Underearth/Book 5/Chapter 11

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Frisk jostled about as the reactor elevator crashed into the courtyard in front of Asgore's home. Exiting the smoldering structure, Frisk carefully went inside.

Following the pathway, Frisk quickly reached the Judgement Hall, and then Asgore's throne room just beyond. Asgore was tending to his garden, as usual. Looking at the ancient Monster, and remembering the bitter and, perhaps, evil Monster from the tapes, Frisk couldn't comprehend how they could possibly be the same person.

"Greetings." Frisk said.

Asgore looked up from the chrysanthe he tended to. "Howdy!" he said. "How can I—" recognizing the figure in front of him to be Human, Asgore stifled his words.

"Nice day today, huh?" Frisk said. "Birds are singing, flowers are blooming..."

Asgore looked back down at the chrysanthe at his feet.

"Yes... Yes, I suppose it is." he said. "Perfect weather for a game of catch, I reckon."

The two of them remained there in silence for the next few seconds.

"Listen... Asgore..." Frisk said. "We both know what must happen now, but... you don't have to... kill me."

Asgore stood up and slowly walked to his throne.

"I wish that were true, Human. I really do." he said, sitting down.

"Why?" Frisk asked. "Why don't you just... rescind your mandate? End the war right here and now."

"I can't..." Asgore said. "at least, not with a clear conscience."

Frisk cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

Asgore looked up at Frisk, staring him straight in the eyes.

"When I started this war, I was... a different man. A more angry and brutal man. This war has cost me... cost everyone dearly. The lives of six children, and a worried father. The lives of thousands of dissenters." Asgore bowed his head again. "It has cost me my wife, and my closest friends. All but Wing coming to question if we should continue long before I held such doubt."

Asgore stood up and walked to a nearby window.

"I remember it so clearly, that day so long ago... as I told horrid lies to my people, to rile them up in anger against the Humans as I was angry. With my closest friends coming together in support of this nightmarish cause. Of everyone who declared they would shoulder this burden with the others, I am the last to remain. My wife and Wing's two brothers were the first to be disenchanted with the cause. Leaving us, it was then up to me, Wing, Grillby, and Gerson to carry it forward.

"Many Human lives later, Grillby and Gerson fell away, leaving me and Wing. When Wing disappeared, it was only me..." Asgore turned back towards Frisk. "If I were to give up now, then everything that was lost will have been in vein..." he walked back to his throne, stepping behind it as he continued to talk. "The six Humans whose SOULs I have taken... if I were to stop now, then their deaths will have been in vein..." Asgore looked back up at Frisk. "That is why I cannot end this war now with a clear conscience. I am sorry."

"That is why you continue this slaughter?" a higher voice sounded from behind Frisk. Looking back, he saw Toriel standing there.

Asgore looked up at Toriel, a warm glow in his eyes, though the glow quickly died, and he looked back down at the ground. "Yes..."

"You pathetic whelp. If you really wanted to free our kind, you could have passed Cerberus after you got *one* SOUL. Then you could have taken six SOULs from the Humans, then come back and freed everyone peacefully.

"That's not peacefully." Frisk interrupted. "He'd still have to kill seven Humans total or go grave-robbing."

"It is still a better way than the cowardly one he took in the first place."

"Then why didn't you do it!?" Frisk demanded.

Toriel stepped back, stunned by this response.

"I saw the tape you took of Asgore's speech that fateful day. The room from which Asgore convinced the Monsters to go to war with Humanity all over again. I heard you throw in your support for his actions that day. If Asgore was a coward like you said, why didn't you take the SOUL of the first Human who was killed and cross the barrier yourself when it became clear Asgore wouldn't?"

A nasty grimace began to spread over Toriel's face as her eyes carefully tightened and her teeth began to clench.

"Do not pretend like you know what happened. Why I left this despicable creature."

"Then don't you pretend to be on higher moral ground." Frisk prodded Toriel in the stomach. "You're a coward *just* like Asgore is. No, not just like Asgore... you're more of a coward. You ran away. You ran away from your responsibility as queen. You ran away from the burden of this cause, which even Asgore stated was 'nightmarish'. *You* are the pathetic whelp."

Before Toriel—who's eyes had gone dark and cold—could respond, Undyne stormed into the throne room.

"Ngahhhhhh!!!" she screamed. "Asgore! Human!! Nobody fight each-other!!! Everyone's gonna make friends, or else I'll...!!"

Undyne spotted Toriel next to Frisk.

"I'll..." she said again, looking around and spotting Asgore looking shocked from behind his throne.

Toriel took a deep breath. "Hello." she said, her friendly facade having returned. "I am Toriel. Are you the Human's friend? It's nice to meet you."

"Uh, yeah...?" Undyne replied. "Nice to meet you!"

From there, things proceeded roughly as they had in Frisk's second World, with Alphys arriving next, followed by Papyrus and Sans. As those that had gathered talked among one-another, Chara spoke to Frisk.

"You really laid into her..." she said.

"After all that's happened..." Frisk responded. "between those two, Asgore's the only one to have admitted what he did was wrong. Toriel still rides her high horse, thinking she's more mature or whatever."

"What's a horse?"

Frisk chuckled a bit. "I'll tell you later."

Chara looked back at the group. "So, how long do you think before Flowey shows up?"

"I'd give it five... ten seconds, tops."

A few seconds later, Papyrus mentioned that a tiny flower helped him. A few seconds more, vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around Asgore, Undyne, Toriel, Sans, Alphys, and Papyrus; lifting them all into the air. Vines then erupted around Frisk, grabbing him around his ankles, wrists, and neck, pulling him up into the air.

A demonic laughter filled the throne room.

"You *IDIOTS*." Flowey shouted, emerging from the center of the room. "While you guys were having your little pow-wow... I took the Human SOULs!"

Frisk focused magic around himself, igniting it all and burning the vines that held him away. Falling to the ground, Frisk landed on the tile, a circle of flame burning around him.

"Hey Flowey, why don't we just cut to the part where you do that white orb thing and absorb all the SOULs in the Underground."

"Oh, we've done this before too, have we? Interesting. By the fact that you're here again, you either lost the first time around, or want to see what else I'll do or say. Alright then, this game you're playing sounds fun, so I'll play too." Flowey's face melted away, revealing a wide, toothy, demonic grin. "First to the finish!!!"

A white orb of energy appeared above the demonic flower. Within seconds, the ball of energy exploded outwards, engulfing the entire room, palace, Elysium, and, eventually, the entire Underground.

Frisk summoned a shield, blocking all the incoming light projectiles. The fight with the Monster Prince, Asriel Dreemurr, had been going on for a few minutes now. Chara watched from nearby, staying far from the fight as Frisk worked to get Asriel to expend more of his power.

Eventually, Asriel summoned an enormous goat skull, which laughed before sucking in everything around it, besides Frisk, who kept away from the skull via gravity magic.

After a minute, the skull stopped sucking, and exploded in a sudden burst of energy.

"... even after that attack, you're still standing in my way...?" Asriel asked.

Frisk landed on the ground without even a single scratch.

"Wow... you really *are* something special. But don't get cocky. Up until now, I've only been using a fraction of my *real* power! Let's see what good your DETERMINATION is against *this*!!"

Asriel vanished complete.

"Oh, finally." Frisk said. "Was starting to get bored."

In an instant, a compressive force grabbed hold of Frisk, straining against every inch of his body. Try as he might, Frisk couldn't move an inch.

"Urah ha ha ha... Behold my true power!" Asriel boomed as he appeared, featuring a new form.

Frisk struggled against the overwhelming power Asriel now flaunted.

Asriel brought his arms up, firing multiple light-missiles from them. The missiles arced away before all coming down right on top of Frisk, who was powerless against their radiant light.

"I can feel it..." Asriel said. "Every time you die, your grip on this world slips away. Every time you die, your friends forget you a little more. Your life will end here, in a world where no one remembers you..."

Asriel fired more missiles at Frisk, which burned away at him just as the last ones did.

"Still, you're hanging on...? That's fine. In a few moments, you'll forget everything, too. That attitude will serve you well in your next life!"

"Chara!" Frisk called. "Think you could give me a hand?"

"What? Why are you..." Asriel started to say.

Chara floated down from here place of observation, touching Asriel's great head. Asriel closed his eyes in pain, clutching his head.

"Erh... what is this?" Asriel asked, opening his eyes again.

"Hey Azzy..." Chara said as Asriel's eyes fell upon her.

"Ch... Chara..." he said. "Wh... what did you do...? What's this feeling...? What's happening to me?"

Chara flew backwards, landing next to Frisk. Asriel regained his fire.

"No! NO! I don't need *ANYONE*!"

Frisk felt the restraining force on his body lift. With it broken, both Frisk and Chara approached Asriel.

"STOP IT!" he shouted. "Get away from me! Do you hear me!? I'll tear you apart!"

Chara flew back up to Asriel, placing a hand on his head again.

"... Chara... Do you know why I'm doing this...? Why I keep fighting to keep you around...? I'm doing this... because you're special, Chara."

"It's okay, Azzy. It's okay..."

The two remained this way for a while, with Chara consoling Asriel softly. Eventually, Asriel slowly shrank down to a figure roughly the height of Frisk.

Frisk let the two be, having their moment after so many years of limbo. Eventually, Asriel stepped back and floated into the air, massive amounts of energy emanating from him, all collecting into a single ball of energy just above. Soon enough, the ball of energy exploded outward, engulfing everything in a blinding light. Not long after, the light faded, and Asriel fell back down to the ground. Asriel then looked towards Frisk, approaching him.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you." he said.

"Eh, it was nothing I haven't encountered before.

Asriel chuckled a bit. "Say, before I go, what's your name?"

"It's Frisk."

"Frisk, huh. That's... a nice name." Asriel stepped back, preparing to go away. "Frisk..." he said. "You're... You're going to do a great job, okay? No matter what you do. Everyone will be there for you, okay? Well... my time's running out. Goodbye."

Asriel began walking away but stopped after taking a few steps.

"By the way... Frisk" he said, turning back for a second. "... take care of mom and dad for me, okay?" he looked over at Chara. "... and Chara too."

Frisk nodded. With that, Asriel finished walking away, fading away in specks of light.

Frisk opened his eyes. Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Asgore all surrounded him.

"Oh! You are awake! Thank goodness!" Toriel said.

"W-we were so worried...!" Alphys said. "It felt like you were out forever!"

"Yeah! Any longer and I would have freaked out!" Undyne said. "Tell us the next time you decide to take a nap, okay!?"

"Yeah. You made Papyrus cry like a baby." Sans said.

"WHAT!! I DIDN'T CRY!!! I DON'T CRY!!" Papyrus protested. "I JUST... CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE."

"What did you catch?"

"TEARS!!!" Papyrus said, draining more water from his sockets.

Frisk stood up. "Are you all alright?"

"Us? Um, yeah." Undyne said. "It's you we're all worried about."

"I see..." Frisk looked over at Asgore. "Where's the SOULs?" he asked.

"Err... gone. I... do not know why. On the bright side, Cerberus is gone. So they are no longer needed anyway."

"That's good to hear. So, you'll all be going to the surface soon enough?"

"Yeah, we were just waiting for you to wake up." Undyne said.

"Alright."

Chara flew into view.

"Frisk," she said, "before we go to the surface, can we... go back to the Citadel for a bit?"

Frisk looked back at the Monsters. "You guys go on ahead, I've got something I still need to do down here."

"We will wait here for you, Frisk." Toriel said. The other Monsters agreed.

Frisk chuckled a bit. "Alright. I'll be sure to be quick, then."

Frisk exited the throne room, out to the Judgement Hall. "So why do you want to go back to the Citadel?" he asked.

"I... I want to see something for myself. It shouldn't take long."

"I see..."

Frisk continued walking back, heading first down the elevator to Helios Station, then out and down to the Acheron, where he rode the boat to Toriel's home. From there, Chara led him backward until they'd exited the Citadel entirely, to the place where Frisk first met Flowey. Going through the archway at the end of the room, Frisk finally reached the alcove that led to the chamber he originally fell into. Seeing what was in the room, Frisk stopped walking for a second.

"Howdy, Frisk." Asriel said upon seeing him. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Didn't you... didn't you disappear?"

Asriel looked down at the bed of chrysanthe Frisk had originally woken upon.

"No. Not yet anyway. My magic isn't enough to let this body persist for the long term. I'll... need to turn back into a flower before too long. But I still have enough to... anyway, why'd you come back?"

"I... wanted to look back through the Underground. Review my journey, I guess."

"And so you came back to where you fell."

"Asriel, since I'm here, why don't you come back with me. Say hello to your mom and dad."

"No."

"Why not? It would only be—"

"I can’t come back. I just can't, okay?" Asriel interrupted. "I don't want to break their hearts all over again. It's better if they never see me."

*Better for who?*

Frisk didn't leave. Standing in silence for a few minutes, Asriel finally turned back to face him.

"... why are you still here? Are you trying to keep me company? Frisk..." Asriel looked back down at the patch of flowers. After another shorter period of silence, Asriel looked back at him. "Hey. Let me ask you a question. Frisk... why did you come here? Everyone knows the legend, right...?"

"What legend?" Frisk asked.

"'Travelers who climb Mount Ebott are said to disappear.'"

"I never really knew of such a legend." he answered. "Well, actually, I did, but only vaguely. Read in passing. Either way, I didn't come here voluntarily."

"I see..." Asriel looked back at the chrysanthe. "I know why Chara climbed the mountain. It wasn't for a very happy reason." Asriel looked back at Frisk. "Frisk. I'll be honest with you. Chara hated Humanity."

*Really? Never would have guess.*

"Why they did, they never talked about it. But they felt very strongly about that. Frisk... you really *are* different from Chara."

"No I'm not." Frisk blurted out.

Asriel looked shocked. Chara, who'd been passively listening, stifling her distress, looked shocked at Frisk too.

"What do you mean?" Asriel asked.

"Asriel... I've been through this Underground... quite a few times. I've learned a *lot* about this world. I don't know why Chara hated Humanity as she did, but... whatever her reason was, it drove her to give up *everything* to see them destroyed. I did the same thing. I gave up *everything* just to strike at Humanity. When I became lucid to what I'd done to achieve that... I knew I had to reverse it somehow. I'm just lucky that... that everything worked out in the end."

"Frisk..." Asriel said, looking down at the ground.

"There is one thing that's still in obscurity, though, that I'd like to know." Frisk said.

Asriel looked back up at him. "What?"

"What happened when you and Chara crossed the Barrier? Asgore made up his own version, and what happened is... lost."

Asriel closed his eyes. "We... we walked back to Ochyro... the city she came from." Asriel then laughed a bit. "Turns out that when you absorb a SOUL, control of your body is split between you and the person you absorbed."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She was the one that picked up her own empty body. And then when we reached Ochyro... she wanted to... to use our full power. I resisted. Because of me, we... well, that's why I ended up a flower." Asriel opened his eyes again. "Frisk... this whole time, I've blamed myself for that decision. That's why I adopted that horrible view of the world. 'Kill or be killed.'"

"No..." Chara mumbled. "No, that's not..."

"But now..." Asriel continued, unaware of Chara's presence, "Frisk, I don't regret that decision anymore. I did the right thing. If I killed those Humans, we would have had to wage war against all of Humanity."

*Which Asgore did anyway...*

"And in the end, everyone went free, right? I still feel kind of sad knowing how long it took, so maybe it wasn't a perfect decision. But you can't regret hard choices your whole life, right? Well, not that I have much of a life left. But that's beside the point." Asriel turned around to face the flowers. "Frisk, thank you for listening to me. You should really go be with your friends now, okay?"

Frisk sighed. "Okay... I hope I see you around, Asriel."

Frisk walked back through the alcove and out to the front courtyard of the Royal Watchtower.

"So why did you want to come back here? Did you know Asriel would be here?" Frisk asked.

"No. I just... wanted to see it for myself."

"See what?"

"My... my dead body."

"I see..."

Continuing back through the Underground, Frisk made it back to the throne room in no time. Announcing his arrival, Frisk and the Monsters made their way back to the surface.