Chapter Text

Asriel took a deep breath. It was almost time.

You ask Asriel if he’s okay.

“Yeah, yeah, just nervous.”

You offer one last time to take his place.

Asriel shook his head. “No, I can do this. Just stay with me, alright?”

The speaker blared on the other side of the red curtains.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the newest Ambassador of Human-Monster Relations…Asriel Dreemurr!”

The roar of the crowd outside filled him with Determination, and he stepped out into the blaring lights.

Once the initial shock of having the barrier suddenly broken and being set free wore away, the Royal Family needed to assess strategy. It would do no good to be set free, only to cause a mass panic among the humans. They’d be hunted down, and slaughtered this time as demons, not simply sealed away.

Nor could they simply just hide forever, there was an entire city of beings underground that wished to leave, and it would be impossible to hide them outside in this day and age of technology.

Toriel was the one who handled most of the plans. The king admitted that he had hoped Frisk could have been their ambassador. Toriel immediately pointed out that as a child, Frisk’s speech would be ignored and disregarded quickly as adults decided over him. And it was a moot point, as starting out with saying their son had the soul of a human child could quickly make things…complicated.

In the end, a video was shot. It was a heartfelt message from the king with his family, expressing the situation of being trapped underground for millennia. It gave a showing of many different creatures, frightening and cute, being as peaceful as possible. Trying to get it to be shown to as many people as possible, the video was dropped off at many different media centers throughout the land, as well as anonymously posted online on many websites.

Of course, human society unavoidably erupted into chaos from the news anyways. Everyone was in shock. Many were afraid. Just as many were interested.

Humans being humans, some cast them as demons risen up while others regarded them as invaders from another world or dimension. Public opinion debated throughout the world, as the monsters released a few more videos over time. Eventually, a formal diplomatic meeting was made under the eyes of the world.

Negotiations, led by the King and Queen, were publicly discussed, the first of many.

In essence, the monsters would be offered refuge in the many different nations that chose to participate. Not all were equal. The monsters deemed more sentient, personable, and docile were often given preference over the more bestial and dangerous. Rights for each monster came on a case by case basis, and often lasted months of debate.

But it was a start. Monsters were coming back into the world.

“this is where your story ends, little flower”

Sans pointed his hand up, left eye glowing brightly, and down came what appeared to be giant floating skulls. Each one pointed directly at them, and started glowing.

“go back to the hell you came from”

The skulls shown their white light down upon them, and all they could feel was the burning.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Asriel yelled, "I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY!!!!!!!”

Asriel curled up into a ball under the covers, eyes shut tight and hands covering his face.

You quickly try to comfort Asriel, and assert it was just a dream.

Tears rolled down his eyes. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m sorry,” he repeated to himself.

The door behind them swung open, and Toriel quickly stepped through.

“Asriel?” she asked as she put a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Asriel kept repeating to himself “I’m sorry” quieter and quieter. He then turned around under the covers to face her, eyes barely open.

“He had another Flowey dream, Mom.”

Everyone was trying to piece together how the Barrier was broken and the Dreemurrs’ lost child had come back from the dead. Asriel and Frisk took turns recalling their experience. Papyrus was thrilled to find out that his encouraging flower friend was in fact the prince in disguise. Alphys seemed most alarmed out of all of them when it was put together that her research cause Asriel to come back as Flowey. Asriel talked about absorbing everyone’s soul and destroying the barrier, fulfilling the purpose of Alphys’ experiments in the first place.

But they did not tell them everything. They did not talk about how Flowey killed Asgore, taken the human souls, and rewrote reality itself to kill Frisk over and over. They did not talk about Flowey being stuck in an eternal time loop, trying to make everyone happy only to find boredom where they expected fulfillment. They did not talk about how that boredom gave way to killing groups of people over and over just to see the reactions of those close to them. Everything made sense as a single story. There was no need to go into anything about Save Points, alternate timelines, and changed history. Everyone seemed satisfied with the story, even Sans standing in the back with his eyes closed and his trademark grin on his face. It was a happy ending, a chance for redemption and hope, to feel everything once more. Frisk wanted a better ending for the goat child, and gave him another chance to make things right.

Toriel sat on the bed, cradling her child, or perhaps children, in her arms. It had been about a year since they started living on the surface. She rocked them back and forth with a comforting hand on their head. Asriel never wanted to talk about the dreams, only mentioning they were memories from when he was a flower.

After a while, Toriel hugged them closely and let them rest back in bed. She sighed. “Get some sleep. And...let me know if you ever want to talk,” she said sadly as she closed the door behind her.

Asriel laid on his bed, staring out the window. A crescent moon was barely visible in the corner, and stars shone around it.

You ask about the context of that dream.

“It was the first time I had stopped just killing one or two people and just started to kill indiscriminately. I wanted to see chaos. Everyone ran from my rampage, but few could run fast enough. Dust was everywhere. And then Sans stopped me personally for the first time. I had always believed Dad was the strongest monster, but I had never seen anything like what Sans could do.”

Asriel sniffed and shut his eyes again. The wind gently blew the curtains.

“I remember so much of it, Frisk. Their fear, their screams, their deaths. And every time I get close to forgetting and trying to live my life I relive it all over again.” He paused. “I did it, Frisk. I killed them. Over and over again. Even if I’m forgiven now and I don’t do anything like that again, I still have to live with it.”

You offer assurance. He was soulless, brought back against his will, and he might have been influenced by Chara at the time.

“No, Frisk. It wasn’t Chara. I don’t think Chara even came into the picture until you showed up. I did it. Okay, I might have emulated Chara, his old words finally making sense to me. But it was me, all me. There was no voice in my head compelling me to fight. I was just…bored. There was no sense of satisfaction, just amusement at a new reaction. And even if I was, hypothetically, influenced by him, I wasn’t controlled. I still had choice. There’s a better chance he tried to influence you considering how he took control of your body, and you never gave in! And I chose…I chose…that.”

You ask if there’s anything you can help with.

“You’ve helped more than I can ever repay, Frisk. I know there was no other way, but I wish that somehow our situation could be reversed, that I could have just tagged along in your body, not the other way around.”

…You can only reaffirm that this was your choice, and you’ve never regretted it.

“...Thanks. Let’s just…get to sleep, okay?”

…

It was very, very cold.

AHHHHHHHHHH! Too fast! Too fast!

You ignored him.

It was Frisk’s 15th birthday, and he had decided he wanted to go skiing for the day.

“COME, FRISK! I WILL SHOW YOU HOW WE DID IT IN SNOWDIN!”

Papyrus bounded over the hill on skis with a very overstuffed blue and orange coat, as Frisk followed close behind with a small grin on his face.

C’mon, Frisk! It’s getting close to evening, we should be going to the lodge. I bet Mom has some nice hot chocolate ready. Wouldn’t that be nice?

You didn’t really care. That didn’t interest you at all.

I bet Sans has a few bad jokes just ready for the occasion, and if her plane came in on time I bet Alphys is already there!

You would see them soon enough. This was one day you could treasure, one day where, even in this body, people consistently refer only to either Frisk or both of you. This is the day that you can truly act out how you feel, experience what you want. This was your day. You let Asriel know that on his birthday he can make all the decisions with no complaint.

Finnnnne…just…be careful, okay?

You informed Asriel he’s just asking for bad luck thinking things like that.

You stopped at the top of a ridge to take it all in. This one mountain community was very accepting of monsters, and everyone has had relatively little trouble dealing with people here. It also provided a place for all those who had grown to be comforted by the feel of Snowdin but wanted to be out of the Underground as well.

And…there he goes.

It seemed Papyrus got a bit ahead of you. He stopped at the bottom of the hill and waved up at you. You waved back. You were about halfway down the mountain, and as much as you hated to admit it, it was getting quite late. This would probably be your last run.

You started to ski down in the sunset. It might have been over too quickly, but today had been a fantastic day. You could only look forward to the evening to top it off. Everyone should be there. You didn’t have any regrets about your choice those years ago, but sometimes it’s hard not having a body of your own. But with days like these every once in a while? You’d survive.

A gust of wind pushed you to the side. Following the gale, you came closer to the edge of the mountain. As you turned to make your way back to the other side of the trail, your ski slipped on some hidden ice underneath the snow. Your left leg slipped out from under you, and you started to fall. As you tried to brace yourself for landing your right ski came off as the safety mechanism engaged. You tumbled through the snow-

-and right off the cliff.

There might have been a yell in the background, but all you could really hear was the rushing wind. You bounced hard off the side of the mountain twice and kept falling. You reached out desperately for something, anything, to grab on to and slow your fall. But before you could take hold of anything, darkness washed over you.

“Undyne! Hey!”

Asriel waved over his friend. With a big smile Undyne strolled over to him.

“Oh, are you sure you have the time to chat, Mr. Ambassador?”

There was a casual reception after the formal induction ceremony. Many, humans and monsters alike, had gathered around Asriel in his brand new attire, making small talk while discreetly feeding their opinions to him. Asriel took it in stride, trying to appear more a figurehead than a person with any real power.

“We’ll make the time. After all, I’d be shirking my duties to take care of myself if I didn’t meet with my personal trainer whenever I could.”

“Don’t think all those duties will get me to make those exercises any easier! If you have to miss any meeting, the next one becomes twice as hard!”

Asriel cast out an exaggerated sigh. “Undyne, if you make our sessions any more difficult they’ll become literally impossible to do.”

“Yeah! Impossible! We’ll start there, and see what we can work up to!” Undyne said excitedly.

Asriel had to compose himself to not react to his trainer’s remarks. “So, how are you and Alphys doing?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

Undyne groaned. “UGGGGGG. Don’t get me started. She’s still great and everything but she’s so busy nowadays! It seems she’s constantly being flown across the world to meet with more human scientists. Buncha nerd stuff. I don’t know if they are truly interested in her work or simply enjoying the…novelty of a monster scientist, but she always seems genuinely excited about it, if constantly exhausted. I’m the only one who should be allowed to tire her out that much!”

“Uhhhhhhh-”

“EXERCISING!” Undyne interjected, a blush forming on her scales, “It’s a deal we worked out years ago. She wanted to get more fit, so we do a light workout session with her in exchange for watching anime together. I mean, there’s plenty of that too but seriously Dreemurr, get your mind outta the gutter.”

Asriel looked away. “Right, sorry. Well, I’m sure she wants and needs to take a break too.”

She shrugged. “I’ll see her in a few days. But enough about my love life, is there anyone that has caught the eye of our little prince?”

“Are you kidding? My life is only going to get more crazy from here on out. Plus you have the whole thing with Frisk and his personality at the same time so THAT complicates things…relationships are basically off the table for as far ahead I can see.”

“How is Frisk doing anyways? Same as ever?”

Asriel closed his eyes.

You inform Asriel to tell her you’re doing fine.

His eyes opened. “He’s fine, but I really need to make some time where he’s in control instead of me. It’s been a little lopsided lately.”

“Well I’d be happy to see him! I need to train both of you after all!”

You let Asriel know that he can handle the physical training.

“What? No, if I have to suffer so do you.”

Undyne chuckled. “What? Where's that famous "Determination" I keep hearing about? Anyways prince, I see you have some more company coming towards you, so I’ll get outta your hair. Don’t forget, next week, Friday morning!”

It was a bright morning, just past sunrise. Frisk and Papyrus stood on top of the mountain, taking in the sights. It looked to be a cold day, but you were too excited to feel the chill at all.

As you looked at the view and anticipated the day ahead, you were filled with Determination.

You let out a yell as you fell backwards onto the ground.

Startled, Papyrus rushed over to you. “NYEH? WHAT’S WRONG?”

You looked up at him, still startled from the memory. What could you say?

Frisk, did we just…?

It had been a long time since that has happened. Sure, being heir to the king of the monsters could be dangerous in some areas, but there hadn’t been a time you’ve had to use a save point in the past few years. You looked around. It was morning of that same day. Papyrus was pumped for a day of skiing. But skiing was the last thing on your mind right now. You felt it was time to talk with someone.

“FRISK? YOU OKAY FRIEND?” He waved his hand in front of your face.

You tried to choose your words carefully. “Okay, this will sound completely out of nowhere and is related to nothing you have done, but I really need to speak with Dad. As in, immediately.”

“…”

“…”

“…UH, OKAY? WELL! WE STILL HAVE ONE RUN TO COMPLETE AT LEAST! LET’S GO! ”

You started to make your way down the mountain, still recovering from the experience. Of course, you kept far away from the cliffs.

“AH, STILL GETTING USED TO THE SKIS AGAIN, ARE YOU? NOT TO WORRY! A BIT OF TIME, AND YOUR CONFIDENCE WILL BE BACK AND YOU’LL BE SAILING DOWN THE SLOPES! I CAN SEE IT CLEARLY NOW, YOU BEING SO GREAT AT SKIING YOU CAN EVEN KEEP UP WITH ME!”

You made your way down the slopes carefully. Asriel remained quiet the entire way down. Though it took a bit longer than usual, you soon made it back down to the private lodge. You unbuckled yourself from your equipment set them aside as you made your way in.

“Oh dear, back already? I wasn’t expecting you here for a long time.” Toriel asked. “Is it truly that cold outside? I’ll get some hot chocolate ready for you.”

Sans was lying flat on the couch reading a book of some sort. “better get some for papyrus too, tori. i bet he’s absolutely chilled to the bone.” He looked up with a wink, but then opened both at the sight of the young boy. His smile sank a bit.

“that expression…”

You locked eyes with him for a second, and then had to turn away before he could read your face more than he already had. “I just need to see Dad for a second. Is he still here?”

Toriel called from the kitchen. “Yes, he should be at his desk. Why?”

“I…I just need to talk to him for a moment.”

Papyrus knocked at the front door behind you. “HAS SANS MADE A PUN YET? THIS SEEMS LIKE THE KIND OF SETTING HE WOULD MAKE A PUN IN. IT’S PROBABLY ONE HE’S MADE A MILLION TIMES. LET ME KNOW WHEN HE HAS SO I CAN COME IN.”

You didn't think about letting him in as you hurried off into the house.

You found Asgore at his desk and chair, which were both a bit undersized for him actually, working on some paperwork. You knocked on the door.

“Um, Dad? Could I speak with you a moment?”

He turned from his desk, a smile on his face. “Of course Asri-Oh! Sorry, it’s Frisk today. Come in, Frisk.”

You shut the door behind you, unsure how to begin now that you’ve arrived.

“Well? What is it?”

You took a deep breath and said the first thing that came to your mind.

“Well, Dad. I just died.”

The week after the barrier broke down was hectic, to say the least. With the barrier down and no solid plans on how to best leave, the monsters quickly got antsy. Most of them had lived with the barrier all of their lives, they couldn’t help but feel like if they didn’t do something soon they’d blink and the barrier would be back up. Asgore did his best to calm his citizens and assure them the barrier was down for good. It helped, but everyone was still on edge.

What could the monsters do? Unless they swam against the current in the river from the garbage dump, there were only two exits from the mountain, either the way the human children fell in or the passageway by the castle out. But with both gateways blocked most felt more trapped than they ever had before.

It was actually Undyne that helped settle the crowd the most. Many looked to her as the fiercest and determined of all monsters, and even she was rallying behind the call to be patient.

“WHAT ARE YA GONNA DO, HUH? HUMANS ARE EVERYWHERE OUT THERE. ONE RECORDED SIGHT OF US AND WE’D HAVE ARMIES ON OUR DOORSTEP,” she bellowed out to the crowd. “LISTEN, WE WILL BE FREE. IF IT COMES DOWN TO IT, I WILL FIGHT EACH AND EVERY HUMAN ON THE PLANET FOR YOUR CHANCE TO GET OUT OF HERE. BUT UNTIL THAT TIME COMES, WE WAIT FOR ORDERS FROM THE KING AND QUEEN, GOT IT?”

Back in New Home, Asriel lied down on his old bed, still there from so long ago, staring up at the ceiling. So long he was a flower, and for the first time everything felt real again. It had importance. It’s not like he couldn’t ever see his parents as Flowey. He saw both of them all the time. He had even revealed himself as their son to them, in more than a few timelines. They were sad at his predicament, but so happy to find him. But he didn’t feel anything in response. He knew that he should, but he didn’t. Making them happy, killing them slowly, it didn’t matter. A new reaction was entertaining, but the satisfaction never lasted too long.

But that first moment, hugging his parents in his new body while the three of them cried tears of joy, nothing that he could remember felt so fulfilling before. It was a curious question though. Were these really his feelings? His soul had dissipated a long time ago. The soul inside him now wasn’t just Frisk’s…for all practical purposes it was Frisk now. And Frisk was an exceptionally good person. Wouldn’t he feel good for reuniting a shattered family? Asriel didn’t have to guess, he knew Frisk did. He could feel it as well. He could have sworn it meant more to him though, or was that just the same feeling interacting with different memories?

It probably didn’t matter. With a soul, he was no longer a flower. And with a soul, he could feel things again. And he was definitely a different person from Frisk. Even as little time as they had together they had already clashed on a few things. After all, how could he still not like snail pie in this body? And Frisk was definitely more adventurous than you ever were. Anyways, even if he was feeling things differently than he would have before, Frisk was again, an exceptionally good person. Kind to those who tried to kill him, kind to those had killed him, and kind to those who took everything away and threatened eternal suffering to him. If he had to feel someone else’s emotions for his experiences Frisk’s really couldn’t be beat.

“I dunno. What do you think, Frisk?”

You inform Asriel you’re just glad you don’t have to keep dying anymore.

“Heh, you know, some people might consider you dead right now. Even with your soul still alive.”

You tell him you're very much alive, and that he should know that more than anyone else.

“Well, think about it. There’s plenty of ghosts down here. They have a soul, and can interact with the world around them, but almost everyone, including themselves, would define them as ‘dead.’”

You remark how ghosts that have truly bonded to an object are considered alive, even if their bonding is not biological in nature, because they have the capability to die.

“Some might argue you on that. But have we truly “bonded?” No offense Frisk; I could never put into words how grateful I am, it was the most self-sacrificial generous gift that could be given, and I’ll never be able to repay you…but can you really ever completely know me? You’ve definitely seen me at my worst and maybe my best, but we’ve only known each other just over a week now from my perspective. Even if you spent a large amount of time with me that I can’t remember, I don’t believe that I really know you either. I’ve tried to share everything I could think of, but including the time loops I’ve been alive a very long time now. You might have gone through time a bit yourself but it doesn’t even start to compare to my time down here. And it’s not like you’re “possessing” me like a ghost does, you’re simply in me. You can control my body, but only when I give you control. You can guide me down a path, but you couldn’t force me, at least not without a fight.”

You inform him that while you can’t prove anything, it does feel ‘final’ in a way. You probably won’t be simply transferring bodies when he gets old, or ever leave him to be without a soul again. As he’s technically a boss monster, he might be immortal until he decides to have kids or they run out of Determination together. Or maybe it doesn’t count since it’s a human soul instead of boss monster one?

“I guess that’s one possible perk for you. It makes me feel better, considering you otherwise seem to get nothing out of this deal.”

You insist that it was a gift, not a deal.

“Okay, a gift then. But really, I’m not sure the rules, whatever they are for human souls in monster bodies, apply here. After all, I had and was channeling power from every soul in the Underground, human and monster alike, could bend reality and create attacks just by thinking them, and what did you do? Simply refuse to die. I killed you, and you simply decided that it didn’t count and kept fighting. Not even back to your save point, you just kept going from where you were. So I killed you again and again, and each time you said “No” and came back alive anyways.”

You think that moment was…special, in a way. Like finishing the last pages of a book, it was going to end no matter how many times it said “Turn to page 1.”

“Well we have a new story now, so I guess we’ll have to find something to fill it with, won’t we? And…hopefully it won’t be boring, right?”

You agree.

“And so that’s what happened.”

Asgore closed his eyes, deep in thought. Frisk had just explained what had just transpired on the mountain, how you spent the day skiing, died, and was now spending the day differently. Of course, this required a whole overview on Determination, Save Points, and both of their thoughts on those subjects, like why most humans don’t have that power. You still avoided talking about Chara, or about the time loops experienced by Asriel as Flowey. That wasn’t important right now.

It was a long, drawn out silence. Asgore’s face darkened over time, and to Frisk, looked much the same as when they fought, all those years ago.

You and Asriel waited, wanting to break the sharp silence but not daring to touch it, as if it would shatter.

You waited.

You waited.

You waited.

Finally, Asgore spoke. His face did not appear any brighter.

“Come here,” he commanded.

You were pulled, like a reaction, towards him. Soft, padded feet walked across the polished wood floor.

You stopped at his base. You’ve grown, but it’s moments like this that made you realize how huge he really is.

“Asriel. Frisk.” He stated it in a loud, heavy voice.

You felt your heart skip a beat.

Asgore reached out with both his arms as he pulled you in to the tightest embrace you can imagine.

“I am so happy you are alive, and I am so, so, sorry for the burden you must endure.”

He embraced you much like he did Asriel when he returned to them. It is an embrace like he wants to shield you from all danger, as if you would disappear if he even thought about letting go. It was full of love and grief. All you could do is try to relax into the hold, and try to reach your arms around his gigantic form.

Finally, he gently let go.

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” he asked.

It felt like the words tried to get caught in your throat. “…We didn’t want to make you worry.”

Asgore took a deep breath in and slowly let it out.

“So why do you say something now?”

“I guess…I was scared. I died a lot after I fell into that mountain, but it just felt like a sharp pain and then waking up before it had happened. Like waking up from a bad dream. I guess this time did too but instead of making me feel invincible it made me scared how easily we could die even now. I mean, I can’t ever guarantee we’ll always just “wake up” again. I don’t have a measurement that says we can do it X number of times more before we die for real. It might be infinite. It might be single digits. And when we go back, I think it pulls everyone with us, whether they actively remember it or not. People tend to have a vague feeling of “how it went” even if it’s not part of their conscious thought process.”

“But you came to me specifically. Papyrus would have listened and cared, whether or not he immediately understood. Toriel would have been your safest bet for comfort, and you know Sans always knows more than he lets on. Why me?”

“BECAUSE YOU KNEW!” you blurted out. “Back when we fought, I tried desperately to get you to stop fighting. And you…killed me. So then there I was right before and I ran up to you and yelled out how you had already killed me and all you did was nod with pain on your face and kept fighting. And then I died a second time! So I ran back to you and told you that you had killed me twice, and you knew and kept fighting! It wasn’t just a feeling you knew it! And a third! And a fourth! And again and again and again!” Now the tears welled up in your eyes. “You knew that killing me was pointless and I didn’t want to fight and I’d just come back but you kept fighting anyways! I never understood that! Why did you force me to fight you? Why?”

Silence again cut through the room. You had defined yourself as a person who could always keep a level head. One who could focus and do the right thing no matter what. But right then you were focusing on preventing hyperventilating.

Only deep breaths could be heard as you tried to regain your composure.

Asgore let out another sigh. “Frisk…”

He looked up. “I never fought you, remember?”

You froze. Could it be…?

He continued, “If you recall, your mother cast me away with before I could do anything. Soon after, everyone else arrived. There was a bright light, we learned your name, and the barrier was broken. We. Never. Fought.”

Your mind raced. It had always seemed like such an important part of your story. You had always been so good about keeping timelines straight, why didn’t you realize that your dad ended up never fighting you? You had forgotten that to everyone else it had never happened. You struggled to think of something to follow up with.

Asgore got up from his chair and made his way to the far window. It was a beautiful day outside, morning sunlight glistening on the fresh snow.

“So,” he asked without turning around, “what did you do?”

The memories were already so clear.

“Frisk?” he started again, “What did you do when you fought me?”

Could you really tell him what happened? How much should you say? You had to say something.

“I stood in front of you and died again and again and again. I left to see if there was anything I could do to change your mind but each time I came back you destroyed any chance for mercy and killed me again. I was stuck for a very long time. Every monster before you I found another way. A simple display of kindness was all it took for most of them to want to stop fighting. But everyone was waiting for me to fight you, wanted to see what would happen. Whether it would mean freedom for me or freedom for all monsters. Eventually the pressure got to be too much.”

You looked away as you recalled the memory from years ago. “So I fought you, my little weapon against your trident, and the more I attacked, the more damage I seemed to be doing, like you were giving up. By that time I had encountered you so many times I knew how to dodge most of your attacks. Soon you were down on your knee, waiting for me to end it all. So I just stood there, unwilling to do anything else. And then…and then…”

“And then I died,” Asgore interrupted.

You looked up at him, still facing out the window. Did he remember, or was he simply concluding a logical series of events?

He continued. “I can imagine the moment. Yet, I can’t see you being able to strike the killing blow. One chance at finding another way to end the battle and you would have taken it. But it didn’t go that way in the end, so something must have happened.”

Was it really that simple? You always felt like you should have seen it coming, but then again you knew about Flowey. You knew he was following you, catching him diving underground at the edge of your vision. Was there something more going on here?

“So, who killed me?”

Your heart stopped. You couldn’t say that. You could never say that. That his own son ended his life? Never.

Silence once again filled the room. Asgore peeked over his shoulder to look at your face. He then turned back towards the window.

“…I see. Nevertheless, I think I can figure out the answer on my own.”

“I’M SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!” Asriel burst out of his shell, sobbing loudly. “I’M SORRY FRISK I KNOW I PROMISED I WOULDN’T DO ANYTHING TODAY BUT I CAN’T BE QUIET NOW I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY!!!!!! PLEASE DON’T HATE ME! I ONLY WANTED TO FEEL SOMETHING AGAIN AND THOUGHT THE SIX SOULS WOULD DO IT AND HAD WAITED SO LONG TO TRY BUT NOW I’M BACK BECAUSE OF FRISK AND I CAN FEEL AGAIN AND I HAVE ALWAYS HATED MYSELF FOR IT EVERY DAY FOR YEARS AND FEEL GUILTY ALL THE TIME AND I WOULD NEVER DO IT AGAIN BUT I DID DO IT AND I CAN’T TAKE IT BACK AND I’M SORRY!” Asriel dropped to his knees, hands on the floor. The emotion Frisk held back came out in a full stream as he sobbed. “I…am…*sniff*…sorry for EVERYTHING.”

As the king continued to stare out into the winter landscape, a little boy cried on the hardwood floor.

Eventually, that little boy got back up. He dried his tears on his sleeve and sniffed.

“Okay, Frisk,” Asriel resigned, “You can come back now.”

Asgore slowly turned around and reached out with his hand, a look of worry on his face. “Asriel, wait. Before you go, I just wanted to let you know, that whatever you did back then, your mother and I will still love you, all right?”

Asriel nodded, sniffed, and relaxed.

You looked back up.

“I guess……that’s enough then. Thanks for listening, Dad. I just…..really wanted to tell you.”

He stared down at you. “Frisk. I still haven’t gotten to answer your question. Even if I ended up never fighting you, I still know what I would have done.” He started walking back. “You might have noticed something by now. I bet the people who remember your “resets” as you called them, even if it’s just a vague feeling of familiarity, were all Boss Monsters. I’ve read all the lab reports. Dr. Alphys experimented with what she called “Determination.” We used to call it something else, but that’s for another time. Simply put, the ability to change fate.”

Asgore walked back to his desk and sat down at his creaky wooden chair. “All boss monsters have some connection with the different possibilities life can have. As you found out personally, with most monsters the connection is disastrous. The magic that makes up our bodies doesn’t react well, and begins to break down. With boss monsters it can still has the same breakdown effects, but the will of the person can hold them together enough to produce some significant side effects. It might be just a feeling how an event will turn out. Perhaps it’s remembering how it could have been. A strong hold on this power can offer some ability to see what will be and change it. Evidently it also has the power to undo death and give another chance. With enough of this power, it’s been hypothesized that you can reject death outright, though I’ve never seen anything like that in the time I’ve been alive. There is much about it we do not know.”

“Humans don’t have this ability, even though Determination is within every one of them. We can see this though a natural tenacity in their actions, or how even a human child armed with a stick, provided they had enough of this power, can kill monsters with little issue. The sheer willpower behind an attack can destroy us. They used to have a greater understanding of it though. Have you ever wondered how humans, without modern tools or technology, created the barrier trapping us in the first place? It was soul power. They can’t use magic, but there are those every once in a while that can harness this power for their own sake. I knew from the stories I got before you arrived, that you were, or are, one such human.”

“Alas, I have still not answered your question. As the King of Monsters, I can see adjacent paths of what can be through my own Determination. It might pale in comparison to yours, but it’s there. When you walked up to face me that day, I could already see the many times I had fought you. I could see you running up and shouting how many times I killed you. But the fact remained. I had promised my people I would kill any child that fell into the mountain to secure their freedom. I was terrified of what would eventually happen. An entire city full of innocents that wished to be free; yet I knew another war on humanity would likely end terribly for us. I knew the power of absorbing seven human souls might grant me power beyond imagining, but against an entire world? I realized that before I took that first child’s life. Even if I could gain the power to kill every human on the planet, I don’t know if I could have gone through with it. I doubt what would have followed would be a creation of a “paradise” for monsters. That is why I didn’t absorb that soul, go through the barrier, and secure the other six. So I stalled, caught between their hope and their death. And then the seventh child came. I had to fight. This had to end. But I refused to absorb even a single child’s soul before they were all ready. I would fight you as I was.”

He looked down at the floor, reliving his own memories. “By the time you reached me, I knew you would die to me peacefully trying to get me to stop. I was dreading that moment, and absorbed myself with my gardening, hoping you would get scared this time and run away. But I knew eventually you would fight as well. I do not know what happens when you, as you call it, reset. My abilities only show me so much. Does the world reset with you, or do you leave a thread of time behind to continue on its own? Sans believes the former, but I had to assume it carried on without you. I would earn my people’s freedom. And if you should kill me, then I wouldn’t have to wage war on humanity with the power I never wanted. If you did indeed have the power to reset everyone and the only possible option for me was to die in the end, I would choose that.”

You shook your head. Something didn’t make sense. “But Dad, you did allow me to give you mercy, in another time. You could have offered that from the start.”

“If you had beat me, my life would be yours to decide. If you showed mercy on me I would have honestly told my people that you had won fairly, and chosen not to kill me but instead stay with us. Or at least, that was what I had thought. But to beat me you had to summon the force of will strong enough to kill me, and I would have found it surprising at the time if you could find the strength to let me live.”

And for the first time since you came in, he smiled. “Aren’t we glad that’s not how things turned out? In another time, I might now be grieving over your death from the icy slopes. Hopefully the other theory is right and that just “never happened.” But right here, right now, you are both safe, and I feel I could not be luckier to have you.”

And for the first time since you died, you felt yourself smiling as well.

Asgore pushed himself out of his chair and walked over to you. You felt his heavy hand on your shoulder. “Now Frisk, there is someone who has been waiting very patiently at the door for us to finish talking. I believe it’s time she gets to come in.”

You turned around quickly. Did he mean-

There stood Toriel at the door, eyes wide and full of tears. Two mugs of very cold hot chocolate laid on a platter at her feet. Breathing heavily, she slowly approached you, then quickly kneeled down and gave a hug so strong it hurt. Her tears flowed as she smiled, her hand stroking the back of your head. You pushed back into the embrace and tried to comfort her. “It’s okay Mom. I’m here.”

She chuckled, and wiped a tear from her eye. “You just went through all that, and are trying to console me? It should be the other way around, don’t you think?”

You kept smiling. It took dying to work up the courage, but eventually they knew about your power with Asriel. You felt a large weight leave your chest.

“So Frisk,” began the king, “I believe you promised Papyrus a day of skiing.”

Toriel looked up, shocked. “You can’t be serious. They just died out there.”

Asgore nodded. “I understand that. But they should not live in fear of their experiences.” He lowered his voice. “Nor should we.”

It was very, very hot. Fires raged around Asriel.

“This way! Follow me!” Asriel yelled out as he evacuated another family from another burning house. Black smoke filled the night air cutting off the light of the stars.

He led them to a large group of people and monsters away from the fires, scared and still in night clothes.

“You should be safe here for the time being. I’m going back to see if anyone else needs help.”

Without another word, Asriel dashed off again towards the fires.

It seemed another anti-monster meeting had turned into a riot. The rioters charged into a monster-friendly portion of the city and started destroying everything they could see. Windows broken, cars busted, houses burned.

Monsters in general are fairly friendly people, and so many had been accepted into societies with open arms. Those that were less civilization friendly often made their way into wilderness, finding comfort where others saw extreme conditions. Seen with intrigue, many monsters were given many opportunities within communities. They were on average hardworking and trustworthy. Those that were deemed frightening or repulsive by humans were often pushed to the wayside, but they were often cared for in monster communities.

But with humans, different meant distrust. Monsters were blamed for many things, from illnesses to economies. A thousand stories have been told in fiction and non-fiction about humanity’s inherit distrust of what they don’t understand. It didn’t matter that most were quite affable. It was even used as evidence that monsters were “planning something.” People pointed to the stories passed down about the “evil monsters” as proof of their intentions.

Asriel ran through the streets, homes burning around him. There was so much smoke even the moon could no longer be seen.

“CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?” Asriel called out. “I’M HERE TO HELP! LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!”

Only the sound of crackling fire remained. A roof collapsed in a nearby house, sending sparks and flames into the air.

“HELLO?” he persisted, “IS ANYONE STILL HERE?”

The fire remained the only sound. The heat was sweltering.

“Okay, I think we’re clear. Anyone in the area should have heard me by now. Let’s head on back, Frisk.”

You urge Asriel to check some more before he leaves. There may still be some who are having a hard time being heard above the fire.

“Fine. One more round, and then we head back. I don’t want to leave everyone else alone for too long.” Asriel caught his breath and took off again down the road.

“DOES ANYONE NEED HELP?”

“YELL BACK IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!”

And then, above the sound of the flames, a faint sound could be heard.

“Bark!”

A dog. Somehow, a dog had gotten trapped in the second-story of a house already filled with flames. The front entrance had already collapsed into a flaming husk. Out of the second story window a thick black smoke poured out, along with the barks of a small dog.

Asriel and Frisk would gladly protect a monster or human’s life with their own at any time. But even a single pet? Would that be worth the pain of burning alive and resetting to rescue everyone all over again?

Asriel was already climbing up the drainpipe.

“Remember now,” Asriel huffed as he made his way up, “we promised them no resets. I still intend to keep that promise.”

You tell Asriel to focus on saving the dog.

“Just wanted to remind you.” Asriel took a deep breath and leaped from the drainpipe, barely catching the open window with his hands. He struggled to pull himself up into the house. As he rolled into the window, he started to cough into his arm from the fumes as he looked around desperately for the dog. They had to be somewhere around….

His eyes widened.

A small black dog was pulling on the sleeve of a small lizard monster child, unconscious and half buried in some fallen rubble. Since she wasn’t dust, that meant she was still alive.

Asriel crawled his way through the hellish heat over to them. Embers burned him as he struggled to get the rubble off of her, reaching deep to pull as hard as he could. Flames could be seen coming in through the walls. The whole house could collapse literally any moment he remained in there. With a mighty tug, she started to slide out from beneath the wreckage, breathing softly. She was seriously injured, but still alive.

You tell Asriel to hurry, grab them, and get out.

“You really don’t need to give commands right now, Frisk,” Asriel thought as he made his way back over to the window, squirming dog in one arm and comatose girl in the other.

He heard something snap behind him as he bounded out the window. He landed awkwardly and painfully, trying to protect the girl and dog from the blow.

He brought them to the street away from the flames. Asriel turned back towards the house. If she was still in there, were her parents still in there as well? Where should he start looking, as the fire continued to consume the home?

But it was too late. Another loud snap was heard, and the two story house began to collapse in on itself. Crashes loudly sounded from the falling wreckage. There was nothing he could do. Asriel doubted they would leave without taking their daughter, but perhaps they couldn’t find her and thought she had already turned to dust among the ashes? He winced. That was a really long shot, even by his standards of hope, but it was the only chance he could think of right now.

Asriel himself had sustained some injuries in that ordeal, mostly from the fall getting out. He grabbed a monster-made granola bar from his pocket and started eating it while sitting on the ground. He could instantly feel its magic taking effect. He was still injured, but now he had the strength to get all of them back to the others. The fires surrounding him exhausted him from the unrelenting heat. The black dog was standing above the lizard child, trying to nudge her awake. Asriel reached out and stroked the dog’s head.

“It’s okay fella. She’s gonna be okay. You did a good job back there.”

And then came the shouting. Around the corner to the next block, a band of humans made their way around the bend, holding torches, gas tanks, bats, and other items. They turned and stared at Asriel. “There’s one!” a man shouted while pointing a finger.

“Oh shit,” said Asriel.

The humans started to break into a run towards them. Asriel scrambled to his feet, scooping the child into his arms. He dashed off away from the crowd, hoping the dog would follow. Luckily, it seemed like the dog had no trouble keeping up with him as they sprinted down the paved road.

The mob ran as fast as they could, but they couldn’t keep up with Asriel, even carrying a child in his arms. The group seemed to get tired and slowed down behind him, but stayed in pursuit. He was tired, but Asriel refused to give up now. He had to get her to an area where she’d be safe. He ran in the direction of the shelter through the burning town. “Almost there,” he said to himself. He would do it.

That’s when he turned a corner and ran into the second group of rioters. They stared at each other for a moment that seemed like an eternity, and then a cry of anger came up from the group.

In a panic, Asriel quickly pushed off to run another way where they could escape. He looked around. He didn’t even live here, this was just supposed to be a short stay with the community. He was now out of the part of the town on fire, simply in the city streets. His way to safety was now blocked off by the horde, and he didn’t know the streets in this area as well. He kept running, pursued by the mob, and came to a crossroad.

You tell Asriel to try going left.

He ran down the left road, looking for a place to hide. There was nothing obvious around him to do so. He reached the end of the road, culminating in a cul-de-sac. It was a dead end.

You tell Asriel that was just a guess.

“There they are!” Asriel heard behind him.

The rioters, both groups combined into one, started slowly walking down the road.

There seemed to be no avoiding it. He set the girl down by a tree at the end of the pavement and walked to the middle of the road. The black dog stayed with the child.

Asriel stared down the approaching rioters.

“STOP THIS!” he shouted out. “We have done NOTHING to harm you! Let us go in peace!”

A single, loud “HA!” came from the center of the group. From the sound walked out a short human wearing small, black sunglasses a bright red vest. His jet-black hair was slicked back. “Look, the thing’s giving orders to us now.” From the way the other humans were looking at him, he appeared to be their leader.

“What exactly do you want from us?” Asriel yelled and gestured back to the burning town. “You’ve burned our homes, killed our families, and terrorized our people!”

“What do we want?” the man in the red vest yelled back. “Everything you took from us! Our livelihoods, our safety, our right to be the rightful owners of this world! Everything is about monsters nowadays. You’re all demons, and despite so few of you abominations, you guys sure do seem to be praised on television a lot! Well you might have put most of the population under your magic spells, but NOT US! We’re better than that…..we’re better than YOU. We KNOW you creatures were sealed beneath that mountain for a REASON, even if you REFUSE to tell us what that reason is.”

These people watch TV, hopefully doing some name dropping couldn’t hurt.

“Listen, all of you! My name is Asriel Dreemurr. I am the Ambassador to all Human-Monster Relations. My people have created jobs, not taken them. While you have killed us with clear intent, the only deaths connected to monsters were in self defense. Do you think we want to be on the news all the time? No! We just want to live our lives!”

The rioters seemed to calm down, and started talking amongst themselves. “Wait, he’s the ambassador?” “I heard he was super strong.” “I can’t be tied with this, that would be a life sentence!” “He doesn’t look that tough.” “Why was he by himself in the middle of the wreckage?”

“Don’t listen to him!” the red-vested man shouted to the crowd behind him, “He’s trying to put you under his spell! They say self-defense but all we really have is the monster’s word, don’t we? If they don’t want to be on the news, it’s because they don’t want to attract attention to what they’re REALLY doing!”

Asriel threw his hands out. “THERE IS NO SPELL! We can’t force you, or anyone, to like us! All we can do…is try to be kind to you. Do you want to know the reason we were sealed under the mountain in ages past? It wasn’t for anything we did, it was humans attacking preemptively for something we MIGHT do! You look upon us and you don’t trust us, and I understand that, but can you give us an honest chance to do right? Can you do at least that? In ages past humans took action because they were scared of us, much like you’re feeling now. But that was then. And this is now. I look at all of you here and I KNOW…you’re smarter than that. You can show, right here, right now, you are better than how they were.”

“SHUT UP!” The man was visibly enraged now. “You monsters tried to DO something back then, and YOU’LL TRY TO DO IT AGAIN! Ambassador? You’re nothing but an illusion, getting every human to go along with “oh how you’re so nice and perfect” and all that bullshit. You are NOT going to treat us like sheep. We’re the ones in control here, and you’re nothing but dust in disguise! And I’m going to prove that right now.” He walked over to a person carrying a metal bat and snatched it out of their hands. “Give me that!”

He started walking towards Asriel by himself. “One solid hit and all your fancy words and false talk will blow away in the wind. I’ve seen it before and I’ll see it again.”

Asriel stared him in the eye. “You would kill me yourself?”

The man grinned, eyes sparkling behind his glasses. “Kill? I’m harmless. I wouldn’t kill a fly. I’m just revealing the nothing that was always there. This is me being a hero.” He charged straight at the monster and yelled out. “YAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” He swung as hard as he could with both hands.

Asriel caught the bat in one hand. “I won’t let you do that.”

“Let go, you monster!” The man struggled to free the bat from the monster’s grip.

Asriel shouted out to the crowd. “Do you all know what I’m trying to do right now? I’m trying to get an injured little girl who just lost her parents to safety. I only wish to take her there, so that she may get the help she needs. That’s all I want right now!”

“RRRRRRAAAAHHHH!” The man shoved the bat from his hands and pulled out a knife from his right pocket. He swung it at Asriel, as the ambassador jumped out of the way just in time. “YOU. ARE. EVIL!” the man yelled out with more swings. “RRRAAAGGGGGHHH!” The man yelled out while swinging, the ambassador dodging each time. “Stand. STILL!”

Asriel saw an opening and grabbed the leader’s hand. He wrestled control of the knife away from the man and tossed it away to the side. Asriel then twisted the man’s arm backwards and pushed him to the ground. The man shook and fought his way trying to get out of the hold.

“Please,” Asriel pleaded. “We just want to live our lives in peace. Can you show that small bit of mercy towards us?” The man shook and wrestled. “SOMEONE HELP ME!” he screamed. No one moved. The crowd was silent.

Eventually, the struggling stopped. After a minute, when the muscles began to relax, Asriel let go of the man’s arm. The red-vested man did not scurry away. He just remained there on his hands and knees at the feet of Asriel.

“Please. Let me help you up.” He reached down his hand.

The man remained still for a moment. Then, as his body seemed to relax, his right hand reached up and grabbed the furry hand that was offered.

The man looked up at Asriel and stared into his eyes.

“Fuck you,” the man said as he grabbed a gun out of his left pocket, aimed it Asriel, and fired.

A cloud of dust exploded from Asriel’s back. He fell to his knees directly in front of the man.

The man laughed.

The crowd watched.

“Now you’ll turn to dust,” the man laughed, “and everyone here will see you for what you REALLY are.”

Everyone was silent. It would be any moment now.

But it refused.

Asriel stuggled to his feet, and limped his way over to the unconscious girl.

“What? What are you doing?”

But it refused.

Asriel almost fell over as he scooped up the little lizard girl in his arms and staggered towards the crowd.

“You’re going to try to SAVE her? You can’t save yourself!”

But it refused.

As Asriel got closer to the crowd, it started to part away from the two monsters, black dog in tow.

“Stop! You’re supposed to be dying! You’re supposed to be dead!”

But it refused.

“Somebody! Stop them! Before they get away! He’s injured! Now’s your chance!”

The crowd parted cleanly as Asriel started to pass through the middle of the group.

It seemed no one was going to stop them.

“RRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!” The red-vested man scrambled to his feet, smoking gun in hand. “Stop, damn you!”

But it refused.

The man raised his gun with a shaking arm and aimed it at the monster limping away.

“Stop! Or I’ll shoot!”

But it refused.

“Screw it then! DIE!”

The red-vested man shot three more times. One went slightly to the left of Asriel. The second bounced off the pavement nearby. The third went straight into Asriel’s limping ankle. Asriel fell forward, clutching the girl as tightly as he could as his body hit the road.

Someone reached down to his right arm and started to help Asriel back up.

“NO! STOP IT! YOU’RE HELPING THE EVIL DEMON! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!”

But they refused.

Another reached down and helped hold Asriel’s left side up.

The crowd started to come back together behind Asriel.

By now quite a few lights were on in the houses around them.

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?”

But they refused.

A tall man broke off from the crowd and started making his way towards the red-vested man.

The group started to walk slowly behind Asriel towards the emergency shelter.

The short red-vested man raised his gun up into the air and started firing at the sky.

“LISTEN TO ME! I AM THE ONE IN CHARGE HERE!”

But they refused.

Shots continued to ring out into the air, one after another. Soon, only a soft clicking sound could be heard.

The crowd turned at the end of the road and started walking down the cross street.

The man in the red vest fell to his knees as he dropped the gun on the ground. What had just happened? He couldn’t understand. They were winning, they were all winning, and then…they joined HIM? Had the demon successfully cast his spell? Was he the only sane man left?

The tall man came over and stood beside the red-vested man. One looked down. The other looked up.

The leader looked up over his small glasses into the eyes of the tall man, hoping to find some trace of sympathy or validation. He asked for support from the last person he could see. Everyone else had gone down the other road out of sight.

“You….you understand….don’t you?”

The tall man looked down with pity in his eyes.

“Yeah…yeah…I think I do.”

The tall man swung his right fist and punched the leader below him as hard as he could in the face. With a noise and a twist, the red-vested man hit the pavement hard, knocked out with a concussion.

The tall man then sat down in the middle of the cul-de-sac beside the unconscious man, and waited for the police to arrive as he took out his cell phone. He had a call to make.

As the phone rang, the tall man saw the first rays of sunshine for the day. He heard fire engines spraying water on the houses. Hopefully they would pick up.

“Wha-,“ Asriel groaned, “Where…where am I?”

Asriel looked out the window from the large bed, and saw it was morning. Or maybe evening, depending on which way the room faced. The analog clock said 6:30, but that could go either way. What season was it again?

That’s when he felt the pain in his chest. His body hurt to move under the covers, but it was tolerable as long as he remained relaxed.

“Hey Frisk? You there?”

...

It didn’t seem he was answering right now. He was still there, Asriel could feel that much, just…asleep? “Huh, that’s never happened before.”

He looked around the room. On the table to his right, there was a bouquet of flowers and cards. To his left…

His eyes opened wide as memories started flooding back.

To his left lied a small lizard girl in a red sleeping bag on the floor. At her feet a black dog was curled in a ball asleep.

Asriel raced through his last memories. The fires, the evacuation, the girl and dog, the rioters, the confrontation the…

The…

Asriel actually couldn’t remember much beyond that. He remembered fighting that man in the red vest and then…his memory was a blur more than anything.

At least he was alive, and it appeared time hadn’t been reset. That was good enough for now.

There was a television in the room, but Asriel couldn’t find the remote, and was NOT going to get out of the bed with the way he was feeling. His pockets were empty, so no luck checking the news on his phone either.

He relaxed back in bed. Whatever. He was alive, had saved the girl, and kept his promise. All was well.

He was pretty hungry though. But it could wait.

A couple hours later, someone knocked on the door. It was definitely morning now. The dog looked up as the monster kid squirmed under a pillow.

The door opened and Undyne poked her head through. “Hey kid, you awake yet?” She turned her head to see Asriel sitting up and calmly waving to her.

Undyne threw the door open as it crashed into the wall with a bang. “HEY! YOU’RE ALRIGHT! I KNEW YOU COULDN’T BE KEPT DOWN FOR LONG!”

Asriel winced. If this were a hospital of some kind, hopefully there weren’t many people around asleep, because there certainly weren’t any now.

Undyne beamed as she strolled to the foot of his bed. “How ya feeling, Az? Ready for a new day? Because seriously, you have A LOT of people wanting to see you right now. Ready to face them head on?”

Asriel chuckled with a sigh. “Ready for breakfast at least. We’ll see what I can handle after that.”

“BREAKFAST? Perfect! Papyrus has been working hard on learning how to make eggs recently. Startin’ to turn out pretty good if you cut off the edges! They’ll sure to get you wide awake if nothing else. And if those end up sucking I’m sure Toriel will fix up something nice!”

He decided to ignore the threat of Papyrus’s cooking. “Huh? Mom’s here?”

“Man, EVERYONE’S here! What, with you showing up outta nowhere three days ago nine-tenths dead with a girl in a coma, her dog, two bullets in your body and a band of anti-monster criminals at your feet ready to turn themselves in? I thought you were trying to be the Ambassador, not the Second Coming of Their Lord! You can probably work another book deal outta this!”

“Wait...what?”

She laughed and smiled as she looked away. “Speaking of which, I think someone’s ready to say hello now!” Asriel followed Undyne’s gaze over to his left, where a very wide-eyed lizard girl was standing still in her pajamas, looking terrified to move a muscle.

Asriel tried to show a calming smile. “It’s alright. I’m just glad to see you’re okay. I’m Asriel, what’s your name?”

The girl just stood there, hands forming into balls and tears forming in her eyes.

Asriel waited patiently for a response.

She cried out. “I know what your name is, dummy!” The girl burst into tears and ran towards him, embracing Asriel as much as she could as strong as she could muster. She buried herself into his shoulder crying her eyes out.

Asriel tensed. Now he could really feel that chest wound. It hurt a lot.

“Okay, okay!” he strained. “It’s okay. I’m okay, see? I’ll be fine. That really hurts, but it will be okay!”

The lizard girl continued to sob into his shoulder.

Undyne smiled. “I wondered when that would happen. She’s almost been in shock ever since we put together the story from everyone else’s testimonies. This little sentinel here has been waiting for you to wake up ever since. It was hard to drag her away to even eat!”

Asriel smiled. Everything was okay. Wait, what about-

“Undyne, are her parents-“

Undyne’s smile faltered, and then disappeared completely. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. They passed in the fire, probably some time before you came upon the house. Like I said, I wondered when she’d finally break.”

Asriel turned his head to sadly look on the girl still crying away into him. He stretched to reach over with his other hand to stroke her on the back of her head.

Undyne continued. “We’ve been talking with the extended family. There seems to be some items that survived the fire treasured enough to have a proper funeral. Arrangements have already been made: there’s some friends of the family willing to take Jaz in for the foreseeable future.”

“Jaz?”

“Her name.”

The lizard girl kept crying.

“Well, Jaz, it’s very nice to meet you.”

Jaz tried to regain her composure, but refused to look up from being buried in his clothing.

He turned back to Undyne. “What about the mob? What happened to them?”

“Az. Even if most of them turned themselves in, they still participated in city-wide arson. Monsters and humans alike are dead because of them. Police are tracking down the few who ran off by the end. Yet, if it makes you feel any better, the majority of them are on bail and are currently helping to rebuild homes. So that should help their sentencing.”

Asriel took it all in as he closed his eyes. “You know, this really odd without Frisk giving comments and suggestions to me.”

“Huh? Something bothering him?”

“He appears to be…asleep?”

“Do souls even go to sleep?”

“Apparently?”

Jaz finally looked up, tears still in her eyes. “Frisk? Frisk…like from the stories?”

Asriel smiled. Now he wished Frisk was awake, he loved seeing how his actions were still appreciated.

“Yeah, like from the stories. The human who helped free the monsters from the underground.”

“Isn’t he dead?”

“Hm? Dead?”

Jaz shook her head. “Uh-huh. He died to help bring you back to life.”

Asriel sat back in bed. “I wouldn’t say he’s dead. You see, after he helped break the barrier and freed all the monsters, he came to see me. I was cursed, brought back to life without a soul, destined to be trapped in the Underground forever. But Frisk, out of his own free will, offered his own soul to help truly bring me back. And he’s been inside me ever since. He helps me whenever it gets tough and pushes me through the greatest of obstacles. He’s my brother and my best friend.”

Jaz stared at him with wide eyes. She turned her head to look at his chest, and placed a hand gently where his heart was.

“I’d let you speak with him, but he seems to be asleep right now. I’m sure he’d love to chat with you though when he does wake up.”

Jaz quickly pulled her hand back. “Oh no no no. Nervous enough talking with you, not gonna try to talk to him as well.”

Asriel chuckled. “Think about it. It would really make his day.”

Jaz appeared to go deep into thought. It appeared that today he made another friend. Asriel looked around, surprised to see Undyne missing.

He heard her standing outside the door. “Yeah, Mr. Dreamer is finally awake, so get up here! Oh, and he’s hungry, so bring food!” She ended the call without another word and came back into the room. “Like you asked, breakfast is on the way!”

He might as well get prepared for everyone’s arrival. “So I guess no more training sessions until I’m all healed up, right?”

“You’re joking, right? We’re going to accelerate that healing through physical therapy! Every day until you’re better!”

“Have you even been trained in physical therapy?”

“I know how to train bodies. Build a muscle, rebuild it, the difference can be ignored. We start in three hours, enjoy your breakfast!” Undyne laughed as she strolled out of the room.

It was going to be a long day.