But that was then, and this was now. The weight of everything hadn't broken Toriel, at least not yet but...it had clearly taken its toll. Sans and Gaster's involvement with the demise of the human souls, Asgore's betrayal, Frisk's betrayal-If it was anyone else they would most likely give up right then and there. You could see it in her eyes. She wanted to give up too. But she refused that wish.
Frisk sensed the tension between the two, and with themselves and prayed for someone to say something, ANYTHING to make this all stop. They had been doing puns earlier right? Maybe that would help? Frisk opened their mouth to speak, but Toriel quickly shut them down.
*Do not speak tainted one. I...have not forgiven you yet either.
*99. That was the number of..."timelines" as Sans calls it, to understand that you were not coming back. That the innocent child I once knew, was lost to an endless loop of self-pity. I always welcomed you with open arms, to stop all this-even though I may not have realized it at first but never once did you stop. And I have no choice but to finally believe him. Believe that you...
Her hand rested briefly on her heart. Frisk's guilt traced the part of her heart that they had cut so many times. But how? How was this possible? Yes, Frisk had performed the genocide on the underground once, but, the way Toriel was describing it was like they had done it more than once. That there was a loop of genocides going on in the underground. Frisk certainly did not remember clearing 99 runs. That kind of time seemed impossible for one human lifespan. Sans finally spoke up, his back still slouched over the bar while the last ketchup bottle rolled away from him.
*Do you get it kid? You've reset so many times now that your resets are resetting. You've messed with the timeline to a point that it attempted to correct itself by accepting an anomaly as an actuality. Right now, I bet there are hundreds of Frisks out there in alternate worlds making choices and working hard without knowing in the end how pointless it is.
*In other words, for every one kid that does the right thing and gets outta the underground there are three that kill everyone. Chara played you for a fool so naturally they are able to play those Frisk's for fools too.
Frisk's heart stopped. Learning that Frisk's determination to fix things had only made things worse was the final nail in Frisk's coffin. They were a disgusting waste of space that did not deserve this life, or these friends. Because of how selfish Frisk had been, they had unleashed a horror onto the underground that was now out of control. And it had Frisk's face. A feeling of absolute defeat Frisk got up from the table unable to look either monster in the eye and instead faced the door. Toriel's ears twitched at the sound of Chara's name, her hands slamming on the table to look at Sans.
*Don't you DARE speak of Chara like they are some DEMON! Chara will always be my-
She bit her tongue before speaking further. She knew what Chara had done as well. But that was why it hurt so much more. Frisk and Chara were both so similar in their misguided attempts at coping with adolescence that to speak ill of one was to speak for both. And despite all the heartache, Toriel still cared for the children deeply. Sans put up his hands and didn't push it further. If anything he was just glad Tori was talking to him again.
*Sorry, sorry, I know what you mean. I'll leave it at that.
*Let me just get to the point here Frisk. I think I know how to undo all the damage you've done. But it won't come easy.
Toriel's expression softened as she realized what Sans was getting to. Again Frisk felt that uncomfortable tension between the three of them. Frisk stayed where they were, feeling the monsters pitiful gazes crawling down their back. There was some kind of way to fix this that would probably cause Frisk a lot of pain and...even despite what Frisk had done, they were still worried about Frisk's well-being. This...was what true friendship was. Frisk was willing to do anything at this point. Knowing that it was their doing that caused all this pain to the people they cared about filled Frisk with determination to make things right. Even if it meant giving their lives. Sans closed his eyes and practically sighed out his question.
*...Kid, Do you know where boss monsters come from?
Silence. Frisk's mind, already on overdrive upon understanding just what they had done was trying to figure out how knowing where boss monsters come from would be able to save them.
*Well, when a mommy monster and a daddy monster love each other very much they meet at a club one night and-
*SANS!
Sans winks and shrugs his shoulders in his signature style
*Never mind! I will educate the human since you are unable!
Tears streaming down Frisk's face, Frisk looks to Toriel over their shoulder, Toriel did not offer a gaze of sympathy back.
...As it should be...
*Monsters are made up of magic. You understand at least this correct? So a boss monster would have to be a monster made up of more magic correct?
Frisk nodded their head and turned to face Toriel, rubbing the tears from their eyes.
*This is the misconception that keeps creatures like us alive. Didn't you notice how normal monsters seemed more two-dimensional whereas boss monsters have more personality? This is because magic is only as powerful as those that believe in it. There is no well of mana hidden in the world, nor is there some kind of stream that coats the planet in its energy. Magic, is fueled off of human emotion. Human...determination.
*Monsters are simply human dreams that seem real enough to a person to become reality. Sometimes its an aspect or goal of a human's life, other times its just an intense feeling. Snowdrake for example, was most likely based off of a human who wanted to be a comedian but never was able to due to the critique of their parents. Maybe that human gave up on the dream of being a comic, but the dream never died-it became a monster in order to stay alive. In other words, out of the hundreds of thoughts humans have everyday, half of those have the potential to become monsters.
*So a boss monster then, is an emotion or feeling that is so strong that it carries much of a human's or several humans essences with them to become a "SOUL". An idea or concept that would make a normal human feel dead inside without. The shape and power of the boss monster is determined off of how important or vast that emotion was. This is why monsters are able to take human souls...its a journey to return to who they really are.
Frisk's mind went back to the books they read in the Snowdin Libraby
"Love, hope, compassion... This is what people say monster SOULs are made of. But the absolute nature of "SOUL" is unknown. After all, humans have proven their SOULs don't need these things to exist."
*Boss monsters acquire power differently than monsters or humans do. Where humans increase their LOVE at the cost of the Love, and monsters gain power by simply remaining alive, boss monsters acquire power by acting and getting closer to the human that created them. Of course they generally start with better stats than regular monsters and base humans, if they do not constantly keep training, then the human is able to catch up to them in terms of power and destroy them.
Frisk blinked as they mulled this all over. It made sense in theory, it also explained why the monsters were not able to defeat a single human during the war. Without their love, hope or compassion there was more room for ATK DEF LV and other stats to destroy monsters with. It also showed why monsters had similar traits and customs to those of humans, without knowing why they had those traits. But what did it have to do with Frisk?
*Life should always be cherished young one. It can create such magical and wondrous things that make life worth living...however...in your case...
*We need you to become a Boss monster.
Sans cuts in at the end looking to Frisk with that same broken smile.
*Thats the gist of our plan Frisk. If you surrender your humanity there is a chance that we can stop the countless Frisk's out there from doing anymore harm. But before you start thinking thats an easy thing to do, let me explain.
*Monsters are weak compared to humans and boss monsters are only a little bit stronger than monsters, this is common knowledge. However, boss monsters can take human SOULS to become stronger. Since this world keeps resetting with each new Frisk, we'd need you to wait for each Frisk to appear and...
*Take their soul.
Sans took a step closer to Frisk to make sure they understood what that meant, forcing Frisk took a step back. The very idea was haunting because it meant in essence, not only would Frisk have to kill themselves, they'd have to do it countless times to stop all the Frisks. If there are so many worlds already made by Frisk's foolishness...How long would Frisk have to fight other Frisks?
*Do you remember when you fought Asriel? Your determination had gotten to a point that you could DREAM and hold onto that DREAM? That's what you'll use to change from human to boss monster.
*By dreaming of a monster that could one day stop you, your feelings would eventually spawn a monster in the underground that would hopefully have your resolve to save the underground. With any luck, your monster will harvest the souls of Frisk each time the world resets and...you'll...
Toriel trailed off after that but Frisk understood what she meant. Each time a Frisk was destroyed so too would part of the human Frisk.
*"It would take a long time. You're looking at doing 10 more timelines where you save all of us, just to store all the dreams you get from Asriel and use at once. And then the monster you create would have to wait for about 2,398* timelines to make sure all the Frisks were taken care of." Sans added.
What Sans was proposing was insurmountable for the human. For it meant that this game...would have to be cleared 2,408 times to right Frisk's wrongs. And that was if they started today. Sure Frisk had opted to fall down Mt. Ebott long ago to give away their life, and this was surely the most noble of causes to dedicate their life too but...Frisk wanted to be with the monsters. That was what had started all this in the first place. If Frisk did this then...they would cease to exist. No more puzzles, no more puns, no more training, no more dance offs, no chance to be a sibling figure for a certain flower, no more mother, no more father. No more anything.
Frisk shook their head, those kind of selfish thoughts were what got Frisk here in the first place. It was time for them to own up to their actions. Although nothing could equate to taking a life aside from another life, if Frisk was able to destroy themselves in every timeline...then at least each monster they had slain could be met with a human life. Frisk always knew the day would come where they would have to say goodbye, ever since they saw the pacifist ending for the first time. And it seemed that the time was now. But Frisk shook all over, the very idea scared the human to their core.
Toriel took a step forward, and knelt down in front of Frisk, bringing them in for a hug her voice was quivering with sorrow.
*I wish there was another way my child. I'm no better than Asgore for endorsing this plan and I do truly believe yours and all human life is worth cherishing. But sometimes, life is cruel, life is unfair, and I hope that when you dream, you dream with every ounce of your body to create a monster that is not only capable of harvesting human souls-but SPARING those that do not deserve death. Show them the weight of your sacrifice and maybe one day...humans and monsters alike will finally understand life's value...and live together..!
Frisk wrapped their arms around Toriel, letting the tears fall from their face. This was it. Frisk was going to do it. Frisk was going to orchestrate their death to save the underground. Hearing what Toriel had said about boss monsters, about how every bit of a boss monster was a part of a human soul and their struggles. It made them realize that this was something Frisk needed to do for the greater good. To help every human understand that dreams can never die and that life is as beautiful as it is wild. That all life should be protected until they surrender every last part of their SOUL. While the two wept Sans made his way to the door, standing just before it.
*Frisk. I know how hard it must be to make this kind of choice. I'd probably become a skeleton myself if I was a human that had to wait that long to die. I've seen so many timelines its hard to sort out which ones are you and which ones are not but I am pretty sure that...the real Frisk...would make the right choice here. So...after you get the dreams. Meet me in my lab. We can say our goodbyes there.
Frisk looked to Sans over Toriel's shoulder and nodded, and tried to escape her grasp but could not. She was holding on to Frisk with everything she had.
*Frisk, I will always love you like one of my own...! In another world, I hope that one day I can be a mother to a child as good-hearted as you..! Please...Please don't resent life for forcing you into this choice. Because I'm certain we'll meet again and at that time...! At that time...!
*Hey...Tori come on, give the kid a break, they've got a bunch of work to do, and so do we. Once Frisk gets the dreams we'll get to say goodbye.
Sniveling Toriel finally lets go of the human and pats them on the head.
*I...I suppose you are right.
She heads towards Sans leaving Frisk alone in the bar.
*I know you'll make the right choice.
It was the last thing Sans said before Toriel and himself disappeared. Although it seemed scary, and Frisk was doing this alone, they knew they wouldn't be alone for long. That by doing this they could finally right their wrongs. Frisk had squandered their life away, but the monster Frisk would create...It would be one that would surely understand the value of life. It would make up for the sins Frisk had committed. That was probably the greatest thing Frisk could do in their lifetime. So they did reset and start another pacifist run, making sure to clear their inventory before the Asriel fight to save all the DREAMS they could and then use them after Asriel was defeated.