Toriel thought something was up with Frisk. For the past couple weeks, he seemed focused and determined about… something. Occasionally, she saw him with a book, but not one she had given him for studying. He was up at night often, reading late into the night, much to her other son's annoyance.
She didn't pry into Frisk's life, as she had come to accept that as he grew older, he would keep things from her. It was hard to accept, but she gave him the freedom to have secrets. She still wished he would tell her what it was. Even Asgore was kept in the dark about whatever he was doing. At times, she caught herself wanting to pry, but refrained. She had to remind herself to give Frisk the chance to grow on his own, so he would always feel comfortable with her.
Frisk's keeping secrets and Asriel's despondent attitude wore on her a bit. She found herself getting up later than normal, and she was often exhausted. But she didn't expect any less. After all, carrying for two boys that were almost teens, along with helping her husband manage a kingdom in peril was tiring work.
It must have shown, because one morning while making breakfast, Frisk approached her about it. He was getting ready to go out, but he had to have breakfast first, and she was slightly behind.
"Mom, are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes, my child. Why?" she replied.
"Well, you have been sleeping later," he answered.
"I know. I am just tired, is all," she assured.
"It's not… something else, is it?" he asked nervously.
"Whatever do you mean?"
Frisk sighed. "I know things look bad right now," he began. "The power won't stay on for more than a day, and we might lose it for good at some point. That's not… hurting you, right?"
"It is a little disheartening," Toriel admitted. "I have gotten used to the luxuries the CORE provides. But we will manage. We have lived without them before."
"So, you're not… losing hope, right?" Frisk nervously asked. "Because you have been sleeping more than usual."
"Frisk, is something troubling you?" she asked.
Frisk shuffled on his feet. "I'm… I'm just worried that you might be… Falling Down."
Toriel immediately dropped what she was doing to face her son. "No, no no no, my child, I am not Falling Down. I am perfectly fine."
"But… Rudy said the same thing, and then he…" Tears beaded at Frisk's eyes. "I… I don't want you to do the same. Because if you did, you'd never wake up, and…"
"Frisk," Toriel said gently but firmly, cupping his cheeks in her hands. "I am fine. I am not losing hope because of what is happening. I am not Falling Down."
"Then… why are you so tired all the time?"
"I am just wearing myself out caring for you boys and the kingdom," Toriel assured.
"But dad does the same thing, and he isn't nearly as tired."
"Mothers work harder than fathers," Toriel told him. "I assure you Frisk, my malaise is just due to exhaustion from work, and not a lack of hope."
"Promise?"
"Yes, Frisk, I promise. I have a very good reason to not Fall Down." She gently massaged her son's shoulders as she said that. "I would never do that to you and Asriel."
"Okay," Frisk meekly agreed. Then he leapt forward and hugged her. "Please be okay mom. If you left me… I don't know what I'd do."
Toriel returned the hug. "I promise you will never find out."
After parting from the hug, she finished making breakfast. Frisk ate his portion, then left to go spend time with his friends. Asriel was staying home with his dad. She ate breakfast with Asgore while her son read in his room.
"I noticed you got up later than normal again," Asgore said.
"You and Frisk, it seems," she returned.
"Tori, is everything alright?" the king asked his queen.
"I am fine, Asgore. Recent events have just worn me out is all," she promised.
"Are you sure that is all it is?"
Toriel rolled her eyes. "Frisk has already had this rundown with me earlier. I would appreciate it if you could not do the same."
"My apologies. I just worry about my wife." They ate in silence for another moment before Asgore spoke again. "Though, perhaps you should go see Alphys, just to be sure?"
"That girl has enough on her plate," Toriel said. "She does not need to concern herself with my well-being, and I am fine."
Asgore sighed. "Well, if you are certain, I will not ask any further. I… I just don't want to lose you, Tori. I lost you once." A darkness entered his eyes that Toriel recognized. And that scared her. "I… I don't want to lose you again."
Toriel knew she was alright. She wasn't losing hope. She was the happiest and most hopeful she had ever been. But… then again, exhaustion could be a symptom of some sickness. Maybe a brief check-up wouldn't hurt. It would at least assure her boys that she was fine.
Frisk met his friends in New Home's park. He had been trying to come up with a way to break the Barrier for weeks, and now a plan was starting to take shape. He wanted his friend's help because one potential solution was very risky.
"Yo! Frisk, glad you made it!" MK greeted.
"Where's the other prince?" Berdly asked.
"Asriel's staying home today to spend time with his dad," Frisk answered.
"That's nice," Noelle said. "It's good to see that he's getting back on good terms with his parents."
"So, what are we doing today?" Susie asked.
"Not playing," Frisk said. "I wanted to see you all to discuss the future and what role we can play in it."
"Okay, in what way?" MK asked.
"Okay, so the CORE is failing," Frisk said. "As Alphys said, it's only a matter of time before it fails completely. When it does, we'll lose so much, if it just shuts down."
"That would be best-case scenario," Berdly agreed.
"Yeah, it's sad," Noelle added. "We've all grown up with technology. Without the CORE to sustain it, we'll regress."
"I won't let that happen," Frisk said. "I refuse to let the Monster race fall back several centuries."
"So, what are you going to do about it, dude?" MK asked.
"The CORE can't be fixed and I doubt Alphys will be able to build an alternative power source in time," Frisk explained. "The Underground is doomed one way or another."
"Yeah, we got that," Susie remarked.
"However, it doesn't have to be the end of the Monster race," Frisk continued.
"What do you mean?" Noelle asked.
"The Underground isn't the whole world. It's just a small part of it," Frisk continued. "There's a whole world up above that we haven't seen and it's as advanced as we are! If we go there, we can survive."
"The surface?" Berdly asked, awe in his voice.
Frisk nodded. "If we go up above, we could live with humanity, and escape the Underground once and for all."
"The surface…" MK trailed off, so much going through his mind.
"The endless sky," Berdly muttered.
"Endless, expansive forests," Noelle added.
"So much more to see and do," MK spoke.
"That is our future," Frisk said.
"One problem. The Barrier," Susie interjected. "It keeps us all trapped down here. How are we supposed to escape to the Surface as long as it stands?"
"That's why we'll destroy it," Frisk said.
MK let out a sharp laugh at that. It died when he saw Frisk's expression. "You're not joking?"
"That's the only thing keeping us down here. If it goes down, we can all escape."
"Oh, is that all?" Berdly snidely asked. "I thought you had a reasonable plan in mind."
"What are you thinking Frisk?" Noelle asked.
"We know the Barrier was made by seven human wizards," Frisk explained. "And we also know it can be destroyed with seven human Souls. And currently, we have six."
"Yeah, but how do we get the seventh?" MK asked. "The Barrier means we can't get another human."
"And we don't want to kill that human, either," Noelle added.
"You forget, I'm human," Frisk said. "My Soul is the key to our freedom."
Noelle gasped.
"Now before you jump to conclusions, let me assure you I have no intention of dying," Frisk promised. "But my Soul is the only way we're breaking the Barrier and escaping to the surface before the CORE goes off or worse."
"Okay, but how do we use it?" Susie asked.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking and research the past couple weeks, and I have a couple ideas already on how to proceed," Frisk said.
"Like what?" Berdly asked.
"Well, the first idea I had was I absorb the Souls and use them to break the Barrier."
"Except that doesn't work," Noelle said. "Humans can't absorb human Souls."
"I know. But I have come up with other ideas."
"How?" Susie asked.
Frisk rubbed the back of his head. "Well, these are based on… um… Chara's plan."
"What?" Berdly asked, MK and Susie looking confused. Only Noelle knew what he meant.
Frisk looked around, seeing nobody in earshot. "I'm trusting you guys to keep this secret," he said, leaning in closer. "And no one, I mean no one, can know this."
"What is it?" Susie brashly asked.
"I'm serious," Frisk said heavily. "This secret could destroy the Underground if it ever came out. So, what I'm about to say stays between us five, got it?"
"Okay, okay," Susie said, hands up. "I won't tell anyone."
Frisk looked at Berdly and MK, and they both nodded, promising to tell no one.
With a heavy sigh, Frisk explained what he saw on the old tapes, along with Asriel's account of the darkest day in Monster history. Berdly looked shocked beyond words, while Susie and MK looked ready to hurt something.
When Frisk was done, he looked between his friends to see what they would do. Noelle stood to the side, watching as well.
"That little…" Susie growled.
"They lied to him?" MK asked, madder than anyone had ever seen him.
"Yeah," Frisk confirmed.
Susie yanked on her hair, suppressing a scream of rage. "I can't… they… so everything we knew about that day… it was all a lie?"
Frisk nodded.
Susie growled again, a full-throated rumble that scared everyone a little. "They… that little… urgh! Why would they do that? Why would they…?"
Frisk shrugged. "I don't know. And we'll never know, because they're dead."
"Guys, I know it's a lot, but we need to get back on track," Noelle spoke up.
Berdly shook his head. "Correct. We'll… it will be smarter to deal with such betrayal on our own time. For now, you said you had a plan based on theirs, Frisk?"
"Yes," Frisk confirmed, thankful that Berdly was able to get back on track. "Chara had the right idea, just the wrong execution. But that got me thinking; is there a way to absorb a human Soul without killing them?"
"Well, the legend states that a Monster with a human Soul is powerful enough to take more Souls," Berdly said.
"Exactly. So, I wondered, if one were to absorb several, and a human willingly gave their Soul to be absorbed, could the Monster put it back?"
"But you can't return a Soul to a dead body," Noelle pointed out.
"Who said the human had to be dead? The legend states that a Monster with a human Soul has unfathomable power. 'The power to take their Souls'. What if that meant the Monster would be able to take the Souls from living humans?"
Susie and MK refocused on the discussion. Now they could all see where Frisk was going with this.
"We have six Souls already collected," Frisk continued. "If a Monster were to absorb them, and I was nearby, offering my Soul, they could absorb my Soul while I'm still alive, use it to break the Barrier, then put the Soul back in my body before anything bad could happen."
"Huh. That could work," MK said. "At least, the logic makes sense."
"But what if you're wrong?" Berdly asked.
"I have reason to suspect that I'm not. In fact, I alone might be the only human who could survive the process," Frisk said.
"How?"
"Because, like you guys, I'm mostly magic," Frisk told Noelle. "The plaques in Waterfall gave me the information I needed. 'An incredible power would be needed to take the Soul of a living Monster.' Like, say, six human Souls. And since Monsters are made mostly of magic, if their Soul was absorbed, then released, their body would be remade easily. Alphys said I'm as close to a Monster as any human could ever get."
"So, if someone were to absorb your Soul, since your mostly magic, you would survive," MK said.
"And because you're mostly magic, when your Soul is released, your body should be easily reformed," Berdly continued.
"Exactly," Frisk confirmed.
"Wow," Susie said. "You're right. You're probably the only person in the world who could pull this off."
"Almost like fate," Berdly added skeptically.
"Hey, wouldn't that make you the Angel?" MK asked excitedly.
"That's exciting to think about," Frisk said.
"But entirely false," Noelle said. "According to the prophecy, the Angel has to have seen the surface. Frisk has lived here his whole life."
"Oh, that's right," MK said.
"But Asriel has," Frisk muttered. "And he has 'returned' as well."
Everyone looked at each other. "Could Asriel be the Angel?" Susie asked.
"It's more likely," Noelle said.
"Huh," Frisk murmured. "That could solve the 'who' of the matter."
"But would you actually survive, dude?" MK asked.
"Yeah, maybe we should make sure that you wouldn't die when your Soul is absorbed first," Noelle agreed.
"Okay, but who would we ask?" Frisk questioned.
"What about Alphys?" Susie suggested. "She's a nerd, and she knows more about Souls than almost anyone else."
"Not a bad idea," Berdly agreed. "Assuming she is free to talk to, that is."
"Well, let's find out," Frisk decided.
The quintet went to the lab in Hotland. The lights flickered several times as they did, though they didn't go out completely. Frisk knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Concerned, they forced their way in. The lights were off, leaving the whole lab in darkness. Frisk conjured a fireball to light the area.
They looked around, but Alphys wasn't at her desk, and the elevator to the lower lab was offline.
"Where is she?" MK wondered.
Frisk took another look around, then spotted the escalators that went to the upper level, which was Alphys' living space. Though the escalators weren't moving. Frisk decided to investigate, walking up the steps to Alphys' living space, his friends behind him.
Susie, with her bigger nose, was the first to notice the smell. She clamped her hands over her nostrils, letting out a loud complaint. "Ohh, the smell."
Frisk sniffed and only now noticed the scent. "Ew. What is that?" he asked, fanning his nose, the others doing the same after they noticed it.
"Something about this smells familiar," Berdly commented. "I can't put my wing on it, though."
Susie took one more sniff. "Ugh, I know what it is," she said.
When they arrived at Alphys' living space, they saw various bottles lying around the floor, all tinted in different colors.
Susie picked on up and examined it. "Yep. Someone's been drinking," she announced.
"Drinking what?" Frisk asked, clamping his nose.
Susie showed him the bottle, and his eyes widened. "Uh, isn't that stuff bad for you?" Frisk asked.
"Doesn't stop people from drinking it," Susie said. "Trust me, I know."
They went further into the space, and found Alphys lying on the floor, next to her folded-up box bed, a bottle in hand.
"Alphys?" Frisk asked, walking up to her, avoiding the bottles. Alphys didn't react to him.
"Is she okay?" Noelle asked, a hand over her nose.
"Probably passed out," Susie said. "Given how many bottles are around."
Frisk lightly shook her, and she bolted right up.
"Pythagoras!" she blurted. She stumbled around on shaky legs before she spotted the kids. "Oh, hey there," she said. "Didn't hear you come in."
Frisk saw, through her skewered glasses, that there was a glassy look in her eyes. "Um, you okay, Al?" he asked.
"Oh, sure, I'm just peachy," she said with false enthusiasm, stumbling around. The bottle was still in her hand, and the sloshing told them it wasn't empty. "After all, the CORE is going to explode and take us all with it in a matter of weeks, if not days. So, I'm just having a little party."
"Party?" MK asked, the only one unable to cover his nose.
"Yeah," Alphys slurred. "To the end of the Monster race." She lifted the bottle in a mock salute, before downing more of it.
Susie saw where this was going and stepped forward. "Okay, I think you've had enough of that," she said, reaching for the bottle. "How about we get you downstairs, some antacid in you, and get you sobered up?" She grabbed the bottle and tried to pull it out of the woman's grasp, but Alphys wouldn't let it go.
"I'm fine here," she said.
"Yeah, sure, just give me the bottle," Susie insisted, pulling the bottle to her. But Alphys pulled it back.
"Give it," Susie said sharply.
"Mm-mm," Alphys denied.
"Give it."
"Mm-mm."
"Give it!"
"Mm-mm!
"GIVE IT!"
"MM-MM!"
Frisk watched as Alphys and Susie fought for the bottle for a while, before Susie gave up.
"Fine! Drink yourself stupid!" she shouted, shoving the bottle into Alphys' arms. She stomped back to her friends, clearly mad.
Frisk stepped forward as Alphys clutched the bottle protectively. "Alphys, why are you doing this?" he asked.
"Why am I doing what?" she asked.
"This?" Frisk pointed to the bottle. "This isn't like you."
"How would you know?" she retorted.
"Because I know you," he insisted. "I know you've had a rough couple of months, but that's no reason to do this to yourself."
"Couple months?" Alphys snapped. "I've been a failure my whole life. I've ruined everything. And now, because of me, the Monster race is going to die."
"It's not your fault," Frisk said.
"Yes it is!" she insisted. "The CORE is falling apart, and I can't fix it, because I didn't plan Asriel's return right. If I had spent more time working on the problem, I might have realized what would happen and found a way to stop it. Now the CORE is going to go, and take us all with it, because I'm a failure."
"Alphys, you couldn't have known that would happen," Frisk insisted. "What we did was completely unprecedented. How could you have anticipated the drain and feedback? If anyone is to blame, it should be me. I had you look into that, and I was the idiot that used his DT that probably caused the feedback in the first place because I didn't want Asriel to die."
Alphys looked slightly mollified by that, but she still hung her head. "I'm still a failure. The CORE was just the worst. The Amalgamates… those were my fault, too. And Asriel… It's my fault that we had to do that in the first place. If I had left well enough alone, he wouldn't have come back."
"You couldn't have known what would happen," Frisk repeated. "There's no way you could have. You can't blame yourself for that. It was an accident. And besides, look at what you've done since! You got the Amalgamates back to their families. You brought our dead prince back to life! Those are wonderful accomplishments."
"Yeah," Noelle agreed, coming up. "I see Snowy almost every day, and he never, and I mean never, stops talking about how glad he is you saved his mom. He doesn't ever care what happened to her, you saved her life."
"The dogs are the same way," MK added. "They don't care that all their families are melded together, and they've even combined their families into one large unit."
"And Shyra," Frisk added. "I talk to her on occasion, and while she isn't too happy with her predicament, she admits it's worth it because her little sister is a star, and she gets to see it. And Mettaton… I don't think I need to say anything about that."
Alphys looked at the group of kids, eyes wide as their words sunk in.
"Maybe you have made mistakes, but I think the good you've done outweighs the bad," Frisk said. "You've done incredible things, and everyone across the Underground uses your stuff daily. You're still an awesome person, Alphys. Don't ever doubt that."
Alphys was silent for a long moment, presumably absorbing the words into her intoxicated brain. Eventually, a genuine smile lit her features. "Thanks, Frisk," she said.
Now, Frisk reached forward and gently took the bottle from her hands. "No problem. You're an amazing person, Alphys, flaws and all."
Alphys tried standing up, but her legs were still wobbly, and she fell, landing on the floor in a heap.
"Is she okay?" Noelle asked.
Susie was the first to rush forward. She checked the scientist out. "She's fine. She's just passed out."
"Think she'll remember all that?" MK asked.
"Maybe, but I'm not sure," Susie answered.
Frisk pulled out his cellphone, checking to make sure there was still a signal before calling Undyne.
"Hey Frisk, what's up?" came the captain's voice.
"Do you think you can come to the lab? Your girlfriend needs you," Frisk requested.
"Sure thing! Be right there!" With that, she hung up.
"Okay, let's see if we can't make her more comfortable," Frisk suggested, gesturing to the passed-out scientist. It was only then Frisk realized she wasn't wearing her lab coat and was instead dressed in a sweater and pants. The five of them worked together to pick her up and maneuver her to her bed, which Frisk unfolded. It was only when they got her in the bed did Undyne showed up. She ran up the escalator to see the kids trying to tuck Alphys in.
"Whoa! What happened?" she asked.
"Crushing guilt," Frisk said by way of answer.
Undyne took a step forward, breaking a bottle under her foot in the process. She picked up an empty bottle and examined it. "Oh, geez," she said.
"We tried to help her spirits, but she fell and passed out right after," he informed her. "I think we got through to her, but we're not sure if she'll remember when she wakes up."
"So, you want me to stay and make sure she does," Undyne guessed.
"And comfort her," Frisk added. "She needs to know she has people to depend on."
"I'll let her know when she wakes up," Undyne promised. "You kids go on home."
"Bye, Undyne," Frisk said as he left, his friends following. Undyne sat next to Alphys' bed, waiting for the lizard to wake up.
"Well, I'm glad we showed up," Noelle said.
"Hope she remembers what we said," MK said.
"But weren't we supposed to ask her if Frisk would survive having his Soul absorbed?" Berdly asked.
"I think helping her was a little more important," Susie said.
"Agreed," Frisk said. "But we still need to plan. Someone needs to absorb the human Souls, then absorb mine to break the Barrier before the CORE shuts down."
"Well, Asriel does have the most experience with that," Berdly said. "And we did think he'd be a good fit for the Angel beforehand."
"Yeah, but… would he want to?" Noelle asked. Everyone turned to her. "Given what happened last time he absorbed a Soul, he might not want to do it again."
"That is a good point," MK agreed.
"Wait," Susie spoke up. "Does he know? About… well, what happened?"
"You mean about Chara's lie?" Frisk asked. "No. I don't think it would be good."
"But Frisk, he can't live in ignorance of that his whole life," Noelle said.
"I'll tell him, but only when he's ready."
"Uh, Frisk, if we're going to have him absorb your Soul, we can't have him ignorant of the danger inherent in the plan," Berdly pointed out. "That could be dangerous."
Frisk knew his friends were right. But he didn't think Asriel was ready. He was going through too much right now, and he was still mourning his best friend's death. Telling him the truth would tear open the still healing wound and make it worse, undoing all the healing he had already gone through.
"I know," Frisk said. "I'm just not sure now is the right time."
Noelle laid a hand on his shoulder. "He needs to know. If we're going to do this – if you're going to do this – he needs to know the full dangers of what he will do."
Frisk sighed. "I know. But it's not just him I would have to tell. His parents would need to know as well, and I don't know what that would do to them."
"It's been almost a hundred years, Frisk," Susie said. "Surely they've gotten over it by now."
Frisk doubted that. But he knew that his friends would not go along with the plan if he didn't tell his family the full truth of what happened that day. And, on some level, perhaps it would be better if they knew, so they could properly mourn and heal from that wound. Leaving them ignorant might be worse. But Frisk still didn't feel good about telling them now. A part of him wanted to keep it to himself and his friends forever, to spare his family the pain of what truly went down that day.
But then they'd go their whole lives believing a lie. And in the end, wasn't that worse?
Frisk debated on what to do until dinner. He still wasn't sure which was the better move. Either keep his peace and not tell his family until he felt they were ready or reveal the lie now and risk tearing old wounds open again.
The dilemma must have shown, because Toriel lightly nudged him with her hand. "Frisk? Is something wrong, dear? You have hardly touched your food."
Frisk looked down at the slice of Snail Pie, only a small bite consumed. He wrestled with his conscience as he debated how to answer. Eventually, he came to a decision.
"There is," he confessed. He looked up, his entire family around the table, Asriel opposite him, with Asgore and Toriel to his right and left respectively.
"What is wrong, small one?" Asgore asked gently.
Frisk sighed. "There's something I need to tell you. I've been keeping this to myself for a while now. But… I think it's time you learned the truth. All of you." As he said that, he looked at Asriel, who seemed confused.
"And what truth do you think we need to learn, Frisk?" Toriel asked.
"It's about… what happened a hundred years ago. About… the day Chara died. What really happened on that day."
Asriel tensed up as Frisk said that. He had managed to hide the truth of what he and Chara did very well from his parents. Frisk would have offered to have Asriel tell his side of the story, but he was just as oblivious as his parents about the truth of that day.
This would hurt, he knew. It would be painful, but this family had lived in ignorance of the darkest day in its history for too long. They needed to know the truth.
"What do you mean, my child?" Toriel asked.
"It's what I've pieced together, from those old tapes and Asriel's account of that day," Frisk explained. "And… it's not good."
Asriel looked down, ashamed, assuming he knew what Frisk was going to say. But he didn't know that he, too, didn't have the full picture.
"What happened, Frisk?" Asgore asked.
And so, Frisk told them what really happened, starting with what he had found on the tapes, along with what the plan had been from Asriel's point of view. The young Monster looked guilty through the whole thing, but he also seemed ready to accept whatever judgement his parents would give. Asgore and Toriel, for the most part, just stared in horror, alternating between their sons as Frisk told the tale.
That was how it went, until Frisk got to the lie. When Frisk told his parents about what Chara said to Asriel to convince him, they both gasped in shock. It wasn't until Frisk spoke to Asriel directly about the truth that he looked up, surprised. Frisk continued, explaining the rest of the tale, telling them all the real plan, as much as he understood.
When he was done, the parents just sat in silence for a while. Then Asgore buried his face in his hands, soft sobbing coming from between the fingers.
Toriel just sat in silence for a while, before her breath hitched and she started to cry. Asgore came over and hugged his distraught wife, the two hugged each other as they cried.
"But…" Asriel finally spoke after the story was over. "But… that can't be true."
Frisk looked at his brother, seeing the disbelief in his eyes. "Asriel," he said gently.
"No!" Asriel shouted. "No! That's not true! It can't be! Chara wouldn't lie to me!"
Frisk felt bad, and he knew he didn't do this right. It had been too soon. "I'm sorry, Asriel, but there's no way Chara could not know that it was irreversible."
"But… no! No! They said I could fix them!" Asriel protested. "I could heal them, then put their Soul back!"
"You can't heal a dead body, Asriel," Frisk gently consoled.
"No! No, you're lying!" Asriel yelled, shaking his head. "You have to be! Chara… Chara wouldn't do that! They wouldn't!" He looked to his parents, who stared at their son. "Tell him! Tell him it's not true! Tell him I could do it!"
Asgore reached for his son, and Asriel aw pity in his eyes.
"Son…" Asgore began to say.
"No. No, no, no!" Asriel bat his dad's hand away. "They wouldn't lie to me! They wouldn't!"
"Asriel," Toriel began, voice wavering but gentle.
"No! They wouldn't!" With that scream, he ran from the table, back to his room. Frisk flinched when he heard the door slam.
Asgore returned to comfort his wife, both shocked at what just happened. "Frisk," Asgore spoke. "Is it true? Did Chara… really…"
Frisk nodded. "I don't see what could have made them think they would be able to survive."
Toriel wiped her eyes as the tears resumed. "But why? Why would they do that?" she questioned. "Why would they kill themself then have our son absorb their Soul?"
Frisk shrugged. "I don't know. But they went to great lengths to get him to do it."
Asgore looked down in disbelief. "But what would motivate them to do that? What made them think killing themself would be a good idea?"
Frisk had no answer. The only person who could answer that was long gone. He looked down the hall towards the room he shared with Asriel. The boy was heartbroken. He needed to be comforted. He got up and started heading for his room.
"No, Frisk," Asgore said, making Frisk stop.
"What?"
"Don't go to him," Asgore said.
"But he needs help," Frisk protested.
"I know, but not from you."
"But dad…"
"Not from you," he emphasized. "He's just had his whole world shattered, and you are the one who did that. The last person he wants to see right now is you."
Frisk looked down the hall before going to his parents. Toriel scooped him up in one arm, hugging him to her chest. She cried into his hair, Asgore doing the same to her. They stayed that way for several moments, forgetting their food. Eventually, they pulled apart, Toriel clearing off the table. Frisk managed to snag a couple more bites from his pie.
When bedtime came, Frisk got ready, but wasn't sure if he would be able to sleep in his own bed. He stopped just outside his room, preparing to knock, but when he heard faint sobbing through the door, decided to let Asriel be. Instead, he went to the next room, where Toriel was preparing for bed herself. He knocked on the door to her room, and she allowed him in.
"Is something wrong, little one?" she asked.
"Can I spend the night with you?" he asked, surprising her. "I… I don't think Asriel will want me in the same room as him tonight."
Toriel nodded her head. "Of course, my child."
He got into bed with her, mentally noting that he hadn't done this since he was six. Not since he got old enough to calm himself down from nightmares.
He got comfortable fast, but Toriel lingered awake for a while longer. He was about to fall asleep when he heard her stifle a sob.
"Mom, are you okay?" he asked.
She rubbed her eyes. "I am fine, my child. I am…"
Frisk sat up so he could look at her. "Mom. What's wrong?"
She looked away.
"And there's the 'I'm upset but I'm trying to be strong for you' face," he said. "Mom, please."
"It is Chara," she said after a moment. "I thought they knew how much we loved them."
"Why do you doubt that?"
"Because they killed themself," she answered her son. "And I cannot understand why. Day in, day out, we let them know how much we loved them. And yet, they took their own life. And they dragged my son down with them."
There was just the faintest trace of resentment in her voice as she said that. "It's not just the lie though, is it?"
Tears began to flow down her cheeks. "I… I know that it is petty of me, I know that it was not their intention, but I cannot help but resent them for their actions. Everything that happened, to me, your father and your brother, it was because of them."
Frisk remained silent, letting his mom speak.
"Six children died because Asgore declared war on humanity. Asgore declared war on humanity because Asriel died. Asriel died because he was on the surface. Asriel was only on the surface because he had absorbed his sibling's Soul. He only managed to absorb their Soul because they lied to him that he could heal them after they died. And they only died because they convinced my son to help them kill themself."
Frisk laid a hand on her shoulder. "They couldn't have known what would happen."
"I know," Toriel said, breath wavering. "I know it was not their plan, but it still happened because of them. And I left because of their choices. I… I tried to help them. I knew they were troubled, and I tried to do everything I could to help them heal. But it seemed it was not enough. I just do not understand, Frisk. I cannot understand why they would do this. Why would they do this to us? Why would they leave us? Was my care… not enough? Was I not enough?"
Frisk hugged his mom, and she cried into his hair again. They stayed like that for a long time, into the long hours of the night. Eventually, mother and son fell asleep, emotionally exhausted.
The next morning, the mood was somber. Frisk could tell his parents were hurting, both trying to come to terms with what had happened that day. They ate breakfast, but Frisk was the first to notice Asriel's absence. He was still in his room.
After breakfast, Frisk took a plate of food to his room, knocking on the door. "Asriel? You in there?"
"Go away!" he yelled.
"You missed breakfast," Frisk informed. Slowly, he entered the room. Stuff was thrown around and the floor was a mess. And Asriel was in the only bed. He furiously stared at him as he entered.
"I said go away," he hissed.
"I just came to deliver this," Frisk offered, setting the plate down. "And Asriel, if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you."
Asriel grabbed his pillow and threw it at the human. "Get out!"
Frisk was hurt more emotionally than physically by that. "Okay," he said. Then he turned to leave, pausing by the doorframe. "I know you're hurting. I am sorry you had to find out that way."
"Get out!"
Frisk closed the door before Asriel could chuck something heavier at him. He lingered for a few moments, then eventually heard more sobbing. Frisk chastised himself for his reckless action. He knew it wasn't the time, but he had gone through with it anyway. He had to fix this.
Lunchtime came and went, and Asriel still hadn't left his room. Frisk felt bad. He tried to approach a few times, but Asriel's reaction kept him away. Asgore and Toriel were not much better, but they at least took solace in each other. Asriel, on the other hand, was angrily rebuffing all attempts at comfort. He even turned his parents away at one point.
It was mid-afternoon when Frisk returned to the room. He didn't announce his return, simply opened the door and walked in.
"I told you to get out," Asriel furiously said, not looking in his direction.
"And does the same go for us?"
Asriel snapped around to see Noelle, Susie, Berdly and MK in the doorway.
"W-what?" he stammered.
"I know you don't want to see me," Frisk explained. "But the last thing you need right now is to be alone."
Noelle walked forward, sitting at the foot of the bed. "Frisk told us what happened."
Asriel looked down.
"I can't even begin to imagine what's going through your head right now," she said. "I don't think any of us could."
"Yeah," MK agreed. "We all love our families, but none of us can picture being lied to. At least, outside of white lies."
Asriel bunched the blankets in his hands. "I… I trusted them," he said. "They promised they would be alright."
Noelle laid a comforting hand on his. "It must hurt. You didn't even get to say goodbye, did you?"
Asriel shook his head.
"It probably hurts more that we don't know why they did it," Berdly added.
Asriel let out a quiet sob when he said that. "We were trying to free everyone," Asriel said.
"We got that," Susie said. "But why did they think killing themself and lying to you was a good idea?"
Asriel cried more when she said that, and Frisk saw his eyes dart over to the desk. He followed the gaze and only now did he see the opened envelope on it. Puzzled, he stepped forward and picked it off the desk. "What's this?" he asked.
Asriel rubbed his face before answering. "It's from them," he said. "They… they wanted me to open it after… after…"
Frisk was puzzled. Where had this been? He lived here for two years, almost three, and he had never seen an envelope. He looked inside and there was a letter written in somewhat messy handwriting with tear stains on the paper. Noelle came over to look it over with him. It was indeed from Chara, probably written the day they died.
As the two of them read, their eyes widened. It was an apology. Chara had in fact known they would die for good and left this to explain to Asriel why they did what they did. The contents were touching on some level, as Chara expressed joy at the idea of Asriel and his family finally free, and the idea that Asriel would be able to run and enjoy himself on the surface, because they believed he would keep his promise to free everyone.
And as they read, the final piece of the puzzle slid into place in Frisk's mind. For weeks, he wondered why Chara died for the Monsters. This letter answered that. It was an act of love. Chara loved Asriel, loved his family, and loved the Monsters. More than anything, they had wanted the Monsters to go free.
More than their own life, it seemed.
The wording of the letter told Frisk that Chara didn't value their own life. Little bits his parents told him informed Frisk that Chara had led a sad life on the surface. Now, with this, Frisk finally understood Chara's choice. They wanted their life to mean something and believed that their sacrifice would give the Monsters freedom. And they thought the Monsters wouldn't miss them at all.
That was the problem, wasn't it? That's what they had been missing. None of them ever realized how little Chara valued their own life. And despite all their best efforts, Chara never believed for a moment that the Monsters would miss them if they died. They were the key to Monsters' freedom, had a loyal brother who would carry it out, and they didn't think for even a moment that they were worth anything.
Noelle handed the letter to the others once she and Frisk were finished. They were just as surprised, and all five of them felt pity for the human.
"Oh, Chara," Frisk moaned quietly. He couldn't imagine what they had gone through to believe that so strongly. They had wanted the Monsters to go free and they were the key to that freedom. The idea that their life was worth more than the Monsters' freedom probably didn't even enter their mind.
Like that, Frisk felt all the hate he had held for Chara evaporate. A misguided act of love. That was the cause of the Underground's greatest tragedy. And didn't that make it all the worse? Frisk didn't understand why Chara would place so little value on their own life. But then again, he hadn't been through all the crap that Chara most likely had to endure.
Noelle went back over to Asriel, who was still crying. She wasn't sure what she could say to him. She wanted to help him feel better. She had planned to open up more about how her father's death had affected her so much and how she could relate to Asriel's pain. But this… this was a kind of heartache that didn't even compare.
"I can't understand why they did that," Asriel admitted. "Why did they think that… that I would be okay with them being dead?"
Noelle shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think we'll ever know."
"I tried to help them understand that we all love them," Asriel said. "That we wanted them around and that we valued them as much as the sun. But they still did that. Why? Did they not believe me?"
Frisk took a tentative step forward. "I don't know, but it's clear they loved you," he said.
"But if they really loved me, then why did they kill themself?" Asriel questioned.
"Because they didn't love themself," Frisk answered. "They loved you, your parents, the whole Underground. You were probably the first person they had ever loved. They just didn't love themself."
Asriel looked up at him, confused. "I don't understand."
Frisk took the letter back, allowing Asriel to see it. "They valued you all, but they didn't value themself. So, they believed that dying for you was acceptable, because they thought their own life was worthless. And from their point of view, it was right. Someone who was unloved and unwanted dying for a people they cared about to correct a centuries-old injustice. Why wouldn't they do it?"
Asriel stared, looking over the letter again. "I didn't care about my freedom. I cared about them. We all did."
"But they didn't believe that," Frisk emphasized. "They… they were despised their whole life, rejected out of hand every time it looked like things would get better. So, they tried to end that cycle, for good." As Frisk spoke, the reason he gave made sense, and realized that was probably the final piece of the puzzle to Chara's motive. They didn't think the Dreemurrs would keep them and expected to be rejected at some point. So rather than wait for the inevitable, they went ahead with a plan that would give the family they loved the freedom they deserved and relieve them of what they perceived was a burden.
Asriel ran his hands down his face. "Chara… why didn't you tell me that? I… I trusted you. Why didn't you trust me?"
"Because it's hard to break down walls you've spent a long time building up," Susie said, speaking from experience. "They probably did trust you, just not enough."
Asriel cried a few more tears. "I miss them," he whimpered.
Frisk came forward, laying a hand on Asriel's shoulder. When he didn't slap him away, Frisk embraced him. Asriel cried on Frisk's shoulder, letting out the rest of his grief on his brother. One by one, the others came forward, wrapping themselves around Asriel as he truly mourned his sibling.
They stayed in that group hug for a long time, eventually pulling away when Asriel calmed down.
"Better?" Frisk asked.
"A little," Asriel said.
Frisk pat Asriel's shoulder. "Take your time. It will be a long time before you fully heal."
"Yeah," Noelle agreed. "I'm still mourning my dad, and he died almost three years ago."
"Will it ever stop?" Asriel questioned.
"Probably not," Noelle admitted. "But it does hurt less with time."
Asriel wiped his eyes, removing the last few tears. "Thank you. All of you. I… I needed this."
"Any time," Frisk said, the others nodding. "Though, there is something else we need to discuss."
"What is it?" Asriel asked.
"The CORE's inevitably going to shut down, and when it does, we're going to lose so much," Frisk explained.
"Yeah. I've overheard dad talking to mom about that," Asriel said. "Why?"
"Well, I've had an idea that could solve our problems," Frisk explained. "The Underground is lost, but the Surface is still there."
"Frisk?" Asriel asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
"The Barrier is all that stands between us and freedom," Frisk continued. "Seven human Souls are needed to break it. Dad has six already. I am number seven."
"Frisk?" Asriel asked, worry clear in his voice.
"I have a plan," Frisk said. "Since you have more experience than us with absorbing Souls, you should absorb the six human Souls, then, using their combined power, absorb my Soul without killing me. Then, using all that power, break the Barrier. Then we can get out of here before the CORE potentially takes us all with it."
Asriel was stunned by the suggestion. He looked around, seeing the others nervous, but as determined as Frisk. "I… I don't know, Frisk. What if it kills you?"
"I'm more of a Monster than a human," Frisk said. "I'm probably the only human whose Soul you can absorb then restore to life with no problem. The logic works."
"But… you could die. And… I can't do that again, Frisk," Asriel admitted.
"I won't die, I promise," Frisk said. "We need you, Asriel. You're the only one who can do this. I believe in you."
"But Chara planned the same thing, said the same thing, and look what happened."
"Chara had the right idea; they just didn't execute it right. I won't make the same mistake, I promise. Can you do this, Asriel?"
Asriel looked at everyone in the room, seeing the worry, but also the hope. It would be a chance to make right what he messed up before. A way to redeem himself from his mistake. But could he do it? He didn't want to be responsible for Frisk's death. He said he'd survive, but how could he know that. Could Asriel really risk it on the chance that Frisk was right?
End of Chapter 24
A/N Again, shout-out to CoramDeo's Best Friend's Forever series. It is a beautiful story, with a complex Chara that you don't see elsewhere. The letter from Chara is also from that series, but I think its best to leave what they said to your imagination.