't understand... Chara and i gave our lives to free everyone ! What happened ?" The prince feigned ignorance.
"Y-your lives ?" The old queen repeated, trying to understand what her son could possibly mean.
The prince hid a malicious smile behind a sad frown again. "Did you really think i just wanted to bring Chara's body back to their village to make them see the flowers one last time ? No, i wanted to get six more souls, i wanted to break the barrier !" Asriel purposely put all the blame on himself this time, even if in actuality, he had been the one foolish enough to try to resist when Chara wanted to...
Toriel gasped. This... couldn't be right... Did her son son really want to... Why then ? why didn't he...
"Asriel" She gave him a hug, not knowing what to say or to think. Was the story of that fateful day really actually different from what they all believed ? "Why didn't you tell us ?" The queen asked, remembering her son turning to dust in the garden, why hadn't he said a word about what he had really wanted to do in that case ? Why didn't he tell the truth ?
"I wanted you to hate them !" The golden flower lied. "I wanted you all to see humans as murderers so that we could all be free one day !"
Tears began forming in Toriel's eyes. Was the thing she had hated Asgore for actually been planned ahead by Asriel this whole time ? This... This was impossible ! Asriel would never do this. Not her Asriel. He wouldn't come up with such a plan would he ? Toriel's world felt like it was being torn apart. How could her own son confess to something like this ? How could he agree to killing humans to bring the barrier down ? Especially when Chara...
"But... What about Chara ?" She wondered, trying her best to prevent herself from crying.
"Chara..." Asriel smirked. "You want to know about Chara ?" he repeated. "Alright. I'll tell you about them."
The two creatures looked at each other in the eyes.
"Chara's death was no accident. It was an organised suicide."
The old queen was trembling after hearing this. N-no... Not her child...
"They poisoned themself on purpose so that i could take their soul and cross the barrier to get six more souls. They died just so that we could all be freed." He explained.
"S-so..." Asriel pretended to be melting into tears.
"WHY ARE WE STILL DOWN HERE ? W-why ? Did.. we fail ? I don't... I don't understand ! Why are you here ? Why aren't you on the surface ? What did we die for ?"
The queen couldn't control herself anymore and began sobbing as she told the tale.
"After you d-died. Asgore declared war in anger, ileft for these ruins because i c-couldn't bear it." It was very rare to see Toriel crying, yet here she was.
"Why couldn't you bear it ?" The prince once again hid a large grin behind a neutral expression. He knew that he had won.
"He swore to kill the humans that would fall down here, i couldn't handle imagining children like Chara falling again only to be ruthlessly killed" The queen recited her usual answer, but slower than usual, it seemed that she was starting to realise that in the context of what Asriel had just told her... This meant...
"Mom ? Do you still love me?" The prince asked again, trying to lead Toriel into a trap.
"Of course i love you Asriel, i will always care about you my child." It was that same answer again. It was the third time now.
"Even if i became a flower ?"
"Always" Toriel this time however did not pet her sons' petals.
"Even if i was the one who tried to kill humans to bring us freedom ? Even if i became a soulless flower, a husk of my former self ?"
Toriel paused for a second before sighing and holding him tight.
No words. Just a mother's embrace.
Asriel let a couple seconds pass by before firing his next series of words that to Toriel would feel like bullets. The ones he had been carefully crafting the appropriate situation in order to be able to say.
"How can you forgive me for what i did if you cannot forgive Asgore for what he did ?"
Toriel felt as if time had paused as her son's words pierced through her soul. He... His crimes were as bad, no, were worse than Asgore's. Even Asgore's decision, although it was still his own, had been partially staged by Asriel if what he said was true.
And to think that even Chara was a part of this...
She didn't understand. She had left because her husbands' actions were disgusting to her and harmed what she believed to be her children's legacy. but if her children had actually planned... such a grim and murderous scheme together then this reasoning no longer help up didn't it ? If anything, she was the odd one out of the family now.
Yet she forgave Asriel, she immediatly did. Why did she forgive him if his intentions were no better if not worse than his father's ?
She knew what the answer was. She was biased. She forgave Asriel... because he was Asriel. That was the sole reason. For years she mourned the memory of her lost son as an angel taken too soon, the truth was that she was simply unable to blame him even after this confession. He was back. Her son was back and it was all that mattered, never could she hate him for something that had happened so long ago...
And yet... She did exactly that with Asgore.
The queen had no choice but to have to acknowledge the truth. Her actions were... irrational.
She was no sage, she was a person with her own feelings.
"I... I..." She began, but without managing to put her feelings into words.
The prince wore another fake concerned expression before continuing. "This... this isn't what we wanted mom. We wanted everyone to be have hope, we wanted to bring them freedom. This was what we wanted to be. This is what we wanted to give."
Toriel had to take some time to ingest the information. Her children did not agree with her. They agreed with Asgore. She did all of this because of them, and now they... Now Asriel was saying nearly the same things that she had left Asgore for.
If she wasn't doing this for the people, if she wasn't doing this for her children, who was she staying here for ?
It was for herself. She was just doing it for herself.
The queen hid her face with her hands. Asriel had almost done it, now he had just had to deliver the final blow.
using one of his vine, away from Toriel's sight, he brought out the item he had taken with him earlier and when Toriel looked at him again, he put it int her hands.
Toriel stared at the familiar object. A locket. Their locket. It said "Best friends forever". the mere sight of it reminded her of the sadness she felt when the tragedy took place.
When she looked back at her son, he was pleading her.
"Please mom, this isn't what Chara and i wanted. We love you. We need you to come back. Asgore needs you to come back. Your kingdom needs you to come back. Please, we all miss you so much !"
Unable to control her emotions any longer, the boss monster held her son tighter as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I..."
"I Understand."
"I'll... Think about it."
From this angle, Toriel was unable to see her sons' face. The flower was now grinning. he had achieved his goal. He had managed to emotionally manipulate his own mother into rethinking the last few decades of her life.
"My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For you, my child... i will put them aside."
- Toriel
Author notes :
This chapter is a bit longer than usual to compensate for the fact that some of the dialogue repeats after each LOAD. And yes, i was supposed to post this yesterday but whoops.
Do you like different LOADS being shown this way or would you rather see less of Asriel's failed attempts and only have him refer to things he tried in those as his thoughts ? It would make progress for the plot a bit faster but it wouldn't be as detailed. Feel free to suggest your opinion in the matter, im open to suggestions regarding this.