Frisk got up, preparing for the day. After putting on his outfit, including his scarf, he went to get breakfast from Toriel. Asriel was still sitting on the table, head down. He ate breakfast and bid his parents goodbye before going up to Asriel.
"What do you want?" the flower snipped.
"Just you," Frisk responded, picking him up.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Asriel demanded.
"You're coming with me," Frisk said. "You need some time outside the house."
"I don't want to spend it with you," Asriel snipped.
"Luckily, it won't be just me," Frisk revealed. "We're going to play with my friends."
"I don't want to go," Asriel insisted.
"Too bad. After your little rant yesterday, you don't get a say in what we do today," Frisk said. He adjusted his hold of him before walking out and waving goodbye to his parents.
Asriel groaned. He really didn't want to do this. But it seemed Frisk wasn't giving him a choice in the matter. He had no choice.
Frisk met his friends in Hotland with Asriel still in hand.
"Yo, Frisk!" MK greeted.
"Howdy, MK," Frisk returned as he walked up.
"Early as always," Susie said.
"Why would I keep my friends waiting?" Frisk said.
"Fair point."
"Who is that?" Berdly asked, pointing to Asriel.
"Asriel," Frisk said. "He needs some fresh air, so I brought him along. Asriel, these are my friends." He pointed to each of them as he introduced them. "Berdly, Susie, MK, and Noelle."
"Hello, Prince Asriel," Noelle greeted, waving at him.
"Hi, and it's just Asriel," he muttered.
"Well, nice to meet you," MK said.
"Whatever," Asriel grumbled.
"So why is he in a pot?" Susie asked.
"He's a flower," Frisk explained. "He can't go anywhere otherwise."
"You sure?" Berdly asked. "There are a lot of plant-like Monsters without legs. They move by burrowing through the ground."
Frisk looked at Asriel. "You ever tried?"
"When would I have had the chance?" Asriel snarked.
"Well now's a good time," Noelle suggested.
Frisk agreed, sitting Asriel down, tilting the pot so he could move to the ground. It took Asriel a moment to figure out how to use the roots to move.
"Now all you gotta do is try to burrow a couple feet," Berdly said.
Asriel still wasn't sure about this, but he gave it a try. With what felt like instinct, he dug himself into the ground and disappeared. He resurfaced a couple feet away.
"Cool!" MK praised.
"Well, at least I won't have to carry you everywhere," Frisk said.
Asriel didn't respond. He was a little glad he had some independence.
"So, should we resume exploring that cave?" Susie suggested. "Last I checked, we stopped because we ran out of time."
"I wanna go see what else is there!" MK agreed, skipping up and down.
"Did you bring enough rope?" Frisk asked.
"I got it," Berdly answered, showing the coils he had looped around his shoulder.
"Well, let's go see what else is down there, then," Frisk agreed. The five began walking. Asriel lingered for a moment before burrowing and following them. He still didn't see the point of this, but maybe it would be better than staying at home and sulking.
An hour later, they reached the part of the cave they had stopped exploring yesterday. Susie shone a flashlight around the area, looking for anything. "Wonder where this came from," she said.
"Well, given how close to the lava we are, I'm guessing a lava flow went through here, carving it out," Berdly guessed.
"Like with water, only a lot faster," Noelle added.
Asriel popped up next to them. "You sure we should be here?" he asked.
"Not scared of the dark, are you?" Susie taunted.
"It's just… what if there's something bad in here," Asriel defended.
"If there's something here, I'll scare it off," Susie assured.
"You are the scariest thing here," Noelle said.
"And don't forget it," she agreed.
"Whoa! Check this out!" MK shouted, his voice echoing oddly.
Everyone ran over to see a gaping pit. Susie shone her flashlight down, Noelle helped out with her phone's light, but it didn't illuminate anything.
"How deep does this go?" Berdly wondered.
Frisk picked up a rock and chucked it over the edge. Berdly quickly looked at his watch, timing the rock's fall. After a couple seconds, a sharp crack echoed up.
"That was about three sec – " He was cut off when another crack echoed up. And then two more in quick succession, and a few seconds later, a final one. "Ten seconds?"
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess there's some ledges down there," Susie guessed.
"That fell almost through the center of the hole," Noelle said. "I don't think what we heard were ledges."
"So, the floor's probably at an angle, then?" MK guessed.
"A rather steep one," Frisk agreed. "And because of that, we can't guess how deep it goes."
"Well, the first part was about three seconds," Berdly said. "So, figuring that out, maybe… two hundred yards?"
"I'll go down first, check it out," Frisk volunteered.
"Bad idea," Susie said. "Your parents would kill us if something happened to you. I'll go."
"You sure?" Frisk asked.
"I'm more expendable than you," she said, shoving her flashlight into his hands. "Okay, tie me up." Berdly wrapped the rope around her waist, tying it in a knot that would prevent it from coming loose if she fell.
"I'll let you know when I hit bottom," Susie said. She grabbed the rope, turned around, then started walking down the side of the hole. Frisk pointed the flashlight on her, while Berdly tied the rope around a rocky outcropping to support her weight.
"Susie," Frisk said as she started to go down. "You're not expendable to me."
"But I'm worth less than you," she shot up.
"Not to us," Frisk assured.
She didn't respond, just continued to walk down the steep edge. Step by step, she made the climb. Eventually, she reached the floor. But like MK guessed, it was at an angle. And from what she could see, slick. "I found the first floor, but it's slanted down, and I think I see water."
"Is it walkable?" Frisk shouted down.
Susie took a couple cautious steps. "Sort of, but there's all sorts of stalactites here, so don't let go."
"If they're on the floor, it's stalagmites," Berdly corrected.
"Shut up, bird brain," Susie shot back. Cautiously, she walked down the slope. She occasionally braced herself against the stone spires so she didn't slide. However, she quickly ran out of light. "I can't see anything."
"Hang on," Frisk said. He turned to Berdly. "Can you get me hooked in?"
"Shouldn't someone else go down?" Noelle suggested.
"I'm the only one with any footwear, and you guys aren't built for slick stone."
"But I can go, dude," MK said.
"You don't have any arms and need someone to carry you," Frisk said.
"What about me?" Berdly suggested.
"We need you free in case we need a quick escape," Frisk said.
"I have hooves," Noelle offered.
"Cloven hooves, which are not designed for angled surfaces that are also slick," Frisk said. "It has to be me."
"What about me?" Asriel said.
"We need to get this flashlight to Susie," Frisk explained, holding the device in his hand. "And you don't seem able to pick things up."
Asriel grumbled.
"Just be careful," Noelle pleaded.
"You know I will be," Frisk assured.
A short while later, he was belaying down the side of the hole with a flashlight in his pocket. He reached the slanted floor, took the flashlight and pointed it at Susie. "You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's just dark," Susie answered.
"Well, let's get going," Frisk said, walking up to her.
"I thought you were just gonna hand the flashlight to me?" Susie said.
"I'm here now. Might as well go the distance," Frisk explained. "Besides, if my hunch is correct, you're gonna need my help."
"Fine," Susie said. They both continued walking, Frisk pointing the flashlight ahead and at the floor so they could see where they were walking. After a couple minutes of careful steps, they found another pit, this one deeper than the last.
"Yep. Another hole," Frisk said.
"Hold progress here?" Susie asked.
"For now, yeah," he agreed. He and Susie unwrapped the rope around them and tied it to the stones that surrounded them. "Okay guys, you can come down!" Frisk shouted.
A few minutes later, everyone was at the edge of the new pit. Berdly dragged the rope to them, tossing it over the edge of the new pit.
"Okay, let's see what's down here," Susie said, starting to climb down. She began her descent, taking careful steps on the cliff face. Eventually, she reached the bottom. And what she found was a tunnel. "Whoa! Check this out!"
"What do you see?" Frisk asked.
"A tunnel. And it seems pretty level, too!" she shouted up.
"Now I'm intrigued," MK said.
"Well then, my companions, shall we see what this tunnel leads to?" Berdly offered.
"We shall," Frisk agreed.
After another long climb down, they all reached the floor of the pit. Frisk pointed the flashlight into the tunnel, but the light was swallowed up by the dark.
"No telling how long it goes on for," Noelle said.
Susie picked up a rock and tossed it as hard as she could. They heard it roll across the floor and eventually stop. "Well, we've come this far." She took her flashlight back, leading the way.
They walked for a long time. Strangely, the tunnel was straight, almost perfectly so. There were no obstructions, and it was nearly a perfect circle, save for the flat floor.
"Anyone else find it strange that this is almost perfectly smooth?" Noelle asked.
"It is rather odd," Berdly agreed. He laid a wing on the wall, getting a feeling for the surface. "This doesn't look like erosion. It almost seems like something carved this tunnel."
"An animal?" MK suggested.
"There's nothing else down here except Monsters," Susie said. "And one human."
"So Monsters must have carved this," Frisk deduced. "But when and why?"
Susie shrugged. It was about then that her flashlight ran out of battery. "Oh, damn it," she swore. "Didn't realize the battery was that low."
"I told you to make sure it was charged," Berdly said.
"At least we got phones," MK said.
"Not sure it's a good idea to depend on them," Noelle said. "We need them in case we get stuck."
"I can light our way," Frisk offered.
"How are you going to do that?" Asriel snarked.
Frisk responded by conjuring a ball of red fire. Asriel's eyes widened in surprise.
"YOU CAN USE MAGIC?" he shouted.
"Did I not mention that?" Frisk asked. "Must have slipped my mind."
"Lead the way, prince," Susie said, gesturing ahead.
Frisk took the lead, flinging a few more fireballs to their sides to provide ambient light. As they walked, Asriel stared at the fire. Chara had never demonstrated anything like that. How could Frisk manage it?
He burrowed after then, keeping his head down and staying quiet.
After an hour of walking, the tunnel began to look slightly different. The walls became smoother and muddier. There were wooden posts that kept the ceiling up above them.
"This is bizarre," Berdly said. "Wonder where we are going."
"Something about these supports look familiar," Frisk said.
"Where are we?" Noelle wondered.
It was about then that light began to shine from the end of the tunnel. As they approached it, Frisk snuffed out the fireballs. The natural light of whatever it was illuminated the tunnel. Before long, they were walking on a sandy road. When they stepped out of the tunnel, they beheld several wooden buildings that seemed reminiscent of the human cowboy era.
"This is the Wild East," Frisk realized, recognizing the area from his exploration of the Underground.
"Wow," Noelle said. "We just found a path from Hotland to the Dunes."
Berdly examined the entrance of the tunnel they came from. "Fascinating. This appears to be an old mine. Must have been abandoned years ago."
"Well, at least we got an answer to that," Frisk said.
"You've been here more often than us, right?" Susie asked. "Do you know the way out?"
"Yep. This way." Frisk led his companions through the sandy paths.
Asriel followed, simply using his roots to walk on the sand rather than burrow. He looked around at the buildings, shocked at how different it was from when he last saw it. He could hardly believe it. To him, it was only yesterday this place was being built. Now it was a fully lived-in town.
That helped drive home how long it had been. He hadn't ever realized how long he had been dead for. But now, this emphasized that it had been a long time. And that hurt.
Noelle was the first to notice that Asriel wasn't following them anymore. She stopped, turned around, and saw the flower had stopped a few feet back. She went back and the others noticed her absence.
"Asriel, what's wrong?" she asked, kneeling next to him.
"This place… it wasn't like this when I was still alive. Now it's a full town," Asriel muttered. "Everything I once knew is all changed."
"But your parents are still the same," Susie pointed out.
"But it's not the same. Not after what I did to them," Asriel said. "And… Chara…"
Frisk knelt. "You miss them, don't you?"
"I wish they were still here. If they were here, they'd understand. They'd help me. But they're gone and it's my fault."
"What are you talking about?" Frisk asked.
"It's my fault, I did this to everyone. Chara's gone because of me," Asriel said.
"That's ridiculous," Frisk denied. "You had nothing to do with Chara's death."
"Yes! I did!" Asriel shouted. "I killed them!"
"Asriel, Chara died from a sickness the Monsters couldn't cure," Frisk tried to assure. "You're not to blame for what happened."
Asriel wept, sobbing his eyes out as the guilt hit him hard.
Frisk pitied his brother. He wasn't sure he understood what was wrong but he could see that Asriel blamed himself.
Frisk leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Asriel.
"Don't touch me!" Asriel snapped, whacking Frisk with his vines. But the human didn't let go. "Let go of me! Let go!"
Asriel kept slapping Frisk with his roots, trying to get him to let him go, but Frisk held on. He kept demanding Frisk release him and continued to whack him, saying over and over to let him go. Slowly, the slaps petered out and his shouts got less demanding. Eventually, Asriel stopped fighting altogether and just leaned his head on Frisk's shoulder with tears streaming down his face.
"It wasn't your fault," Frisk finally said.
"But it was," Asriel insisted.
"No. It wasn't," he insisted.
"B-but… but…"
"Asriel, you need to stop blaming yourself. Trust me, I know what that does to a person," Frisk advised.
"Y-you don't know the full story," Asriel sadly said.
"I don't need to. I just know it wasn't your fault you died," Frisk assured. "You're not at fault for what happened."
"But my parents… if we hadn't died, they wouldn't have split up, and…"
"I know, but that's in the past," Frisk said. "They forgave each other and are moving on."
"And they replaced me and Chara with you," Asriel spitefully remarked.
"No. They love you, Asriel," Frisk assured.
"Then why don't I feel anything?" he asked.
Frisk had no answer to that. He looked up at Noelle, hoping she might be able to help. She knelt closer to Asriel.
"You're grieving," she answered. "It's hard to feel when you're that upset."
"How would you know?" Asriel asked angrily.
"Because I lost someone I loved," she answered. "He meant so much to me. But now he's gone and never coming back."
Asriel still refused to look at anyone but he turned his head subtly in Noelle's direction. "So why do I feel so empty?"
"Because you're trying not to feel," Noelle said. "Because you're scared that if you do, you'll break. But not feeling is worse. You need to grieve and mourn before you can heal."
"Big kids don't cry," Asriel said, sounding like he was quoting someone.
"You have to," Frisk said. "If you bottle it all up you'll only hurt yourself more. I know you're scared, but trust me, you'll never heal if you cut yourself off from feelings totally. You'll only get worse."
"But… I'm trying to," Asriel insisted. "I'm trying too…"
"No. You're still scared," Frisk said.
"It's okay to cry, Asriel," Noelle assured. The two of them looked over at their friends, and they came over.
"Yeah, we won't judge," MK assured.
"Fear is fine, but don't let it control you," Berdly added.
"Yeah," Susie agreed.
For a moment, it looked like the words went through Asriel's head. But then, his stem began to shake, his petals shuddered, and then, he finally began to cry. He sobbed into Frisk's shoulder, resting on him completely. He cried for a long time. One by one, the others joined Frisk in embracing the flower, adding their own reassurance and comfort.
They stayed like that for several minutes as Asriel wept. Occasionally, he could be heard mumbling "I'm sorry, Chara," into Frisk's shirt. Eventually, the crying ended, but Asriel didn't get up. He just continued to lay his head on Frisk's shoulder.
"Feeling better?" Frisk asked, a few tears of his own falling.
"Maybe a little," Asriel admitted.
Frisk tried to pull back, but Asriel kept himself pressed to him.
"Please don't let go," he mumbled.
Frisk just smiled before standing up with Asriel in his arms. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. "Well, we need to go, before our parents start wondering where we are," Frisk said.
"Can we stop by the Saloon first?" Susie asked. "I'm hungry."
"I suppose," Frisk agreed.
"Cool. Then can you foot the bill?" Susie asked.
"As long as you don't drain me of my allowance," Frisk said.
"Hey, while we're on that, can you pay for my meal, too?" MK asked. "I didn't get my allowance this week."
"Nor did I," Berdly admitted.
"You guys are determined to take advantage of my status as royalty, aren't you?" Frisk playfully asked.
"Hey, it's a free meal," Susie said, which got plenty of laughs from everyone.
"Fine," Frisk agreed. "Just don't tell anyone about Asriel and we'll be even."
"Sure thing," Berdly agreed.
"Yeah, I won't tell a Soul," MK added.
Susie just mimed zipping her lips.
"Good," Frisk said.
"Aren't you going to ask me to do the same?" Noelle asked.
"I know you can keep a secret," Frisk answered. "Okay, onward."
They passed through the Dunes, getting food from the Saloon before splitting up to go to their respective homes. As Frisk walked to New Home, he carried Asriel in his arms with the flower occasionally crying on his shoulder.
"You really do miss them, don't you?" Frisk asked.
"They were my best friend," Asriel answered. "My only friend." Asriel sunk further into Frisk's shoulder. "I… I still don't like you," he said. "And… I still don't like my parents. But… I don't hate you anymore."
Frisk lightly patted Asriel's head. If his experiences with Noelle's grief were anything to go by, it would take a while before Asriel got better. But he would be here for him.
He arrived at his house and Asgore and Toriel greeted both of them pleasantly. That was until they saw the state Asriel was in.
"Asriel, are you okay?" Toriel asked.
"He's not," Frisk answered for him. He spoke before either of his parents could. "He just needs time. He's been through a lot."
Both Dreemurrs let it drop. Asgore got another pot for Asriel, though he seemed reluctant to leave Frisk's hold. He insisted on staying by Frisk's side as Toriel prepared supper. As they ate, Frisk tried to encourage Asriel to eat, but he still passed. As the rest of the day passed, Frisk watched Asriel, hoping he was getting better. Occasionally, he released a few more tears. And though he said he didn't like Frisk, he still wanted to be held by him. When night came around and Frisk got dressed for bed, Asriel chose to stay in Frisk's room, which was his old room.
Frisk brought the flower to the bedroom, and he got a look at what had changed. One bed had been moved out, replaced with a desk, which had a few books, papers, a cup with pencils and a lamp on it.
Frisk set Asriel on the desk while finishing up some work on the desk. Then, once done, he prepared to turn in for the day.
"Wait," Asriel requested. "Can… can I sleep with you?"
"Not sure how we'd make that work," Frisk said.
"Please? I… I don't want to sleep alone again," Asriel begged.
Frisk picked Asriel up and brought him to the bed. He laid down on it, placing Asriel's pot on the head of the bed. "This work?" he asked.
"Yeah, for now," Asriel said.
"Well, goodnight," Frisk said. He turned the lamp next to his bed off, plunging the room into darkness. He lay on the bed, trying to get to sleep. But he was having trouble doing that. Though he did notice that Asriel had dropped off rather fast.
Frisk laid there, wondering what was keeping him up. Eventually, he realized that it was Asriel that was causing it. He needed to help him. He was mourning his friend, but he seemed to be having trouble with that. Perhaps it was the new body that was doing it? Or did it have something to do with how he was brought back?
Frisk knew that plants didn't have Souls and Asriel was inhabiting one. Was that part of the problem? Frisk had learned that a Soul made up a big part of who a person was and Asriel might be missing his. Which would explain why he wasn't acting like himself. He was missing a vital part of him.
A thought occurred to Frisk just then. Monsters were acutely tuned to their Souls and Asriel had lost his. What would that do to him? Not just physically, but mentally? Could he Fall Down? Could he die? The unknowns of that scared Frisk.
He needed to fix Asriel before something horrible happened. But he was just a kid. What could he do?
But he wasn't alone. He had many friends and some of them were incredibly smart.
And Alphys was probably the smartest of them.
She knew the most about Souls and DT. Perhaps she could help. Quietly, he grabbed his phone and opened the messaging app. He texted Alphys, knowing she was probably still awake at this time. He told her everything he could, adding that she needed to keep it secret. He didn't want to freak the whole Underground out, so it was best to keep Asriel's resurrection under wraps.
A minute later, he got a response. Alphys said she would do what she could, suggesting he bring Asriel over tomorrow so she could look at him. After scheduling the time, he closed his phone. He put it down, then pulled the blankets up. He glanced at Asriel, who seemed to still be asleep. Good. Frisk wasn't sure how Asriel would take all this. He'd find out tomorrow.
End of Chapter 18
A/N Brief insight into the development of this chapter, but the first draft had the kids come out into the Ruins. When Undertale Yellow came out, I decided to change it to the Dunes as a shout-out to the game.
