See!? I told you I'd do it! I'd told you I'd try and get another chapter out by Friday!

*Ahem* That aside, please enjoy!


"Mom, I know you don't like me going out in the night, but – Ouch – It's not that I want you to worry – Aww – I just need to do it, it's the only way I – Eek! – Oh, come on! Can't this wait!?" Asriel huffed, but the scolding glare of Toriel, sitting at his bedside, magically conjuring a needle to sew sutures in his wounds from the night before, brooked no quarter.

"Asriel Dreemurr, I am well aware of your need to put yourself in danger and to prove yourself, though stars alone know to whom, but I would appreciate if you would at least take a passing interest in your health" She said and waved a paw at the bed linens and blanket, covered in several dark-red blotches and patches of glittering monster dust.

"Just look at this mess! If I did not know better, I would think a murder happened here!"

"I'm fine! Just lay off!" Asriel snapped, slapping Toriel's paw away and letting the magical suturing needle fall down.

"Wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"More through fortunate happenstance than any effort on your part, if what Undyne has told me is true" Toriel said cooly.

The look of annoyance on his face faded away to one of slight apprehension. He glanced down at the foot of the bed where, unbeknownst to everyone but him, the ghost of Chara watched with concern "Oh… you… you've already talked to her? W-well, she wasn't on the ship anyhow! She couldn't have seen everything that went down!" He hurriedly added.

"My child…"

"And hey, I saved someone! Doesn't that count for anything!? You and Undyne are always riding on me about putting myself in danger but every time I save someone you just –"

"Asriel" Toriel said in a firm voice that, without being loud, carried enough of a steely edge to cut down any of his protests.

He tried to summon his frustrations back up, but the dual look of Chara and his mom regarding him with a mix of worry and disapproval meant all he could feel was a knot of shame in his chest.

The Queenpin breathed in for a few seconds, letting the motions calm her.

"Undyne tells me that you set the FoulFroggit Freebooter's ship ablaze in an almighty explosion, with their victim tied on the deck"

"Y-yeah, well, I figured they wouldn't get caught in it" he fired off a little too fast, instantly chiding himself for using the word 'figured'.

Toriel sighed and leaned down, placing a gentle paw on his chest.

"My little angel Asriel. Would that I knew of any spell or poultice that could heal the pain that drives you to do this to yourself. Would that I could turn back time and prevent that horrible day that led me sitting over my baby's battered and torn body like this"

"Mom, I –" Asriel began but couldn't finish. He wanted to apologize but with the number of times he had done so in past months, it was like it had lost its meaning.

Toriel didn't seem to mind, though. She leaned down further, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to gently pick him up, and placed her forehead to his.

"Whatever thoughts you might have, never lose hope that things will get better. Time and love heals all wounds. This too shall pass" she consoled.

Asriel felt his fears and doubts melt away, not completely, but enough that just thinking about the future didn't completely overwhelm him. A part of him almost wished he could get this kind of comfort in a pill form for when it got really bad. He looked over at Chara, cracking a smile as he saw him with his arms wrapped around himself, eyes closed and smiling wide as if mimicking the emotion he was going through.

"I hope so, I really do" he said, practically a whisper "But it's been like this ever since I got back, about half a year now and it only ever seems to get worse"

"The night is darkest just before the dawn" Toriel reassured, lifting her head to look him over as she ran a caressing claw over the dark lines running from eyes around his head, a gift from his time in the Flowey Gang.

"I remember you as you were before all this. My Asriel, who laughed in his sleep, wrote silly poems about everything between the stars and the earth and who always returned everything he pickpocketed. There is no reason you cannot be that person again"

"Mom, I'm not a little kid anymore"

"Age is no excuse to be unhappy" she said, lifting herself from the bed slowly.

"Fret not, my child. We will wean you of the shadow over your soul yet"

"… That'd be nice" He sighed, chiding himself for the apathy in his voice, but at least reassured that he meant it.

"Of course, there is work to do if we are to set you straight. Come down to breakfast with us, you and Frisk have places to be" Toriel said.

Asriel almost did a double-take at the sudden change in tone "Uh, what? We do?"

"Of course! It is time for your weekly counseling session with Alphys"

"Oh, that…" Asriel groaned, letting himself fall back into his pillow.

"I do not care for your tone, Asriel. Alphys has gone to great lengths to help soothe your troubles, the least you can do is bother to show up"

"… I'll be down in a few" he sighed, grateful that his mom didn't push the issue and left the room.

The solitude was short-lived. With a gust of wind that didn't seem to come from anywhere, the ghost of Chara manifested suddenly at his side, sitting with one leg on the bed.

"Wonder what the lil'lizard got for ya this time" he said.

"Probably just another big waste of time. If talking would make me feel better, it would have worked a long time ago"

"Perhaps" Chara shrugged "But stuff like this isn't easy to deal with, I mean, just imagine how convenient it would be if Alphys could, I dunno, stick a tube up yer butt and just suck all the doom and gloom out"

"Honestly, at this point, I'd happily sign up if that worked"

"Oh, wow, I didn't know you were into butt-stuff, Azzy" Chara teased, the little comment like the ignition that caused Asriel to leap from his bed like a rocket.

"I-I'm not! I'm just saying if it worked I'd-"

"I never would have guessed, my kid brother, into butt-stuff. I wonder what mom would think if she knew what her little 'angel' was really like"

"I'm not into butt-stuff!"

"Eh, she probably wouldn't mind. Your hole, your goal and all that"

"… maybe I should head down for breakfast" Asriel groaned, kicking the covers off and scooping a pair of pants, white shirt, and green hoodie off the floor.

The ghostly Chara could only grin at the haste the goat boy was in to leave the room. He pointed a finger at a spot above the dresser as Asriel got the hoodie on "Before you do, don't forget to check your mail, I hear Chara Ghost Delivery Service Inc. Set their best courier on the case!"

"And I suppose that would be you?"

"Aww, you smooth talker you! But you really shouldn't be putting the moves on your dear departed bro when your living family is waiting downstairs with buttfast- errh, breakfast" Chara declared, jumping off the bed and giving a crisp salute "Right! Better hop to it. I'll see you at Alphys's. I got some ghost biz to take care of"

"… See ya" Asriel managed in a voice much quieter than he would have liked, even if he did manage to crack a genuine smile as the translucent form of his sibling faded from view.

He walked over to the dresser, putting his paw around his heart-locket and letting the warm, comfortable magic seep out. On the wall above the dresser a translucent, smoky-like message board came into view. Small, just-as-ghostly post-it notes were plastered on it, each carrying a message. On the dresser itself was another note, neatly folded into an origami goat and as he slowly unpacked it he looked over a row of notes at the top of Chara's so-called "Ghost Board", his favorites.

"Believe in me that believes in you!"

"Each day is a new chance to find the silver lining"

"Nothing is permanent. You are not stuck"

"Things take time. It is the last ring on the lock that opens the door"

"You need chaos in your soul to create a blazing star!"

"Don't worry if you feel like garbage. It's garbage-can, not garbage-can't"

His view briefly stopped before reaching the last one in the upper corner of the Ghost Board, a section covered in shadows from the window's blinders, as if it was one he was afraid to look at, but like always he couldn't help himself and he gave it the briefest glance.

"I don't regret dying for you. I'd do it again"

He winced, as he always did, and whispered the same words he always did.

"I just wish you hadn't needed to"

Each morning for the past many months it had been the same ritual. He would find a ghostly note written by Chara on his dresser, usually bearing encouragements or urging him on. It was a comfortable practice, even if it did remind him of the tragedy that caused it in the first place each time. Chara's essence in his Heart-Locket ensured only he could see it, as he, on her behest, had promised not to reveal her soul was still around to their parents and Frisk.

A sad situation all around Asirel surmised but as he looked down at the unpacked origami post-it note the sigh died in his throat, transforming into a choked chuckle.

"U sexy beast, boi!" It read.

He ran his claws over it, enjoying the soft, airy, and cool feeling of the ghost note.

"Never change, Chara" he whispered, reaching up to place the note on the Ghost Board.


"Asriel! Frisk! So good to see you! It's been too long since last we saw" Alphys beamed, welcoming the pair into her lab with gusto.

"We saw each other just last week at the counseling, remember?" Asriel droned in response.

"Uhm, r-right, I was ki-kinda talking about Frisk, it's been a few weeks at least"

"A few weeks too long without my favorite lizard boo! Bring it in!" Frisk declared and threw her arms wide.

"Y-yeah!" Alphys threw herself into the embrace. While they were somewhat similar in height, Frisk's human nature still gave her a superior robustness and she easily swung the gleeful lizard around in a hug

"S-so, hey, A-Asgore tells me you won another court case, and-and that you got everyone in the room hyped up again" Alphys posed as she was put down.

"Pfft, t'was nothing, all I have to do is spew a few power words with conviction and everyone gets riled up"

"Man, I wish I could see it. Must be so cool, everyone looking at and cheering your name. Hey, you think I could come along and look at some point?"

"Oohh, I dunno about that, not sure I want cute widdle lizard hogging all my glory"

"*Gulp* y-you think so!?"

"Hey, Alphys, could we get with the program?" Asriel, irritated, put to her.

"Oh, right, sorry, my bad!" The scientist jumped from the hug and dusked her lab coat.

"I'll be with you in a minute, just – ah – Frisk, make yourself at home. I have a new lab assistant that – or, well, not really new, she's been here a few months, just so engrossed in her work she hasn't really been outside the building, but, yeah, you could go introduce yourself to her… or something. I'll, uhh, come along once I'm done with the counseling.

"Oh cool, a new friend! What's her name?" Frisk asked.

"Her name? Erm, its… something with an "S"…"

"… You forgot?"

"I forgot…"

"Alphys…"

"H-hey, I'm no good at remembering names! Just, I dunno, ask her, or something. Look, I-I gotta go do this thing with Azzy. There are a few drinks in the lab fridge if you need" the lizard hurriedly fired off before turning and practically pushing the goat boy into a side room in a haste to get away from the conversation, leaving her alone in the lobby.

Frisk shook her head, in a good manner at the nervous but passionate scientist, and in a more disproving way at her impatient brother.

Turning on her heels she made her through a set of double doors leading unto a catwalk overlooking a lab that only dirty money could buy. Centrifuges configured to spin faster than standards allowed, some for practical reasons and some simply because standards didn't allow it, scanners made to detect energies both regular and magical, and dozens of machines with names convoluted enough to make a Froggit hurl.

Don Asgore had sunk millions of Gs' into the lab, initially not much more than chemist table and whatever reagents the gang could scrounge up, but Alphys's continued brilliance had earned the Don't support many times over.

Years ago, Alphys had been a rising star within the scientific fields of technomagic, archaeotech and research into the Soul. A massive human corporation had employed her with the task of inventing medicine and pharmaceuticals that stimulated the soul, rather than the physical body. It had been a passion project for the little lizard and she had thrown herself into it with gusto, learning new things about the nature of souls and how to influence them on a daily basis.

A concoction made from ionized ice melted specifically by the heat of a Pyrope mixed with powdered Migosp wings provided a powerful boost of energy to any human or monster who drank it, giving their soul a fire and lightness well-suited for the athletic and sporty or those working long hours.

A pill made from a mix of a Knight-Knight's armor's rust and scrapings from the hull of a Tsunderplane bolstered the soul with a will of iron, toughened the body and boosted the health.

She had even managed to organize an ASMR track consisting of Shyren's singing to the background of gentle water magic being used. The sound being so relaxing to the soul and body it made several test participants unwillingly void their bowels.

Or, at least, that was what had been told were the results.

Clinical Trials, or human / monster testing, had been approved rather quick for any of her inventions, but Alphys had been too caught up in her scientific experiments and their apparent success to pay it any mind.

Right up until a late night she had spent in the lab pouring over her computer running a preliminary analysis of the effects of a medicine created through a mix of human blood and monster dust. As the 'Compiling' bar finally reached 100% and the results were displayed, Alphys knew this was her chance to cement her name in the world of science for all time. The hypothetical effects were extraordinary; humans becoming able to wield magic, monsters becoming as tough and durable as humans!

The only problem resided in getting access to the somewhat macabre ingredients.

Thus, the little scientist had raced from the lab, feet light with the promise of all the good the wonder drug could do. She had almost reached her bosses' office before she realized that, at this time of night, everyone had probably gone home.

And yet, light shone from her bosses' office, and as she approached she heard the door to the executive restroom nearby close.

Alphys didn't mind waiting and letting the suspense build up. It didn't matter if her boss was going for a number 1 or a number 2, he would crap his pants once she told him what her next project might entail.

Her bosses' office was mostly dark, the only real light being the shine from his computer. Alphys would usually consider herself shy and reserved, but the promise of what was to come had made her practically light-headed and audacious.

She rounded on her bosses' desk, her heart skipping a joyful beat as she spotted her name on a document open on the screen. Was it a letter of commendation? A promotion? A speech of praise for her at the upcoming company BBQ? The possibilities spun in her head as she read on, calming somewhat as she realized the document was the results of the Clinical Trials of her latest project; the pill made from Knight-Knight rust and Tsunderplane scrappings.

Then they died completely as she read the bottom text, highlighted in red with the note attached that read "To Be Deleted".

The highlighted words hit the scientist as an acid trickle, quickly disintegrating the ivory tower she had built for herself in her mind, and like a tower rocking back and forth on an unsteady foundation, Alphys found her knees quaking as her world was ripped apart piece by piece for every word she read.

Unfortunate side effects of the drug include:

- A 1-in-100 chance for the skin and muscle of extremities, even entire limbs, to transform into solid iron. The nervous systems of infected bodily parts remain unchanged and the few clinical trials subjects able to respond claim the sensation to be like the limb in question is constantly being crushed by metallic weights. There is no way to alleviate this issue. – Can be handwaved away as the drug overreacting to an iron deficit in the subject's body.

- An almost guaranteed chance (est. 94%) for metallic dentures to expand considerably. This always results in the test subject's teeth rupturing, followed by severe blood loss. – Lucky this is almost guaranteed. We can litigate ourselves from all responsibility by adding a small warning to the label NOT to use the drug if you have dentures.

- A few rare instances (17 cases so far) of small pockets of blood turning to iron in the subject's veins. Regular blood pressures has proven enough to push these newly-formed iron spikes through the subject's skin. In every case, death has followed soon after. – I've seen the pics. Think I got a new idea for a design for our porcupine mascot, maybe just switch all the red with blue.

- A single, frankly baffling instance of a test subject growing a fully functional jet engine out their lower back. Make and model is consistent with ones seen on most adolescent Tsundereplanes. When asked if she was in any pain the subject has been curiously passive-aggressive, usually replying in the likes of "Not like you'd care". – While the mesh of meat and metal is a bit of a turnoff, we should see if we can't get our little lizard wonder to look into a flight-granting drug.

Already Alphys was in a dark pit with each word adding another leaden weight to the anchor dragging her ever deeper. Had her research truly lead to all this suffering?

Cruelly, a reply was immediately presented to her as she noticed a few other open files on the computer. Tentatively, but with a need for clarity, she opened them.

And immediately regretted it as what little pride she still had in her work melted in the glare from the PC screen.

Test results from all her previous inventions and research. She recognized all of them but the ones now shown to her were the un-edited versions, and she felt a sickness rise to her throat as she remembered how happy and proud she had been reading them, never realizing all the blood and dust mixed into the ink.

The medicine from ice melted by pyropes had caused Spontaneous Human / Monster Combustion.

The ASMR band caused violent hallucinations and dementia.

The list went on.

Each and every one of her inventions carried dangerous and fatal side-effects her boss had managed to shush up to get them out of the door faster and save time on testing.

And yet, she realized that it wasn't her boss who had started the fire that had burnt so many, he had merely blinded her to it, all because she was too busy with her next project, always tinkering, never really bothering to see for herself the results of her rampant and unrestricted research.

A hand landed on her shoulder. For a moment Alphys was certain it was a demon come to drag her down to hell to suffer for her atrocious research and as she turned around, while she did find a devil, it was one wearing the guise of her boss.

His eyes went back and forth between the screen and her, a sneer of annoyance and disappointment on his lips. They parted as he lowered his head down to her ear to drip poisoned, honeyed words into it.

A simple command. Go home, take the week off, come back once she's rested, continue her research and they would all act like this little encounter never happened.

In a state of grief and outrage, Alphys managed to stammer something about blowing the lid on the faked test results, but her boss smiled cruelly in response, explaining how, with all the work Alphys had put into the medicine they were selling, no one would ever believe she didn't know about the true dangers of them and how easy it would be to pin all the blame on her.

Before Alphys could as much as gasp at the reply her boss had gently shoved her out of his office, repeating his request for her to go come and come back to continue to work once she "got her heart out of her head".

Dazed, nearly shell-shocked, and with cold tears running down her face Alphys had staggered back to her lab, now seeing it for what it was. Beakers filled blood, Bunsen burners incinerating tortured souls, syringes filled with soul-extinguishing poison. This wasn't a place of progress and science, it was a homunculus's workshop and she was the butcher, too blinded by her success to realize that she was never carving to the root of a problem, instead carving people to bits.

When she opened a closet to retrieve her jacket, Alphys was sure for the second time that day that a demon had come to claim her soul as instead of finding her Mew-Mew windbreaker, she found a large, horned goat-monster sheepishly smiling down at her from within the closet, clutching a pack of stolen lab equipment.

The surprise had been too for her already shattered mind to bear. She had collapsed to her knees, wailing loudly, tears flowing along with her anguished regrets of everything she had ever done, declaring her whole life was a lie, that if science was the greatest good then she was the most heinous imp to ever live, practically begging the stranger in her closet to just end her existence.

Instead, after minutes of uncontrolled sobbing, she managed to blink away a few tears, finding the stranger looking down at her with pity and concern. He wasn't all that scary upon closer inspection, Alphys realized, in fact, the was a warmth and friendliness to his features and while his large size seemed, at first, intimidating, it actually gave more of a protective presence, rather than a threatening one.

The stranger nodded solemnly at her, gently putting the bag of lab equipment on a table and kneeled down to her height. "Where's your boss's office?" he had calmly asked. He didn't reply once she told him, instead nodding again and standing up, asking her to go home and wait a few days, before warmly reassuring her that 'there were enough mistakes in the world for people to feel bad about those of others'.

With that, the stranger left the lab, headed in the direction of her boss's office.

Alphys had already been in a fine daze but the next few days proved even more confusing. She had gone home, still wracked with grief and regret, only slightly salved by news of the unedited results of her research being leaked by an unknown informant to the public, strangely enough, with every mention of her name being replaced with that of her boss.

In fact, as the scandal went on for weeks, Alphys came to realize no one had even come to asked her opinion or involvement in the matter, no reporters, no paparazzi's, no executives from work. Her name never appeared in the news or the newspapers. When she tried to log into the company's site with her employee ID, every message she got back suggested she didn't work at the place, and never had. It was as if every hint of her connection to the research had been removed, her success, but also her failures.

As if it had never happened. A clean slate.

Alphys was about to write the whole experience off as a guilt-induced fever dream, until she took a step outside her apartment for the first time in weeks, suddenly finding the stranger again, as if he had known precisely down to the minute when she would finally come out. With his warm smile, reassuring presence, and an offer.

One where she could continue to do her research, but this time on her terms and while it would still be outside the law, the stranger solemnly promised never to hide anything from her like her old boss had.

Alphys had hesitantly accepted, but would ultimately end up seeing it as the best decision of her life. While her research wasn't as much focused on medicine and healing as before, and the lab standards were somewhat lower, her new life in Asgore's mob gave the little lizard ample opportunity to flex her scientific mind, from cloaking devices to echo-flower recorders all the way to her crowning achievement; the synthesizing of Soul-Aspects, Alphys had proven herself invaluable to the mob time and again.

Some even said that she was the greatest treasure The Grandest Thief Alive had managed to obtain.

And, overlooking from the catwalk, seeing the immense amount and complexity of facilities and equipment now available to the little lizard, Frisk wagered her dad had properly dumped a few of said treasures getting it all up and running.

She spotted movement down in the lab – some lights shifting and going around, and she eagerly went down the stairs to meet the new friend.

Making her way through a small maze of siloes containing everything from processed sugar to Synthesized Justice, Frisk entered into a small, brightly-lit clearing, seeing a figure hunched over a table stacked with beakers, notes, pliers, and other things Frisk wagered would probably blow up half the town if as much as sneezed at.

Frisk was about to hit the new friend with a special-issue flirt when a thought dawned on her; there weren't any light sources on, in fact, it almost seemed as the stranger itself was lighting the room up, practically glowing beneath the lab coat, and as the stranger shuffled, revealing a head made of fire, she realized why.

A Fire Elemental! Like Grillby!

"Woah, are the bunsen burners on, or are you literally smokin' hot?" Frisk put to the stranger's back.

The stranger barely moved in response, only turning her head over her shoulder to look. She had a set of glasses encapsulating a pair of white, flaming orbs – her eyes, and a sleek, hourglass-shape that somehow gave her feminine outline. The top of her head ended in crimson red fronds of flame, nearly giving the illusion of her having red hair.

"Oh… right…Alphys did say we'd have visitors" the fiery scientist said in a bored drone. Her voice had the lightness of youth, but with a hint of coarseness like from a soot-stained chimney.

Undeterred, Frisk took a jump forward, reaching a hand out to the stranger.

"Yup! I'm Frisk! Hyped to meet ya!

The stranger looked at her hand, up to her face, and back to the hand again before sighing deeply. She stood up straight, wiped her hands on a wet towel, and lazily shook with a weak grip. Her hand was surprisingly cold for a being made of fire, Frisk noticed.

"Sierra. Sierra Hayephaystus, Ph.D., assistant researcher" The Fire Elemental greeted in such an uninterested formal manner it almost made Frisk yawn. She was fairly tall, at least a head and shoulder taller than Frisk herself.

"Ah, that's right, she said it was something with an 's'" Frisk said.

"She forgot my name again, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she tends to do that. I always like to make up dumb sentences to help me remember names, like 'Sizzling Sierra Studies Salascious Science Stupendously Sacred to Serious Scentists'"

"Huh, and here I thought the only weirdos in this town was my boss and that Vigilante twat running around at night" Sierra sighed and glanced aside.

Frisk felt a sinking sensation at the fire elemental's dismissive tone. Not off to a great start, but maybe she was just tired, Frisk surmised, noticing how the fire beneath Sierra's eyes were a few hues darker, as if they were bags. Perhaps something to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, Alphys is a weird one. You'd expect a scientist who can make Justice Juice would be able to remember names, but all that's in her head is science and anime" Frisk said. She noticed a slight twitch in the flame elemental's eye, maybe she was onto something.

"She ever talked to you about it? Gosh, she throws these themed parties based on whatever is her favorite every once in a while. It's awesome! You should come along next time!"

"Oh god, I REALLY don't need you to encourage her anime addiction. Do you have any idea how hard it is getting any work done when your boss is blasting off about power levels or Rangetsans?" Sierra blurted and folded her arms, turning to look aside with a pout.

"And besides, everyone knows manga is clearly the superior medium. I'll even take Doujinshi over that overhyped and over-visualized crap they show on TV. Better for your brain and better for your ears, what, with all the 'screaming your attack' they always do" Sierra snorted.

"Ah, more a fan of the written word than the shown action?"

"It's an art form, Frisk! Don't judge me" Sierra hissed and turned back to her table.

"I'm not! I'm not!" Frisk exclaimed, backing away with her hands up. As she did, she noticed the storage tank behind the table Sierra was working on and a computer screen running an analysis on something labeled "S.O.D"

"So, whatcha' working on?" Frisk asked, traipsing over to the tank and slapping a hand on it. "The Infinity Cola? Pants you can wear on your head? A pill that'll make your rent go down?"

"Tch, how trite…" Sierra groaned, not bothering to look up.

Running around the tank, Frisk noticed a small, thick window set in the side showing an all-black interior. She was about to write it off as empty but a strange feeling of dread settled in her gut as she looked into the tank. It was a strange sensation, as if she could practically feel any comfort or courage she might have rise from soul and be sucked out of her eyes into the tank, leaving a pit of fear in her stomach.

"Is this what you're working on?" She asked out loud.

"Nah, it's the coffee machine"

"Wha-?"

"Of course it's what I'm working on! What gave it away? All the warning labels? The flashing lights? The fact that it's an industrial-sized container plumped straight up against my desk? Don't touch anything"

"Woah, what is it? Looks like… Evil Juice"

A sudden wind tore through the laboratory, sending a shiver down Frisk's spine. She was about to look around for open windows when she noticed Sierra was suddenly right beside her, having darted up to her fast enough to cause the wind.

"What… did you just call it?" She hissed. The chimney soot coarseness in her voice had turned into volcanic obsidian and her eyes suddenly flared big enough to completely engulf her glasses.

"Uhhm… Evil Juice?" Frisk answered nervously. She suddenly became aware of strange, fast-paced 'snapping' sounds and it took her a moment to realize it was because Sierra was crackling, with angry red sparks flying off her head.

"Alright… first off; WOW! Secondly; Evil, and Good for that matter, are just subjective social constructs we label things we do and don't like to feel better about ourselves, and which got NO place in a laboratory of science – there is no such thing as good or evil, and thirdly: IT IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT A 'JUICE'!" Sierra snapped, causing a shower of sparks to fall down, and Frisk who fearfully took a step back, patting herself down in fear of her clothes catching alight.

"Juice is what you get when you squeeze something! What would evil juice even be!? The squeezings from my carefully cared for Evil Fruit!?"

"Well, uh… yeah?" Frisk ventured.

"WRONG! My baby is not some kind of dark-hued OJ, it's a revolutionary soul-based chemical compound!"

"B-but what does it do?"

"It con-" Sierra began, suddenly catching herself. She took a deep breath and backed off a few steps, the room becoming noticeable darker as the flames of the fire elemental calmed down.

Even though Sierra didn't have anything resembling a mouth, her head slowly twisted into a visage that told Frisk she was grinning.

"You really wanna know? You'll just have to wait, but don't worry, it won't be for long"

"Hm?"

"I got a meeting with the Don tonight about my baby" Sierra explained, walking over and placing a hand on the tank "Have to get his blessing to start mass-producing my new wonder here and start selling it. Everyone's going to know my name! Finally, the pride of my family won't be that we're good at flipping burgers!"

"Flipping burgers? Wait… are you related to-"

"Niece" Sierra grunted in a manner that told Frisk it was a question she was used to.

"You have no idea how embarrassing it is, Frisk. I spent four years getting my Ph.D. and almost six more before that just getting my bachelor's and master's degree. I worked my butt to ashes all these years, all the while getting told the best and brightest of my family is goddamn fast food joint owner"

"To be fair, Grillby is very good at what he does"

"A trained Tem could do what he does! But this, once the Don gets things rolling I'm gonna be filthy rich! Rich and Famous!"

"But… it sounds like you've just made some kind of hard drug for the soul, isn't that… kinda evil?"

A deep groan escaped Sierra, like a pyroclastic flow from a hot spring and she shook her head.

"I told you; in science, there's no such thing as evil… but I guess it figures… I wouldn't expect a lowly pencil-pushing lawyer like you to understand" she huffed.

"W-what?" Frisk gasped, feeling a knot of apprehension form in her gut at the suddenly hostile tone of the fire elemental.

"You know what, Frisk? I just realized, you're just like uncle Grillby, you're exactly the type of person I hate the most in this world" Sierra said, taking a step towards Frisk.

"The type of person who is somehow famous and loved despite doing jack-all with their life. You're a figurehead, Frisk, a mascot at most. People only like you because you're some kind of Genki girl with a cute voice and a winning smile, oh, and being trash from the street the Don adopted. The gangers and mobs of Ebott look at you and say 'hEY iF sheS oN OUr SiDe We can'T bE aLL bAd' and then they go and rob some poor shmuck blind"

The room was darkening around Frisk, but this time it was not due to Sierra. Darkness was gathering in the edges of her vision, cold sweat was making her clothes stick to her back and her heart pounded so much it actually hurt.

She couldn't remember the last time anyone had ever talked down to her outside of a courtroom, and it was definitely the first time anyone had ever been so dismissive of her.

It was terrifying, but more than that, it was painful.

B-b-but I've worked ha-hard, too!" she protested, practically a whimper "I-I to-took the bar exam and-and became a lawyer and-and-and-"

"And what, Frisk? I could almost respect you becoming a lawyer before turning twenty if it wasn't because it was a waste of everyone's time" Sierra snapped and folded her arms, looking down at Frisk like a Volcano might regard a firecracker.

"Your dad doesn't need a lawyer, he's too powerful to be taken to court, same with your mom. I bet you only tried becoming a lawyer because it was difficult, because you felt like you needed to validate yourself"

"No! That's not-"

"You becoming a lawyer to help Ebott is like herding cats. It'll take some doing, I'll give you that, but it's useless! You're useless, Frisk!"

"SH-SHUT UP!"

"Or what, you're gonna sue me, little ms. Lawyer? You're going to turn this into a 187? We don't have courts in Ebott. I bet I could statistically prove that you're the least useful and productive member in the entire city. Hold on, let me get my drawing table"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Frisk screamed. She swung a fist out at Sierra, only really managing to knock a chair over before turning and running for the exit.

It was like an entirely new experience for her. For as long as she had known everyone in Ebott had been nothing but nice to her. She could expect harsh words in court, but from people from her own city? The city she always defended in court?

The sensation was like a knife of betrayal coated in nauseating poison plunged into her heart, a dull pain in her chest and heaving as if she had been spun around by her world being turned upside down.

But was it really betrayal if Sierra was just speaking her mind? Worse still, were there others like her? Friends, acquaintances, and family who secretly thought she was all but useless? Was that was Stormstahr had been trying to tell her earlier in the day, when he had given her his card?

The mere implication was too much for the already tormented Frisk. Just as she left the building, she rounded a corner and doubled over, expelling the morning's breakfast on the ground. It was like whatever strength she had left flowed with and as she finished she collapsed on wobbling knees into the wall.

"St-stop… please, stop…" she weakly whimpered as if to command the quakes wracking her body to go away.

To think, after all the effort she had put into getting her badge and before that beating her sickness and becoming strong enough to even leave the house some people still considered that she might have nothing worthwhile to show for it. The more she thought about the more it seemed to ring true.

Worse still was the embarrassment of her reaction to Sierra's outburst; the first time anyone had ever really told her off and she was coming completely undone.

All that work, all those promises, and still nothing but a crybaby toddler.

She grasped the Heart Locket hanging at her neck, weakly mouthing an apology

"Please, don't hate me… Chara"


"So! How's it going?" Alphys eagerly inquired, closing the door to her study after letting Asriel in "I know it's only been a week, but are you feeling better? Happier? Got the 4 R's; Rest, Running, and Rejuvenation?"

"I eat whatever mom gives me, so I guess Rejuvenation is fine, running too, every moment I'm awake and not out I'm preparing for going out. As for Rest, well, I didn't have nightmares about the dead of the past coming to drag me down tonight, so I guess I slept alright, for the 3 hours I got" Asriel said as he lazily plumped down on the recliner.

"Ah, that's right! Undyne told me about that one, The Foulfroggit Freebooters, was it?"

"You know it"

The little lizard raced behind her desk and fetched a notepad, tipping her glasses down to her eyes as she scribbled.

"So saving people still work at least…" she mused to herself "But how about that other method I asked you to do last week? Was it any good?"

Asriel blinked a few times in confusion "Uhh, what? What method?"

"… Guess I'll mark that as 'inconclusive'" Alphys sighed and scribbled something on her pad before drawing breath.

"Last week I asked you to write a Gratitude Journal. Each day you would write down 10 things you were grateful for. The idea is that letting your feelings of goodwill flow out and take a kind of physical form would strengthen your belief in the good things in your life"

"Oh, right… forgot about that"

"Forgot or ignored?" Alphys posed, tipping her face down and looking over her glasses in a doubtful manner.

"Forgot, okay! What's the big deal anyway, we both know these coping methods are a waste of time" Asriel snorted derisively.

"We don't know that because you barely try any of them" Alphys retorted.

"Alphys… writing happy little thoughts in a book, or meditating or whatever it is you try and come up with is not going to anything about all those people I've… killed. The best I can hope is try and save people, as a way of restoring the balance, I guess. It's the only effective coping method"

"Asriel, a coping method that requires you to put your life at risk, lose sleep and is, at best, stopgap is most definitely not an effective coping method"

"Well, maybe I don't deserve anything better" Asriel shrugged "With all I've done I'd be lucky to bleed out in a dirty alley or some damp basement" he sighed, turning his head to look away, letting the words hang in the air for a few moments.

"My story ended on the Day of Seeds, I'm just some sad remnant leftover that should've been left behind. Out of place with everything and everyone I know. All I can do is try and do what little good I can before someone finally gets lucky and bumps me off, for good this time"

Alphys quietly regarded the solemn goat monster, lightly tapping the back of her notepad. Her eyes were indiscernible behind her glasses, but her posture was uncharacteristically firm and confident.

"We're not going to give up on you" She said strongly.

Asriel huffed an empty laugh "You're the mob's greatest scientific mind. Don't you have anything better to do than wasting time on me?"

A reassuring smirk formed on the lizard's lips and she took a few steps towards him, as if to insinuate that they would never stop moving forward.

"Asriel, your dad built the mob on the ideals that there should be no rules or limits to how someone could provide and care for those they love. Sure, I could go back to working to my magically concealed smuggling pouch, or my invisibility potion, that could probably make us a great deal of money… but you know what it wouldn't make us?"

"What?" Asriel huffed impatiently.

"It wouldn't make us proud or happy in what we do. Asriel, the dream is not to become richer, more powerful or, in my case, even smarter. The dream of Ebott is simply to become better and happier and right now, I can think of no better way to do that than help a good kid like you, the son of one of the best monsters I know, to find his path in life again"

Asriel wordlessly held his gaze on her for a few moments before limply throwing his paws up. Alphys took it as the closest she would get to an agreement.

"Now, I do actually have something new for us to try today, but before we do that let's just go over the usual" Alphys eagerly stated, flipping through a few pages on her pad.

"Your condition is a particularly bad case of 'Falling Down', a mix of extreme guilt and trauma which creates negative emotions in your soul with enough power for them to manifest in your dreams with such vividness and physicality it can actually kill you"

"Hmph, so you have actually paid attention all these times?" Asriel snorted.

"A-anyway! Remedies and coping methods for Falling Down vary from person to person. In your case, the pride and satisfaction of saving lives can momentarily lessen your symptoms"

"I could have told you that… oh, wait, I have, SEVERAL TIMES!" he snapped.

"I- I know! It's just that most coping methods are far less… extreme. It's usually something like meditation, busying the mind with work, being around friends and family as much as possible or just regular therapy"

"Hmph, we've tried all that to no effect, obviously" Asriel said, folding his arms and glancing down at the floor "No amount of therapy is going to help anyone remembering being trapped in their own body as it finishes off a family of 3, before approaching a baby's crib with a lit fireball to finish the job. No amount of mental distractions is going help me forget I was the one who planted the bomb at that-"

"No! None of that, none of that!" Alphys loudly barked, jumping and waving her arms as if to wake up a sleeping person.

"I actually had planned to delve a bit into the events that led to your 'Falling Down', but not like that!"

"You did?" Asriel mused.

In answer, Alphys waddled over to her desk and pressed a button. The surface opened up and a silvery, shining projector rolled up, slightly glittering from what was no doubt magical enchantments.

"This little thing is my unpatented PastPeeper!" Alphys proudly declared, slapping a hand on the projector "It allows us to peep into a person's past… hence the name"

"And I thought my family was bad at names…"

"Y-yeah well, it's a work in progress, so-so it's not like the name is final… or anything. Uh, but here, lemme show you what it can do!"

With a twist and turn of a few knobs, the PastPeeper sprung into life, sending a ray of dull-green light down on the floor where it expanded a few meters to all sides. Like reanimated corpses rising from their graves, a scene from the past also began rising from the light-covered floor. Market stalls, black market to be precise, in a large plaza, hawking everything from smuggled tuna to books banned the world over to magically enchanted weapons.

Asriel gasped at the scene, doubly so when figures also started emerging, 5 in all; his parents, him, Frisk and Chara, how they had looked 10 years ago.

"The Day of Seeds" Alphys somberly surmised "You don't hear a lot of people ever talk about it. It's a day most just want to forget ever happened"

The figures starting moving, becoming animated. The figures of Don Asgore and the Queenpin Toriel slowly making their way through the plaza, paws entwined, with a sickly Frisk resting atop Asgore's shoulders.

The smaller figures of Chara and Asriel were much more lively, darting from stall to stall, each looking for the coolest item for sale from across the known world.

"The Flowey Gang must have had spied on us for months" Alphys said "They knew exactly when to strike, one of the few days Asgore and Toriel had time off to go for a tour in their city with their children"

"…I can barely remember anything of my life prior to the Day of Seeds" Asriel lamented.

"Hmm?"

"I knew I was happier, apparently I was into poetry and the odd pickpocketing, but still, I was happy. Mom and dad were usually busy, but I still had Chara and Frisk to play with… until…" He sucked down a deep breath, stelling himself for the scene that was about to play out before him. The small light-figure of Asriel suddenly darted towards a stall almost smack-dab in the center of the plaza, no doubt something weird or cool had caught his eye. He couldn't even remember what it was.

All he remembered was the sudden sensation of utter confusion, chaos, and fear.

A bright light suddenly exploded from the stall the light-figure of Asriel had run towards, almost covering the entire map. Faintly, small dots, that happened to be seeds, could be seen without the light, the very same that had given the Day of Seeds it's name. The calling card of Flowey Gang.

"The Flowey Gang detonated a seed bomb in the middle of Ebott. Apparently, as revenge for Asgore murdering the brother of the gang's leader years before" Alphys stated "The blast caused a lot of damage, but, fortunately, you-"

"Unfortunately" Asriel cut in.

"What?"
"There was nothing fortunate about what happened. It would have been better for all had I just done the logical thing most do when they're caught in an explosion and died" Asriel said.

Alphys tapped her claws on her table, fixing a strong glare at the goat boy "Asriel, more as a friend than your therapist, let me say, you're literally the only one who wish you hadn't survived"

"Tch, maybe…" Asriel huffed, returning Alphys look with one of his own, one that made her legs wobble when she sensed the depth of regret in his eyes.

"But none of you have tried going through what happened to me next"

Alphys nodded regrettably, letting the next scene of the light-show play out.

The plaza was in shambles, practically flattened on all sides. The figures of the unconscious Dremurr family were scattered all over.

From the edge of the map a small group of plant-like monsters, with vines for bodies and leaves for limbs, appeared.

"As far as we know, The Flowey Gang's target was the Don, but… I guess they got a better idea once they found your first" Alphys explained. Asriel could only nod, watching the figure of one of the plant monsters crouch over the figure of him, calling something to his comrades who seemed to nod their agreement with whatever he was saying.

Then, as if he was nothing more than a bag of cinnamon-coated snails, they Flowey mobber threw his unconscious body over his shoulder while another scooped up the dust of a merchant who had died in the blast and deposited it where his body had been.

The map slowly changed scene as the member of the Flowey gang departed the plaza, leaving a blasted ruin in their wake and carrying him to what would end up being a decade of torture and horror.

Alphys rounded the magical hologram, shooting him an almost apologetic look.

"Being that Ebott is kinda outside conventional society, we didn't have any DNA databases to match any of the dust at the blast site against. All we had was a pile of dust roughly at where you had been standing. If only-"

"I get it" Asriel cut in, frowning in discomfort at the memories springing forth "Though… it didn't make the waiting any easier. I held out hope that mom and dad could come and save me at any moment for almost a whole year, I never realized they thought I was dead. After a while, I… just kinda gave in to the Flowey Gang"

Alphys nodded along, waving a scaled hand at the map as it fully changed into view. Showing what appeared to be a big, open room.

"And it is there, in the Flowey Gang's treatment and torture of you, that we find the seed of your case of 'Falling Down'"

"Hah, 'seed', funny you should mention that" Asriel huffed a dark chuckle. He moved a paw to gently touch the back of his neck, and as always his fingers ran against the small patch of missing fur.

"Ah, that's right. The Flowey Gang used some kind of psychomancy-infused seeds to control their victim's minds" Alphys surmised, suddenly caressing her chin, deep in thought "Moral issues aside, that's actually an incredible feat of crossing between magictech, botany, and psychology. I mean, rendering your body immobile while retaining complete awareness is one thing, but forcing you to follow the command of a set individual, regardless of your own will, seemingly indefinitely, is, well, incredible!" Alphys burst with enthusiasm, somewhat sapped as she noticed Asriel glaring daggers into her.

His head was lowered, barring his horns towards her, as if about to ram. A character tic many of the Dreemurrs shared, Alphys realized.

"… if you think it's so 'incredible' you should try it yourself. I guarantee, it'll be something you'll never forget" he said darkly.

"Ehm, i-incredible as in, 'incredibly immoral' and, uhh, wrong" Alphys gasped.

The magical hologram started moving again, although Alphys noticed her patient was purposefully looking away. Not that she could blame him, she thought, as she saw the figure of a young Asriel being held by a pair of plant monsters in some damp basement while a third, the always-smiling sunflower-like leader of the Flowey Gang gleefully placed a small seed on the back of Asriel's neck.

The boy writhed in pain as vines slithered out to wrap around his body and limbs, even worse, she noticed small bulges beneath his clothes, suggest that the vines had gone into his body as well, completely subsuming control while leaving his mind and soul free to experience the horror.

And with that, the sullen and traumatized son of her Don had been forced into being a murderer and killer for almost a whole decade, always holding out hope for a rescue but never realizing everyone thought he was long dead.

"Despicable. Robbing an individual of their free will" Alphys hissed.

"Hmph"

"But, I guess, if I had to point out a silver lining, they did teach you how to fight, right? With magic, with weapons, with your paws"

Asriel conjured a magical sword in his paw, deftly flourishing and twirling it, as if to answer her question.

"And now you use those skills, initially meant for killing, to save people. Heh, I bet the Flowey Gang would be none too happy about that if they were still around! Hehe" Alphys attempted with a cheerful laugh but the frown on Asriel's face was so deep-set it might as well have been chiseled in.

"Why are you showing me this, Alphys?" Asriel bluntly asked after a few moments.

"Because I wanted you to realize the chain of event that lead your tragedy, that-"

"And you think this would help!?" Asriel angrily snapped "You're my therapist, Alphys, for all the good you've done, you're supposed to help me forget and move on from this crap, not rip the wound even wider!"

"Pl-please! Let me finish! I wanted to show you that all that led to what happened to you, you, well, you had no real control over it! None of it was your fault, Asriel, that's what I'm trying to show you!"

Asriel did not look convinced. Even if the angry scowl on his face degraded into a frown it was clear her words were not reaching him.

She took a step forward, about to explain her reasoning more in-depth when a sudden gesture from Asriel caught her attention.

Here merely waved a paw at the magical hologram. It had changed while they had argued and while it showed the same room as before, the figure of Asriel was now grown up. Vines still snaked around and within his body from the seed on the back of his neck but it was clear quite a few years had since compared to the last scene.

"The day you were rescued…" Alphys mused "I still can't believe the stroke of luck that led us to find you. We-"

"They wanted you to"

"Hmm?"

"The reason the Flowey Gang took me instead of my dad in the first place. They wanted to prepare me to kill my dad, probably slowly. They didn't just want him to die, they wanted him to suffer all the way until his final breath. They knew he despises killing, they knew making me do it to him would kill him 10 times as much as merely slitting his throat would"

"And for that, they were willing to wait for almost a decade? Just to make the Don's death that more hurtful? Huh, talk about not going for instant gratification"

"Sick bastards…" Asriel hissed, venom dripping from every word.

"Still, we were fortunate we found out before they could send you on your way. I didn't actually see any of it but Undyne told me your dad practically ran down a door and straight through a wall just to get going as fast as possible at there merest rumor you had been seen around the city"

Asriel nodded. Deep within he felt a small flicker of the immense relief he had felt back then, when his father, like a fiery demon stepping out of the pages from a fire and brimstone gospel, had kicked down the door to the small, hidden base the Flowey Gang had occupied just outside the Ebott.

A scene that was playing out on the magical hologram.

Alphys winced and groaned in horror at the sight of her Don literally tearing the plant-like monsters of Flowey Gang limb from limb, while skewering others on his powerful trident. Only a few seconds in and the floor was already a sludge of blood mixed with monster dust.

All the while, the figure of Asriel stood stock still in a corner of the room. His last command had been to "stay put" and thus he had, even with magic and screams of pain filling the room.

"Jeez, I guess I know how your dad got so many thugs and hooligans to follow him. This is just a small hologram and I almost feel ready to fall to my knees and beg for mercy!" Alphys winced, gasping at the scene of the Don pinning one of the plant monsters to the floor with his foot while another leaped onto his back in an attempt to choke him. The Don pulled weed off as easily as he might take off a cape and threw it down onto the one already on the floor before spearing his trident down, impaling them both in one stroke.

"Ouch, for someone who's usually so averse to killing he sure didn't hold anything back" Alphys mused.

"It was Flowey's revenge for my dad killing his brother that led to all of this"

"Hmm, maybe the thinking went 'there's not going to be any revenge if there's no one left alive to take it'?" Alphys sweatdropped as the figure of Asgore let out a gout of fire that enveloped a group of Flowey gangers, leaving them writhing and screaming on the floor as the magical flames consumed them.

Just then, a single plant monster leapt from the shadows behind the Don, unleashing a burst of pellets that exploded against his back, sending him down on a knee before he could force himself around, just in time to block a thorn-like dagger stabbed down at his face.

"Flowey" Asriel hissed, feeling his revulsion rise in his throat at the sight of his tormentor, looking very much like his lesser minions but covered in thorns from feet to stem to his sunflower-like head, sporting a slasher grin revealing thorns for teeth.

The devious plant monster dived under Asgore's trident, disappearing into the soil before exploding from the ground at the Don's flank a second later, slashing out with the knife in a move that opened the Don from hip nearly up to his armpit in a spray of blood.

The Don retaliated as best he could, but the flower was too fast, disappearing into the ground before the larger monster could attack and hitting him from the back and sides.

Mere moments later and the ground at Asgore's feet was slick with blood and monster dust.

Asriel couldn't help but feel tension and fear at the fight – Flowey would only need a few more good hits before his dad succumbed, but he knew it was a baseless and irrational fear. Him being here, away from Flowey's influence, was proof enough of how the fight eventually ended.

Sure enough, he saw the hologram of his dad reeling from a slice to his back before suddenly stomping his foot down, flaming determination in his eyes, and then stabbing his trident to his right.

Just as Flowey erupted from it, thorn-knife raised to deliver a coup de grace, but instead of finding the Don's exposed flank the flower monster instead found three sharpened prongs.

With a *Splotch* Flowey was perforated through the chest and stomach, spraying chlorophyllic blood on the ground that hissed with acidic properties and malignant residue from the heart of evil it had passed through moments prior.

The Don's trident started glowing a baleful red and though Flowey tried to mouth a plea for mercy none was forthcoming. Instead, a beam of magical fire lanced out from the trident, launching the flower monster as if shot from a cannon. His charred husk flew across the room, smashing into the far wall before coming to a rest on the floor as a charred mangle of smoldering leaves and broken stems.

Asriel turned away from the scene. Though the death of the cruel flower was something he would be happy for to his dying day, he knew that Flowey wasn't the next to die that day.

The scene played out in his head in far more vivid detail than the holographic projection behind him ever could.

Flowey, somehow still clinging to life, raising a hand towards motionless Asriel, still forced to stand still as a statue because of the magical seed on the back of his neck, and fired a burst of friendliness pellets that would have killed him.

And then, like the guardian angel he was and would always be, Chara, having followed dad into the Flowey Gang's den, leapt from the shadows, putting himself in between him and the pellets.

And then the impact, followed by the horrid 'thud' of Chara's lifeless body collapsing on the ground.

Asriel had witnessed, even propagated a lot of tragedy in his unwilling service to the Flowey Gang, and while he hadn't been in control of his body for the entirety of that nightmare, his body hadn't been in control of his emotions either.

The result had been two dark stains running down from his eyes, the permanent reminder of a lost decade, courtesy of tears he had been unable to wipe away.

But no matter how horrid the abominations he had committed as a forced killer had been, the sight of Chara falling to the ground had been too much.

Not just for him, but also for the seed controlling him, the psycho-magic being unable to contain the emotional eruption of its host.

Thus, Asriel's first, willing actions in ten years had been to collapse to his knees and let out a wail of loss and denial.

In an act of mercy, Alphys stopped the holographic projection before that could happen, casting the room into a pregnant silence.

"Such a tragedy, simply horrendous" Alphys said after a few moments "Neither the Don nor the Queenpin has been the same since that horrible day. If I ever get to make a time-machine this would definitely be on my list of 'crap-to-change', time-ethics be damned… or, wait, maybe it would better to go even further back and stop the bombing? But then the Flowey might have done another, more devastating plan. On the other hand, I could-"

"Why did you show me this, Alphys?" Asriel cut in.

"We-well, as I said, it to show you visually that none of what happened was your fault. The explosion in the market, your kidnapping, the psycho-magic, you had no control over any of that"

Asriel turned to face the lizard monster, an unimpressed scowl on his face "Really? That's what you think? Even with your magical hologram spelling it all out for you, showing you all the nitty-gritty details, that's what you still think? Pfft, some therapist you are…" he scoffed.

Alphys nervously clutched her hands to her chest "Wh-what do you mean? Did I- Did I miss something in the recording?"

"Only the most important part; how I broke free from the seed's control"

"That? We-well, I assume that was because the controlling agent, Flowey, expired?"

"Nope, Flowey had nothing to do with it"

"Then… I don't know, maybe-"

"I did it" Asriel cut in. "When I saw Chara die, it was like… I was filled up with so much horror there wasn't any room for the seed, so it was expelled, in a way"

"I see" Alphys said as she scribbled in her notepad again "So it was actually an act of love that saved you? Chara's sacrifice gave you the impetus you needed to break free?"

"It did" Asriel said with finality. That, along with the expectant look he gave Alphys gave the little lizard the impression that there was a conclusion she wasn't quite seeing yet.

"I-is that why you feel the need to put yourself in danger? Some kind of need to live up to Chara's example?" She mused.

"No, I could never do that" he shook his head "Don't you see, Alphys? Chara gave me the strength to free myself, yes, but he also made me realize I had had it within me to do so from the start. I could have freed myself so much earlier had I just… had I just been stronger" His paws clenched at his sides.

"Nearly a decade, Alphys. I spent nearly a decade forced to kill and murder and spread terror, and I was horrified all the while, first begging for it to stop, and then that whoever I was targeting would have the strength to fight back and kill me, I just wanted it to end. I made brothers weep over the corpses of their siblings, wives over their husbands, and parents over their children, and each time I felt ready to burst… But it just wasn't enough!"

He slammed a paw into the wall, half embedding it into the plaster.

"If it really was an emotional shock that removed the seed, then any normal person, anyone decent would have been able to free themselves long before I did. But not me, no no no, it took Chara throwing his life away for a lost cause like me before it was finally enough, before pitiful little crybaby Asriel couldn't cut it anymore!"

He ripped his paw out of the wall and swung it at a table, knocking a vase to the floor.

"That's why I'm still responsible for all the people I killed while in the Flowey Gang! I wasn't merely an unwilling observer, I just wasn't strong enough to stop what my body was doing. Yet even though all those people and Chara had to die because of that, I still get to live. I get to live in a cozy palace, never wanting for anything. How can anyone consider an ending where the villain gets to live and the hero dies a satisfying one? How can anyone live like that without going mad? I know I can't"

Alphys's eyes were unmoving behind the lenses of her glasses, nevertheless showing off an intensity that told of all the thoughts and theories racing behind them.

"This… will require some more looking into" she said after a few moments, almost in a daze.

"Don't bother. 'Just-"

"No, Asriel, I WILL bother" Alphys cut in with startling authority "Because even with these new insights, my conclusion still stands; you aren't to blame, you CAN be helped and you DO deserve to be happy. In fact, I think we made excellent progress today"

"Oh yeah, ripping the wounds even wider sure is what the doctor ordered" Asriel hissed.

"I'll have to look more into this, but I thank you for being so willing to open more up, Asriel. Maybe next time we can really begin to tackle your issues and-"

"I won't hold my breath" Asriel turned for the door with a dismissive growl.

"W-wait! I have something for you to do until next time!" Alphys squealed, almost drowning out Asriel's groan as he heard the pitter-patter of her feet waddle after him.

"Alphys, just stop, it won't-" He began as he turned to face the incoming scaled missile, but was forced to abort as Alphys slammed a book into his gut in eagerness

"Uff, wha- what's this?" he wheezed, holding the volume up.

"It's a new book on healing troubled souls, just came out, guess who wrote it!"

"Great, now you're trying to shill your merchandise one me, what a-" the words died in his mouth as he saw 'Toriel Dreemurr' stamped on the top of the book, just above the tittle itself;

TORIEL DREEMURR

The Queenpin's Tu-Toriel to healing troubled and ailing souls

The letters were written in all the rainbow's colors, imposed on a purple cover smattered with heart-shaped souls of every virtue.

"Wha- mom made this?" Asriel gasped.
"Yup! Already read it, she lacks some of the more scientific approaches to the theorems of the psychological practices, but, my word, I felt like a better person after just a few pages!" Alphys said, almost giggling.

"I can't believe she went with a title like that…"

"We-well, unethical nomenclature aside, I think it could really help you. Try reading what you can until next time, promise me?"

"… I'll see about it"

"Great, that's all I'm asking!"

Asriel wordlessly reached for the door and left, sensing the lizard was spinning up another bout of gushing and wanting to get out of the way.

The lobby outside was bathed in bright sunlight, tinted a hint of green due to shinning through a pastoral landscape painted on the glass doors leading to the streets outside. Even the air seemed to smell just like a nice summer day, even inside the building.

Even Asriel had to admit it all felt cheery.

He lifted to book to his face again, mulling over the cover, then cracking it open and going over the preface.

"… There is no better physician than time, who heals all wounds. There is no better medicine than love, who cures all that ails, and there are no better surgeons than true companions and family, who can pull any thorn from your heart.

But likewise, is there no storm as fierce as the one who can gale through the soul, and no rocks in which the ship we carry our hopes can be dashed upon more jagged than the ones molded from our fears and doubts. It is my fervent hope that this book can be your port in your storm, in which you can learn to find the courage within you to embrace those who love you, and learn with time that love is for everyone!" He read aloud.

"Huh…"

The sound of the book tumbling into a trash bin was closely followed by the door closing shut in a manner that somehow managed to sound dismissive, leaving the lobby still filled with cheerful sunlight and atmosphere but with no one to enjoy it.

Save for the ghostly figure of Chara, standing beside the bin, looking at the slowly vanishing figure of his brother through the glass door with a worried frown.


We're almost done with the Introdcutionary chapters. After the next, we'll really start getting in the nitty-gritty. have no doubt!

See ya next Friday!