Disclaimer:
I do not claim to own the original game nor its many AUs; as such Flowerfell and Echotale, but this plot and possible original characters/AU belong to me. Any famous songs, TV show/movies/books and manga names, and brands that are mentioned in this work belong to their rightful owners. This is purely for fun and my inner fangirl.
© Willa Field
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5:
Shake it out
Frisk and Asriel
Three years later
(Third POV)
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You are a freak!
I am ashamed of you, why can't you be normal?
You can't do anything right!
No one wants to be your friend!
These are things that seventeen-year-old Frisk Sawyer hears on a daily basis from her parents, the only people she wanted to please, but that was impossible. Nothing she does is good enough for them.
She gets straight A's and they want straight A pluses, she dances for her mother; everyone thought she was great, but they want amazing. She doesn't get into trouble at home or school, but they think that she is a demon. All because she is mute, a freak who couldn't speak, she can't be perfect in her parents' eyes no matter what she does. Yes, Frisk isn't perfect, and she knows it.
-.-.-.-
She wasn't safe at school either, she tried to be, but each time she reached out for a friend, she was only rewarded by being bullied and the adults in the school turned a blind eye from her suffering. As the days went on, the words and wounds slowly weighted down on the poor girl's soul, making her desire death. Freedom from the pain, freedom from the dark reality she had to face...
The only peace she had was when she hid in the library and read stories about the monsters and the war. She didn't know why, but she felt a small connection to the monsters more than the humans who abused her. She felt like she understood them and they would understand her, protect her from the danger she faces every day.
That was what she was doing when she finally was driven to run away, leaving all the pain behind her as she ran past the trees and up the mountain, her cheeks were stained with tears.
That day, her bullies both at home and school went too far. Her skin was now marred by many bruises and scars from knives, scattered over her body. And her leg was painfully dragging behind her as she ran out of the shadows of the trees, but Frisk didn't care; she just wanted to get away from the real monsters and to the only place she knew she would be safe:
The Underground…
Once the sun touched her skin; Frisk collapsed into tears, her face buried in her hand as she knelt at the gaping mouth of the only entrance to the Underground, and the memories washed over her as unknown sounds bounced off the walls of the cave:
-.-.-.-.-
Her cries echoed throughout her room, her hands were trying to protect her head as her father growled deeply, kicking her harder as time grew. The pain grew with every blow:
"You're disgusting!" The father shouted at her when she tried to plea for mercy, only to be dealt another blow and then he moved on to more sadistic actions.
Finally, she was freed when the clock sounded at eight 'o'clock and she had to prepare for the other hell in her life, school. Her father growled the order at her before exiting the small room, leaving his daughter to cry loudly as she cleaned herself and redress before she walked out of the house. The little beauty's head was lowered with each step, kids taunting her followed close behind her until the bell called the teens to class, freeing her for a couple of hours.
As the teachers' lessons went on, she would look out of the window when the teachers didn't call on her, each had a view of Mount Ebott. The view gave the teenager some level of comfort, the reason still hid from her, but she was thankful for the feeling as she rubbed the wounds on her arms. She sighed deeply and buried her face into the crook of her elbow, listening to the teacher's words.
Frisk just did her work and listened to the lessons, stealing glances out to the mountain for the comfort when the kids snickered behind her back. She just was waiting for the lunch bell, the only peaceful place the teen had during the day.
A few hours after the morning classes, the bell finally sounded throughout the school the reddish-brunette breathed a sigh of relief, rushing to the library with her backpack bouncing against her back. She was ready to get lost in her favorite story.
Frisk always love reading. Books were her way to forget for a while the painful kind of life she had to live. The pages gave the teenage girl a new life with each different novel she read. Books could take her to other worlds and Frisk could be a whole other person with an amazing life.
She was no longer a freak, but a beautiful princess with a kind heart and a prince to love her, or she could be a mighty warrior who is facing her worst enemy. Reading could have made her unaware of the world around her. They saved her from the pain for a while:
But the teen couldn't stay hidden for long, the bullies always finds her. The library might be her safe place and it was good to hide her, they were good at finding her when they wanted to:
"Hey, freak! Still reading those books about other freaks, I see?"
She jumped at the teasing tone of the female's voice, her book slipped from her hands, before she whimpered as she tried to get some distance between her and the looming threat. She could see a mixture of disgust and rage in her and her friends' eyes as she made her way to the shuddering girl, smiling eerily at her.
"Aww, what's wrong? Am I scaring you?" The older teen faked concerned, leaning forward as her smile grew when she saw the tears falling down Frisk's cheeks.
But she seemingly didn't care as she reached for her, ready to teach the younger teenager a lesson. She had to learn that being a monster lover was a deadly wrong one, one that she couldn't refuse. She wouldn't, no matter what they did to her, that is why they always came back. They wanted to get it through her stupid mind.
Her hands flew up to sign and plea for no more pain, but they just laughed at her pleas and grabbed the girl, dragging her outside where students just watched as the group took turns at beating her, growling and insulting her while her cries fell on deaf ears and her hands were failing at protecting her head and body.
She felt every slash and hit/kicks, the pain echoed through her body, pouring more onto the wounds from her father's beating. Their laughs formed into crackles as they continued their cruel fun, one grabbed her leg and twisted it so hard that a crack echoed through the air. After that sound, her scream should have been heard by the monsters underground it was so loud:
"P..pl…pleas..!" Frisk tried to form a beg, but it sounded broken from not only her disability, but the pain also.
Her attempt only rewarded her with another kick to the stomach, knocking the air out of her before the leader screamed the shivering girl as she leaned down to snarl in her face.
"You freak!"
After that, poor Frisk took another terrible beating and heard things that no one should hear, that lasted until the bell rung, ordering the kids back to class. All but the leader left, laughing and taunting how she cried as they disappeared into the school, leaving the sobbing girl with the cruelest one of all.
The older teenager grabbed her by the hair, pinning the poor beauty to the side of the school, sending another wave of pain through her. Frisk gave another scream, unable to fight it, and clawed at her hands but she only tightened her grip around her and growled at her as the tears ran down her red cheeks, mixing with her blood:
"You listen here, you little wrench, if you don't stop coming here, I'll kill you." The girl threatened, not caring that she was causing a fellow human pain, she only felt hatred for the mute. Frisk bit her lip harder to keep from crying more, but the tears disobeyed her.
The flower nodded slowly, carefully, only clear enough for the hot-tempered young woman to see. The leader smirked harshly, dropping her like trash, and started to walk towards the double doors. Before leaving the beautiful girl out in the cold, she shouted over her shoulder:
"And you really just should kill yourself. No one would miss you. You would be doing yourself a favor. And us." With that, Frisk was alone. Left to cry in the dark and cold of the afternoon.
Frisk sobbed, not bothering to force herself to go to class; the pain was too great to move at that moment. That left her to the rushing thoughts, she was unable to push them away.
Maybe she was right, a tiny voice echoed back at her, as she curled into a ball and looked out over the school's yard, to the view of the mountain, the tears slowed as the sight gave her an idea:
If she climbed the mountain, she could disappear, no more pain, she could be free. Either if she died from the fall or meeting a monster and they save her...
She would be free. And after she calmed, she pushed her body up from the grassy ground, ignoring the pain, and she started to limp fast to the mountain. The yearning was too strong to fight anymore.
Either it would be the embrace of death, she didn't care really. All she just wanted to be free. The pain was getting too much for her to deal with, she just wanted relief.
-.-.-.-.-.-
The memory faded to reality, and her eyes opened to see the long jump down to a whole new world, to the Underground. Frisk chuckled softly as she wiped the tears away and reached for her sneakers, slipping them off and hiding them in a nook, a way to show she was there. Before she jumped into the darkness, she turned to the mouth of the cave, a sad smile danced across her bruised lips.
She wasn't good enough for the humans, she was just a lost mute in the crowd, searching for something or someone she didn't know she was missing. Maybe she could find that missing piece in the next life or the new world, starting a new life. She could be something good now.
So, with one last breath and spreading her arms, she stepped slowly back, feeling her feet slipping out from under her. As the blackness swallowed her body, Frisk closed her blues and her smile was the only light that could be see and the girl felt weightless, happy and peaceful.
-.-.-.-.-.-
Three years had passed, three long years, but the beloved flower wasn't there yet. They had been searching for her every day, but there was no sign of her, just more reason for Sans to become more and more jaded to the idea of finding her.
Asriel knew that Sans was tired, so fucking tired, of this; they all were. But to be almost hopeless, thinking that Frisk was lost to them. He was always searching for his sweetheart, however, he felt angrier with each day that passed. Asriel tried to keep him hopeful, but Sans almost was done; no matter how much he loved her. He had once said to him one day while they were sitting at Waterfall, trying to destress, that:
"I'm almost to the point that I want to give up, Assy. I know it is bad, but I…feel so hopeless right now." His voice was deeper now as Gaster 'made him stronger', but you could hear the heartbreaking sadness into his growl.
"Sans—G, you know Frisk. Every timeline has one thing in common, Frisk's determination. She will find a way back to us, no memory or memory enact, she will."
G laughed, a bitter and sad sound, as he laid down on the field with his hands placed behind his skull. A sneaky smirk spread across his teeth, a lit cigarette sat between his teeth.
"I like your hopeful attitude, As, I might have to borrow some."
At the memory, Asriel both smiled sadly at the ease they had with talking, but growled at how much pain his best friend was going through. He wanted this to end.
But, he thought, it won't. This will never end, he mused with a dulled amusement while the young goat monster popped a cigarette between his sharp fangs as his hoofs echoed throughout the Ruins, it was his shift to watch for humans and care for the Ruins.
He sat down at the field of the buttercups as he pointed his eyes up at the sun, peeking through a hole in the ceiling of the cave, the thoughts rushing through his mind while a paw rubbed over his face annoyed:
He knew everyone was getting tired of this, the waiting, fighting to keep their hope. But, it was getting to the point that everyone was losing their will to hope, just like Sans—or rather G—was. He would never give up on his sister, though, so he was the only one that tries to keep everyone going with their hope still enact. He needed to be the one because they were losing their battle with every single day that passed.
However, he remembered G's pain and then the worry came back into his chest tenfold, knowing that the ancient male was about to give up on himself. The skeleton was heading to a lonely road because once he gave the hope up, Asriel knew that he would push everyone else, afraid that they would disappear as well. He would be afraid that he would lose another loved one and another piece of himself.
The goat saw it over the three years since the Angel of Monsters came and went, he tried to fight against that hopeless feeling and keep the hope up, searching for Frisk. But, the hopelessness was winning as the days, months, years passed:
He sighed around his lit cigarette, chuckling bitterly at the thoughts, as he laid down on his back in the small open field, staring up at the hole, waiting for a small miracle to fall to the buttercups. However, the hopelessness caused the burning sense of unshed tears to come down his eyes, hating that he too had some doubts himself sometimes.
He knew that she would find her way to them, but he'd be lying he didn't have doubts and worries that Error already took her, that they already lost her to the glitchy skeleton…
But that was going to change. The heart of the Underground was returning. The hope would be restored throughout the kingdom. And the heart of the skeleton would be slowly healed.
Asriel closed his eyes, enclosing the tears behind his lids and those thoughts in the darkest places of his mind. Frisk would come home, the goat monster scolded himself, before he opened his eyes to see a falling dark figure heading to him. He furrowed his eyebrows together before a gasp escaped his lips as his dark blues widened, realizing what it was:
"Oh, my stars! A human! It is finally a human!"
His heart went fast as he shot to his feet, his arms stretched out in front of him, preparing to catch the falling human. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind, wondering that if it was the one they were waiting for.
And as the human crashed into the goat monster's arms, making him fall to one knee and tried to balance their body on his leg, he got his answer.
His tears hit her closed lids and she stirred a bit until Asriel hummed a lullaby, his smile growing as the wounded girl settled into his body, but then he let his eyes wander over her body and a growl slipped out of his throat's walls:
"My god, Frisk, what happened to you? What did they do to you." He whispered angrily, soothing her cheek with his paw.
Her body was scattered with wounds; old scars, new cuts, and bruises, but the worst was her leg. It was twisted to a sickening angle, pointing to the side loosely, and the sight made Asriel whistled a growl through his lips, pressing a kiss to her forehead:
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I got you. We got you."
After he stated that statement into her ear soothingly, he carefully shifted her into a better position and slowly began to run to the cottage, shouting for his parents; his cigarette forgotten in the patch of buttercups.
"Mama, Papa, she's home!"
The monsters who lived in the Ruins followed him with their eyes, looking at him like he went insane for holding a human, but he didn't care.
Asriel just needed to get home, where his mother could tend to the young flower's wounds. The monsters could go screw themselves for all he cared, all he cared about was the girl safe in his arms, peacefully sleeping; away from the pain.
"Sans is going to freak when he sees her body." The goat muttered under his breath, moving his eyes down to her peaceful face, shuttering at the thought of G going after the bastards who beat the crap out of her, before he saw the cottage and his parents standing outside with shocked expressions dancing across their faces:
"Oh, my stars, what happened to her?! Was it the fall?"
"No, father, you know what happened…"
The two older goats winced deeply, then scowling before Toriel rushed forward to take the sleeping girl and ran into inside to tend to her wounds, leaving the males to silently worried about their beloved young woman. Then, his father turned to the younger goat with a sad smile. The king was trying to lighten the mood.
"You need to go get Sans. You know him, he would be angry with us if he thinks we were hiding her." The king chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest, but his son cringed.
"You think it would be a good idea, papa? Once G sees her, he will find a way to hunt them down. Hell, I want to, but he won't hold back."
"Don't worry, son, I will talk to him before we let him sees her."
Asriel sighed deeply, nodding slowly before he turned and walked the path to the town of Snowdin. He wasn't sure that the older Skeleton Brother would react to seeing his sweet creature, but he figured his father was right. They couldn't hide this from him, especially this:
G was the type to be angry if he thought anybody was either lying to him or hiding something from him. The younger goat laughed softly, opening the door to the forest, remembering a time when a poor monster hid the fact that he hurt Pappy.
And the monster would have been saved if Papyrus didn't have a black eye and was a bad liar, especially with his older brother, who was still protective of him. He raged all the way to his house.
The monster was in bed for months after the beating. The goat monster feared the reaction he would have if he found out that they hid Frisk from him, what he would do if they have waited to tell him. The thought made Asriel shudder deeply as he stepped into the shade of the trees, knowing his father was right and he needed to tell his best friend. No matter how much he was worried about him going to get payback for his beloved flower.
That was why he was worried. The bloomed flower would be fragile for a while, scared of her shadow. She wouldn't be ready for the wild stallion that G really has become. But, Asriel knew they couldn't really keep Frisk away from him.
The monster didn't want to hurt him any further than the waiting already had Asriel knew the skeleton needed some good news after a three-year period of bad news and loneliness, waiting for a miracle he almost gave up on. He needed to see her, to hold her, to feel her against him to feel whole again.
So, when he saw him searching the trees as the smoke danced from his hanging cigarette, he shouted as loud as he could:
"Hey, smiley trash bag!"
Remembering his hatred for it, the skeleton clicked his tongue at that nickname, before he chuckled softly and turned to the other male while he pulled out the fading cigarette from his teeth.
"Yeah, you weed?" He grinned, feeling good to tease normally, while he moved to where Asriel stood with a grin of his grin dancing across his face.
"Wanna see your girl?"
That made his stinted sockets go wide, his cigarette falling to the snowy ground and sizzling out as soon as it hit the snow, not believing the sound.
She is here? The thought echoed through the rooms of his mind as the grin stretched more across the goat's face, G's boot crushed the snow while he stepped back in shock.
"What? Don't play me with that, Asriel."
"I wouldn't play with you on that. She's back."
And that was it, the skeleton ran as soon as that statement was out of his lips, leaving a laughing Asriel behind as the doors flew open before goat followed suit.