I wake up.

Chara and Asriel have fused, forming me. I have their memories. My mind is still swirling… I'm not sure who I am or what I'm feeling.

But I think I understand what happened with Asriel and Chara.

Chara isn't like other humans. There was something else inside of them. Something that persisted even when their body died, their soul went away, and Asriel wiped out their memory. Something that nobody else ever truly understood. Something that survived everything else.

Some sort of demon that made them what they are.

This was the same demon that came up with Chara's plan to use Asriel to murder everyone on the surface. When that plan failed and Chara died, the demon risked being trapped in Chara's body.

To live on after Chara died, it had to cling to somebody else. It has to be called to awaken. So it tried to cling to Asriel, because Asriel was the one person who most remembered Chara.

That demon tried to cultivate Asriel, trying to mold him so that the demon could take over Asriel. But Asriel's determination made him hard to control. Asriel refused to become the demon's host.

And for a long time, the demon was stuck in Chara's body.

Then the demon tried something new. Instead of molding Asriel to suit the demon, the demon molded itself to fit Asriel. That's when things got weird.

It began badly. When this first started, Asriel was still Flowey, and he couldn't feel real love. All he had were the memories of the feelings he had when he absorbed all those monster souls. Flowey wanted a friend, but he was a cruel person at heart. So the demon, mirroring Asriel's loneliness, wanted a friend, too, and for a while they got along. But the demon also mirrored Flowey's cruelty, and the moment the demon got upset with Flowey, it tortured him. When Flowey got the upper hand, he did the exact same thing to the demon.

But after Flowey absorbed those monster souls, he turned back into Asriel. He could feel love again. The demon was still adapted to Flowey, which made it a bad fit for Asriel. The demon had to re-mold itself.

Suddenly, the demon was acting nice again. And the demon's love was real, because it got it from Asriel. But Asriel didn't trust the demon. Asriel thought this was the same person, Chara. He didn't know anything had changed. He thought Chara was just trying to trick him… and partly that was true, since the demon still had pieces of Flowey inside it at the time.

The demon's plan had failed. Even when the demon made itself into a perfect match, Asriel would not accept it.

So the demon tried to take over, this time by force. The odd thing was that it didn't even remember its original purpose. It was so absorbed in its own fantasy that it actually believed that it had loved Asriel all along, and that everything it had done was just to be closer to Asriel. It truly believed it was forcing itself onto Asriel out of love.

But the demon wasn't strong enough to take over by force. Asriel stayed in control.

All this time, the demon was turning itself into Asriel's reflection. When Asriel was soulless and cruel and lonely, the demon was soulless and cruel and lonely. When Asriel was full of love, the demon was full of love.

Asriel thought he was talking to Chara. He was wrong.

The Chara he knew was just a mirror.

He was talking to himself the whole time.

Finally, Asriel told the demon that if it really loved him, it would go away. He told the demon to die.

The whole point of the demon's plan was to survive. That original goal, to live on, was the only thing the demon hadn't changed when it was mirroring Asriel. The demon changed everything else about itself except for that.

But the demon said yes, even though it meant letting go of the one goal it had been pursuing since the day Chara. The demon grew to love Asriel even more than it loved itself.

The demon agreed to die, because that was what Asriel wanted.

The demon's will to live was the only thing separating them, and when the demon gave it up, there was nothing left to stop them from coming together.

That was the last barrier. Asriel finally accepted the demon, and took it along with him when he reset.

Asriel saw his perfect reflection, and mistook it for himself.

Now, all that is left is me.

The demon and Asriel are both me. But the demon isn't like Asriel, not like it was just a moment ago. The moment Asriel absorbed the demon, things changed.

The demon has Flowey's memories now. The demon forgot a lot of things when it was mirroring Asriel. It forgot the games. It forgot its desires. Now it remembers what it wanted back in the old days. It remembers violence. It remembers the fun.

The demon is back to normal, and it wants to play.

But Asriel's influence is in me as well, and Asriel doesn't want to play those games anymore. Flowey, Chara, Asriel, the mirror demon, and the original demon are all a part of me. I am torn. Everything that they ever felt, I feel right now.

I love everyone.

I hate everyone.

I want to save everyone.

I want to kill everyone.

I feel warm.

I feel cold.

If I choose to kill everyone, I have to start with Sans. If I choose to spare everyone, I want to see my friends and family. It's been far too long.

Either way, I have the same place to go. Sans is waiting for me.

He's alone. Just like before. The others are catching up.

"Hey, Sans."

"hey."

"We should wait for the others." I say.

"why's that?"

I sit down.

"Whether I hate them or I love them, I still want them in the same place." I say.

"which one is it?"

"I don't know, Sans." I say. "Maybe you could tell me."

"what happened down there?" He asks.

"A lot happened, Sans." I say. "A lot."

Toriel is the second to arrive after Sans. I wave to her, but I'm not sure what to say.

"Asriel? Asriel!"

She runs up and hugs me.

"My boy… I have missed you."

I hug her back. She would want it. Also, it would make it that much more painful if I choose to kill her later. Either way, it works.

"How did you know he was here?" Toriel asks Sans.

"just a feeling." He says.

"How did you get out?" She asks me. "Are you okay?"

"It's a long story." I say. "Wait until the others get here."

I sit down.

Undyne comes next. Asgore and Papyrus aren't far behind, but Alphys is. I ask them to wait until Frisk gets here. Asgore, Toriel, Papyrus, and Alphys sit down with me, but Undyne and Sans stay standing.

Finally Frisk gets here. They pass out flowers. I get the bouquet at the end. I set it aside.

"Everyone's here." I say. "I should explain some things."

I tell them what happened. I keep it short. They don't need to know every detail.

"So what happens now?" Asks Undyne. "Are you Asriel or Chara or what?"

"I am someone else entirely." I say.

I stand up.

"All of you want Asriel to win." I say. "None of you want the demon to take over."

I lift off the ground.

"You want this world to go on." I say. "You do not want it to die."

I draw a sword from thin air. A vast ring of fire rises from the hills, surrounding us.

"Help me make up my mind." I say. "Give me a reason to spare this world."

I raise my free hand, and meteors begin to fall from the sky.

"It's time we settled this."

Undyne doesn't hesitate. She strikes first. I let her hit me, just to see how much it hurts.

It's not much.

I crack her across the jaw and send her flying. The demon makes it so much easier to fight. This time, nothing is holding back my strength.

Toriel is sending her fire into the sky, forming a shield to block my meteors. I ignore her; she's not fighting me.

Undyne comes back for more. Asgore joins her. Papyrus tags along, but I know he's not going to fight hard enough to make a difference. Alphys fires her little blaster. I deflect the lasers as they come.

Sans is standing in front of Frisk, waiting. He knows what I'm really after.

I evade Undyne and Asgore. They're not important. Frisk is the one with the most determination, though they still have only a fraction of mine. Frisk is the most important target.

But Sans is in the way. I have to bring him down first.

Sans and I trade blows. He's very difficult to hit, and his attacks almost impossible to avoid, but I use multiple saves to even things out. I could control every second of the fight, but Frisk is holding me back; their determination is enough to fiddle with my saves. Sans and I can barely touch each other, and I can't touch Frisk at all. They protect each other.

I'll try fighting somebody else instead.

I turn to Asgore and raise my sword. I strike him as hard as I can. There's a deafening crack, a flash of white, and then silence.

Frisk is in front of me, standing between me and Asgore. They sink to their knees.

Everyone stops.

"Frisk?" Asks Undyne.

Frisk holds their hands over their chest. Blood seeps out from between their fingers. They shielded Asgore. Cute.

Undyne brings out a new spear.

"NGAHHH!"

She lunges for me.

Another deafening crack. The world goes white, and then everything goes quiet.

Frisk sinks down and rolls onto their back.

Undyne's spear is coated in Frisk's blood.

This is interesting.

"Frisk?"

Undyne drops her spear. She, Papyrus, Toriel, Asgore, and Alphys all crowd around Frisk. Sans stands outside the circle, looking in on them.

"Frisk? Frisk?" Asks Undyne. "Frisk! Frisk!"

"It is okay." Says Toriel. "I will help them."

Toriel tries to close the wounds.

"Frisk?" Asks Undyne. "You have to breathe, okay? Just keep breathing… Toriel's going to help. Okay?"

"You can't save them." I say. "I know the limits of your magic, Toriel. Frisk is too far gone."

Toriel ignores me. She focuses on her magic, but her hands are shaking.

"I'm so sorry, Frisk." Says Undyne. "I didn't mean that… I wasn't aiming at you."

"it's not your fault." Says Sans.

Undyne looks up.

"frisk got in the way on purpose." Says Sans.

Undyne holds up Frisk's head.

"Why… why would you do that?" Asks Undyne. "You can't… Frisk, you can't fix everything with… with love and hugs. That's not how it works."

"think you can hold on, bud?" Asks Sans.

Frisk doesn't respond.

"What can we do?" Asks Asgore.

No one has answers. I consider attacking one of them, but I'd like to wait and see how this plays out.

Asgore stands up. He faces me.

"Asriel." He says. "Or Chara. It doesn't matter… Why are you doing this? You have a soul now. You can feel things. Why would you want to do this?"

"I want to see what it's like." I say. "I want to know what I can get out of life."

"And is this really what you want?" He asks, gesturing to Frisk. "Some poor child bleeding out on the ground?"

"Stop it." Says Toriel. "Do not say that."

"Is this going to make you happy?" Asks Asgore.

Frisk reaches out to Undyne and touches her face. Their hand falls down. Undyne holds it.

"he's right, you know." Says Sans. "this sort of thing never made flowey happy. and nobody understood LOVE better than him."

"Flowey doesn't matter." I say. "I'm not him."

"well, does this make you happy, whoever you are?" Asks Sans. "are you proud of yourself?"

I ignore him. I go over to Frisk and cast a spell to give them a little life. It's not enough to heal them; it's just enough to let them speak.

"Why did you try to save me, Frisk?" I ask. "Did you think I'd give up, like Flowey did? Did you think I'd have a change of heart?"

Frisk points to Undyne.

"What?" I ask.

Frisk chokes out a response.

"Undyne loves to fight." They say. "It… it makes her day… when she has…"

They try to sit up, but slide back down.

"… when she has somebody to spar with." They finish. "She…"

Frisk goes quiet. They're fading again. I give them a little more energy.

"What's your point?" I ask.

"Undyne likes to fight people." They say. "But even Undyne is sad when people get hurt. Nobody's happy with this."

Undyne closes her eyes. Her shoulders are shaking. Alphys hugs her.

"I'm sorry, Frisk." Undyne murmurs.

Frisk sits up.

"If you keep doing this," they say, "you're going to be sad, too… And I don't want you to be sad."

Toriel manages to close the wounds. But Frisk is still deathly pale. They lost a lot of blood.

"Let's do something more fun." Says Frisk.

This feels weird. I don't like this.

I turn back the clock once more.

I reset back to the moment I finished telling them what happened in the Underground. That saves me some time. Everyone is together again.

"So what happens now?" Asks Undyne. "Are you-"

"Asgore?" I ask. "Why don't we have some tea?"

"That would be nice."

They show me to a human village not far away. The humans have all evacuated already, so we're alone here. Asgore makes tea for us, and Toriel bakes us pie. We sit together and I listen to them talk about what's happened on the surface since they left the Underground.

Frisk spent a few days as the ambassador to the humans before everyone agreed it wasn't necessary. The humans were alarmed at first, but they got used to the monsters. Asgore handles things now. Apparently the humans like him just as much as the monsters did.

Toriel and Asgore are still apart. She hasn't forgiven him, but she's not as cold to him as she used to be, according to Undyne. Toriel has started up a school for monsters and humans. Frisk goes there now.

Before Sans called her over here to meet me, Alphys was touring the human world as a guest lecturer about her research into souls and determination. Undyne has been tagging along and coaching her to be less shy and scared and sweaty about speaking in public.

Papyrus has been bouncing around from one place to the next. Sans has been following him every step of the way.

Midway through the evening, I consider taking the opportunity to kill Sans and Frisk. Their guard is down. This would be the perfect time to do it.

Once I absorb Frisk's soul and determination, it will be easy to take down Sans. I'd just have to kill a few more people and absorb a few more souls, and then I'd be unstoppable. I could do anything I wanted.

But I don't really feel like it.

This has been a pleasant evening. I want to keep things this way.

I sleep on the question. The next day over breakfast, Asgore asks me what's next.

"What are you going to do with those souls?" He asks. "Are you going to hold on to the demon? Or will you get rid of it?"

"I think I know what I should do."

I reach across the universe and bring back the souls I've lost. I will no longer live on the souls of other monsters. Now I have my own again.

Finally, I can make things okay.

Dear Asriel,

Good morning. This is a message from you. I hope you're feeling well.

A lot has happened since you and Chara died. You turned into a sadistic flower and tried to take over the world. Then you locked yourself in the Underground while the others escaped, sacrificing your happiness for their safety. You tried to bring back Chara, and the two of you tortured each other for a while. You became a god and created your own little world and your own little monsters. You learned some of the deepest secrets of the universe. And you almost tried to take over the world again when you escaped to the surface, but Dad and a human named Frisk convinced you it wouldn't be any fun.

You might be wondering why you don't remember any of this ever happening. That's because I erased your memory.

Asriel, I want you to have a good life. Yours got cut very short. And you never really got to have a good friend. Chara was fun, but they had a demon inside them that made them bad. Bad for them, bad for you, bad for everybody.

And most of your memories were full of pain and misery. I knew you couldn't live a normal life knowing what happened. So, when I brought you back, I made sure you couldn't remember anything that happened after you died. You're just like you were the day you took Chara's body to the surface.

I wrote down everything that happened just so people would know, but I don't think you should read it. It's not really your life story, anyway, because you're starting over now. And I know you wouldn't enjoy reading it, because I didn't enjoy living it.

If you ever do read it, though, I want you to know that despite everything that happened, you are a good person at heart. You made things right in the end. I know everything about you, so I would know. You love your mom and dad, you love your friends, and you love people. You're nice to them, and that's great. You're going to have a lot of friends who love you very much.

Mom and Dad are apart—maybe for good, and at least for while—but it's okay. They still love you and you're still a family.

That's really all you need to know. Be happy and have fun. Don't worry about the past. You already worked really hard to make things right.

Thank you.

I'm glad we both turned out okay.

Love,

YOU

Dear Frisk,

I just want you to know that Asriel is coming back, but he won't remember anything that happened, because it's easier for him to start over. I think you'd be good friends with him, and I think you could make him very happy and feel very loved.

If you ever talk to him about what happened, be gentle about it. I'm worried he might feel guilty about it, and it's really not his fault. If he does feel bad about it, please comfort him.

Thank you for giving me a reason to spare the world. That was a pretty nice thing to do.

Yours,

Asriel

Dear Demon,

If you ever read this on your own, then I'm not sure what happened. You were supposed to stay divided in little pieces inside several people, to make sure you didn't wake up and cause any problems.

You should probably go back inside those people and go to sleep again. If you think you shouldn't, then there's a book you should read that explains why that's a bad idea. I know everything there is to know about you, and if you start hurting people the way you wanted to before, you're going to have a bad time.

Go back to sleep. I made sure your bed is very comfortable. You'll like it there.

Sweet dreams!

Asriel

Dear Chara,

It's been a long time.

If I did everything right, you probably feel a lot different than you used to. A lot has happened since you died. A lot has changed.

You had a demon inside you. That demon did some awful things to your mind and made you do some very awful things. It ended up killing you.

But I took the demon out. I think you deserved a second chance. Besides, Mom and Dad and Asriel really loved you. They missed you when you were gone. I don't know if you feel the same way about Asriel that he does about you—he really does love you—but I know at least you two will be good friends.

A bright new world is ahead of you. You have a good family and some wonderful new friends. Have fun with your new life, and if you ever need any help or advice, go ask Mom or Dad or Asriel or Frisk. They really care about you, Chara.

Good luck. I'm cheering you on.

Your friend,

Asriel

Dear Flowey,

We've been through a lot together. You and I did some pretty awful things, and we went through a lot of pain. But eventually, everybody got together and sorted everything out. Now you're just a normal golden flower, and I'm about to break myself into several different people.

It's better that way. Our time is over. A new day has begun.

But I want people to know some important things I have learned as the years have gone by. I want them to know that good things can grow even in dark places. I want them to know that there is beauty in this world that does not go away even when life is hard. I want them to know that even when people are sad and lonely and frustrated, they can come out okay. I want them to know that even when the world has fallen apart, we can make things right again. You are proof of all of that.

I want you to grow tall and vibrant, little flower, so everyone can see that even Flowey can be good.

Your friends are blossoming everywhere in the world. They're out in the meadows in the sunshine, swaying in the breeze. All of us are.

And we can't wait for you to join us. Because we care about you. We love you just as much as we love each other. You mean the world to us.

We adore you.

We always have.

We always will.

Asriel