Frisk was admired as a hero by all their friends, but they didn't feel like a hero. It was bittersweet. They had saved everyone… except one person.
They lay in bed and sighed. Asriel had been wearing on their mind. It was starting to cause problems –– anxiety, the most common of them. School felt more difficult. Even hanging out with friends, an activity that had once been so easy and fun, quickly became a hassle; even without them randomly having flashbacks, about past memories of another person's life.
Whenever Frisk thought of someone their age they could play with, it was always one person: the helpless goat boy they left down in the mountain. The boy who had his life robbed from him. The boy who was now doomed to be in complete and utter emotionless isolation.
Frisk suddenly woke up in a panicked sweat, the bed sheets sticking to them like glue. It was the weekend , and everyone was coming over. They knew they couldn't be seen like this. and slowly got up from their bed. Sloppily putting on a change of clothes, theys shuffled out to the kitchen. They could smell the heavenly aroma of their mom making breakfast. The aroma wafted throughout the house and made their mouth water.
"Oh, hello, my child. My you're up early" she said, a slightly surprised tone in her voice.
"Yep!" Frisk simply responded with a smile, albeit a fake one. She smiled and turned her attention back to the pancakes she was cooking. With great care, Frisk took a seat at the table.
"How many?" Toriel asked.
"Four, please!" Frisk chirped. Toriel smiled motherly and handed it to them. The pancakes steaming slightly.
They gingerly picked up their fork.. "I always was a crybaby, wasn't I?" Their eyes widened as the fork slipped out of their hand and clattered on the table. Frisk looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't find it. They sighed. They knew exactly who it was.
"My child, are you alright?" she asked with a look of concern. Frisk responded with a nod again. They felt ashamed. How could they lie to their own mother? Weren't mothers supposed to be the people that made all the troubles go away?
"Well, it's a good thing you woke up early, because all your friends are coming over!" she exclaimed, smiling widely. Frisk threw their arms in the air, grinning excitedly and giving a happy squeak.
Pretty soon, they could hear the engine of Papyrus' car, right next to the house. The door exploded open with Papyrus doing a classical pose as usual. "IT IS ME, SMALL HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ARRIVED!" he yelled. Frisk then noticed Sans being carried by Papyrus like a suitcase. They giggled getting out their recently upgraded cell phone and snapped a picture. After all, pictures last longer than memories. Sans just sighed as Papyrus put him down.
The next bang at the door was so powerful, the door nearly got ripped it off its hinges.
"Frisk!" Undyne screamed, quickly taking her small human friend up into a tight hug. Frisk squealed and laughed with her. Undyne flashed her signature toothy smile. "Hey punk! How much have your dodging skills improved?" Undyne asked, conjuring up her traditional blue spears.
Toriel looked over and immediately shook her head. "Oh dear, Undyne, not in here! Go outside!" she commanded.
Outside, Undyne once again summoned her spear. Frisk gave their usual stoic, determined expression. "Ready, Frisk?" she asked. Not even waiting for an answer, she shot the spears down at them, all of them hitting the ground and sinking into it.
"I'll be okay alone," the voice rang out in their head once again. Frisk suddenly stopped in their tracks and nearly got hit again. The blue spear zoomed past them with breathtaking speed. Not now, Frisk thought, please, not now.
Another spear flew went past their head, nearly taking their hair with it. "I know why Chara climbed the mountain, it wasn't for a good reason…" Frisk stopped and got hit in the chest with a spear, sending a shockwave of pain through them. The blow pushing them down onto the grass.
18/20. While it didn't do serious damage, that was definitely going to leave a bruise. Toriel immediately came over, glaring slightly at the muscular fish.
"Frisk, sweetie, are you okay?" she asked in a motherly tone. Frisk coughed, then gave her a smile and a thumbs up. In reality, they were hurting –– but not physically, emotionally. They really needed to do something about these voices in their head.
Sans looked over at them with his usual, permanent smile and white pinpricks for pupils. Frisk gulped a little as he walked towards him, knowing he would be the most questioning of them all.
"Kid… if something's bothering ya, you know you can just tell me right?" he asked, concern just barely taking form in his eye sockets. Frisk nodded with a little bit of fear in their face. Sans looked at them for a few seconds before going back to his usual laziness.
. The rest of the day was filled with partying and games. Asriel's voice, however, refused to go away. Every time Frisk looked at Toriel and Asgore, they always knew that someone was missing.
Laying down in bed, they tried to think about how they could make this voice stop. It was almost as if it was taunting them. Eventually, they conceded defeat and tried to fall asleep, finally doing so successfully.
"Frisk… Frisk… Frisk!" Without warning, a voice woke them from their stupor. Frisk looked around at their new surroundings, it looked distinctly like the place where Asriel met his ultimate fate to be trapped forever. "Thank you, Frisk… but…" he started to sniffle, "It's worthless, and… I'm worthless…" His eyes started watering and streaming down their face, staining his white, fur-filled cheeks. Spur of the moment, he snapped. Pounding the ground with his fist, eyes turning into waterfalls of tears as he grabbed Frisk's shirt, he exclaimed, "Frisk! Please don't let me turn back! I don't wanna become a flower again! Please, Frisk, I'm so scared. I just…" Asriel was barely able to finish his sentences, now. "I'll miss everyone…" He started bawling in despair at his new predicament, his mind trying to deny the reality he had to face now. He was now going to become nothing but an echo of the past.
Out of the blue, Frisk felt a tightness around their limbs, combined with a sharp pain. "Frisk, please! Please! Don't leave me here to fade away!" Asriel cried as Frisk was being pulled back by the vines into what seemed like never-ending darkness behind them. Asriel's eyes suddenly widened as the tears fell even more. It was time. "Frisk!" he cried out before disappearing into a cloud of flower petals that fell to the ground pitifully. There, he stood. The ferocious Flowey that Frisk encountered the first time they fell. Flowey giggled evilly. A sinister tone underlying his voice. "Hehe, did you really think you could save me? I'm a lost cause Frisk, remember?" Frisk found that their hands were free and reached forward in the gesture of hug. Just to embrace them one last time."Aww, how cute, you actually think you can save me!" he burst into maniacal laughter, echoing in Frisk's ears as they were finally pulled into the blackness.
They snapped upright in their bed, breathing rapidly. They had once again sweat in the bed to the point where almost soaked the sheets. That was the final straw. This had to stop… and it had to stop now. They burst into tears right then and there. The anxiety, fear and pain was unbearable.
As they lay in their bed, eyes starting to puff up, they considered the final battle they had before leaving Asriel alone forever. "All of your friends, all of your memories! I'll bring them all back to zero!" Frisk remembered Asriel saying this line before he fired off another Stars Blazing. They remembered getting through all his childishly named attacks. Finally, they remembered, again, what his true intentions had been. He hadn't been evil, he had just been bored. He wanted them to keep playing the game' to keep himself entertained. At the same time, though… he thought you were the only one who understood him. He was so obviously crying out, pleading for help. He wanted you to stay just so he wouldn't be alone forever. The voices kept taunting them. "Frisk, don't you have anything better to do?"
Frisk started to breathe faster. "I'll be okay alone." They began to sweat. "I always was a crybaby, wasn't I?" As their mental state worsened, a terrible feeling spread throughout their stomach. Frisk has hoped it was over, but alas, the final quote is what broke them, almost completely. "Not that I have much of a life left anyway." The pain in their stomach grew too much for them. They quickly ran to the bathroom, upchucking their dinner into the toilet. The resulting smell made them want to vomit more and the pain made them burst into tears, slowly going back to their bed. There had to be a way to stop this suffering, but how? No. They couldn't actually do it, could they? Could they go down there again? Could the really save him? Had the humans already explored Mt. Ebbot and seen the underground? They weren't sure. All he wanted was to never be alone, they realized they could give him that wish.
They decided to try and put it out of their mind for now, the comfort of them actually doing something about this suffering just barely enough to lull them to sleep once more.
Upon waking up, they realized how difficult such a mission would be. How would they get down? Make a ladder? Nah. Rope? It was then that they realized they knew exactly who they should talk to about this: Alphys.
Gathering their stuff, they slowly made their way over to Alphys' house. It was a really nice thing for all the monsters to live close to each other. They slowly reached up and knocked at the door.
Alphys was reading one of her favorite manga series in her pastime when she heard a knock at the door. She glanced up.
"Huh?" She opened up the door, her hands trembling as usual. "Frisk? W-what are y-you doing here?" she asked with her usual awkwardness.
Frisk sighed, stepping in.
"I need something to help me get down Mt. Ebott again…" They spoke, their voice crackly ever so slightly from misuse. Alphys looked shocked.
"Frisk! W-why would you w-w-wanna go back there again?" she asked, bewildered.
Frisk wasn't prepared to lie to their own friends so they just said it and got it over with. "I want to save the flower down there."
Alphys' eyes widened, pure shock filling her mind, her breath catching. She wasn't sure what to say. "A-are you sure? Didn't they… try to k-kill you?" she asked, the mere thought of it making her voice tremble more.
"The trouble is…. I need something to help me get down…." they explained slowly.
Alphys eyes drifted over a pamphlet for a new invention she was making. "Yeah… I-I think I m-might have something for y-you..." she said, showing off a rope that was colored black and pink like a familiar robot.
"Here, watch!" she said, throwing it like a lasso at a wall. The rope magically anchored itself to the wall. She quickly pulled it back and handed it to them.
"Are you sure.. I don't need.. .a helmet?" Frisk asked. Alphys then looked like she forgot the most obvious thing in the universe.
"Oh w-well y-yeah of course!" She said, blushing slightly and scratching at the back of her head. "Well there probably won't be much down there, but just for safety..." She got out what looked like a black and pink helmet, similar in coloring to the rope. She then demonstrated it by smacking a thick textbook down on top of it as hard as she could, leaving nothing behind. The helmet was still shining like always.
Frisk finally had to do the hardest part.
"Can you… not tell… please?" they asked with pleading eyes. Alphys sighed, secretly knowing that Frisk would ask that. They nodded.
"W-well if someone asks, I'm telling them…" she said sternly, still stuttering however. Frisk nodded, they knew they couldn't keep this a secret for long. Frisk looked down once more.
"I'll- I'll at least tell mom…" they said, finally deciding to compromise. Alphys then smiled, knowing Frisk couldn't lie to their own family. "Here.. you know what? I'll pick them up when I'm leaving…" Frisk whispered. Alphys nodded, agreeing with that plan. Frisk walked back. They couldn't really do this behind their backs right? They felt terrible even thinking about it. Would it work out in the end though? Frisk seemed to think so.
They slowly walked inside with a regretful sigh. They were gonna get punished by Toriel weren't they?
They noticed Sans, Papyrus and Toriel all sitting each other. Sans and Toriel were telling their usually bad puns to each other and giggling.
"AHH! WILL YOU TWO JUST STOP ALREADY?!" Papyrus said, cringing and yelling at the same time with his usual cartoonishly agonized expression. Then he noticed Frisk walking through the door.
"HUMAN YOU'RE BACK!" Papyrus yelled with his usual enthusiasm. "I MADE SOME SPECIAL HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI WHILE YOU WERE GONE!" Papyrus said picking them up into his arms.
Frisk gulped. This wouldn't go so well would it?
Unfortunately, it did not, Frisk was soon in their bed clutching their stomach in pain, unable to actually tell one of their best friends that it tasted bad.
Flowey was down at the ground again, the tears creating almost a puddle beneath him. He didn't come to this situation on his own and he knew that It was Frisk's fault. He was now fixated on that, if nothing else. He hated their guts so much, if they ever came back, he would destroy them on sight. . Even just thinking about them and their stupid face made him snarl.. The way they were all happy. Why was he the only one that wasn't happy? Did he not deserve it?
With nothing better to do, Flowey began rethinking his life. He was always that one kid who was considered a crybaby.
I Then, that was it? Did life just throw him a terrible set of cards to deal? He knew that he couldn't have given Chara their final wish if they hadn't crossed the barrier. What was it about him that deserved this fate?
As Flowey ran through his memories, spinning in circles of hatred and sadness, his mind began to deteriorate and he started to forget who he once was.
"Chara, why are you the only one who understands me in this world?" he wailed out to no one in particular to nobody, or so he thought. Truthfully he did feel somewhat of a presence near him. "Why didn't I just die? Why didn't I just die?!" he screamed, truly engulfed in his self made world of pain. "I just can't understand, why the world did this to me…" Flowey said through his tears. sobbing softly. His expression suddenly changed to one of blinding rage.. "I AM NOT A CRYBABY!" he screamed, it echoing off the walls of the forever empty mountain. He launched wave after wave of white pellets around himself as if that futile attempt would keep away whatever imaginary enemy his mind had conjured up. After he ran out of tears and bullets and had nothing more to offer the world, he stared at the ground beneath the base of his stem.
Frisk stood up, with confidence, their stoic, determined expression coming to the light of their nightstand lamp. They technically didn't need to visit her, but she called the night before to say that she had something that Frisk might need.
Her front door opened with a quiet squeak.
"Ready?" She asks, bringing them in. "You sure about this Frisk?" she asked just one last time, holding the bag and the last piece of equipment in her hands.
"Yes, I have to, I can't just leave them behind to suffer forever." Frisk said, a hoarseness to their voice from lack of use.
The time was now - they had to save him.
Frisk and Alphys climbed through the police tape blocking off to the public, the crisp, cool night air blew against them and sent chills down their spine. As they passed through the wall of barbed fencing an ominous presence seem to lurk nearby
As strange as this presence was, Frisk was determined to press on.
Dried leaves crinkled beneath their feet. Occasionally a wild animal could be seen through the trees, and Frisk hoped it would return to it's home and family safely.
They could eventually see the entrance of the mountain coming up through the clearing. Frisk had thoughts of turning back but kept walking. Once they set a goal, they wanted nothing more than to see it come to fruition.
As Frisk and Alphys got up to the top, they sighed. This was the same mountain that they fell into only three weeks ago. Any sane person wouldn't go down again. Finally they looked down at the opening of the mountain.
This was it, there was still one person that needed to be saved. And unlike last time, they were actually going to succeed.
(beta read by fluffythehedgehog12)
(Thank you to everyone who gave me the motivation to continue this :3)