After being gravely wounded one two many times due to his own hesitation or being too weak, a certain brunette has finally had enough of being the victim and the burden. He is now going to do his darndest to make up for the concern he's caused everyone, and will pursue a new purpose of his.
Frisk will finally muster up the will to not just be a savior, but a protector. He's had it with playing distressed little brother to Asriel and Chara. He'll step himself up...but he can't do it alone. So, he'll seek help from a very unexpected source...
Flowey: A reliable source...but not exactly the most stable one.
Asgore: I do not think that will stop him.
Flowey: Never said that it would. He's much better than that, and is definitely willing to prove it.
Chapter Start!
It's been an entire week since the series of events in question happened. Humans were still in a bit of an anxious state after having recovered from their souls nearly being taken away from them for good, but for the most part, they seemed to be readjusting and recovering quite well. In fact, one could say that they were very close to going back to the way things were, with a pinch of reconstruction for anything that was damaged, with the assistance of Alphys and Mettaton. The gang was even managing well when it came to getting their own things back in order, including their homes and their belongings. They were taking their minds off of the issue for the most part by occupying themselves with their own personal activities. And so far, it's been working for the most part.
Though there was one person who had a much harder time moving past these incidents, mainly because of what happened during them and what effect they had on said person. Each one made a lasting effect on this person, one after the other. Until then, the person finally decided to believe that their luck was perhaps not the best in the world. Not that they haven't been through worse, but it was getting rather difficult to deal with at this point.
Frisk.
It's been a difficult path for the young adolescent. Of course, what has happened so far up to this was nowhere near enough to break his spirit. But that surely didn't mean that he wasn't shaken. Which was a bit humorous to think about when he really thought about it. A long time ago, even death wasn't much to make him so much as flinch. He was always to calm and collected, even in the face of entire timelines being erased, and having to face the ones responsible. Himself, Asriel, and Chara. Since Flowey was now a separate entity from Asriel, he supposed that technically makes four. Regardless of what had happened, Frisk was completely calm at all time, mostly having a stoic expression. This was due to being completely being alone for so long that he was used to it.
As time passed, however...that began to change.
Frisk became more expressive when the Underground was completely out of danger, and he was officially adopted into the Dreemurr Family. He began to genuinely smile more, laugh more, and sometimes whine and cry a bit more when things don't go his way sometimes. He doesn't mind it, though. Emotions such as sadness were just as important as emotions such as happiness. And thinking about this, he still felt sad that Flowey still couldn't really feel any of those things; at best, he could very closely mimic emotional responses to fit the situation. He couldn't technically love the others or truly care for them. But he can like them. That was about the best he could muster. And since Asriel was separated from him, Flowey didn't really care about being mostly emotionless anymore. It helped him think more logically than the others. Still, there were signs of him wishing that he could feel just a little bit more, mostly through his interactions with the Dreemurrs, and Temmie.
But back to Frisk. Ever since he's truly become part of a new family, he's become much more expressive, and much more invested in other things. And as such, he also became worried about some things as well. He was much less worried about himself than he was for the others. And the feeling was definitely mutual. Because as strong as Frisk was, his grave aversion to fighting kept him from fighting for his own sake. The best he's ever did-in this new timeline at least-was provide support for his loved ones and defense for the innocent. Though for the life of him, there has been times that he's gotten seriously hurt because he was either too hesitant or too weak to do anything. He didn't want to admit it...but he felt bad for not being able to do more.
His entire family has been able to do so much more than him, and constantly place themselves in danger for him more than anyone. He felt like he wasn't being as helpful as he used to be. Feeling like the small sheep who couldn't help himself because he was either too hesitant or too weak to stray from his herd. That goes for everyone else, as well. He felt like a burden...the feeling was almost unbearable.
"Frisk?" Asgore asked him. Frisk moved about a bit as he lifted his head towards his father. The large caprine tilted his head towards him as he placed himself in the seat next to him at the kitchen table. "Does something trouble you, my child?"
Frisk pondered Asgore's question for a few moments, wondering if he should really tell his father abut this. He remembered what had happened and what his father did. He was fully aware that Asgore had killed Alvina's father when it was clear that the situation wouldn't lead towards a peaceful resolution, via his enemies persistence and malice, as well as the very strict time constraint. It was very clear from that action that Asgore no longer has any qualms about personally dirtying his paws in order to save the humans in danger. Of course he preferred that it didn't come to that, but he's proven that he's more than capable of doing so. And to his immense surprise, Toriel is capable of it as well, though her hesitation is even less than Asgore's.
After pushing through his thoughts for the moment, he sighed and decided to simply tell his father what troubles him. "Dad...I've been thinking a lot about what's been happening around me...and what's happened to me, and how it's been affecting my loved ones..."
"Hmm..." Asgore's eyes slowly lowered, his focus on the subject sharpening.
Frisk lowered his head and lightly caressed the Golden Locket in his hands. "I'm a bit anxious about everything that has gone on so far ever since we left the Underground. It mostly has something to do with the fact that even now, we have enemies outside of Ebott that seriously, sincerely, and remorselessly hurt us. And most of the time, I've only been able to help a little bit through it all...and some of those times I ended up getting seriously hurt because of it. So seriously hurt that everyone else grew very worried for me, to the point that they have to place themselves in danger just to help me out of it."
"...?" Flowey slowly raised his head with a pitched eyebrow.
Frisk sighed softly as he gently caressed and clutched onto his Golden Locket. "It's...it's been one thing after another. At one point, I wasn't able to save some friends, I needed Geno Alphys' help to make sure it wasn't permanent. Then there was the incident towards the islands...Undyne's attention was taken off of me for a moment, and it got me a permanent scar on my chest." He winced a bit while gently touching his chest...he could still feel the pain every now and then. "Then in another instance, I wasn't able to reason with some of those mages that attacked us...I've been blown up for my troubles. And most recently, my soul was nearly crushed into pieces when one of them had me in her grasp..."
"...And these experiences are bothering you, my child?" Asgore asked quietly.
"...Well...that's part of it." Frisk admitted. "What mostly bothers me is how everyone puts themselves in danger for my sake. Because of my reluctance to fight, everyone else has to place themselves in more danger than usual in order to protect me from further damage. Some of them get seriously hurt for it...and I haven't been able to do much aside from healing and defending...and I know that's been my main preference and that I've been trained in that aspect...but..." Frisk sighed. "I find myself wishing that I could do more...much more...but I find myself falling short every time I try. I'm not sure of what exactly more I could do...I don't want you or the others to keep getting hurt because of my hesitation or reluctance gets me seriously hurt...I don't want to be a burden to any of you anymore..."
"Frisk...son..." Asgore said softly while reaching out and gently petting his head. "You've been under a lot of stress from these incidents, haven't you? And despite that, you've chosen to keep quiet about them to preserve our own happiness. That was rather silly of you." Frisk's mouth opened a bit to precisely show his confusion on the sudden statement. "Frisk, you know you can tell us about anything that bothers you, especially if it's matters like this."
"Dad...?"
"It's very understandable of you to feel so torn about this. The amount of danger within the world has grown drastically high from when you've last been it before the very first time you've met all of us. You wish for peace, and so do I. More than most would expect from me. However...what has recently happened has served to confirm that these incidents are not going to stop simply because we wish for it. The hostilities will continue to grow towards Ebott...and people will continue to be in danger if we don't do what we must to protect it and it's people." Asgore sighed as he lightly caressed Frisk's cheek. "And I sense it now, Frisk. You feel like the protected...when you wish to be a protector. Is that the vibe I'm receiving from you?"
"...Yes..." Frisk said softly while nodding. He didn't really like the fact that he was feeling this way deep down. His grand aversion to fighting has kept him from joining his friends in battle. And so far, it would have been very helpful if he did, but he mostly stays behind them so they can protect him, while he heals and supports them. So when he manages to get seriously hurt anyway, they feel lie the failures for not being able to protect him, instead of himself for not fighting at all. And he has the ability. Both Asgore and Flowey were fully and personally aware that he can fight when all other options have literally been taken away from him. Ever since then, he simply chose not to. But now that these incidents have started cropping up more frequently...
"...I think I know what's goin' on with you, kid." Flowey said as he slowly raised his head to look at Frisk. Both he and Asgore turned towards him curiously. "I think you've finally realized how complacent you've become. It isn't entirely your fault, you've just been placed in situations that you can no longer predict via experiences via resets. It's not like you don't want to be beside them, but you've found yourself comfortable with being protected instead of being a protector like the rest. Though now that you've been forced into the fray without much preparation. And because of that, you've found yourself scarred, blown up, and suffocated via soul. That's strike three...you can't take placing the others in more danger than necessary when they have to divide their focus between eliminating the threat and protecting you."
"I've...been...complacent...?"
"Let me put it this way. Remember what I said to you for the very first time, after you made your way past Toriel for the very first time?" Flowey questioned. Frisk tilted his head a moment, and then lifted his head. He did remember:
What will you do when you meet a relentless killer...?
"And how about the other thing that I said after our duel with me as Omega Flowey?"
I'LL KILL EVERYONE THAT YOU LOVE.
"You called me out on my bluff that time. The guys out there...they aren't bluffing. They WILL do EVERYTHING within their power to completely and utterly ruin your life, just because we exist along with you. They'll kill you not to prove a point or that the world is better off, but because they can. You have to understand, Frisk. They're the ones you can't reason with no matter how hard you try. And this is coming from me, with literally no real emotions, yet you managed to reason with me. That should tell you just how bad some of these guys really are." Flowey narrowed his eyes. "It's getting rougher out here. We've already seen that you really don't care about how much you get hurt so long as your loved ones are happy. But you getting hurt is going to hurt them. And you obviously don't like it when you have to watch them get hurt protecting you. You also don't like seeing the innocent getting hurt when you clearly have the power to either stop or even prevent it, do you?"
"No...I don't..."
Flowey's eyes softened considerably, which surprised both himself and Frisk. Asgore watches on quietly. "Frisk. You obviously have power. A lot of it, that you can use to protect those you care about. But without the will to use it when those times come, having that power doesn't really amount to anything. Am I wrong?"
"...Y-Yes..." Frisk said quietly. His head was lowered the entire time while he was thinking deeply about these questions. Back in the Underground, he was the only one in serious danger, so he had no problem risking his own life for the sake of others happiness. But now it's become very clear; that mindset was no longer going to work on the Surface. Selflessly sacrificing himself, while it sounds noble, it would only hurt his family further. Living for them provided much more satisfaction than dying for them.
Asriel learned his lesson regarding this subject, which is why most of his hesitation regarding fighting for himself and for others went away for the most part. Sacrificing himself caused more pain instead of happiness, so his main focus was to keep all of his loved ones alive, well, and happy. That includes himself, as his self-esteem was restored during his training with Undyne. He's learning to live for himself just as much as he lives for others.
Chara was much more obvious, except he simply grew kinder, if a bit grumpy. Though that doesn't prevent him from being ruthless when he needs to be; he can still very much kill a person without hesitation, and not stray back into darkness. The only thing he regrets is Frisk witnessing those moments, because he knows he's the most averse to them.
Speaking of Frisk...he was unconsciously content with letting them and the others do all of the fighting...he allowed them to shelter him so he could feel safe and secure with his beliefs of non-violence. But if this was how it was going to be...if the others, including innocent people, had to keep getting hurt because they're far too busy keeping him away from the danger, fully knowing that he has no desire to fight...it made Frisk feel guilty. They have to keep getting hurt so that he never does. And that's slowly beginning to fail, as the threats from outside continue to grow harsher and more unrelenting.
Knowing he has the power to protect but decide not to because of his own personal aversions, and that aversion causes more consequences than benefits in the long run...it made Frisk feel irresponsible. It was clear; he has to do more than simply support them from behind and hope for the best. No...he wanted to be beside them. Some were willing to take on moral consequences of their actions in order to keep everyone safe, and they won't be corrupted by those actions, either.
They're all willing to fight to defend the peace they share...he wanted to be a part of that. A bigger part of it than he was now.
Still, the idea that Flowey of all people hinting this, for Frisk's own sake...it was outrageous, even if he was now a separate entity from Asriel, and embodies most of his built-up negativity. The fact that he was willing to help him this much at all also managed to floor him.
Asgore gently placed a paw on Frisk's head. The adolescent responded by turning towards him, and then wrapping his arms around the large monster in a hug. No way could he wrap his arms completely around him due to the immense size difference, but it didn't matter; Asgore wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a gentle hug. He lightly pets Frisk hair while his own eyes closed.
"Frisk...you wish to be stronger than you are now. Is that right?"
"Absolutely.' There was no hesitation in Frisk's voice; he knew exactly what he wanted.
"...Very well. I know just the person to help you with your improved training. However, I will have to gain Tori's input before we can actually proceed with it. I can't make the call on my own." He smiled nervously with a brief sweat-drop. "Though even if I do succeed with convincing her, I may be sleeping on the couch for several weeks, depending on her mood..."
Flowey raised an eyebrow. "Why would she...who exactly are you thinking of letting Frisk train under...?"
Asgore sheepishly laughed while rubbing his neck. "Weeellll..."
"...Hah..." Darkness shook his head while sighing softly. "Many times. And I do mean, many times...I have attempted to teach you proper food etiquette." Darkness rubbed his temples as Lunar was eating multiple bowls of food before her that couldn't be any farther from ladylike if she tried. "And yet you still choose to eat like a barbarian."
"She already dresses like one." Tempest deadpanned.
"I prefer the term 'pirate' rather than barbarian." Lunar shrugged nonchalantly.
"What's the difference?"
"Pirates can have some kind of honor to their name, so long as it doesn't interfere with their own personal freedoms." Lunar waved her paw while eating most of his food, not really bothering to clean her muzzle aside from wiping with her arm. "Of course, being a trained assassin, you don't really care much about honor, so long as you make your kill. Cold-blooded attitude like that might not land you too many clients to trust you. That big-boned skeleton might as well be your good counterpart. He won't ever go back on his word unless something seriously forces him to. Though devotion like that may also prevent him from acting sooner rather than later, which is also a very exploitable flaw." She sighed while her tail swishes about, side-to-side. "Heh. Maybe you two should personally hang out sometime."
Tempest groaned while shaking his head. "I don't know...he seems far too cheeky. He's very adept at wearing out someone's patience."
"Given your name, it is rather understandable that your temper may not be any match for his deliberately bad humor. Though you won't say a thing when the Queen Dreemurr indulges in bad jokes."
"...All the Dreemurrs aside from Chara indulge in terrible jokes, while Asriel and Asgore are notoriously bad at naming things. I...I don't know how I've been able to stand it anymore than I already have."
"...Tempest has a temper~" Darkness cooed.
"Don't start with me."
Darkness sighed softly as he looks towards the children within the capsules. "They still haven't woken up yet...though it's only a matter of time. Toriel seems to have some kind of plan for them when they awake. I'm rather interested to see what she has in store." He lifted his head and turned to the left. "Speaking of Dreemurrs..."
"Howdy!~" Asgore waved towards the Dragon Trio as Frisk was nonchalantly riding atop his head, holding onto his horns for balance. "Well then, it seems that you're all recovering quite nicely. Especially you, Tempest. You've had the worst experience of the others, and it's rather fortunate that Lunar managed to save you." Tempest huffed a bit when he noticed Lunar staring at him rather smugly. "Anyway, I would like to request something of you all. Mostly Lunar."
"Haaah...?" Lunar tilted her head curiously while nonchalantly scratching her stomach and yawning. "Whaddya want? I'm a bit busy doing something important."
Tempest glared at her in annoyance. "You were busy stuffing your face. Do you SERIOUSLY consider that to be more important than anything else at the moment?"
"Yes."
"...I'm sometimes surprised that we're related." The lack of hesitation baffled Tempest more than the answer itself.
Darkness tilted his head. "I don't see how. You're twins with relative similar size and scale color. Just that you're a bit shorter, your eyes are gold, her eyes are silver...and she's also more muscular."
"Oh gee, THANKS for pointing those obvious things out, Darkness! I'm FULLY aware of those things, so was it really necessary to remind me?!"
"Yes."
"...Why must you two tease me?" Tempest grumbled as he sits in a corner, not facing either of them.
Asgore chuckled softly at their banter; it seems that their interactions have grown a bit softer, especially Lunar's in regards to Tempest. He gently holds Frisk by the sides and sets him down on the ground while looking towards Lunar. "Frisk would like to request something of you, Lunar. It's something very important to him." He gestured for Frisk to walk up to the dragoness, and the adolescent proceeds to do so. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion while Frisk gathered his thoughts.
"Lunar...you know Support Magic, right...?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
Frisk sighed a bit, as he lifted his head towards her and nodded. "Do you mind teaching it to me? Teaching Support Magic to me, I mean. And to also..teach me how to fight more than I was able to before." He asked quietly.
Lunar blinked, then she smirked as she slowly stood up and brushed herself off. "Ah...I get it. You're getting rather sick of getting trashed at every turn despite your current power, so now you're asking me for help on toughening you up?" She said as she walked up to him, and then began circling around the boy, her tail waving up and down. "I've got your group dynamic figured out by now, at least on a basic level. It isn't hard to see that you're the baby of the bunch. The one that needs everyone to protect him so that they don't have to see him getting hurt, fully aware that fighting isn't something he enjoys. Understandable, to a fault. But now you've been repeatedly exposed to danger and you couldn't really do anything about it aside from healing and hoping your friends make it in time. It's that sense of helplessness and weakness...it's beginning to aggravate you, isn't it?"
"..."
The dragoness folded her arms while looking down on the child. "I may not look it, but I've been around for a while. Not nearly as long as Asgore, Toriel, or Gerson...but a pretty long while. I have met many people like you before. Tribes, villages, even entire civilizations. They like to preach about the virtues of nonviolence and the importance of peace. That's all well and good...until they get their heads too far up in their pretty little clouds to notice the danger on the horizon. Then when it's right at their doorstep, they can't do anything because they've never prepared themselves for something like that. Ya know what would happen to some of them afterward?"
"What happened...?"
Lunar snarled. "Lemme tell ya...they die. They hold on, SO tightly onto their precious pacifism, to the point where they don't even resist their oppressors, even when they start killing them. You'd think that they would at the very least leave the area so that they won't have to deal with it. But no, NO. Apparently ANY type of resistance is frowned upon; they'd rather get utterly wiped out than resist in any way. Evacuation is considered participating in a fight for some of them, so they don't even do that when faced with death. They might get destroyed for not defending themselves or even fleeing. To them, if being destroyed by conquerors is their destiny, they'd rather embrace that than do anything that even slightly amounts to resistance."
Frisk seemed surprised, given his mouth being slightly agape, while he shook his head. "They...they'd take it that far...?!"
"Those are the most extreme cases, yeah. There have been some in-between, but I've seen far too many extremes for comfort. I completely gave up on those people, they're idiots. There's no purpose in living up to an ideal if you're dead. And it's even worse that you bring your loved ones down with you." Lunar shook her head and folded her arms. "If they wish to die for their ideals then they can die all by themselves. They shouldn't bring everyone else down with them just because they feel like they should."
"Lunar...what about..." Tempest raised his head.
"Being too weak to resist at a meaningful level, and not resisting at all, I consider to be two entirely different things. I hate the latter even more. The former at least tries, even if it's in vain. They know that surrendering will have a significantly higher chance at leading to something much worse than death for resisting." Lunar closed her eyes. "The monsters of Ebott feel different than other monsters I've sensed around the world that survived the war. The monsters here feel much, much more powerful than most settlements that actually like their peace. They actually feel somewhat prepared for the outside world, because a pretty decent majority of it are filled with people and monsters alike that would have no problem with taking advantage of others unwillingness to resist. It's good that you lot won't fall folly to that to that so easily."
"Hm..." Asgore nodded gently to Lunar while he softly placed his paws on Frisk's shoulders while keeping eye contact with her. "Lunar. Knowing all of this...would you be willing to teach my child how to improve his fighting ability? I can see how importance this is to him, how much he genuinely wants to walk this path before him. The previous situations he's been placed in has reminded him of how dangerous the world can truly be, and has acknowledged that it will continue to grow worse if we cannot match the threat. This is something that does not bring Frisk pleasure, but he feels the need to at least try. He wishes for more strength, which he knows is within himself."
"Yeah." Lunar tilted her head while gazing at Frisk. "I can definitely sense this kid's deeper potential within himself. He can definitely step up his game if he really tries. Surpassing his brothers is out of the question...but I can definitely see him at least fighting on their level. Though I do wanna hear it from the kid himself."
Frisk looked down at his own hands, and then gently caressed his Golden Locket. He then sighed. "...I can't depend on everyone to protect me forever. I can't always play the healer...and they can't always be there, even if they wanted to." He began, lifting his head up to Lunar once again. "I'm sure about this, I really want to do this, Lunar. Will you train me...?"
"Hmmm..." Lunar rubbed her chin while giving Frisk another look-over. "So...you wanna know Support Magic. Your mom has already taught you a great amount about healing, so we can cross that off the list, right?" Frisk nodded. "Good. Support Magic goes beyond simple healing. It involves temporarily enhancing the performance of others around you...that can include yourself, which is what you're most likely to go for. Speed, strength, durability, accuracy, combat, intelligence, even restoring others stamina. And you can go even farther in regards to the enemy side: negate damage done by them, remove damage done by them, reduce damage done by them, and amplify the damage that they take."
"Wow..."
"In short, with enough practice, Support Magic can be a very useful ability for yourself and your allies, and a MAJOR annoyance for your enemies." She tilts her head again. "But before that...is your mom okay with this?"
"I've spoken with Tori already." Asgore confirmed. "Given what's happened to Frisk at this point, she's willing to let him train with you. But he should have weekends off, and Darkness's supervision is a must. She...hasn't forgotten that your selfish desires placed Asriel in danger."
"...Okay, that's fair." Lunar shrugged; Toriel's already gotten a pretty accurate read on Lunar already, so of course she'd be skeptical and cautious. "So what will it be, kid? You gonna accept my tutelage? I can't promise to pull too many of my punches because that's part of the program, so you'd better be wiling to take it."
"I'm willing."
Lunar smirked, while Darkness and Tempest stood by, dumbfounded. "Excellent! Just gimme four months at minimum to improve what you already have and to teach you a few things you don't. And by the end of the fourth month, it'll be a one-on-one against me! A very hands-on review!"
"Annnnd there it is." Tempest sighed, he knew his sister would have a selfish reason for this generosity hidden somewhere, and that's grooming Frisk to be a worthy challenger. I swear...
Frisk briefly thought back to his dear family, and tenderly held his Golden Locket. They shouldn't have to solely protect him all the time...they should all protect each other. Frisk has so far failed to live up to that shared view, but he now has the drive to finally change that. Perhaps he may never gain the actual willingness to consciously take a life, which is left up to those who are hardened enough to handle that burden. But now he was certain that he could handle fighting to protect them. He wanted to fight to preserve the peace that he and his friends have all worked so hard to attain, if that's really what it'll take.
Everyone...I'm going to make up for all the concern I've caused you. Be patient with me...I'll pick up the pace as soon as I can. It shouldn't just be me that you look after. We'll soon be able to truly protect one another!
It's unlikely that he actually knew what he was thinking, but Asgore immediately smiled as soon as those thoughts passed through the teen's head.
Frisk's silent promise to himself filled him with great Determination.
Well, there we have it. A battle-hungry dragoness is gonna instill within Frisk a fighting spirit. Fighting for his loved ones that is. There's no possible way that this could go wrong. And even so, Darkness is there to make sure things don't go overboard.
Asgore: Though Tori surely isn't pleased with the teacher Frisk chose, she'll overlook it...so long as Frisk isn't too hurt. Then it'll be on both Lunar's head and mine...
Flowey:...Meh. I'm sure he can handle it.
Frisk: I certainly can handle it...I will.
Not much of a fluffy chapter, more like one of our characters making a very firm resolution that will reap many benefits in the future. Next chapter might be similar, and perhaps the one after that. But there shall be true feel-good vibes at some point. I just feel the need to get some of the aftermaths and reactions of what transpired out of the way and what certain characters wish to do about them, or else they'll never leave my mind, and confuse my thoughts on the actual relaxing chapters. Hope you understand. They'll come eventually; just not now.
Until then, appreciated readers!~