Frisk entered the place where they had fallen down. It felt like years since Frisk had been here. A small figure in a green and yellow striped shirt knelt there, with a small watering can, and looking at the bright yellow flowers wistfully. Asriel didn't even turn around.
"Come with me, Asriel," Frisk said, tugging on the goat child's sleeve as they went to him.
"Huh? No—"
"I won't leave you alone, here," Frisk insisted. "Everyone's up at the surface.
A look like a trapped animal came over Asriel's eyes, and the fur on the back of his neck bristled, like he was frightened. "I can't. I'll hurt the other monsters. I don't think that I could ever show my face to Mom and Dad again. They—"
"—love and care about you, Asriel. None of this was your fault. You tried to stop Chara. I know that, now. And I know that you're strong enough to learn to fight them off."
Asriel shook his head. "Frisk, I know that you want to help me, but you can't. No one can. It was all over the moment I absorbed Chara's soul. I didn't mean to. I—" He bleated as tears filled his innocent eyes. Frisk felt like their heart contracted until it hurt.
But Frisk took his hand. "Asriel Dreemurr, you are the son of the King Asgore Dreemurr and Queen Toriel Dreemurr. You have more power than you think you do. We can help you if Chara ever comes back again."
"But they will!" Asriel cried again. "It happens a lot, you know. In the dark, I hear their voice inside of me. Whispering. And—I lose control. I become a flower again. Who's to say that Chara won't come back to the surface and hurt everyone again? Mom? Dad?"
"You have me. Chara isn't the only human with power." Frisk realized they were still holding Asriel's hand. They squeezed it, smiling at Asriel. "Maybe Chara will learn that not all humans are terrible beings. Maybe they just don't understand what it's like to be fully human. There are beautiful things in the world too, like love and compassion. We can teach them, together. Things will get better. But the one thing I know, is that I won't—can't leave you here."
Frisk wrapped their arms around Asriel and rested their head on his shoulder. Asriel's bleats filled the corridor of the ruins. Frisk felt a dampness on their shoulder, feeling each pat pat of something soft falling there.
"I guess," Asriel said between shuddering sobs, "that I don't have much of a choice in the matter, do I?"
Frisk smiled, resting their cheek on Asriel's. "Not much."
"I'm afraid, Frisk."
After a moment, Frisk replied, "So was I, when I fell down here. But I couldn't just stay in this spot. If I did, I wouldn't have met you, Toriel, Sans, Papyrus… You'll love them, I know you will. And they'll love you, too."
Asriel smiled for the first time that Frisk had entered the place where they fell in the first place, his small fangs parting his lips slightly. Though his eyes still watered.
"Just come with me, Asriel. Say goodbye to the Underground," Frisk said, quietly. Frisk took Asriel's hand and pulled him away from the flowers, away from the Ruins, away from the Underground.
Away.