Asriel half expected there to be the bodies of sleeping monsters everywhere, but no. No-one was there. There wasn't even dust either…it was just like they disappeared. They were all inside Asriel at the moment, but he had expected their bodies to remain. Then again, Flowey hadn't exactly been concerned with the well-being of everyone when it happened, so it made sense. Frisk seemed a bit surprised as well, but also wasn't that freaked out.

What does this mean? What have I done?! What if…they can't come back? What if the monsters are now stuck inside me? I guess if it works with the humans, it should with the monsters, right? Humans are so much more complicated than monsters. Monsters are just made of magic, which comes from their soul. As long as their soul is intact, it should be fine, right?

Flowey had absorbed monster souls before, which is how he'd come up with such a plan, but he'd never had a reason to try and give them back! I-he…thought he…did everything there was to be done, guess he was wrong.

'It's going to work, it has to! And like you said, if it works with us…' the quickly talking voice began to trail off.

'It'll work for them too!' the Papyrus-like soul finished.

'Now, take some deep breaths,' suggested the voice that sounded like his family.

Asriel did so, and felt a bit better, "Thanks, I-" he caught himself as he talked out loud, stopping.

Frisk looked at him with understanding, "You're talking to the other kids, right? I don't mind. But we should probably get going before the monsters wake up."

"Right…we should go. But, where are we going?"

"Not a very nice place…but it might help our chances. Well, you'll see what I mean," Frisk replied sheepishly as they walked out of the cave, back toward the castle.

Asriel followed. Frisk didn't seem to want to talk at the moment, so he turned his attention back inward. 'So, I'm still waiting for an answer from one of you…you know who you are!'

A laugh escaped the melodic voice, 'Don't you know which one of us you're talking to?'

'Oh, I just realized, I haven't asked any of you for your names!' he thought, blushing, 'Sorry about that.'

The sudden mix of tension and confusion he felt coming off the souls didn't make much sense to him. That's when he heard the normally loud, enthusiastic soul speak in almost a mumble, 'Um, we don't really remember our names…at least I don't.'

'Oh,' thought Asriel, now blushing even more.

'It's alright! You couldn't have known. We call each other by our traits at the moment, so you can too if you want.' The quiet soul suggested.

'At least until we remember our names! Because it's going to happen, eventually.' The fast-speaking soul said with forced enthusiasm.

'Traits…?'

'Yup, our dominant soul trait!' The soul still was soft-spoken, but spoke with excitement, 'Don't you-oh, wait, monsters don't have one. That's alright, I didn't even know it was a thing before coming here. I…don't really remember how I learned about it, but I guess I must've at some point.'

'Yeah, I don't really know how I found out about them either. What I do know is we can all tell each other's traits. See them, I guess? No, that isn't the right word, sense them, yes, that sounds about right. I wasn't aware that you couldn't, if I was I wouldn't have laughed and said what I did.' The melodic voice sounded sincere.

'I wonder why he can't, though. He's in this head too after all, and should be able to tell more than the rest of us, really. Maybe it's because he didn't know they existed? Or because he, as a monster, doesn't have one? Or maybe just because he's not completely focused in here since he can interact with the outside world, being in control of the body?' The hypothesis of the quickly talking soul continued on. It didn't really matter why he couldn't, they'd soon be in their own bodies again anyway. But he still felt like he needed something to call them by… Especially if this was going to succeed.

'How 'bout we introduce ourselves with traits for names? So you can call us by them.' Asriel was still off-put by how much the soul's voice reminded him of his mother, but he decided to focus on the suggestion itself.

'That'd work,' Asriel thought, feeling just a smidge excited about not being left out of the loop anymore. Not like anyone planned to leave him out. What was he thinking? It was his fault why these souls were inside him in the first place…and they didn't owe him anything. Why were they so nice to him? Why didn't they hate him?

'My trait's ki-' the quiet yet talkative soul began, 'uh, I mean, I'm Kindness! Nice to meet you, what's your name?'

Asriel felt this attempt at normalcy was a bit silly and odd. But, he decided to go ahead and properly introduce himself as well. After all, when was the last time any of them had the chance to feel normal? 'Asriel. Nice to meet you too, Kindness.'

'I guess that makes my name Bravery! That's a cool name, so I'm good with it!' Maybe now that he had a name to call them by, he wouldn't think of Papyrus as much when they spoke. After all, Bravery was their own person, Asriel had always known that of course, but maybe this would help him separate them further.

'Personally,' began the melodic soul with their usual bite, 'I'm not too thrilled about this whole replacing our names thing. But I guess you need something to call me for now. Integrity will do.'

'The name's Patience. It's good to meet ya'll,' again, Asriel hoped this layer of separation would help him not think of others he had failed whenever the soul spoke.

'My dominant soul trait is perseverance. I was doing some thinking while the others were talking though and realized that I can't expect everyone to call me that so I've decided on a replacement temporary title!' The soul quickly rambled.

'You mean a nickname?' Integrity said with amusement.

'I do not know what this 'nickname' you're referring to is but it does not matter. I've simply shortened my name to Percy.'

'That's a nickname,' Integrity stated pointedly, then snorted, 'for someone who apparently doesn't know what a nickname is, you were able to come up with one quick.'

Distracted by the bickering, he put a foot forward and felt it hit nothing but air, stumbling. He managed to regain his balance, and peered down the flight of stairs he would've fallen down otherwise.

Frisk had turned to look at him from the stairs below, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry," he mumbled, blushing again. "Me and the souls were talking."

"Oh, that makes sense!" they commented. "I'm sure it's hard to look where you're going when you have to focus inside yourself to talk to the other kids. But we're almost there!"

That's when he looked around at where they were. His heart sank when he realized where they were headed. It was harder this time to push away the memory of finding this place, but he managed it, the anger and disgust he had felt prodding at the edge of his mind. Even back when his emotions were shadows of their former selves, he still hated this place, what it stood for. And what he felt in the pit of his stomach now was worry over how the souls would react. Did they even know what was at the bottom of those stairs? Maybe it was best if they didn't.

"Frisk, what are we doing here?"

"I'm sorry I didn't ask before. The other kids might not be ready to see this, you might not be, even I'm not. But we need to go down there. Humans aren't like monsters, they have bodies made of more solid stuff. If we get them close to their solid bodies, maybe the souls will have a better chance of latching on." Frisk explained. A mix of uncomfortable emotions began to flood Asriel again, he recognized their source by now.

'Wait…we're going to have to see our dead bodies before they're healed? I thought you were going to heal the bodies and send us into them from far away.' Integrity tried to sound unaffected even though Asriel could feel their anxiety. They ended up sounding annoyed.

'Um, yeah! Why can't we do that instead? Going down there sounds like a bad idea! Not that I'm afraid or anything. I'm not going to freak out, not at all, but the others might!' Bravery sounded jittery as they spoke.

'I don't think it's a good idea to go there with ya'll feeling this way. Ya'll are shaken up already and we ain't even there.' Patience chimed in.

'Everyone, listen, please. I know you're scared and unnerved right now, but we need to do this! Asriel already explained that he is going to heal our bodies. He has to be near them in order to do this, yes? This is our shot at getting our lives back, and if this works you'll be in the body anyways, so why get all freaked out over being near it?' Percy piped up.

The quiet voice still shook with fear as Kindness began to speak, 'I g-guess that makes sense… A-alright, I'm r-ready! This is our shot at being alive, it's worth a little uneasiness. Well, more than a little, but still.'

'OK, we can do this! I can do this! It's going to be fine, I'm not going to let a little thing like this stop me!' Bravery sounded more assured now.

'That's the spirit!' The others soon agreed as well. Asriel wasn't sure if he should be impressed or concerned at how quickly they agreed to do something like this. He wished he could give them some place else to be while he restored their bodies. These kids had been through much worse than what was about to occur though, and soon things would start looking up for them.

Asriel walked down the stairs after Frisk. Having prepared themself and the souls for the sight, it was less jarring to see the coffins lying there. But it was still a bit disturbing, and the emotional concoction of what Asriel and the souls were feeling wasn't pleasant.

"Hold on, I'm going to save," Asriel stated.

"I thought you saved before we left the place we fought," Frisk said, cocking their head.

"I did, but I'm doing it again so we don't have to walk down here. We can still load to there if needed, I have multiple saves, remember?"

"Oh, right."

Asriel closed his eyes. He focused on his task, focused on the souls inside of him, the children who needed his help, who needed saving. They joined with him in hoping that this will work, in knowing that it will, because it has to. The hope inside was burning like a bright flame. They were all filled with…determination. Asriel opened his eyes to see three stars that weren't there a second ago, he reaches out for the third one, and then it fades away.

"I'm done. What's the next step?"

Frisk sounded worried as they explained, "We have to be careful. If you lose all the kids at once just trying to release one, things could go very wrong. You won't be able to LOAD, so the souls might be gone for good. I'm not sure I could load at that point, with you still having the monster souls which could balance out my," Frisk hesitated, "…human soul. It's…not likely though."

"It seems plenty likely to me, since every monster in the underground can equal the power of one human soul. Yours would probably have more determination though, so who knows? It doesn't sound like something we'd want to risk."

"Right…so, I have a test we can do to be sure it will all go OK! Asriel, were all the human souls absorbed at the same time?"

He nodded his head.

"Then, can you try releasing a single monster soul?" Frisk asked with a tilt of their head.

Asriel thinks for a moment, "I guess… Wait, if I end up releasing them all then we'd know it's not possible to release the human souls one at a time."

"Exactly," Frisk nods as they say this.

"Alright, I'll try really hard then." Asriel starts concentrating on the task at hand.

'Maybe we should bring back a friend of Frisk's?' Kindness suggested.

'Are you crazy? What if they ask us what we're doing? What if they remember, even after a RESET? That can happen, you know!' Integrity spat back.

Asriel was a tad surprised they knew what a RESET was, but then again, they were in his head, 'I agree, no bringing back anyone who could remember this or get involved.' Asriel didn't want anyone inadvertently threatening the lives of all the other SOULs still currently inside him by attacking him, even if he did deserve it. Nor did he want anyone to know he was ever here. 'We need to bring back someone less…noticeable.'

'What about a vulkin?' Spitballed Bravery.

'Or a froggit!' Percy contributed to the brainstorm.

'Maybe a moldsmal?' Patience put forward.

'Thanks, everybody for your ideas. I think a moldsmal will work best. Simple, easy for me to recall.' Asriel tried not to think about the fact that he spent much of his time as a flower in the ruins, 'Just, let me focus now.'

'No way! We're not just going to keep quiet and do nothing, we're going to focus with you, like when you saved.' Integrity pressed.

'Yup, I want to help! This is our future at stake.' Agreed kindness, though with less force.

'Alright, if you really want to help, I'm happy to accept it. Everybody, focus on releasing the soul of the moldsmal, and only them. Think of nothing else.'

Asriel pictured the moldsmal, single-mindedly focusing on it. Meanwhile, the souls were focusing as well, he could feel it. Soon the heart shapes of many souls materialized in his mind, the colorful human ones standing out against the white souls of the monsters. He saw that each was a different color, and they were all moving. He could feel they were searching for something. He gave the souls further shape, wanting to see the original form of each, and pale, yet glowing, versions of monsters emerged where the heart shapes had been. The human souls proceeded to zip around, both rushing past and weaving between the forms of the monsters, until they found the pale version of a moldsmal. And together they focused…they poured all their thought and their hope into this moldsmal.

When Asriel felt the time was right, he set the soul free, but it wasn't just the moldsmal's form that disappeared. All of the pale glowing forms had left, all the souls of the monsters were free, all at once. Only the human souls remained, now radiating fear and disappointment. The fact that all the souls were released at once…it didn't bode well for them..

Asriel blinked his eyes open, "I…it…didn't work."

"Great, just great," Frisk muttered to themself loud enough for Asriel to hear.

"We should go check and see if the monsters are back…and then I'll load."

"Don't bother, they're fine," Frisk said without concern, their voice sounding empty.

"But how do you know that? All their souls could've broken to pieces the second they came back," Asriel insisted, "isn't it better to check and make sure? While we still have a chance to?"

"They're fine, alright! Just take my word for it!" Frisk now sounded aggravated, their voice raising.

"But how do you know that?!" Asriel yelled, "What do you know that I don't, and why won't you tell me?"

Frisk glued their eyes to the floor, "Fine, go check, see if I care. I'll stay here and actually think of an answer to this problem."

'What's wrong with them? Can't they tell how hard this is for us? Why are they making it worse?!' Bravery spat, tinged with disbelief.

'They're hiding something from us…they must be. We should make them tell us what it is!' Integrity's suspicion and aggravation churned within.

'N-no! Guys, stop this! They're Asriel's friend, they've been trying to help all of us. They're just frustrated at the moment, like we are. Hating and fighting won't make anything better.' Kindness' desperation and sympathy clashed with the emotions of the others.

'Easy for you to say,' Integrity sneered.

'Easy ya'll, fighting each other won't help. And neither will standing here. They need some time to cool off, why don't we check on the monsters upstairs? That's what Asriel was gonna do.' Patience was worried but attempting to stay calm.

'I think we should put aside our differences and stay down here to help them think of a solution. We don't have time to dilly-dally, we need to come up with a plan!' Percy felt motivated yet quite anxious.

The emotional cocktail and frantic thoughts was getting to be too much. His mind felt clouded like a grey sky. And then came the storm; order broke down and Asriel's head broke out into a cacophony of voices talking over each other. Were they even trying to talk anymore? He put his hands over his head and fell to his knees, trying to block them out, but they continued relentlessly, starting to make his head hurt. And his soul felt like it would explode with all the emotions coursing through it… Wait, that wasn't right, he didn't have a soul, not anymore. But he still clutched the spot where it would be as his chest ached. One hand on his head, the other on his chest, he clamped his mouth down hard to try and prevent himself from screaming.

"S-stop…make it stop…why…all of…you…please…s-somebody…h-help," he fell to his knees as he forced the words out between gritted teeth.

Asriel saw Frisk saying something, but didn't hear what it was. They began to look frantic, and said it louder. The voices were too much…the feelings were too much…how had it not been this overwhelming before? How could they have been so calm and orderly before? The storm inside raged on. He let himself drown in the voices and emotions, this is what he deserved. There was never going to be a moment of silence for him to pull his thoughts together ever again. It was only fair, it was only right.

Frisk rushed over to Asriel, got on their knees in front of him, and put a hand on his shoulder. Asriel shifted his gaze further toward the ground, and Frisk used their other hand to prop his head up. They said something again, they shook Asriel's shoulder. They said more things he couldn't hear…and then the voices quieted down, just a little, the flow of emotions ebbed. He could now hear what Frisk was saying, "Load now, hurry!"

Frisk's panic snapped his thoughts back into place. Sure, he may deserve this, but his friend needed him. They needed him to break the barrier, to save the kids trapped inside him. To give them the ending they deserved. How could he have been so selfish to get lost in the inner turmoil? Asriel didn't feel determined, and he knew he needed to be to LOAD. But these thoughts gave him motivation to try and raise some. Surprisingly, he found the souls already had. And it was enough. Letting out a shaky breath, he touched the same save he had before by reflex. The world swirled and turned dark around him, just for a moment, and then…he ended right back where he was before.

He began to panic, almost falling over, had he failed to load?

'No, it worked. You just saved in the same place that you loaded, physically speaking. But the monster souls are back!' Explained Integrity, while trying to hide their desperation and guilt. Asriel was surprised that the vague thought similar to many before that the souls hadn't seemed to notice was picked up on. He wondered if they had been ignoring such thoughts before…

'Sorry about before…' Kindness also felt guilty about the situation, likely blaming themself for fighting with the others.

'That wasn't ideal. Sorry for all the trouble. We all've calmed down a bit now. So hopefully you ain't gonna be overwhelmed again.' Patience was mostly sympathetic toward Asriel, but was also annoyed and even angry at the others. Wait, I'm now able to not only tell more clearly who each emotion is coming from, but also who it's directed at?

'You do seem to be getting a better read on us than before, especially when it comes to how we are feeling. And we seem to be better able to access your thoughts. This development is fascinating! But, may I suggest we discuss the implications of this discovery another time? We must get back to figuring out our current problems. Let's help Frisk brainstorm, surely we can think of something!' Although Asriel wanted to figure out just how much of his thoughts the souls could now read, Percy was right that it wasn't the time.

'Well, the result of that test wasn't ideal but…we did find out something. Even though we can't test bringing back one of you first, releasing the souls of the monsters worked. So you should be able to return to your bodies that way as well.'

'I'm not sure of this. As Frisk said earlier humans and monsters are different, humans have more physical matter. Still, I'm not one for giving up! So though I would rather test things further since that seems impossible I feel we should try!' Percy thought out loud, though, it wasn't really since they weren't audibly speaking. Or maybe they were all thinking out loud, depends on your perspective Asriel supposed.

'Yeah, let's do that!' It somehow seemed like Bravery was pumping a fist in the air. There also wasn't any underlying anxiety, only anticipation and excitement. It seemed they trusted Asriel's abilities completely. That only made the knot is Asriel's stomach worse.

'Sounds quite a bit risky to me. Though, I was willing to go for it before. It would be a bit hypocritical to back out now.' Integrity put their two cents in.

'I'm not so sure about this myself… Of course, I really want it to work! B-but what if it doesn't?' The familiar spike of fear, no, more specifically worry, dread, and the kind of panic that comes from something traumatic rang through Asriel. Kindness was right, what if Asriel failed them all?

'It's gonna be alright, you two. Just breathe with me. In, out.' Concern and sympathy was felt from Patience, who really lived up to their temporary name. Asriel hadn't even been aware that he had started panicking again or that the others would be able to sense it. They were all quiet as he followed Patience's instructions, other than Kindness who was somehow doing the same on some level. It felt silly, since it wouldn't help them get anywhere, but after feeling the calming effects earlier he couldn't help himself. 'Kindness, remember what I said? No matter what, you won't be alone.'

"Well, now we know that won't work," Frisk finally spoke, their strained voice reminding Asriel they were still there.

'I…I know, thanks. I guess there's only one way to find out if it'll work, huh?' The fears decreased, they were still there, but accompanied by hope. Kindness was scared, yes, but they were hoping this would work. And they were trying to hold it together for Asriel's sake, all of the kids inside him were. They shouldn't have to. They needed to have their lives back. Besides, what if what happened before happened again? Asriel wasn't sure he could snap out of it again.

"Frisk, I'm going to go to the barrier and break it now," informed Asriel.

"Ok, I-I guess that doesn't really affect anything. We should've probably had you break it while you were there, now you have to walk back."

"I guess I don't really have to walk everywhere. I could manifest myself places instead, it's just a bad idea." He winced both at the idea of getting stuck inside a wall or in a crack in reality, and the fact that saying this brought up Sans in his mind. He quickly distracted himself by continuing his sentence, "Anyway, don't expect me to come back." He tried to sound cold as he turned around, but it came out wrong. He knew Frisk wouldn't like him just barreling ahead, but he had to. There wasn't much of an option left.

"W-what? Are you really giving up on them?" Frisk sounded shocked and desperate.

"No, I'm not! I'm going to follow my original plan of putting them back into their bodies using sheer soul power. It worked for the monsters who were in the barrier room even though we were all the way down here-"

"But it won't work the other way around! These are humans we're talking about, made of flesh and blood and with stubborn souls that don't like to attach themselves to anything!" Frisk ranted. That awful feeling of suspicion came back, turning into anger at the thought that Frisk was keeping something from him.

"I'm a god right now, why wouldn't it work?" the words were out of Asriel's mouth before he could stop them, he covered his mouth, averting his gaze. Without warning, he uncovered it and snapped his gaze back to Frisk's face, "You know something, don't you? Tell us why it won't work!"

That voice was not Asriel's. Frisk's eyes widened, and so did his. They both stood there in shock, 'It's you! The first one to talk. Why didn't you say anything before? And who told you you could go and take over my body?' His lingering anger had found a new target, despite the fact that he wished it would just go away.

'I didn't take it over, just borrowed it a moment to try and get through to that brat. They need to tell us what's going on, we have a right to know!'

'Justice, that isn't nice! Take it back.' Kindness demanded pointedly, hurt and shocked by the behavior of their fellow kid.

The anger built as Asriel spat, 'Justice, huh? Is that your soul trait? Doesn't matter to me. All that matters is you taking that insult back. They're not a brat, they're my friend!'

'Give it a rest. You were just about to tear into them yourself Mr. 'I'm a god'!' Integrity pointed out, annoyed.

Asriel felt the guilt settle in his chest, they were right. So was he, about this anyway. Frisk didn't deserve to be treated this way…there must be a reason they were acting up at the moment. But Asriel's words against them hurt much deeper than anything the souls could say, because he was the one who was supposed to care about them.

"I'm sorry," Asriel's head dropped down in shame, "I shouldn't have said what I did, or tried to go on with my own plan without you. I'm…not sure why you're so convinced that just letting the souls go wouldn't work but, I guess I should believe you. I'm such a worthless friend…and I'm no god, I can't even help these poor souls," he says with a sniff, "I'm just not good enough…and…even with them inside me…I'm still getting angry…like I used to…it's only a matter of time before I'm him again…" the tears well up in Asriel's eyes.

"No, Asriel, I'm sorry. I have been holding back on you…and I can't tell you everything…but…" Frisk paused to collect themself, and Asriel looked up to see the indecision in their eyes as they thought hard. Finally, they spoke, their voice thick with emotion, "There was another timeline where we met, before this one. Another timeline where the barrier was broken. And the human souls, when you let them go…they didn't stay in their bodies."

"Stay?" he asked, confused, still trying to process what he'd just heard.

"Yes, they bonded with their old body for a little bit, but…it didn't last long. I'm not sure why. I thought maybe that if you were next to them and released the souls one at a time so you still had your powers a little bit longer after doing so…then maybe…" Frisk's eyes began to well with tears as well.

Asriel felt the flood of emotion start up again, heard the overlapping thoughts starting. The souls had already restarted the storm. He fell to the floor kneeling with the force of it, soon to be lying face-first on the floor. This was the reason he'd been so eager to go on with getting them out of him, even without a foolproof plan. When he realized that, he felt so selfish. He was such a liar and a failure. He couldn't handle much more of this…

He let out a sob, and then a wail, and then lifted his head and screamed toward the sky. Why was the world so unfair? The souls deserved so much better than him to help them, someone who actually cared. He wanted to help, but if every little setback caused this to happen…he wasn't sure he could. And did he really want to? Or was he just trying to get them out of him?

'...need…calm…'

'…together…focus…'

'...sorry…'

'...try harder…'

'...be strong…'

'...don't give up…'

He didn't notice it before, but now that the voices died down, he could feel Frisk hugging him as they sobbed into his fur. The emotions of the other kids were still there, but now they weren't conflicting and overwhelming, they were sad together. They all cried together as one…

'Hate to break this up, but now that we souls aren't making a mess of your head, we all need to figure out a plan before the monster souls begin to wake.' Justice attempted to get everyone back on track.

'Right.'

"S-so…what…" Asriel broke out into hiccups as he tried to stop sobbing, "d-hic! Do we hic! Do n-hic-ow."

"I…don't know…it's not like I have a plan. I mean, I had one…but it failed…this is hopeless," and their face said the exact same thing. Hopeless. Frisk, hopeless? This really is serious! Less than an hour ago they had so much hope as they fought against me with nothing else but hopes, dreams, and determination to keep them going… If they're giving up…what chance do I have?

'Hey, we're there for you! Just like you and the other souls were there for me when I was afraid. We'll get through this, together, and you can help Frisk get through it too!' Kindness encouraged.

'That's right! We can handle this! We'll keep pressing forward no matter what!' Bravery added.

'If you stay determined no matter what we can do anything! I believe in us and your friend Frisk!' Percy tacked on.

'Even if Asriel can't stay determined, we'll do it for him, right?' Integrity asked the group and you felt more than heard the agreement of the others.

'They're counting on you to figure this out, so pull yourself together and get your friend to start thinking of new ideas! If you don't give this your best shot I swear on my non-existent life I will haunt you for the rest of your days!' Justice's addition made Asriel's self-doubt flare up again. It wasn't his threat that bothered Asriel, he definitely deserved to be haunted if it was even possible. Rather, it was the pressure of the reminder that the other kids were counting on him.

'That ain't the most helpful thing you could be sayin' ' Patience chided.

Somehow, Asriel could tell that Justice was shrugging, 'I thought he needed a little extra motivation.' Asriel decided not to get involved, he didn't mind the way Justice spoke to him, and besides, Frisk needed his encouragement right now.

"Frisk, surely you can think of something else. There's always a way, right? You're determined, you can do anything! You even beat me with nothing more than hopes, dreams, and kindness," he tried to sound confident, for his friend's sake. And why wouldn't he be confident in these words? They were all true.

"I…" Frisk paused, their eyes shifting to the floor once again, "I guess there is something…s-something else we could try. But you're not going to like it."

"Try me," Asriel said, flashing a smile he hoped looked not too forced.

"Promise you'll hear the whole thing before shooting it down," Frisk said with a sigh.

"Y-yeah, I will," it wasn't like he was promising anything big. Besides, he wanted Frisk to come up with an idea, right?

"W-we may have a lot of power over the world and timelines with determination…but we…well, when you were Flowey, did you ever try and understand how it all worked?"

He stiffened a bit as Frisk brought that up, "N-no, I guess not…I mean, there was never really a reason to. It was a power that was there, and worked. Sure, Flowey knew just about everything about how to use it, and he tried learning more, but there wasn't much information just lying around."

"And, you never tried to ask anyone to help you understand it more?" Frisk pushed..

Asriel really didn't like where this was going, "Of course not!" He snapped without realizing how harsh it would come out, and then put his hand over his mouth.

"Yeah…I figured." Frisk stared off into the distance for a minute, hands clasped behind their back once more, "Well, because we don't understand how souls work, we may need help from someone who does. I can only think of two people in the whole underground, really, and both of which you would be opposed to turning to. I can't say I blame you, with how they interacted with Flowey, but…you're not Flowey anymore, right?"

"They won't see it that way," he said, looking down at the ground. He could feel an emotional soup in the souls, but he tried not to focus on it for the moment. They weren't strong enough to overwhelm him yet, and the kids inside him stayed respectfully quiet.

"I told you you wouldn't like it," said Frisk, shaking their head, "but do we really have a choice if we want to help them?"

"Fine. We'll get help from…" Asriel weighed the options in his head, the one who created the horror that was Flowey without realizing it, and also was the only one in the Underground with any hope of killing him for good back when he was in that form. Or the one who could partially remember resets and other timelines, who had often killed the maniacal flower and thwarted his plans. He still had a strong fear of them both.

'It might be worth it if we could get both! Two heads is better than one, right?' Bravery suggested.

'Both? Are you crazy? Are you feeling anything Asriel is right now? Hearing any of his thoughts about them? If we got them both together in a room he'd be dead within the hour, and that would leave us no options. Maybe we'd even be put back in the soul canisters again! Why don't we stay away from the one who'd actually be likely to fight us?' Integrity was greatly annoyed and aggravated once more. Asriel really hoped their strong opinions wouldn't start an argument again, as much as he agreed with them.

'Y-yeah, let's not risk that. I'm sure anyone could be friends if they really tried, but maybe let's not ask a favor from someone who's killed us before and wouldn't hesitate to do so again…' Kindness agreeing was a relief, based on the fact that their fear felt similar to earlier, it probably had to do with Integrity mentioning the soul canisters.

'You wimps! What do we have to be afraid of anyway? With all our souls combined as one, we're way more powerful than they could ever be!' Asriel really hoped Bravery wasn't seriously considering fighting should things go bad. He really didn't want to hurt anyone ever again. But unfortunately, his emotions showed his sincerity. Perhaps he hadn't thought it through?

'Easy there, Asriel clearly ain't wanting to fight. And I doubt any of ya'll want that either. Besides, just 'cause they ain't a threat doesn't mean they'll help.' Patience steps in before Asriel decides if he should.

'I do not think that's what Bravery was suggesting. He just meant we can defend ourselves or evade capture easily if needed. There really isn't any harm in asking both and it could help us reach our goal sooner! Besides they would have to be heartless to attack with us here and get in the way of getting out lives back.' Percy countered.

'But what about after we have bodies of our own again? Do you really think they'll continue to refrain from attacking Asriel? Or are you just going to skip off into the sunset as the one who made it all possible is killed?' Asriel hated that Integrity was defending him in their own snarky way. Really, that's what he deserved anyway.

'Back at it again already, I see? If you keep this up it'll devolve into all of you talking past and over each other until it's nothing more than a cacophony. Then he will be overwhelmed and nothing will get done! Why don't we just ask the lizard first, since she has the most experience in this sort of thing and is most likely to not blast us to pieces? Then, if we really need help, we can ask the other one later?' Justice interrupted.

After a bit of grumbling Asriel could feel the consensus in the souls. He wasn't sure if this was what he wanted…but it wasn't about him. Plus, at least they picked the less scary of the two options, even though he could feel the anxiety already clawing at him. "Alphys…she actually has experience in what we need help with. But…I-I don't want her to know who or what I am if we can help it."

"I don't know if we'll be able to keep it secret…" Frisk began, "I guess you having determination should be fine since you have the human souls. But, what if she's able to tell the difference between theirs and yours?"

"I guess that's a chance we have to take," Asriel concluded. It was a risk, both to ask for her help and try and hide his identity, but it was for the sake of the souls. He hoped it would be worth it.