Chapter Twelve

Finally, Alphys managed to open the door and run inside, but as she saw it was too late as she ran to Mettaton in haste. As she looked him over, Curtain walked in and stood besides the child, who looked up at her, but felt a pang of guilt as Curtain just looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"… I'm sorry. I just… didn't want you to get hurt again to protect me, like before," the child confessed, as Curtain's eyes softened.

"… thank God, it's just the batteries. Mettaton, if you were gone, I would have… I would have…" A moment of seeing Alphys' expression become completely shaken made the child understand how much Mettaton actually meant to Alphys.

"… I m-mean, h-hey, it's n-no problem, you know? He's just a robot, if you messed it up, I c-could always… j-just build another… Why don't you go on ahead?" Alphys said, turning away from them quickly.

"…" the child could only pity the doctor, as she slowly walked ahead passed her while giving one more glance to her and Mettaton.

Curtain also walked passed them to follow the child out of the arena. The two continued walking down a long hallway, as the child stopped for a moment while Curtain looked back and noticed that Alphys was following them as the child glanced back. Curtain noticed the child tilt her head up, instructing her to move ahead, as she did so but was able to listen in case she had to. The child walked along with Alphys following her,

"S-Sorry about that… L-Let's k-keep going! S-So you're about to meet Asgore, huh? You must be… Y-You must be… pr… pretty excited about all that, huh? Y-You'll finally… You'll finally be able to go home!"

+ I'm not that excited since I was almost killed and lied to and don't know what's waiting for me next… but thank you! I'm sure I won't be tricked now!

- Hehehe

As the child activated the elevator doors and they opened at the end of the hall, Alphys called out,

"W… Wait! I mean… um… I… I was just going to… um.. say, goodbye and… "

Alphys' expression saddened as she turned and said, "I can't take this anymore… I lied to you. A human soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier alone. It takes at least a human soul… and a monster soul…"

Alphys turned towards the child and said, "If you want to go home… You'll have to take his soul. You'll have to kill Asgore."

"…" The child stared at Alphys with large eyes as Curtain did the same.

"I'm sorry," Alphys said as she turned and ran off.

After a moment to contemplate her words, the child entered the elevator with Curtain.

"…"

"…"

"… What is your plan now?" Curtain asked.

"… I… I'm not sure," the child replied.

"… If you have to take his soul to leave, are you going to do that? Or are you going to let him take yours?" Curtain asked.

"No, I can't let him take mine. I won't let him destroy humanity… but leaving the Monsters without their king… I don't know if I can do that… there has to be something else. I have… I have to try to talk to him, cause even if I leave… if someone else comes down here… then all I did was prolong the inevitable… I can't just leave things like this," the child replied.

"…"

The elevator stopped as they walked out to see a city of all white and various tones and hues of white and light color. They traveled along and reached a house that was an exact replica of Toriel's home as Monsters approached and told the human the story of Asriel, the prince from a long time ago, and a human child who had fallen down there and was raised as his sibling by the King and Queen of Monsters. Asriel had found the human and helped them when they called for help from their injury from the fall, and were taken in. When the human fell ill and died, Asriel had absorbed their soul and crossed the barrier with their body to bring the human back to their village to see the golden flowers of their home, but humans there had thought Asriel had killed the child and attacked. Asriel stumbled back home with the human's body and died as his dust spread on the garden. Losing both children caused devastation in the whole kingdom, that led the King to declare war on humanity and decree that every human who comes down there must die, while the queen left in disgust of such a decree.

"King Asgore will let us go give us hope save us all. You should be smiling too. Aren't you excited? Aren't you happy? You're going to be free." The final few monsters said, as the two passed by them.

They entered a checkered floor of golden patterns as the child tapped the save point. Sensing something was about to happen probably, the child turned to Curtain as she nodded and walked back to follow along the poles and hide herself between them while the child walked ahead in the middle of the hall. After a little while of walking, a figure appeared before the child as they looked at each other for a moment.

"So you finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you and the king will meet. Together… you will determine the future of this world. That's then. Now. You will be judged."

The child's eyes widened upon hearing judgement in this hall.

"… What's EXP? It's an acronym. It stands for "execution points." A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others… "

+ Whaaaaat?

- …!

"… When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases. LOVE, too, is an acronym. It stands for "Level of Violence. A way of measuring someone's capacity to hurt. The more you hurt, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others."

+ Oh heck no! I could have been a murderer!

- What the heck…?!

+ If I… would have killed someone… but I didn't! Don't kill me, man!

After a moment of silence, Sans became more clear in the child's view as she waited for his response to her, while Curtain also watched.

"… but you. you never gained any LOVE. 'course, that doesn't mean you're completely innocent or naive. just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart. no matter the struggles or hardships you faced… you strived to do the right thing. you refused to hurt anyone. even when you ran away, you did it with a smile. you never gained LOVE, but you gained love. does that make sense? maybe not…." Sans said, as the child felt taken aback by his words as he continued speaking.

"… you're actions here… will determine the fate of the entire world. If you refuse to fight… asgore will take your soul and destroy humanity. but if you kill asgore and go home…. monsters will remain trapped underground. what will you do?"

The child took a moment to think carefully, as the positive voice was determined to make an attempt to not kill asgore. Upon the child agreeing to try, Sans continued,

"well, if i were you, i would have thrown in the towel by now, but you didn't get this far by giving up, did you? that's right. you have something called "determination" so as long as you hold on… so long as you do what's in your heart. i belive you'll do the right thing. alright. we're all counting on you, kid. good luck," With his parting words, Sans disappeared from whence he came, as the child took a moment to breathe.

+ … how he knows about my determination?

- He knows a lot more then he shows…

+ Does he like the have ability to see my screen?

- I don't know

Curtain stepped out next to the child as they walked down the rest of the hall. Upon getting to the exit, Curtain stopped walking as she looked back to see Sans waiting there. The child also stopped walking from the entrance as she turned towards Curtain.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Curtain looked between both of them, her heart divided between letting the child go alone or interfering by not letting them go.

"… kid, I… I don't want you to die… if we could go back to the Ruins and get through, I could get you out of here… you could avoid this battle, this decision, all of it… you two won't have to… kill each other… but it's your decision, not mine… and I know you want to face him and this is something you have been wanting to do… but are you sure you want to go?" Curtain asked her friend.

"…" the child looked at her friend, and with watery eyes nodded.

Curtain closed her eyes with a pained smile and said, "… okay, I won't stop you then… just please, don't give up and… I'll be waiting for you, whenever I get up there or if you decide to come back… goodbye."

The two stood in silence for just a moment before running up to one another and giving each other a big hug. They let out a few tears, not sure if this would be their last, but hopeful that it wouldn't be.

"I'll see you later, Curtain," the child said.

"Yeah, see you later, kid," Curtain said back.

They departed from their hug as Curtain gave the child a pet on the head, and then she quickly turned and left with Sans. The child then turned and continued on her way out of the Judgement Hall.

"… I feel horrible, Sans," Curtain said, as she walked with him.

"… i didn't want her to go either, but… we can only root for the kid now, right?" He replied, as Curtain slowly nodded.

The child walked along and tapped another save point, but instead of heading into the room ahead, she walked passed it down a staircase.

+ I wonder what's ove- OH MY GOSH!

- What is- WHAAT THE HECK?!

+ There are dead bodies here!

- Ahhh!

The child looked upon the lined up coffins in surprise to see that the other children were actually given coffins. What surprised her was reading the name on the first coffin which was empty. She quickly turned away from it, not wanting to look upon it any longer then she had to, for it made her head hurt, but reminded her of why she had to be here, why she had to come this far.

Afterward, the child went on to enter the King's chamber and find a whole throne room of flowers and two thrones with one covered. The King was busy tending to the delicate golden flowers with his back turned, yet he heard the someone enter and turned to greet them.

"Howdy! How can I…" King Asgore took a step back in shock to see the human child.

He was a large goat monster with blonde hair, two large white horns, a crown upon his head, and adorned in a royal purple robe and golden shoulder pads and crest that held the robe together. His sad expression made the child think that he really didn't want to be there at this moment in time.

"Oh…. I so badly want to say, "would you like a cup of tea?" But… You know how it is," The King said as he walked a little off to the side to look out the window.

"Nice day today, huh? Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. Perfect weather for a game of catch," he looked out the window again, and turned back towards the human with a frown.

"You know what we must do. When you are ready, come into the next room," The King then walked ahead into the next room, and the child walked ahead to the flickering light as they tapped it.

They entered the next room, which reminded them of a certain place, and followed King Asgore along.

"… Are you ready? If you are not, I understand. I am not ready either," The King said as the child took the opportunity to tap the next save point.

They entered the next room as it was actually what looked to be a long hallway that glowed and never ended. This was indeed the barrier.

"This is the barrier. This is what keeps us all trapped underground…. If… If by chance you have any unfinished business… Please do what you must."

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