Work Text
As you entered the room, Flowey inspected your face to identify if it was really you or someone else guiding your steps.“What do you want Frisk?” He sighed already exasperated.“I want to bring you to the surface with me.” You told him.“No.” He answered flatly.“All your friends already have their happy ending, there is nothing left to do here, now leave.” He said.“It’s false, there is still one person to save. Everyone deserves happiness.” You affirmed.“Oh really? You still need to help poor old me get the happiness I deserve?” He said, his voice full of sarcasm, rotating his head in angles impossible for humans, and morphed his visage in a scary face.“Am I a person to you Frisk, or just a symbol? The symbol that you couldn’t save everyone. You don’t care about me as an individual. I’m just the last piece you need to help so your little ending become perfect. It’s not about doing what’s right, it’s a matter of pride and ego. You want to help me, not because you care but by principle so you can win your stupid game.” He explained, morphing his face back to his usual one at the end of the speech.“No that’s not it. I may not have known Asriel for long, but I empathize with him. He deserves better.” You tried to justify yourself.“Well, he’s dead. The goat is gone. You can leave now.” Flowey rolled his eyes, then pointed towards the exit with his head.“Maybe, but you are what remains of him. Even if you can’t feel love, you can still have friends and be happy on the surface” You argued.Flowey made two vines surge from the ground on each side of his body and slapped them together to imitate joined hands, then he brought those clasped vines in front of where his chin should be and took an exaggerate inspiration before speaking. “Frisk, I’m not aromantic, I’m a sociopath!”“I don’t feel ANYTHING, except an artificial desire to live and a determination-induced fear if my life is threatened. Nothing else!” He explained, lashing the air with his vines now covered with thorns.“That’s false, you care about Papyrus.” You objected.“I don’t care about anyone. I value people based on how long they can entertain me before I get bored and kill them.” He said flatly.“Then come to the surface with us, it’s so vast, you won’t get bored there.” You insisted.“I can’t feel happiness, whether I stay here or go up there, there will be no difference, except that down here I can’t hurt anyone. But on the surface, I can kill and torture your friends, family and bunch of human bystanders. You don’t want to have me with you.” He stated, starting to get more than annoyed by the conversation.“But I want! They are not excusable, but your actions are understandable. You’re the one, with your cruel comments, that guilt tripped me into caring about all the monsters and not just Toriel. Without that, I would have probably either left the Underground with all of my friends still trapped and dust on my hand, or came back so often that I would become desensitised and end up following a similar path to yours. You’re the reason I spared everyone. You’re the one who told me how to get there, where everyone else is happy. You’re the one who destroyed the barrier and freed monster-kind, for crying out loud. Nobody knew about your existence except Papyrus and Alphys, and all the other remember is you showing up, a bright light, and then you and the barrier gone. From the world point of view, you never did anything wrong! You deserve to be up there, enjoying all this that would have never happened without you!” You ranted. I didn’t waste time reminding you that Toriel remember the time he attacked you in the room right next to this one.Flowey morphed his face in the one of Asriel, only to be able to extend an evil smile filled with sharp tooth, even bigger than on a flat face. “Do you want to know how to get him back?” He asked with a voice filled with sarcastic sweetness and cruelty.“Do you want me to tell you of a way that could have been used from the very start to save Asriel, if only Alphys had accepted. A solution with which all these years of torment would have been avoided.” He told you with Asriel’s face split in half by that scary rictus. His vines coiling in the air close to you.As you watched those deep red eyes boring holes into you, what you felt crawling on your back weren’t your sins but unease and fear. You gulped hard as you asked. “What method?”“All I need to feel again is a soul, and you obviously won’t give me your soul, and you want me out now, not after you die of old age, so we need souls from somewhere else.” He started, face back to normal if not derisive when he mentioned the easy option of just taking yours.“Monster’s bodies can’t support too much determination without melting. That’s what happened to the dying monsters during Alphys’ experiments, and they fused together, becoming the amalgamates. Suffering monsters of great powers, with lot of souls in stock but deranged spirits.” He explained, and up until now you were following.“If you inject enough determination in an amalgamate to go above the new limit of what their combined form can support, they will melt again. Then I just have to fuse with their goo, and poof… I have multiple souls.My material body can withstand unlimited amounts of determination and souls, just like you saw during our last fight. The malleable shape of the amalgamate would allow me to mold myself the body I want. The cherry on top of my feelings and body back is that, like you saw during our fight, I can put the spirit of monsters inside my body in a peaceful slumber, instead of this suffering state most of the amalgamates are in.” He concluded.“Where is the catch here? If there is nothing but positive results, why did Alphys refused?” You asked suspicious.“Ha! Because she is too plagued by guilt and shame to ever dare to touch again the mess she created. May it be me or them.” He laughed, voice spiting venom.“And if she refused, why didn’t I just ignored her opinion and did it by force or behind her back, then? Well, she didn’t had any samples of determination left, and I couldn’t create more since she had already returned the borrowed human souls when I woke up. And you already know that taking the human souls is the ONLY thing I NEVER managed to do before your arrival.” Flowey explained.“But can you even fuse with the liquified amalgamate if you’re not a melting monster yourself anyway?” You inquired.“From what I gathered, the Memoryheads are just soulless droplets of the other amalgamates that fused with old junk from the previous royal scientist, phones and broken spare pieces from the Core. So, there is no problem on that aspect.” He dismissed.“Wait there was a royal scientist before Alphys?” You asked surprised.“Of course, you idiot. How old do you think Alphys is? That doesn’t matter, we’re getting sidetracked.” He laughed at you before changing the subject back to what really mattered. But he had a point, she wasn’t royal scientist during my life. In fact, she wasn’t even born yet, so why was I surprised.“There is only 2 beings left in the Underground, me and Endogeny.” He said. Even the Snowman had moved out. And the Temmie that wanted to stay underground until his boiled egg hatched, ended up leaving with the walled-up Temmie to continue his watch on the surface.“What, aren’t they back with their family?” You asked surprised.“They chose to remain in the true lab to act as a guard dog. Alphys come once a week to bring them dog food. It’s not enough to feed a monster for that long and especially not 5, but amalgamates are kept alive through sheer determination anyway.” Flowey used vines to imitate a shrug.“There is no determination samples left, that’s why if you want to save Asriel, you have to come to the true lab, so we can extract the determination directly from your body, and use it to melt those 5 little dogos for me to fuse with them.” Flowey snarked, his face turning predatory.“What?!” You asked, taking a step back, unsettled.“What is the problem Frisk? Is the hero of monster race having a moral dilemma? Are you afraid to dirty your hands, or are you scared that I will pomp determination out of you, stripping you of your powers? Is it all your so-called care for poor innocent Asriel is worth?” He asked, morphing his face in that demonic imitation of Asriel’s visage, popping in and out of the ground one step closer to you at each question.“I’m not an expert, I just assisted Alphys in her research in a few loops, but I think one third of your determination will be enough to melt Endogeny.” He stated after morphing his face back into its normal appearance.“So, tell me Frisk, will you try anything despite the risk, to save the very last person you couldn’t, or will you accept that happy ending can’t be forced and move on like Asriel would want you to?” He asked, visage taunting.After pondering the question a moment, you found your answer and were determined to see it through.“Asriel has been nothing but kindness and mercy his whole life, he merits to go back to his parents after everything he’s been through. And you have been a crucial part in destroying the barrier and freeing everyone, none of that could have happened if not for your actions Flowey. If I’m not judged for the murders and crime I committed in previous resets, why should you?” You affirmed.“Because you regret them, and I don’t.” He said flatly.“But once you have your emotions back, you will regret them too. I will help you become whole again.” You answered.“Then let’s go to the true lab. That’s a wonderful idea.” He laughed before burrowing into the ground.With Flowey now gone, you left the room through the door leading to the rest of the ruins. Without the River Person or any other shortcuts available, the journey from the ruins to the true lab was very long. When you finally stepped inside the DT extractor’s room, you saw many tools and scraps on the ground, and Flowey working on a terminal.“Howdy, you’re there. I still need 30 more minutes to complete my modifications and finish recalibrating the extraction machine.” Flowey said, not looking at you.“Why do you need to modify it?” You asked.“The DT extractor was made to works on souls, not on living beings. But I know how to modify this machine, I’ve already done it in the timelines where I helped Alphys try to find a cure for the amalgamates.” He explained, disappearing from where he was and popping in front of the extractor. With a vine, he grabbed one of the tools, then he turned towards you.“As long as you don’t attack the device from the inside, or that you’re not already dying, there will be no problem.” Flowey laughed like there was a story behind this comment, as he morphed his face into the one of Undyne, except she wasn’t wearing her eye patch but in its place an eye beaming with a spear of light going up and down, up and down, up and down. Before you could ask about that face, Flowey spoke again, morphing back to his usual appearance.“I have work to do, go play with the dog abomination, kid.” He dismissed. After some hesitation you listened to Flowey and left the room.After a little more than half an hour, he called you back. “Is everything ready?” You asked.“Yep.” He said, planting 2 metallic pipes with needles at the extremity, inside your back and shoulder. You grunted.“Sorry.” It was clear at his tone that he wasn’t sorry one bit. “I have to run a scan to know what duration enter in the machine to define during how much time the device will extract your determination. We don’t want to activate it for too long and suck you dry, don’t we?” Flowey cackled.After a bit of mental preparation, you looked at the empty glass container linked to the 6 pipes of the DT extractor. Following Flowey’s instructions, you stepped inside the maw of the DT extraction machine, the two wires still embedded in your flesh while trying to silence your worry.Flowey popped out of the floor in front of you. “Ready? It will start at three.” He warned you. You saw energy and light gathering inside the device. “Three!” Flowey said in a triumphal voice. The DT extractor shot a laser beam at you, not too dissimilar from the one Omega Flowey used to kill you, except that this one didn’t hurt you, it felt like it was ripping something from you. The sensation from the needles and laser were unbearable, everything became fuzzy around you and you started to feel lightheaded.As you lost consciousness, you thought you heard Flowey call out for the dog amalgamate, but you weren’t sure if it was real or a trick of your mind. When you woke up lying on the ground, needles removed, you were weak and exhausted. You felt like you shouldn’t have trusted this dangerous flower. In your current state he could easily end your life without you being able to do anything about it. And if you died, who is to say that you could use…“Do you really think so low of me, Chara?” Asriel asked with a fake pout.As you and I turned towards him astonished, we saw Asriel, looking like the same kid as you last saw him, his snow-white fur interacting with the light like if it was wet.As you stood up, he ran towards you and tried to hug me, but his arms passed through me.“Chara, I missed you so much!” He said, voice filled with raw emotions.“Azzy, you can see me?! How?” I asked, putting my intangible arms around him to pretend I was hugging him.“You attached yourself to Frisk’s soul and determination, isn’t it? Well now, one third of this determination that Frisk possessed, flows through me. So, it seems we can both see you now.” He said smiling, as he put his arms to hug the air where I stood.“Asriel, is that really you?” You asked him, and he confirmed with a nod.“I can’t believe you’ve been there all along, playing narrators for Frisk.” He produced a watery laugh.“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting it either at first.” I rested my forehead where his was.“Are you ok?” I asked.“I will probably cry myself to sleep every day for the next few years, in the dark of the night when there is nothing to distract my thoughts from what I’ve done, but aside from that, I’m fine.” He smiled at me then at Frisk.“Asriel don’t say things like that.” You said alarmed. “It seems you spent too much time with me Azzy.” I laughed.“It’s just a truth we have to accept.” He pouted, crossing his arms. The way it interacted with light wasn’t because his white fur was wet like I initially thought, but because it was made of liquid, I remarked.“Asriel, your body is dripping.” I pointed at the white droplets along his hands and head, the yellow and green ones on his sweater and the darker ones along his pants.“Oh yeah, I will still need time and practice before being able to maintain my body in that shape without efforts.” He explained.The hair on the back on his head morphed into 6 golden petals, and thorny vines crawled along his body at it melted, leaving in the end, only Flowey with Asriel’s face and two leafy green arms with red claws, looking like cute versions of the ones Omega Flowey had, attached to the base of his stem. Like this Asriel was maybe a bit taller than Flowey used to be, but it was hard to tell.
(Basically, like this design from “Undertale Over The Void” from AbsoluteDream)
“I will grab something that will make displacement easier while I get a hand on controlling my new body.” He said as he used tentacle-like roots to get out of the ground and walk to room with the mirrors.“You could do that from the beginning?” You asked incredulous.“No, without being powered up by souls I couldn’t walk or summon vines strong enough to grab people, actioning switches and messing with puzzles were the max I could do. Blocking the door of the elevator when you left the true lab took dozens of vines.” He explained as he came back with one of the control subjects from the determination infused plant experiment.He uprooted the golden flower from its soil and entered inside the flowerpot instead.“Can we not tell mom and dad my identity before I’m able to maintain my kid form, ok?” Asriel requested. Too tired to continue like this, you reverted to sign language and told you agreed.“I suppose they don’t know about you either, and you want it to stay that way, at least for now.” He asked me and I confirmed.Asriel morphed his face into his usual Flowey one to avoid being recognised and you grabbed his flowerpot. As you left the true lab by the elevator, I asked. “Wait, but who has the power to save and reset now?”“Well it’s supposed to go to the person who has the most determination among the one who have been in the Underground, and stay with them as long as someone more determined don’t appear or enter in the Underground.” Asriel rubbed his chin pensively.“I now have my own determination, plus 5 times the determination sufficient to make a monster melt, plus one third of yours, that’s a lot, while you only have 2/3 of your own determination left.” He pondered.“The determination that melted the five dogs can’t be that high, if the combined amount was superior to yours, they would have had the power to save instead of you.” You signed.“So, I have 1/3 of yours and less than 2 times mine. Meaning that I can only have more determination than you in case my own was higher than one sixth of your original one.” He clarified.“Well, my trait is determination, so I have more determination than the other children’s souls from which the determination was extracted for all experiments in the true lab.” You signed.“If we have both roughly equal levels of determination, and we share Chara, maybe we can both use the power of Load and Save.” He said hopefully as we reached our old house in New Home.“Can you two stop making calculus on numbers you don’t have, already. Wouldn’t it be easier to just look at what you can do or not.” I said exasperated.You focused and reached to your save file, the True Reset option wasn’t present anymore, but the Load and Reset options were still there.“I feel like I’m able to Load again, but I can’t Save anywhere at any point in time like I could before. I have the option to reset again but I don’t know if it will bring me back to the moment, I first became a flower, or if it’s been changed to the moment, I acquired my new form and obtained the powers back. And I don’t really want to try to see what it does.” He informed you.You both agreed to never use the Reset again, but that the load and save could be allowed with parsimony.As you left the Underground by what was once the barrier room, you started to tell Asriel everything that happened during the 3 months since he destroyed the barrier, as you headed home. When you told him that Asgore’s trial was next week he took a pensive expression.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As you opened the door, Asriel’s pot under one arm, you greeted Toriel. “Mom, I’m back!”Toriel was in the living room with Alphys and Undyne.“Oh, here you are my child.” She gave you a pat on the head. “Hi punk”. Greeted Undyne.“And you must be the friend they were talking about, Flowey.” Toriel said turning towards the pot in your hand. “I’m glad that we get the properly meet each other.” She smiled.“Hello ma’am, it’s me indeed. And sorry for attacking Frisk that day.” He said fidgeting with his claws.“You can call me Toriel, and don’t worry, like Undyne already said, almost everyone tried to kill Frisk the first time they met in the Underground. The important is that it won’t happen again and that you’re friends now.” She told him kindly. Toriel and you then turned towards the gests.“Wait- what, you- you’re the flo- flower from the DT experiment.” Alphys pointed worried.“Yes, and the one who broke the barrier by wielding the 6 human souls and a lot of monster souls simultaneously. Exactly the purpose I was created for, in the first place. Well done doctor.” You didn’t hear the bitterness or resentment in his praising kind voice as he used his newly acquired hands to applaud a bit with a smile, but you wouldn’t be surprised for these things to be buried in his heart. You know that he probably passed multiple lifetimes worth of time cursing and insulting her for what she did. Anger amplified now that you and him both know that his solution worked and that she could have solved everything from the beginning if it wasn’t for her shame and questionable moral.“You’re the one who destroyed the barrier, young one? I thought indeed that I saw you before everything went white and the barrier disappeared.” Said Toriel.“Wow awesome! You hear that Alphys, everything is because of you! You can be proud of yourself!” Undyne shouted excitedly, turning towards her girlfriend.“Yea- Yeah th- thanks.” Alphys said flustered.If I was Asriel, I would take Alphys aside, and tell her what she did to me, the soulless abomination she transformed me into. All the atrocities I committed and suffering I endured, while transforming my face in the most creepy sight I could muster. And then tell her that everything is her fault as I melt my face in white dripping liquid out of which I would materialise the deformed head of the 5 dogs, and tell her what fate her amalgamate was subjected to. To haunt her nightmare forever instead of letting her think that what she did was good. But… it’s already been stated that I’m not the greatest person. My brother isn’t as spiteful as me, so I didn’t voice my opinion. He will still have to do it, in a less traumatic way though, at one point to explain what happened to Endogeny.After the dinner, Alphys and Undyne returned home.“Flowey, I believe I was told you had nowhere to go. Do you want to stay live here with Frisk and me?” Toriel asked.“I would like that, thanks Toriel.” Said Asriel.“Would you like to go to school with Frisk tomorrow, on Monday?" She asked.“Hum… I think I would like that.” He pondered a moment.“Is that okay with you Frisk?” She inquired. You signed that it was fine by you.“Very well, it’s been a long day for you. You should brush your teeth and go to bed, so I can read you your bedtime story, if you want to be in shape for school tomorrow.” She told you.After finishing the story, Toriel left the room, turned off the light and whished you two, good night.You turned towards the flowerpot on your nightstand. “Good night, Asriel.” You whispered and he answered you the same way. You closed your eyes and drifted out of consciousness.Once you were asleep, the smile on Asriel dropped, and he sighed tiredly. His entire body melted, forming the amorphous shape of a kid from the puddle on the ground.Contrary to the one in the Underground capital, the bedroom only had one bed, so he laid on the ground and closed his eyes.After a moment he curled up into a ball and started crying. Tears silently flowing from each of the 12 eyes that his amalgamate body allowed.When the tears of my brother finally stopped, I too, let myself ignore the world and rested my ghostly form.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When you woke up the next morning, you saw Asriel already awake in his pot, yawning. “Hi. Ready for your first day of school on the surface?” You asked in sign language.“Howdy Frisk. Yeah, but I’m more interested by mom’s breakfast right now.” He greeted in response. “Flowey, do you have any allergies, or things you can’t eat?” Toriel asked during breakfast.“I don’t think so… Oh, wait, maybe chocolate. We will have to check.” Asriel answered after a moment of reflexion. And I’ve never realised before that very moment, that being fused with a dog could be a fate worse than death. Asriel dared roll his eyes at this objective statement.Toriel school wasn’t far from the house, so you walked there with Asriel’s pot in hands. Asgore wasn’t here gardening today. You introduced Flowey to M.K. and M.K. to Asriel.It was that day that you realised how scary Flowey truly was. Not because of his powers or appearance even if he was really powerful, could make creepy faces and his omega form was nightmare fuel.During school, Asriel answered every question and did every exercise without so much as bating an eye. During breaks he easily befriended every single monster child.After that, an activity required to draw something. The drawing Asriel produced was of the quality of a professional artist. You expected a plant like him to have difficulties holding a pen or a marker, but instead he used 3 vines to block it in his hold with exactly the angle he wanted. It was surprising because his handwriting when he is using only one vine to hold the pen was really bad, but it seemed that using multiple ones like that was slowing his movements.“Wow, how are you so good at this?” You asked Asriel in sign language to avoid getting the teacher’s attention.“In the Underground, I was bored, so I learned to draw, and I polished my skills until I couldn’t progress anymore.” He answered your question in whisper. “Though, they are nothing more than technic, they lack soul just as much as I did back then, that’s why I still prefer Chara’s flower drawing over all of mines.” He explained still whispering.“I’ve basically done everything in the Underground, drawing isn’t different.” He finished.When school ended, you two went back home, Toriel asked how your day was, and you both said you had a great day. You three chatted a bit, then you went to your room with Asriel. You sat on your chair, while Asriel took his kid appearance and flopped on your bed. You did your homework then you discussed, played and laughed for a few hours.At one point you decided to organise a hang out with all your friends and Asriel, and listed a few ideas of activities you could do together. At one of them he told you that because of her social anxiety Alphys wouldn’t come to an activity like this, at another he told you it would be fun but Undyne’s competitivity would cause problems between your group of friends and the other participants. That’s when it hit you.Flowey was scary because of his knowledge and his manipulation skills. The extent of what he knew was unfathomable. He was the one who guilt tripped you in acting a certain way. He was the one who gave you the instructions to reach this “happy ending”. He was the one who convinced you to befriend Alphys. He was the one who wrote that letter “I know what you did.” that sent Alphys in a spiral and made her hide in the true lab. He was the reason you discovered the amalgamates and the truth about his creation and our plan. When you asked, Undyne told you that the only reason she wrote her confession to Alphys, was because Papyrus suddenly insisted for her to do it. Flowey was the one who made Papyrus give you this suspicious phone call that told you to check on Alphys. He was the one who manipulated Papyrus to gather everyone at the barrier. He had learned from his defeat against you, where the 6 human souls were hidden and used the crowd to distract Asgore and steal the human souls on top of stealing the souls of every monster gathered and achieve godhood. In that state he was unbeatable. If Flowey hadn’t been built on the base of someone as kind as Asriel, you literally couldn’t have done anything against him, even with your determination so high that your soul refused to break, he would have just taken a boulder and crushed your body killing you for good. Flowey’s knowledge and manipulation skills allowed him to go in a single of YOUR reset, from a defeat to an unbeatable god. Flowey knew almost everyone in the Underground better than they knew themselves, if the facility with which Asriel had befriended all the child monsters was anything to go by. You never defeated Flowey, first the 6 children then Asriel himself were the ones who did. Finaly, yesterday in the true lab, he could have not only killed you but striped you of all of your time-traveling powers before doing so, and then nothing could have prevented him form marching over the surface and becoming God. The only thing that stopped Flowey was the prospect of Asriel’s guilt plaguing him afterwards.We both sat feeling dizzy after the magnitude of the revelation. After 15 minutes you snaped out of your stupor and glanced at a half-melted Asriel, looking obviously concerned about you.“Asriel, when you said you did everything, do you really mean everything imaginable?” You asked him.“Well, I’ve read, memorized and burned every book.” He listed on the finger of one hand.“I’ve played, mastered and lost every game.” He enumerated on his other hand.“I’ve befriended, tortured and killed everyone.” He counted on the finger of a third hand, he materialized for the visual gag.He shapeshifted into his adult form. “I’ve learned to play every instrument I could find underground. I’ve learned to draw, paint, and sew, not to sculpt though, not the patience. But yeah, I’ve pretty much done everything possible.” He concluded, before standing up and transforming back in a flower into his pot.“Everything, like… Everything?” I asked wriggling my eyebrow.He frowned then said. “Frisk, cover your ears while I answer Chara’s question.”“Why?” You asked. “Because you’re too young for that subject.” He answered. You pouted at that but covered your ears anyway.“As a flower, soulless on top of that, I was asexual, so no. I never entertained the idea of doing anything of that nature.” He said arms crossed. He knows me too well.Asriel signed you that it was okay for you to listen again. You’re surprised that he knew sign language, (most people, monsters or humans, don’t, it’s just that as emotional beings made of magic, monsters understand the intention and general meaning behind the signs even without knowing the language) but at this point honestly, you shouldn’t be surprised by him knowing things.“Although…” Asriel added blushing and avoiding our gazes. “I did date everyone in the Underground including our trashbag national.” He said embarrassed.“You what?” You and I both asked flabbergasted.“Well, except for mom because it would be weird, Papyrus because he is aromantic. And even if I wanted to, there is no point in trying with dad, because he refuses to ever enter a relationship with anyone other than mom even if that means staying single for the rest of his immortality. Believe me I tried to convince him so I could place a pawn on the throne, but that was useless. Oh, and I haven’t dated the monsters that are currently young since from point of view of the Underground chronology it was a few years ago.” He clarified.You were still looking at him, blinking dumbly.“I can’t believe it, my sweet and innocent brother has become a Casanova.” I said, the back of my hand on my forehead in a display of fake hurt.“Oh, come on, that’s not worse than killing them all.” He countered, blushing even harder.I opened my mouth, but he interrupted me before I could say anything. “And at least I haven’t flirted with mom contrary to some people.” He diverted pointedly.Oh yeah, forgot that you did that. Well, what did he expect from the person who saw Flowey transform in Asriel normal appearance ant thought “Oh no, he’s cute.” then saw him transform in his god form and thought “Oh no, he’s hot!”.Now just as eager to change the subject as him, you asked. “Why do you still call Sans, trashbag?”“When I was Flowey, I was calling him that because I was bitter for all the time he defeated me in a fight.” He started.“What, Sans can fight?” You signed.“Yeah, he is even pretty strong.” Asriel then proceeded to explain everything about Sans’ way to fight, the way he dodges, his KR, the continued damage of his attacks inflicting 1 damage (on human) by 60th of second, his blasters…“Now though, I call him a trashbag because of his personality. You could murder his brother in front of his eyes, while bragging that you killed every single monster in the ruins, he still wouldn’t fight you. You could go genociding each and every monster on your way, he wouldn’t fight you until you reach his precious judgement hall.He has the power to stop people and yet he won’t do it until everyone is already dead and there is no one left to protect. How sick is that!” Asriel raised his clawed hands exasperated by Sans comportment.“It’s true that seen like that, it’s difficult to defend.” You signed pensively.We debated some more, then you went to dinner and soon enough it was time to sleep. Once more, after you closed your eyes and your breathing evened out, Asriel let go of his cheerful attitude.He transformed once more in that amorphous kid, the shape a little more affirmed, looking slightly more like Asriel than the night before. Once more he laid on the floor and ended up crying until he couldn’t stay awake. With the 2 people my existence was tied to, now asleep, I followed their lead and slept.I was startled awake in the middle of the night, and saw Asriel jolting from the ground, then calming himself, he kneeled and forced himself to take his normal appearance.Then 5 tentacles covered in white fur, and with different dog heads extended from his body. As he started to pet them, a shaky smile formed on his lips.“What was your nightmare about?” I asked.He didn’t moved his head in my direction, but one of the dog head that wasn’t currently being pet, turned their gaze to look at me. “It was a memory of one of my fights against Sans, I hadn’t developed my undodgeable ring of pellets to counter him at the time. During that fight I threw dust at his face.” He explained in a low ashamed voice.“He asked me what I was trying to do, and I answered all smug and sarcastic, something along the line of ‘What? I thought your brother would have appreciated having his remains sprinkled on the things he loves!’ After that Sans hit harder but tired himself faster.” He finished his explanation.“That’s cruel.” I remarked.“I know.” He answered remorsefully. One of the dogs nuzzled against his neck, as he changed which dog heads he pets.“They help, it’s like having 5 emotional support animals with you at all times.” He said with a weak watery laugh.“I’m glad you can have them.” I said with a compassionate smile.“Thanks, your and Frisk’s support means the world to me.” He said.“You deserve it Azzy.” I told him.“Debatable… but I will take it.” He smiled to me a little more genuinely and stood up.“I should go back to my pot and get some rest, if we don’t wana have a bad time.” He added.“Goodnight goat of Hyperdeath.” I told him with a smile.“Goodnight Chara.” He returned my smile as he took his place into his flowerpot and closed his eyes.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The following day when you came back from school you were greeted by Papyrus.“GREETINGS FRISK, AND HELLO FLOWEY!”“Hi.” You signed with a smile.“Oh, Howdy Papyrus.” Asriel greeted enthusiastically, waving his arm at the skeleton.“AS THE CHIEF OF YOUR FAN CLUB, I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAD NEVER SEEN YOU WITH ARMS BEFORE.” Papyrus remarked enthusiastically.“Yeah, that’s a new development, thanks to Frisk.” Asriel said.“WELL I’M HAPPY TO FINALLY SEE YOU ON THE SURFACE MY FRIEND!”“hi kiddo, sup weed.” Sans said, both hands tucked in his pockets.“Hi, Trashbag.” Asriel answered with a grin.“Language Flowey.” Toriel chastised him.“I have very valid reasons to call him that. I could tell you, but I don’t think that’s a conversation he would be comfortable with other witnessing.” Asriel justified himself.“There is no reason to speak in such a way, young one.” Toriel insisted crossing her arms.“yeah bud, i’m really fower-gasted that you could think that of me.” Sans punned. Toriel giggled. “if you want a fruitful talk, let’s pro-seed in the next room.” He proposed while keeping up the plant-based pun.“Shure, if it’s what we moss-t to turn a new leaf.” Asriel shrub-ed. Asriel hid a smile at that joke.“good one, weed.” Sans snickered as he grabbed Asriel’s pot.“FLOWEY, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE JOKES ALMOST AS TERIBLE AS MY BROTHER’S?” Papyrus complained.“Don’t worry Papyrus, I won’t puzzle you with those puns since you don’t like them.” Asriel smiled sweetly at him from the door Sans carried him through.Sorry Frisk, but now that I have more choice than stay stuck with you all the time, I will go see how things go for my brother for once.“so, why the nickname?” Sans asked after putting Asriel’s pot on a table.“The reason I don’t like you, smiley trashbag isn’t because of your humour, but your attitude and your actions, or more exactly the lack off.” Asriel said crossing his vegetal arms.“ ‘give up, I did’, ‘why bother doing anything since it will all be undone later.’ ” Asriel immitted, using Sans face and voice.“You’re a nihilistic piece of shit. You have great power, but you’re so lazy, that Frisk could have literally gone killing every single monster in the Underground during their journey, and you still wouldn’t fight them until they reach your precious little judgement hall. You just let people commit massacres without trying to intervene and save people. How messed up is that?!” Asriel reverted to his Fowey’s face, pointing a claw at Sans.“And don’t try to excuse that by saying that’s because of the promise you made to Toriel about how you must protect human children that leave the ruins. Frisk could have died in front of one your sentry outpost and you wouldn’t move a finger to help them. How many times as this exact situation happened, I wonder actually.” Asriel cut immediately, before Sans could say the obvious.“You say that there is no point in doing anything and that nothing matters because it will be erased later anyway.But guess what. Nothing you ever done was erased by a reset or a load, because you never did anything to begin with. You gave up on things before I even got the ability to reset.” He continued.“You don’t remember the resets, you wouldn’t even have to live the boring experience of doing the same thing over and over again, you would at most have a feeling of déjà vu. But you didn’t even had the excuse of these when you made the scientific discovery that the timeline could go back and just gave up.Frisk has promised you that they wouldn’t reset to the moment they fell in the Underground, it’s been more than three months, and you still act the same.” He pointed out.“The resets and timelines are just an excuse, and you know it. You could save people, you could change things, you could do better if you just tried, you could make Papyrus’ life easier but instead you hide behind the excuse that time-traveling exists.” Asriel accused.“If you have depression, fine. But seek help. Don’t act like your behaviour was a logical decision motivated by reason, considering the nature of reality.” He concluded.“wow…” Sans said. “have you thought about becoming a life coach?” Sans asked.“No, I’m not a good life coach. If you saw the headspace Papyrus ended up in, when I made him head of the royal guard through my coaching… it wasn’t pretty.” Asriel shook his head.“wait you not only made my brother join the royal guard, but become captain? and what do you mean by not pretty?” Sans asked.“Yeah, I did, though I was even more rude and blunt to him than I’ve been to you today. I’m not proud of what I did.” Asriel’s petals drooped as he bowed head in shame.“hey, the important is that you’re doing the right thing now.” Sans nudged Asriel’s stem with his elbow.“Thanks, I hope you will get and do better Sans, for you and the one around you. And I promise there won’t be any reset. Frisk and I might save and load, but I will try to warn you if that happens. It’s finally time to live the present and think about the future.” Asriel told the skeleton with a kind smile.“thanks flowey.” Sans said. “It was nothing smiley trashbag.” Asriel said good-naturedly.“heh, guess i can live with that nickname for some time.” Sans laughed. “you know, when papyrus first told me about a talking flower, telling him predictions, i thought the anomaly was using echo flower to pull a prank on him, not that the anomaly was a talking flower.” Sans said as he picked Asriel’s pot and walked to the other room.“Yeah, I’m full of surprises, hum.” Asriel answered amused. “sure are, bud.” Sans nodded with his everlasting smile.You, Asriel and Papyrus played some puzzle game together while Toriel and Sans joked with each other. The 2 skeleton brothers left after dinner. Ater finishing your homework with Asriel’s help and playing some more, Toriel read you a story and you went to bed.Once you were asleep, Asriel took his humanoid kidlike appearance and sat back against the opposite wall of the dark bedroom.“How are you doing on the surface?” He asked me.“Why?” I inquired.“I saw the way you act at school, particularly next adult humans. I know most of it comes from before you fell in the Underground but I’m sure the way we died didn’t help either.” He explained.“I think… I think being a ghost helps.” I answered after a moment of reflection. “I know that nobody can do anything to me.” I said.“How are you doing on the surface?” I asked after a pause.“I’m happy to be here, the overworld is so vast and so full of new things. With the new conversation topics, even when talking to monsters, I can’t predict exactly what they’re going to say anymore. I know them too well so it’s still like if I read the script beforehand but now it feels like it’s improvisation theatre instead of a formatted videogame.” Asriel explained.“Seems to suck, glad to hear that it’s improving.” I said.“Yeah, I sure don’t want to go back to when the monsters down there were little more than cheap dolls where you press this button, get that response, and repeat.” He confirmed.“Dogs are simple creature easy to content, If I had only got my old soul back, I honestly don’t know how I could face my overwhelming guilt without their constant stream of happy thought. How could I smile and laugh with Papyrus when I get flashbacks of the time, I used my vines to puppeteer his body, my flower head coming out of his eyesocket like a parasite, to fight his brother. Or look at mom when…” He finished in a strangled voice as I rushed through the air to his side.“Shh… It’s okay, all of this is in the past, it never even happened. You’re not like that anymore, you won’t do it again.” I told him as soothing as I can.“Thanks Chara, you’re the best.” He whispered.“Of course, I am.” I tried to give him an affectionate punch in the shoulder, but it passed right through it.“Hey, can you control Frisk’s body?” He asked after some silence.“Yeah, I’ve done it once or twice, why?” I asked.“Do you think you can also take possession of my body then?” He asked with a sweet smile.“Probably, why?” I shrugged.“Well, I know that the first time, didn’t went really well… but maybe we can make up for lost time by letting you control my new physical form when we both feel like it.” He proposed a little embarrassed.“I… I think that could be cool. I will think about it. But you should go sleep now, in mom’s school there is no class on Wednesday afternoon, but there still is in the morning.” I said.“Yeah, I should get some rest. Goodnight Chara.” Asriel told me with a smile.“Goodnight Azzy.” I answered and we went to sleep.Even if he was silent, I knew without looking at him that he was crying, he warned us the first day after all.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The afternoon of the following day, after school you decided to go play in the garden.Seeing such a beautiful garden, that only look like that because Asgore is allowed to come care for it from time to time despite the strained relationship between him and Toriel, fills you Both with determination.“Having a save point directly at home sure is handy.” Asriel thought.You brought his pot with you outside. He unplucked his roots from the flowerpot and sank them deep in the soil.“Hum, it feels so good to stretch my roots again, I can’t believe I’ve been cramped in this pot for only 3 days.” Asriel hummed in appreciation, closed his eyes and turned his flower head toward the sun.It was a beautiful day outside, birds were singing, flowers were blooming, perfect weather for a game of catch, and Asgore was currently in Toriel’s garden tending to the plants.“Howdy Frisk, how are you on this beautiful day?” Asgore turned around and asked you.“Hello, I’m doing well thanks.” You signed in response.“Glad to hear. And you must be the friend I heard about, Flowey right?” He turned and asked Asriel.“Howdy, it’s me indeed Flowey the Flower.” Asriel smiled at his dad.“It’s a fitting name, I like it, it’s like I could have picked it myself.” The ex-king pondered.“Yes, you could have.” Asriel nodded grinning.“I’ve never seen a flower monster before, and yet you seem familiar, it’s curious.” Asgore pondered.“Yes, that’s because I awakened to consciousness from one of the golden flowers from your garden in the throne room.” Asriel explained.“Is that true? Then I’m glad you avoided being brewed into tee. What a terrible loss it would have been. I heard from Undyne that you were the one who shattered the barrier.” Asgore said.“Yeah, I destroyed the barrier, but I wouldn’t have ever done that if it wasn’t for Frisk’s guidance.” Asriel smiled at you.“I must thank the both of you for what you did for monster-kind. You are the one who brought to my people the freedom I never could.” Asgore kneeled and patted both your and Asriel’s head.“I never could have accomplished such a feat without the 6 human souls that you gathered, Asgore.” Asriel answered.“Flowey was the one who gave me direction to go that far.” You signed while Asriel was talking.Asgore’s expression turned grim. “Maybe, but those 6 children deserved better than to die at my hands. I might have done it for my kingdom, but it’s still unforgivable.” Asgore said shaking his head.“You’ve done mistakes, you could have acted better and maybe other solutions existed and would have allowed to destroy the barrier at the cost of delaying the liberation of monsters by only a few decades. But you tried to do what was best for your people. And all those children had the power of the reset, they could decide their fate and they chose to fight you until you outlasted their determination. What you did was wrong, yes. You shouldn’t forget, but you shouldn’t dwell too much on the error of the past either. What matters is to try every day to be better and do what is right.” Asriel advised as he summoned a vine and put it on the ex-king’s shoulder.And maybe some people should listen to their own advice.“I’m trying oh, Chara! It’s just difficult when 90% of your life has been spent making those ‘mistakes’.” He thought back.“Thank you young one. I will keep your words at heart.” Asgore replied. “And reset? Is that how you call the power of human to come back and retry after death?” He asked.“Yes, I was the one with it before Frisk fell here.” Asriel confirmed.“Very well. Now Frisk, tell me, how things are going at your mother’s school?” Asgore asked you.You told him in sign language about your friend at school and some new things you learned. After your story, Asriel and you started playing in the garden, while Asgore went back to gardening. Asriel had fun burrowing into and out of the ground pretty much everywhere and tried the new strength of his vines. You and he played a few games then he decided to help dad gardening.“I heard that your trial will be this weekend.” Asriel started.“Yes, it is.” Asgore said as he pulled out some weeds form the ground.“I would like to defend you during the trial.” Asreil said as he watered a bush.“I’m not sure it is wise, Flowey.” Asgore replied.“Please, I’m not as young as I look, and I have my way with words. You deserve the best, and all your subjects would agree. I want to help.” Asriel explained.It took the 2 of you a lot of time, but you managed to convince your dad to trust the potted plant and let him defend him during the judgement. You have a plan and a goal and are determined to accomplish it. That night we were all asleep when we were startled awake by your scream. You were crying plagued by night terrors. “Hey, Frisk, it’s okay, it’s just a nightmare.” I told you as Asriel rushed by your side, solidifying his kid’s form.“Hey, shhh, it’s safe, you’re safe, nobody is attacking you. Nobody is your enemy anymore. I’m not hurting you. You saved everyone, you saved me. Everyone’s happy. Everything’s okay. You’re okay.” He whispered soothingly as he hugged you. You woke up and cried in his fur, breathing ragged.Unable to recomfort you by contact, I continued the litany of reassurance. “All the monsters are your friends now, they won’t attack you. It was just a bad dream, and you woke up. Flowey won’t hurt you anymore. You’re safe. Everything will be alright.” I reassured you.You nuzzled your face into Asriel’s fur as he rubbed soothing circles in your back, helping you to stay grounded.“Asgore will be acquitted. You are a great ambassador, monsters are thriving on the surface because of you. Everyone’s happy. There won’t be any more fight. Nobody will attack you.” I continued to whisper to you.You ended up falling asleep snuggled inside Asriel’s arm, both of you sharing the same bed like we used to, he and I, when one of us had a nightmare.You aren’t plagued by the memories of the people you hurt, like him, but by the trauma of the time you were hurt by the others, and sometime by the responsibilities and the idea of not being good enough.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You put the flowerpot containing Asriel on the “table” next to Asgore, then went back to sit at your place next to Undyne and Toriel.“On the case of the human children, Asgore plead legitim defence.” At those words pronounced with assurance by our brother, the room was filled with scoffs, comments of people dumbfounded and other outraged.“I hear your incredulity at a tall and imposing monster claiming legitim defence against human children. But when you fight a monster, on top of one’s physical strength, one’s will, intent and the strength of their will add to the force of one’s blows. In a world of humans, Frisk is a harmless child with only the physical strength of one, but in the Underground, a world of monsters, they were one of the most powerful being present. Both the ambassador Frisk and the royal guard Undyne can testimony that they inflicted serious wound to her.” Asriel explained.“Yeah, the kid sure hit like a champ!” Undyne said excitedly one fist raised in the air, looking fondly a proudly at you. You confirmed the statement with a nod.“I was there during Frisk’s fight against Asgore, oh well, if we can call it a fight. Asgore repeatedly proposed Frisk to only fight him if they wanted to, offering to delay it for as long as they want, letting them free to live in peace in the Underground without chasing them if they left. Asgore made the same proposition to each of the children before Frisk.Among the 6 children, the one with the green soul of kindness is the only one who didn’t killed a single monster on their way to Asgore. Despite though, faced with the proposition to stay alive at the condition to remain in the Underground, they all refused, determined to go back to the surface. And the only way to traverse the barrier is to posses both a human and a monster soul. Not only 5 of those children murdered Asgore’s subjects but all of them tried to kill him to steal his soul and escape back to the surface. Even though both Toriel and Asgore separately offered them the choice to live a peaceful life in the Underground without fights.” As he concluded this point, people shouted asking him how he knew that the children had killed monsters or that the king had really offered them the same proposition as to Frisk.After the judge used his hammer to request silence and the room calmed down, Asriel continued. “I know this because I’m the one who broke the barrier by wielding their souls, thus I’ve sensed their mind and saw what they did during their journeys.” He explained with a melancholic glint in his eyes.“And we started maintaining census (demographic) book to keep track of that kind of things after the second human fought me. Those are material evidence.” Asgore added, his voice doing nothing to hide his sadness.“And what about the first human that fell in the Underground, Chara Player. Her body was last seen in the arms of a monster?” A man asked in the assistance.“Chara Dreemurr was adopted in the royal family, and after 3 years they committed suicide by eating buttercups, so their adoptive brother could absorb their soul, traverse the barrier, and peacefully gather 6 human souls in hospitals or retirement home or things like that, and use them to break the barrier and free monster-kind. The monster brought Chara’s body with him so they could lay rest in the golden flowers from their village that they wanted to see a last time. Villagers misinterpreted the situation, assuming that he killed the child, they attacked the prince and despite his unfathomable powers and his sibling pleading in his head to defend himself, he didn’t replied to the aggression by violence, but merely took back Chara’s corpse and returned to their parents where their shared body succumbed from its injuries.” The visage of the flower becoming more solemn and sad as he told the story.As multiple persons scoffed or asked how he could know that, Asgore snaped out of his stunned silence and asked. “Flowey, wha-what are you talking about? Chara died of illness not… of. How- How could you say that they committed suicide?”“Because…” Asriel said as his white visage melted and white ooze flowed form it as well as from his pot. Falling from the table to the ground, the mass of white goo took the shape of a kid Boss monster with green eyes, as the rest of his flower body dissolved. The white liquid affined, becoming white fur, a green-and-yellow striped sweater and black pants. “I’m the kid who was beaten to death a century ago, while holding their body in my arms and their soul in my chest.”“My son, Asriel, is it really you? How?” Asgore asked, tears in the eyes.“My child!” Toriel exclaimed in tears.“That’s thanks to our ambassador Frisk that I got my old body back. I wanted to wait for when I’m able to control it and maintain my form before surprising you 2 with my return.” Asriel said bashfully as he hugged his father who had stood up from his chair to approach his resurrected son.We were forced to renounce the pun, that he was Asriel as it gets, in response to the questioning whether it was really happening, but doing the reveal in public at this moment had the advantage to offer a touching emotional reunion to sway the public opinion and avoid accusations of conflict of interest to arise later when it is revealed that Flowey and Asriel are the same person.To prove he wasn’t lying, Asriel showed the clips from the tape of the true lab, that only concerned the plan. There was nothing in those to prove our plan was to get those 6 souls in a non-peaceful way.“It was a pretty shitty plan, we didn’t thought about prejudices and appearances, but we were kids, and I suspect that it’s because Chara was suicidal that they climbed Mt. Ebbot in the first place. So, you couldn’t expect really much from us.” He concluded with a voice filled with sorrow.“I don’t care about you, this trial is about how my kid and 5 other children were killed by this monster!” You heard an old woman spat. She was the mother of one of the children who fell the most recently.“Kids don’t climb a cursed mountain because they are foolish, but because they have a death wish.” If it was Flowey speaking, he would have said that cold and bitter, or with sarcasm and mirth, or anger, so these words would hurt like the accusation it truly was. But that’s not Flowey but my sweet and caring brother Asriel, so he said it like it was simply a fact that saddens him. And you know that in the depth of his heart, despite of the memory of the death of tens of thousands of people, it truly is a fact that saddens him.You clench your fist because of what he said, while I snicker about the rhyme non the less. “Even Clover, who proclaimed that he jumped to bring justice to the kids who disappeared before him… A kid wouldn’t have done that if they had something to lose.” He added.“The story of all those who were trapped under Mt. Ebbot is one filled of tragedy, sorrow and sadness, of injustice, prejudice, death and loss of hope.If we don’t want history to repeat itself…If we don’t want our future to be filled with sadness but instead happiness, we have to let go of our past grievance and chose forgiveness.” After Asriel heartfelt speech, during which he started crying, causing his face to start melting, you heard whispers fill the trial room.Asriel grabbed his pot from the table next to Asgore, and went to put it beside you, he then transformed in an amorphous mass of white goo that entered the pot and sank in the dirt before taking his Flowey appearance back, not hiding Asriel’s face anymore.“I feel dirty for what I said.” He whispered while you put his pot on your knees, so Toriel and he could finally hug after so long.“Hey, I agree with you that dad should be forgiven, and even if it was a little manipulative and some details were oriented, you said mostly the truth.” I said to reassure him as he was wrapped in a hug from mom, filled with tears and sweet nothing, that he returned with his recently acquired arms.“And even if I don’t like the jab at me being suicidal… thanks for lying and depicting me as a delusional kid instead of someone guilty of premeditated attempted murder suicide.” I thanked him.“Of course, you might not be the greatest person, but you are my best friend and my sibling, I love you Chara. You’re past among humans may have tinted your judgement but you always had the good of monster-kind at heart.” He thought back to me so loud that I could hear it. I didn’t thank him for correcting the last name and the pronoun, but even if he can’t predict me, he knows me too well and knows that I’m grateful.After Asriel’s plea, the deliberation of the jury took a little while, and once finished, they announced that king Asgore was forgiven. You perked up at that and pat Asriel on his flower head. I couldn’t help but be proud of my brother for how masterfully he manipulated everyone’s opinion where he wanted to. You had both saved this morning to be able to retry the trial as many times as needed to win the case, but you managed it first try. That evening, everyone gathered at Toriel’s house (to limit the travel for the kids like you and Asriel) to celebrate Asgore’s amnesty and listen the explanation regarding the return of the long dead prince. Asriel gave a soft explanation of the story of his creation by Alphys, his state of soullessness making him unable to feel love, compassion or anything at all, how he tried to kill himself but couldn’t get through because of his determination, how his lack of empathy led him to do bad almost irreparable things, how he fought you with the power of a god (shapeshifting in his adult form for illustration), how you showed him the way, how he destroyed the barrier and then went in self-imposed isolation to avoid hurting anyone because of his lack of compassion and finally how you came back for him and what happened to Endogeny. Even with this edulcorated story, Alphys still ended a sobbing mess whispering apologies again and again but Mettaton and Undyne managed to calm her, which wouldn’t have been possible if I had got my way with the explanation the first day.Explaining the story without mentioning the concepts of reset was challenging, but since Asgore knew that those existed and was aware that the resets were tied to both your and Fowey’s tale, he went along with every shortcut in the narrative used to keep the story logic without disclosing the existence of the reset.Asriel explained that he wasn’t skilled enough yet to maintain his Asriel’s appearance constantly and that he had 2 true forms. The first one being a slightly bigger than normal Flowey with Asriel’s face and 2 vegetal arms. And the second one being Endogeny but covered of thorny vines and with 6 golden petals around the black hole on what looks like its head. In this form the 5 now sane dogs can speak through the mouth of the dog shape shadows between its limbs.After the celebration, Alphys, Mettaton and Undyne were the first to leave, followed later by the skeleton brothers. Mom, dad and Asriel talked until late in the night to make up for lost time, even far after you went to bed.In the end it was too late, so Toriel made Asgore stay and sleep on the couch instead of going back to his own house at this hour. Asriel didn’t mentioned the guestroom that Asgore could sleep in and he didn’t either. Let’s not take more than what mom offered. When he went to your room, you were peacefully asleep. He yawned.“I saw you flinch during the trial, Chara. And... the knifes weren’t hidden by fear of you murdering someone... I know that your hate of humans won’t disappear in 3 months on the surface. Frisk and I can’t get it because I won’t trust any human with the knowledge that they can control time just by going in the Underground and being motivated enough, but you can get therapy. We can explain to the therapist the story of possession and what happened to you. If you don’t want mom and dad to know about your existence, we can pretend that the therapy is for me or Frisk or both. But by seeking therapy you can start to heal from everything you suffered.” He told me.“I… I’m not sure about that.” I answered.“It’s okay, take your time to think about it. And don’t worry Chara, if it’s help, I will be with you at each step of the journey.” He reassured me.“Thanks Azzy.” I said. Then we wished each other goodnight.That night too he cried but before letting myself fall asleep like you, I took control of his body and used his arms to hug him. He smiled at my antics, and on that happy night none of you had nightmare.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Toriel ended up letting Asgore stay until lunch, because despite how much she despises him for his actions, she can’t bring herself to deny him time with their son that had just returned after all this time they mourned him.“Mom, can I help you prepare breakfast?” Asriel asked.“Are you sure my son? You never really were the one to help in the kitchen.” Toriel asked.“I’m sure. You would be surprised by what I did while I was dead.” He answered with a smile. He was implying that since his death he spent time learning to cook, which to be fair is true, but what would really surprise her if she knew what he did in the resets, would be the countless atrocities.“I won’t confuse cups of butter and buttercups ever again while baking.” Asriel joked. At Toriel and Asgore horrified faces, his smile dropped.“Sorry, way too soon. I forgot that you only learned about it yesterday.” He apologized and awkwardly went in the kitchen.While Asriel and Toriel were preparing a copious breakfast and Asgore was in the garden to not intrude, you asked me a few questions and I relied you what Asriel told me during one of our late-night conversation. As a flower he was still able to taste and it was the closest thing to feeling anything at all, even if Flowey didn’t need to eat to live. He not only learned with mom, Muffet, Grillby and the master cook from MTT’s luxury restaurant, but also improved and came up with his own recipes. Even eating variety of the best deashes possible couldn’t do anything to fill the emptiness inside him so he grew tired of it and eventually stopped eating altogether.“As Flowey, Asriel didn’t need to eat at all?” You asked in your thought.“From what he told me, he has less energy if he doesn’t eat or sleep, but he doesn't need those to stay alive.” I answered.“Wait, so you’re saying that the Flowey we fought was a version that starved for maybe 5 years or so and was potentially sleep deprived?” You asked me, surprise filling your thought.“Well, for the last part, no idea if he was or not, but about the first part, pretty much, yeah.” I told you with a shrug.Asriel and Toriel came back to the living room with dishes, and you went in the garden to call Asgore. Judging by all your faces, what was cooked was delicious.“Do you want to take my place for the rest of the breakfast to taste what they prepared?” You thought to me.After a moment of reflection, I nodded and took control of your body. Asriel raised an eyebrow at the exchange. I smiled at him and enjoyed the meal. It was indeed really good.You, Asriel, mom and dad spent some quality time together that morning and it would have looked just like good old time if it wasn’t for Toriel and Asgore’s obviously still strained relationship and that Asriel spent the morning alternating between his child, adult and flower form.Asriel helped Toriel make lunch. After the delicious meal, Asgore left but there was nothing to worry about since he would be the one guarding you next weekend anyway.That afternoon you two went in the garden to play with Asriel shapeshifting abilities.“Is this all the, so called oh Absolute God of Hyperdeath can do?” I made fun of him for the barely recognisable Hyper Goner he transformed into.“That’s rich coming from you Chara. Don’t pretend you weren’t chanting the names of all my attacks during my fight against Frisk. Oh, demon that comes when you call its name” He teased back transforming into the Asriel of my childhood to cross his arms and raise a playful eyebrow.“Yeah, but only because the music you summoned by magic during the fight was super cool.” I pouted arms crossed.You laughed at our banter, and I exchanged a look with Asriel, understanding flashing between us as we smirked. I know someone who will need all their determination to not be tickled to death. That night while you were asleep, awaiting for sleep to find us, I asked him, what was the hardest or more epic fight he had, aside from Sans.“Well, for the frustratingly difficult to beat were mom and dad, not because of the technicity of the fight or anything but because of how effective their fire magic was on my flower body.” Asriel answered.“Yeah, that make sense.” I commented.“Regarding the epic battles… You see how in the Underground, Alphys sometimes hang out with Undyne at her house, and Mettaton tags along?” He asked.“I think Frisk and I heard about it at some point.” I nodded.“Well, one day, they showed up while Papyrus was there, so I popped out of the ground in the centre of the room. And then, I attacked Alphys to grab their attentions and fought against the 3 others at the same time.” He explained.“Seriously, simultaneously Papyrus, Undyne and Mettaton?” I whistled quietly.“Yep.” He nodded. “Onionsan was more a HP sack, not all that great at attacking.” He said trying to think of a battle to tell me about.“Another of the most thrilling fight was at Grillby’s when I fought the 5 royal guard dog all together.” Asriel added.“Wow, Dogamy and Dogaressa already have a crazy level of teamwork, I can barely imagine how it was to fight Dogo, Grater Dog and Lesser Dog on top of that.” I commented.“The difficulty of fight doesn’t just depend on the number of opponents, because with their defence of -20, the time I faced all the habitants of the Temmie village was less of a fight and more of a slaughter. But yeah, the canine unit of the royal guard was on the same level of difficulty as Undyne in her undying form, if not higher since I had way less LOVE against them.” He confirmed.“What do you mean an undying form?” I asked.He told me everything about Undyne the undying and I couldn’t help but fan-gender-neutral-ing over her. Asriel had to shush me a few times to avoid waking you up. She was, like the true heroine of the story, defending the hopes and dreams of everyone even beyond death, reforming herself by her own determination to save Earth. That’s so cool. In the end, Asriel had to thraw a pillow-shaped bundle of vines at (or more accurately through) me to tell me to go to sleep.In this family, we were still all (you included) far form okay, but we were far happier than we’ve been in years.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Now that it was revealed that Flowey was Asriel since he died at the age of 12 and Frisk was only 9 they weren’t in the same class anymore. It wasn’t really a problem for you, after all you already went at this school without Asriel before going back to the Underground to bring him up to the surface. On top of that you had few monster friends in your class such as Monster Kid, Ice Cap and Heats Flamesman. You also had made one or two human friends.Toriel had already told Asriel about the seating arrangement in his class, the day before. He entered in his new classroom a little early to avoid the awkward stare that he would get if he entered the room in his child form holding a flower pot only to put it on his chair and transformed into white goo to sink into the dirt then come out as a flower. It would have been a weird first impression, even for a class that had come used to a few monsters. He would wait for others to get used to see him present here during the few hours before the next moment he would have to move.There weren’t many monsters in Asriel’s class, only a Temmie and a bunny monster. To be fair there was a bunny monster in almost every class, because they tended to have large families. At the beginning of the course, the teacher made Asriel presents himself. It felt strange and exciting all at once for him to introduce himself as Asriel again after so much time. During the quick round table where each student's presented themselves, he learned that one of the girls was mute. He used sign language to exchange few words with her during the course while the teacher had their back turned.During break Asriel went to play with you and Monster Kid. You ended up playing a quick party of dodgeball together with 2 Ice Caps, a bunch of rabbits and 3 Temmies. Without a surprise none of them managed to hit you with the ball. Other monsters thought that it would be easy to touch Asriel since he was a flower literally rooted to the ground, but with his ability to burrow in and out of the ground he dodged just as effortlessly as you. The monster unfit for such a game like Heats Flamesman and the 2 children blobs from Snowdin were watching the game interested. There was only Asriel and you left in each opposing team when the bell rang signalling the end of recess.The following lessons passed without anything notable. Asriel joined you and Monster Kid to eat lunch at the cafeteria. M.K. put down the drawing he was carrying in his mouth, on his tray. Like every other time you carried his tray for him.“Yooo you’re the prince? That’s so cool!” Monster Kid said excited. Asriel nodded smiling at the lizard in striped shirt.“You were super impressive at dodgeball Frisk how did you became so good at this?” Monster Kid asked you. “In the Underground most monsters started by firing magical projectiles at me when we first met. It sure forces you to become great at dodging.” You answered smiling as you held out a fork with his food on it to him. He munched on it, grateful for your help. Since M.K. doesn’t have hands, you got used to feed him his food.“Yooo it’s been only 3 month, and it already feels like forever ago, so much has changed since then, I almost forgot.” The armless raptor said. Then he turned back towards Asriel.“But if you’re king Asgore and teacher Toriel’s son, why do you look like a flower most of the time?” The kid asked crooking his head to the side.“Well when I died my dust fell in the ground of dad’s garden and a flower grew out of it. My essence lived on through that flower so when Alphys made some scientific experiment on it, that brought me back to life.” Asriel explained miming half the story. You were surprised he told his story so casually like that to M.K. but Asriel knew him better and knew the kid would take it well.“Wooo! Usually when monsters kick the bucket they just turn to dust, but you, you came back from the dead and broke the barrier. That’s so cool!” The yellow monster mused impressed.“Don’t give me all the credit, Frisk too was there to destroy the barrier.” Asriel laughed.“Nah, Frisk already know how cool they are, they don’t need me to remind them.” M.K. said teasingly with his mouth full of his dessert.“Oh, how does sunlight taste like?” He then asked all excited.“Radiation and fire.” Asriel answered. You snickered at this answer. “And well, also sugar because photosynthesis generate sugar.” He added. “Make sense.” You hummed.You three continued to speak together until you had to go to your respective classes.Today Toriel finished after you and Asriel, so Undyne came to pick you two up after the end of school day. You judged it as greatly unnecessary considering you were just a few minutes of walk away from home. There was no danger considering that you could beat any monster, and Asriel could beat any human. But coming from a mother who lost her 8 previous children, you guessed that being protective made sense.At home, Undyne occupied you until Toriel return with a videogame. The game wasn’t really adapted to your age, but honestly compared to what you and Asriel went through, it wasn’t much so you didn’t point it out.You had fun playing the game together for some time, and to the surprise of absolutely no one who knows Flowey, it appeared that Asriel was a completionist. “Azzy, you’re awake?” I asked him.“Chara, you’re consciousness is bound to mine and Frisk’s. You know I’m awake otherwise you would be asleep already.” Asriel yawned.“I was wondering, If I was the first human to ever fall in the Underground why did the legend about how travellers who climb Mt. Ebott are said to disappear, already exist?” I asked him.“Oh yeah that’s a good question. During my resets I did my research and I can assure you that no human ever fell in the Underground before you. So my theory is that it started with the knowledge that monsters were trapped there that transformed in a legend. Then some people started to use the legend of the monsters of Mt. Ebott to runaway and disappear pretending that they went there. And that’s how the legend that those who climb Mt. Ebott never return stated.” He explained.“I don’t know it seems like a bit of a small thing to start such a rumour.” I said pensively.“I’m pretty sure there was a serial killer that used the legend to disguise his crimes and who was dumping the corpses of his victim in the main entrance with the barrier. Though I’m not sure how long ago it was. It could have been because of that person that the legend evolved from monsters to the curse mountain from which no one comes back, or they only used it to disguise their murders after the legend started because of the people running away.” Asriel said enthusiast to share his discoveries.“Wow, a serial killer? That’s so cool. How do you know there was one?” I asked, smelling the juicy story.“So you remember during the construction of the castle of New Home, when mom and dad forbade us to go see the barrier for a week or so?” He asked me.“Yeah.” I nodded, floating closer to him.“Well much later I learned, that at the time it was because they found the bones of slain humans there. There was only the bones of the victims left when we were kids, so it must have been a really long time ago that this killer was in activity.” He whispered even more quietly than we usually do while talking at night.“Wow it’s crazy, I would have never guessed that such thing happened and influenced the story of Mt. Ebott.” I mused.“So, to sum up my answer as to why the legend of the cursed mountain exists. It started with a legend of monsters living under Mt. Ebott, particularly persistent because of its historical reality. Then this legend was instrumentalised by multiple people as many disappearances due to different reasons were blamed on Mt. Ebott. Then I guess the stories continued to fed of each other until they kinda became true with you and then the 6 following children.” Asriel summarized.“Oh, that makes me think, next time we go to Alphys and Undyne’s house, we could sneakily ask Alphys for police series dvds.” I suggested with a smile that would probably scare a few of your classmates. My brother only rolled his eyes fondly at the smile.“You sure Chara, most of those series are at least forbidden for children under 10 years old, if not older.” He pointed out.“Come on Azzy, Frisk survived the Underground and fought Omega Flowey, they will be fine. And you don’t have to tell Alphys that Frisk will watch with us.” I replied.“Fine.” He agreed. “Good night Chara, I will try to give some rests to the dogs I share my body with.”“Sleep well, Azzy.” I told him. “I hope.” He muttered.Even as he was attacked by his own innerdemons, Asriel’s form, now tucked under covers in his new bed, seemed more stable than a week ago despite the tears flowing from his closed eyes.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next day at school, Asriel used his kid appearance more. He still had to think about it regularly and put some effort into it to not melt without realising it, but he managed to not give a scare to the other children in his class.I wasn’t too sure about how to feel about you using me like an invisible messenger to relay message between you two while you weren’t in the same room. But I guess it was a little more fun that just watching you study.Asriel, M.K., you and your rare human friends were having fun playing tag together when M.K. tripped and fell to the ground headfirst.Some wretched human kid and his group of friends started laughing at Monster Kid and insulting him. Those bastards seemed to be looking for a fight, and I would gladly give them.“Stop… they’re not worth it.” Asriel said, shaking his head.You and my brother tried to defuse the tension then you and your friend left to continue to play away from those bullies.I was positively fuming after what they said and tried to do, but at least no one was hurt.When you walked back home together with Toriel, you told her what happened, but she told you that sadly there wasn’t much she could do. Trying to talk with the boy’s parents was useless since her mother was a teacher and totally on the side of her son.After finishing your homework, you went to play outside with Monster Kid.“Yo! In what else can you transform?” M.K. asked.“hum…” Asriel thought rubbing his chin with his vegetal arms. “In a giant creepy dog. Do you want a ride?” He proposed, his stem perking up.“Oh, yeah do that it will be fun!” You signed excited.Asriel’s face melted as far too much white goo to fit, flowed from it, leaving only a black void between his petals. White mass oozed from his roots in the soil and surged morphing Asriel in a copy of Endogeny covered of vines (some thorny other smooth) with 6 golden petals surrounding the gaping black hole on his face.“Yo that’s awesome! Nyeh heh heh!” Monster Kid said with stars in his eyes.“I want a ride!” You signed.“Okay, then jump on.” Asriel said crouching down so you and M.K. could climb on his back.Without arms, M.K. used his mouth to hold one of Asriel’s vines to avoid falling as Asriel ran in the park, carrying you like a steady mount. You couldn’t help but laugh, you've never been on many amusement park rides, but you thought this one was better than any of those would. M.K. was grinning despite the vine he was biting on.“Yo! You’re almost as cool as Papyrus… whoa!” The armless raptor gushed before almost falling after letting go of the vine. But you caught him in time.“Yeah, Papyrus is the best isn’t he.” Asriel said, slowing a little after noticing that M.K. almost fell. You agreed with Azzy. I still preferred Undyne but I had to admit that Papyrus wasn’t bad either.“Yeah, I’m his biggest fan out there!” M.K. said since you still had an arm behind his back to steady him.“Really?” Asriel asked.“Yep. Once I went to see him carrying a photo in my mouth and he signed it for me. I have an autograph from the great Papyrus. Nyeh heh heh!” Monster Kid added. Wednesday afternoon Sans came home and spent his time cracking jokes with Toriel. Some were funny but most were of a calibre, debatable at most.“well tori, you’re a dreemurr come true.” Sans joked?“This one doesn’t even remotely make Sans.” Asriel groaned jokingly throwing a remote at Sans. Obviously, he dodged.“Good one my son.” Toriel laughed.“oh you joined the pun contest, did you felt leaf out?” Sans fired at Asriel.“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Asriel asked, raising an eyebrow.“nah, i've done a ton of things already. a…” Sans started to say.“A skele-ton!” You finished before he could.“oh no, am i becoming so predic-table?” Sans asked, slumping on the table for emphasis.“To be fair, predictability is kinda your thing.” Asriel snickered at his private joke.“Don’t let it get under your skin my friend, there is no need to tire you to the bone searching new puns.” Toriel said with a smile.“you’re right, i don’t have to pull my hair out trying to be humerus.” Sans said throwing finger guns at Toriel.She bit a laugh. “I must go retrieve the food from the oven. Frisk will you be a dear and come with me to help?” Toriel said. You nodded and followed.“come back soon, i can’t say pun without ‘u’.” Sans answered. Frisk snickered.“Asriel, Sans be good won’t you.” Toriel said.“sure, i will try-angle, but are you…” Sans answered then started to say something before being interrupted by Asriel.“I forbid you to finish that joke about angles and my mom being acute.” My bother said dryly. I hope you didn’t interrupted him at… a bad time.“why being so obtuse?” Sans asked with a different angle-based pun.“Don’t you dare try to date my mother. You’re a shitty boyfriend, she deserves better.” Asriel warned him.“relax bud, you seem as tense as a spring. fl-however, where did you goat the idea that i was a bad boyfriend, I never dated anyone before, kid.” The skeleton joked.“wait, did you… ?” Sans asked suddenly shaken by a possibility.“Don’t feel special, I’ve dated everyone in the Underground except mom, dad, your brother, and the kid and teens. And obviously neither the person who were in couples at the time.” Asriel dismissed rolling his eyes and left a dumbfounded Sans behind as he went to help Toriel in the kitchen.“god, i’ve dated toris’ son. i’ve dated a flower. i’ve dated the freaking anomaly.” Sans muttered in deep existential crisis. “god… angel, i can’t even swear to god, the guy has been god… and he’s the literal angel too.” He groaned.“that’s why i make so much pun. because my life is a joke.” Sans said as he took a ketchup bottle out of his pocket and started to drink.When you came back Toriel and Sans continued to joke and laugh together but there was no comment resembling flirting.“Goodbye Sans.” Toriel said waving him off.“bye tori.” He replied closing the door behind him.“You can be her sun though.” Said Asriel who had burrowed out of the ground next to the skeleton, in his Flowey form.“what?” Sans asked.“Just stay 149 597 871 km away from her.” Asriel said twisting his head at 360°.“cold.” The skeleton said, amused by the use of astronomy.“No more seriously trashbag, you deserve some praise. Not everyone mange to be the lacklustre one in a relationship with someone who literally doesn’t have emotion.” Asriel laughed before burrowing back into the ground and going back into the house. “Do you think I went too far with Sans today?” Asriel asked me that night after you fell asleep.“No, he can be funny at times, but honestly after the way he treated the promise he made to mom, there is no way I’m letting him have her heart.” I huffed.“Hum” Asriel said pensively while petting the head one of the dogs. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked.“As a matter of fact, yes I do.” I nodded. “We can find excuses for any monster. But him, Mom made him promise to protect the next human child that would come through the door of the ruins. And yet he didn’t do anything. The first time that Frisk was chased by Undyne they saw him sleeping in his sentry station in Hotland. Frisk stopped to ask Sans for help and Undyne impaled them with her spear right before his stand. Frsik died in front of the sentry station of that liar supposed to protect them, while he continued to sleep completely unbothered by Frisk’s cry for help.” I ranted in hushed whispers next to Asriel.
“Yeah, I would like to say I’m sorry that I made him like this. But he was already like that when I woke up a little more than 5 years ago.” Asriel sighed.“I can forgive Undyne it was her duty and she was doing what she thought was right. But Sans he was supposed to protect Frisk. He had literally just one job. Instead, he just used the promise as some kind of excuse to not do anything at all, ever.” I added.“Yeah, its easy to forgive the monsters that attacked Frisk because they were all supposed to do that. It was the system and history to blame. But trashbag was the one person in the whole Underground supposed to be Frisk’s ally, so him not giving a shit as they were murdered in front of him feels like betrayal. The blame of his inaction falls wholly on him.” He said seeing my point.“And tomorrow Toriel finishes after Frisk and you so we're supposed to go to the skeleton brothers’ house before she comes back.” I sighed.“Heh, at least there will be Papyrus, not just Sans.” Asriel shrugged. Before resting his head on his pillow, looking forlornly at the ceiling.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Thursday afternoon Asriel and Frisk went to play at the skeleton brother’s house. “Hello.” “Hi.” You and Asriel said as you entered.“GREETINGS, FRISK AND ASRIEL, NYEH HEH HEH.” Said Papyrus, welcoming you at the door.“sup, kids.” Sans said from his position on the couch. You went to sit next to Sans.Asriel hugged Papyrus smiling brightly still happy at simply being able to do it at all after so long as a flower. Despite not being the most expressive child out there, a small smile tugged at your lips, seeing the once psychopathic flower enjoy himself with a friend.“WELCOME TO MY NEW HOUSE! ENJOY MY FRIEND AND TAKE YOUR TIME!!!” Papyrus said releasing Asriel from his hug, enthusiastic to have someone new to show his house to.As Asriel looked around the house he marked a pause, shocked by what he saw. “Wait, but that’s EXACTLY the same house as in Snowdin.” He remarked.“YEAH I KNOW, IT’S AWESOME THAT WE MANAGED TO FIND ONE THAT LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE OUR OLD HOME!” Papyrus said excitedly.Asriel went next to the TV and looked intently. “It’s not just a hose that looks the same. It’s literally the same. There is even the same sock with the same dialogues of post-it as when you left the Underground.” Asriel highlighted.“yeah, i picked the…” Sans started to say, as unbothered as always.“… sock down there and brought it here.” Asriel finished Sans’ excuse before he could, rolling his eyes.Asriel climbed the stairs asking you and the other to follow him. Not wanting to take the stairs, Sans sighed and used a short cut from the couch to his room and joined you on the first floor.“Then explain me why there is this hole behind this painting?” Asriel challenged, tilting the painting of a bone hanged between the doors of the 2 skeletons bedrooms, and revealing indeed a hole in the wall.“MY FRIEND HOW DID YOU KNEW THERE WAS A HOLE IN THAT WALL?” Papyrus asked impressed.“Because I knew there was a hole at this exact same spot hidden behind the painting back in Snowdin.” Asriel explained to his friend.“that’s because this hole had sentimental value, so i recreated it.” Sans shrugged. Asriel facepalmed. “i’m not gona lie…” Sans started with the tone of a joke coming. “…enlarging the drilled hole was boring.” Asriel groaned the end of Sans’ construction joke before he could. I snickered at the slight change in Sans face as Azzy predicted his sentence and interrupted him with it a second time.“And because it has sentimental value you hide it behind a painting?” You asked innocently with a smug smirk fitting of a naughty kid, now interested by what it all means.“of course, do…” Sans explained. “…n’t want anyone to steal it.” Asriel finished the chubby skeleton answer. He was probably able to predict sentences like that of any monster, but Sans was the only one Asriel had no remorse being rude to, like that.“BROTHER I’M PROUD YOU DID ALL THOSE EFFORTS TO BRING EVERYTHING DEAR TO YOU!” Papyrus said smiling at his brother.“thanks paps.” Sans said.“The interior layout of the house isn’t compatible to the it’s exterior structure. The exterior shape of the house is different and yet we’re in the inside of your Snowdin house.” Asriel highlighted, pointing with his hand at a wall that, in all logic, shouldn’t be able to fit.“WOWI, IT’S TRUE, THERE SHOULD BE A WALL HERE, NOT A ROOM. SANS, YOUR CARPENTER’S SKILLS ARE AMAZING!” Papyrus exclaimed.“yeah, i put some backbone into it. and the capitate detail is you didn’t even need to lend a hand.” Sans joked pointing at the capitate bone of his hand.“SAAANS, WHY DO YOUR PUN HAVE TO BE SO BAD!” Papyrus groaned.“Wait that’s not even the first time. All of Sans’ sentry stations are the same too.” You remarked, remembering the time a monster in brought to your attention the snow layer from Snowdin on the roof of Sans’ sentry station in Hotland. You were sure tibia onto something. And that glare you gave me won’t change anything.Papyrus eyes landed on the clock on the wall on the opposite side of the stairs, and his confused expression lightened. “FRISK OUR MUTUAL FRIEND, COME, MY FAVORITE EMISSION IS ABOUT TO START!” The tall skeleton said to the small human child.“last one on the couch is a lazy bone.” Sans said as he used a short cut, jumping on the distraction offered by his brother. “Last one on the couch is a lazy bone.” Asriel said at the same time knowing that he would use it as an excuse to deflect and jumping down the stairs to not get outdone. When the challenge registered in your mind, you gave a smile at Papyrus next to you and ran down the stairs.“stopStop repeatingrepeating whatwhat iI say!say!” Sans and Asriel said at the same time when the skeleton realised that the prince had done it again, Sans already on the couch and Asriel taking a sit on the opposite side.“fartmaster!Fartmaster!” They said simultaneously pointing at each other.“schrödingerSchrödinger equation!equation!” Sans said trying to surprise Asriel, but the same words left the child’s lips.“i’mYou’re aa stupidstupid doodoodoodoo butt.butt.” Sans and Asriel said at the same time. Now siting next to our brother, you laughed at the way he dodged Sans’ trap.“hey!Hey!” Asriel imitated Sans expression of offense with a shit eating grin.“whowho wouldwould havehave expectedexpected aa goatflower copycat.copycat.” Sans and Asriel said together.“ha you made a mistake there kid.” Sans laughed at the pout from Asriel.“Yeah, not used to be anything else than a weed yet.” Asriel groaned.“NOW THAT YOU TWO HAVE FINISHED LET’S ENJOY THE SHOW!” Papyrus said sitting between you and Sans after turning the TV on since he was the last anyway.“Did you really tear the fabric of space and time with some large-scale quantum entanglement just because you were too lazy to pack and unpack to move to a new house like normal people?” Asriel asked with a sternum look.“no need to be so frontal about it. i’m not a robot but…” Sans shrugged pointing at his frontal bone. “…yeah. Guilty as charged. …” The prince continued his reply with a smirk, then stopped and made a move to zip his mouth when Sans glared at him.“though it took several stapes, there was nothing temporal about it.” Sans finished with his everlasting smile, pointing at the 2 bones he mentioned. The almost only books about (instead of by) humans in the Underground being anatomy books, I got the joke, and I had to admit this one was clever.“Why am I not surprised.” I commented, making Asriel snort.“Not to sound paran-hyoid but why trying to be so incus-picuous about it?” Asriel asked. Papyrus laughed at his joke.“because when people find out, they tend to ask too much questions i don’t have the energy to answer. if i could find a house which fit the pattern of our old one better, i would have.” Sans shrugged. Going to the fridge in the kitchen to retrieve a ketchup bottle.“Undyne build her own house, you could have done the same.” You piped in enthusiastically.“HUMAN, DOES MY BROTHER LOOKS LIKE A LUMBAR-JACK? HE CAN’T BUILD A HOUSE.” Papyrus replied to you with a joke of his own.“bro, i’ve build cervical things, i’m a-proximal-y a phalange away from being professional.” Sans joked winking at his brother as he sat back on the couch.“THAT’S IT SANS, ONE MORE PUN AND YOU’RE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE TO PREPARE THE SNACKS!” Papyrus said exasperated by his brother’s last joke, and increased the volume of the new episode of Mettaton’s show.“oh come on, where is your funny bone?” Sans asked before using a short cut to disappear. “SANS, YOU BETTER BE IN THE KITCHEN RIGHT NOW!” Papyrus said standing from the couch and going to look for his brother.The two children were left to watch the TV alone. Asriel looked at the flashy robot on the screen and after a moment he sighed.“I don’t like him.” Asriel groaned.“Why?” You asked.“Because he’s a terrible person. He tried to murder you” Asriel said. “I mean, every monster that attacked you either did it out of ignorance, not knowing that magic and bullet pattern would endanger you, or because they thought that humans are inherently evil. But Mettaton doesn’t have anything against humans, on the contrary he likes them and want to be idolized by humans. He tried to murder you for fame. No big purpose, no desire to accomplish something, he wanted to slaughter an innocent kid on live TV only for views. Mettaton tried to kill you for the drama, for the action, just to selfishly satisfy his own ego. And on top of that he wanted to keep your soul for himself and betray Asgore.” Asriel clarified his reason.“Sure, he’s flawed, and he decided to go against Alphys’ instructions for their little play, hired people to kill me and then tried to murder me himself but we became friends.” You replied.“Can you really consider Mettaton a friend? Mettaton’s emission had an average of 50 viewers on good days with spikes at 200. He only become your ‘friend’ after you helped him accomplish audiences beyond his wildest dreams with more than 10,000 simultaneous viewers. He only befriended you because you gave him the fame he wanted, and he continue because you gave him access to a boundless amount of new people to try to transform into fans, and because as the monster ambassador you’re a useful connection.” Asriel argued.“I see your point, but I think you’re exaggerating.” You said.“I respect your opinion, but I don’t like him. He cut all ties with his family in his attempt to become famous after he got his body. He is a terrible boss who mistreat his employees. He sure isn’t a good friend either. If you consider the way he treated Alphys. He was… How would I put it… ‘not the greatest to her.’ Did he apologised for trying to kill you for his own personal gain after becoming your friend?” Asriel asked you.“Well no, but he’s patched things up with his family. Napstablook and him live together in the house opposite to ours, now. Maybe he’s changing” You informed Asriel.“I don’t know. From what I saw, Mettaton is a psychopath with very few remorse. If he became the king of the Underground he would become a dictator brainwashing the entire kingdom with his television show. He would build countless statues in his own image, instore a cult of personality and legally force everyone to worship him. On top of that he would literally ‘make disappear’ anyone who dares to question him.” Asriel added sombrely.“How do you know, it never happened?” You questioned.“Because I know every denizen of the Underground better than they know themselves. I’ve seen them in every possible scenario. I’ve seen many monsters ending up sitting on my father’s throne in my time. Obviously, the situation wouldn’t be exactly the same in the case you ventured through the Underground and left, with the human souls vanishing and all, but I can guess what would happen form the dystopian society I saw this narcissistic murderer create when he was the ruler.” Asriel explained.“… What’s a dystopia?” You asked. Before Asriel could start explaining Papyrus and Sans came back with a bag of chips and a pack of dinosaur-shaped cookies.“WHAT WERE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT?” Papyrus inquired, half dragging Sans behind him.“We were talking about what we prefer about Mettaton.” Asriel said turning to look at Papyrus with a bright innocent smile. “I think the musical segment with Napstablook and Shyren he added to his show really bring a breath of fresh air.” He added picture perfect of happiness and excitement.We glanced at each other as Asriel patiently listened to Papyrus gush about Mettaton as if this conversation never happened.After finishing the latest episode of Mettaton newest show, Papyrus, Asriel and you played some puzzle games and board games during an hour.“Papyrus?” Asriel asked.
“YES MY FLOWERY FRIEND.” Papyrus said.“Could you give me your scarf? I would like to surprise a friend with it.” Asriel said.“OH, A SURPRISE TO MAKE A FRIEND HAPPY, OF COURSE THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HELP!” Papyrus replied, handing him his scarf.“Thanks, I'm sure he will take great care of it.” Asriel said smiling.Toriel came not long after and brought you home. “You seem to dislike Mettaton very much.” I commented in the silent room after you fell asleep.“Yes, he's a murderer.” Asriel replied.“So are you. So is dad. So we would have been as children if we succeeded.” I reminded.“That's not the same. Dad only killed humans. For Mettaton it's not about war or inter species conflict, he killed monsters in some timelines. Yes, I killed monster too but... I know how dispicable I am.” He replied.“Do you think your distaste for the ghost possessed robot star is because he reminds you of yourself, of you as Flowey?” I asked.“What are you my therapist?” He joked.“No, I don't think it's that really. It's more about the way he is treated. He's way worse than Asgore but mom hates dad while she has no problem handing Frisk to Mettaton. Alphys too did terrible things. I know she committed untold atrocities, but at least she get frowned upon by Toriel. Same thing with Muffet, yes she's unrepentant about her negative traits, but some people dislike her for her greed and her bully behavior. But Mettaton is worse and no one seems to care, he's liked by most people.
... I guess that's more the injustice that frustrates me the most.” He explained.“ I guess I can see where you're coming from...” I said.“I don't find his motivations worth forgiving, I think.” He added. I hummed.“Good night, Azzy.” I added.“You know I would forgive you if you did similar things, Chara. Right?” He breathed.“Why do you say that?” I asked.“Just want you to know.” He sighed quietly.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Okay children, to start this Friday’s geography class, you will have to color the map I’m distributing, then name at least 5 rivers and 7 cities on it.” The teacher said, handing the sheets of paper.“You’ll see Frisk, today I’ll finish every exercise before you!” Monster Kid challenged you, using his foot to grab a crayon and starting to color the map in front of him. You laughed at the challenge from your friend and started to work too.“No feet on the tables please!” The teacher reminded.“Oh dang.” Monster Kid sighed, dropping his crayon and putting his foot back under his desk. Unable to use his feet to hold a pen to write or draw, M.K. was forced to pick his crayon with his mouth to continue.You continued working focused on your sheet until you heard coughing coming from Monster Kid next to you."Uhm... yo, Frisk? Can I borrow a blue crayon? I think I swallowed mine." M.K. asked with a grimace.“Of course, here take it. I will color the rest while you use it.” You signed before giving him the crayon.“Thanks.” He said taking it.“But maybe you should go to the infirmary, just to make sure you don’t have problems because of the crayon you swallowed. Would you want me to accompany you at recess?” You asked aloud to make sure he understood. Monster Kid nodded in agreement.“It’s an individual work, no chatter please.” The teacher said.“Chara, can you tell Asriel to not wait for us, at recess?” You asked me in thought. You can consider it done. I left you to go to Asriel and explained to him the situation with your armless friend.After the nurse confirmed there was nothing to worry about and you and Monster Kid finished the following class, you joined Asriel for lunch.“Howdy Monster Kid, how are you today.” Asriel greeted when he spotted you and your friend.“Yo, Asriel! Sorry for this morning, Frisk took me to the infirmary to check something but I’m all good.” The armless raptor monster replied.“Yeah, they told me about it.” Asriel said nodding. “I have a gift for you!” He added with a big smile. He took a red scarf from his backpack and tied it around M.K.’s neck.“This is Papyrus scarf. I know you’re his number one fan, so I thought you might like it.” Asriel explained with a warm smile.“Yooo! That’s so cool! Thanks. Nyeh heh heh!” Monster Kid said with stars in his eyes.“And that’s not all, you can use it like some sort of pouch bandana thingy, so you can carry things at proximity for quick usage and still speak.” Asriel explained proud of himself.“Woah! Frisk your big brother is the best!” M.K. said, headbutting you playfully for emphasis.“I know right.” You chuckeled. “A little high maintenance cost though.” You added with a shit eating grin.“High maintenance, me? Oh, the betrayal!” Asriel gasped in fake hurt, dramatically leaning his stem back and flicking his petals to the side. You and your yellow friend giggled at the flower’s antics.“If you want, I could teach you how to write using your tail.” Asriel proposed to the monster boy.“Really, you could do that?” The boy in question asked.“Of course. Who needs arms? I’ve done stuff for like a century without those.” Asriel replied, shooting a vine from the soil of his flowerpot to grab his fork instead of his vegetal hands then took a bite of his food to illustrate his point.“Sure, with this method you won’t have a pretty handwriting, but it will be faster than writing with your mouth and teachers won’t have any problems with it like they do with your feet.” He clarified.“Yo, thanks that would be a cool trick to learn.” Monster Kid said excitedly. “You could come at my house after school to show me.” He proposed.“hmm” Asriel hummed. “You live in the same street as us, right?” He inquired.“Yeah, my home, is right in front Mr. Dreemurr’s house.” The reptile monster confirmed.“Cool. I will have to ask permission to mom, but I think she will let me come at your place today.” Asriel nodded.“Great, Nyeh heh heh!” Monster Kid cheered.“And since from this weekend we are at dad's place we will be able to all hang out more.” You added, making Asriel M.K. grin at the notion. After school Asriel asked permission to Toriel to go to Monster Kid’s house for a few hours to help him. And since it was the weekend, she agreed to let him go without forcing him to do his homework beforehand.Alone in your room, just you yourself and I, I decided to ask a question that had been on my mind for a while. “Do you think I need therapy?”“I don’t know a lot about your problem. All Asriel said when I talked to him at the beginning of the ruins was that if you came to the Underground, it wasn’t for happy reasons. Maybe it will do you good.” You said with a small shrug. I hummed noncommittally.“I mean, worst case scenario it’s useless. It can’t do anything bad.” You added.“Oh, you don’t see what could go wrong. They could reveal my existence to everyone or even just mom and dad, for one.” I replied.“Chara, that won’t happen. Psychologists and therapists are bound to secrecy or something. It’s not just in fiction, right?” You said before hesitating a bit. You had a point there.“I don’t know if you need it. But I think therapy could help you.” You added.“Maybe…” I said pondering what you said.“Anyway, that’s your decision. Nobody will drag you to force you into therapy. I love you, Chara.” You concluded with a smile.“Thanks. Love you too Frisk.” I replied trying to pat your head but phasing through it because of the whole ghost of a long dead kid thing. When Asriel came back after having dinner with Monster Kid’s family and you asked him how it went. He told you that M.K. was a natural and that it would probably take him just a week or so of practice to manage to write using his tail. Then some more, to do it without requiring too much concentration.After you fell asleep, I flew to hover over Asriel’s bed. “Hey Azzy.” I said.“Yeah?” He asked, both hands tucked behind his neck, looking aimlessly at the ceiling.“I thought about it and… I will go to therapy, but only if you get it too, because I might have… involuntarily been abusive towards you.” I said, avoiding eye contact in shame.Sensing the mood shift Asriel turned his head to look at me and gave me a comforting smile. “It’s okay Chara, I don’t care about that. You just didn’t knew any other way to act. I know you never intended to hurt anyon- well me or any monsters.” He reassured me. Asriel has always been good at perceiving others’ emotions and take it into account to decide what to do. It had been quite helpful, especially with people like me, who the world had hardened into regarding my weakest moments as failures. It had helped, when I did not want to talk, that Asriel could still tell the good days from the bad days at least somewhat and act accordingly. Do damage control.Which, looking back on it now, was probably not something he should have been forced to deal with at that age.I shook my head to stop my drifting thoughts and focus back on the situation at hand. “I know you don’t resent me for it. But lets be honest, you went through so much after our death and needs therapy much more than me. You won’t talk to a human about the resets and everything related to that. Which I agree with since I don’t trust any humans with that knowledge either. But I want you to get as much of the help you need, as possible, so even if you can’t get it for everything Flowey related, I want you to at least heal from everything that happened before your death.” I explained.“Okay, I’ll go too then.” He accepted. “How do you want to do it? Do you want me to be the one you will talk through, or do you prefer it to be Frisk?” He asked.“You. But the problem is that if you show up in therapy explain our situation then let me in control for the therapy session, the therapist will just think your crazy and have a split personality disorder.” I pointed.“Then we can bring Frisk for the first session, have them confirm that they can see you and that you’re not just a hallucination of mine. Then, once it’s done, they don’t even need to be involved anymore if you don’t want it.” He proposed. That could work.“From tomorrow we will be with dad. It will be easier to discuss and organize the whole therapy thing with him than with mom.” Asriel added.“Yeah, it will simplify things.” I yawned. “Get some sleep now Azzy, I’m starting to feel tired with all that late night awake time your insomniac minds put me through every day.” I said in mock exasperation.“Neither of us has the biology to require sleep, Chara.” He replied with playful grumpiness, resting his head on his pillow and closing his eyes in order to find sleep. “Good night, Char.” He whispered. I replied the same.