Guilt Rising

"I'm tellin' ya, bro, that lamp might help you." Sans snickers.

"Quit it already!" Papyrus stomps his foot, "You are so lazy! Staring at lamps all day! What if a human comes through?"

"Well.. They'll be shades of fun." Sans wink and Papyrus yells, "I am getting out of here! I can't take your ridiculous puns!"

Papyrus turns and runs off. Sans laughs, "Okay, you can come out now."

Frisk slowly comes out from behind the lamp, staring at the ground as he walks. He shudders, "I forgot.. The sound of his voice.."

Sans sighs, "Come on, kid. Let's go to Grillby's."

"I don't.. I think.. I'm just going to go for a walk.." Frisk turns and walks ahead of Sans.

Sans watches Frisk walk away and he shakes his head, "At least he's trying.."

Frisk walks until he gets to Snowdin and he looks at all the monsters moving about and he closes his eyes as he envisions himself striking them all down. Sans appears beside him and the skeleton pats Frisk's back, "You can do it, buddy."

Frisk opens his eyes and looks at Sans, avoiding the monster's face, "Sans.."

"What?" Sans tilts his head, "Got cold feet?"

Frisk tries not to smile, "Sans.."

"Come on, it's not that hard, you can do it. Just talk to them." Sans replies.

Frisk looks back at the monsters, "I.. Don't know if I can.."

"Don't sweat it. I'll help you." Sans grins, "They love me."

Frisk gasps, "That's not funny!"

Sans shrugs, "Yeah, sounded better in my head."

Frisk shakes his head and tucks his hair behind his ears. He takes a deep breath and walks into town, trying to ignore what his eyes show him. He talks to the monsters walking through the town, he listens to what they say, but he doesn't look them directly in the face. The Monster Kid runs up to him, "Yo! You're a kid, too, wanna know how I know?"

"All kids wear striped shirts. Right?" Monster Kid beams.

Frisk's eyes widen and he sees himself on the bridge in Waterfall. The Monster Kid stood before Frisk, looking angry, but he's shaking anxiously. In the back of Frisk's mind, Chara growled, "In my way!" Frisk laughed and raised his knife. He ran at the Monster Kid and slashed across his body. It took him a second to see Undyne had taken the blow.

Frisk shakes his head and stumbles back. The Monster Kid looks at Frisk in confusion, "Hey, uh.. You okay, dude?"

"God.." Frisk can't seem to find air to breathe, "Undyne.. God.."

"Oh, Undyne's the coolest!" The Monster Kid grins, "She beats up all the bad guys!"

Frisk shakes his head and turns away, running into the forest, "I can't do this!"

"Kid, wait!" Sans frowns, reaching out as Frisk retreats into the frozen forest. Frisk runs for awhile, the wind slapping him in the face, snowflakes hit his eyes. He blinks them away as tears form in his eyes. He yells, falling to the ground. He shudders and sobs in the snow, "How can I live with what I've done?!"

He lies there in the snow for hours, his crying eventually subsides and he just continues to lay there. The wind wisps his hair around and he blinks slowly. Maybe I can just freeze to death. That'll be better than letting them all know I can't save them. And King Asgore.. I'll have to fight him, and I.. I just can't. I'll just keep letting him kill me for eternity if I still have Determination to stay alive.

I can't break their barrier, I'm not their savior anymore. Chara took that away from me, and I let her. I let her put the knife in my hand, I let her help me turn them all to dust one by one. I let her walk me into the Judgment Hall wearing Papyrus's scarf to face Sans. God, the look on his face when he saw me in it.. No wonder he didn't want to spare me. I rubbed his brother's death in his face two thousand and twenty six times..

He closes his eyes, Yeah. I'll just lay here.. And die. Sans walks up to Frisk slowly, "Hey, kid.. You do know you're not supposed to be a popsicle, right?"

Frisk opens his eyes and stares at Sans's slippers. He speaks the skeleton's name in a whisper. Sans sticks his hands in his pockets, "It's real bad, huh? That guilt of yours?"

"You have no idea," Frisk smiles bitterly, "And I deserve every ounce of it."

Sans kneels down beside Frisk, "Look, Frisk. I know this is hard for you, but you did kill us all. Think of this as retribution. If you can handle looking at all of us, swallow your guilt, and play it safely, then that counts for your soul. If you're no longer an embodiment of that demon inside you, prove it. If you're still getting urges to hurt us, ignore it. You will do this, kid. You'll be the pacifist you once were, cause I swear if you hurt a single monster, I won't hesitate to take you out. I won't wait until Asgore and I are the only ones left this time. For your own sake, if nothing else, get through this timeline the right way."

Frisk stares at Sans, actually looking at his face now. The Sans stuck in his brain makes him shudder, but he doesn't look away. He swallows hard and pushes himself to sit up. Snow falls off him as he moves and Sans keeps eye contact with him. Frisk takes a deep breath, "I'll.. Try."

Sans smiles, "That's all I'm asking."

You're asking for an absolute pacifist. But, who can blame you? I did murder everyone you love.. Frisk nods, looking away again, But this isn't as easy as you make it sound.