[He has to be honest. Has to let them know how close he came. And if they stopped responding, he wouldn't just leave it at that this time. They were so close to an understanding now, so close to making things okay for once.]
Sans and Papyrus. They found me in the kitchen. I'm not really sure if Papyrus knew what I was trying to do, but he took the knife away from me. Sans talked to me. We all made spaghetti instead.
[In the kitchen. Where are the knives. Did he mean... he wouldn't. That's not Asriel. Frisk proved it's not kill or be killed, Asriel's beyond that. Asriel Dreemurr would rather die than hurt someone, even if they deserved it.
Then... the remaining option...?
Chara, you might not believe this... but I decided... It wasn't worth living anymore. Not in a world without love. Not in a world without you. So... I decided to follow in your footsteps. I would erase myself from existence.
And you know what? I succeeded.
They taught him this. They went silent, and they made him do this.]
I figured we had at least a few lives here, like a death wouldn't even really matter, would it? They say when you die, you forget a little more. And maybe I could forget what I said, forget you being upset or something
like i probably wouldn't even die it'd just be a good way to get some frustration out and
they stopped me from making a big mistake chara sans and papyrus they were still willing to talk to me even after everything i'd done to sans i'm okay i didn't do anything i'm okay
[Oh my god! A good way to get some frustration out! He was going to do... he was going to do that just on the narrow chance he might forget that he said something Chara didn't like! They did this! They did this!!
And... and for what? They didn't answer because they were afraid. Upset. Couldn't keep a lid on their own emotions. While they were... were sitting around eating pie with Frisk, he might have been... god. Good god. They were feeling sorry for themselves, they were throwing some kind of selfish dumb pity party, they were making Frisk stick with them, and he...
Answer, Chara. Answer! Don't you dare fall apart again. Don't drive him to it twice.]
Don't ever follow in my footsteps again.
I promise I'll leave you alone. I'll let you have anything you want. I'll find a way to stay in this world for good so I can't ever True Reset. I'll let go. Please, please unlearn this. Please. I wasn't trying to punish you!
[They're upset again, they're freaking out again, hadn't they started to get better? Should've just left it as pretending to be Sans should have stopped the conversation there.]
i'm s
[Don't apologize.]
i won't. i won't do it anymore chara please don't go again
[Their phone's going off, and the little noises feel like sirens carving into their skull. Don't be silent. Don't be silent. Silence did this. You did this.
I let go because you wanted me to. Let Frisk be happy let Frisk live their life. I thought it would help. I didn't want to make it worse all I do is hurt you all I do is make it worse!
Tell me what to do. Tell me how to ease your suffering not add to it. Tell me how to make it ok.
The end. Everyone on the surface, nobody dead but me and six other nameless children.
[Asriel... a flower, but still alive. Alone, but still alive. What a happy ending, right?
Deep breath. Breathe. Keep breathing. Chara is nothing but a memory, in every sense of the word. Only heard it once, but listened. Held fast to it. Recall, recite. It's grounding to recite. To focus on repeating what others have said. To parrot from the script.]
Seems as if everyone is perfectly happy. Monsters have returned to the surface. Peace and propserity will rule across the land. Take a deep breath. There's nothing left to worry about.
Well. There is one thing. One last threat. One being with the power to erase EVERYTHING... Everything everyone's worked so hard for.
...
You know who I'm talking about, don't you? That's right. I'm talking about YOU. YOU still have the power to reset everything. Toriel, Sans, Asgore, Alphys, Papyrus, Undyne... If you so choose... Everyone will be ripped from this timeline... and be sent back before all of this ever happened. Nobody will remember anything. You'll be able to do whatever you want.
[He'd been thinking it. Over all the time he'd spent over their grave, feeling the slow deterioration beginning to consume his body, nerves numbing and feelings fading. Being left alone after everyone returned to the surface, he started thinking of exactly what to tell them.
But he'd never gotten that far. He actually did it, pushed Chara out of his life, told them to never come back, that they would ruin everything. At the time, he meant it. Stood by it. Was firm about that. But now?
They're here, scared for him, nothing like... that creature he'd seen in the bad timelines. This is different, very different.]
It doesn't mean that applies here.
[Trying to be calm, trying not to run off, himself.]
You didn't believe I would do it. You thought you had already begged me a hundred times to let everyone be happy.
If I get past Sans. If I hurt you in a way worse than any other timeline hurt you. Then you were right. In our memory, Frisk's and mine, we stopped at him. Went back, and ended on the timeline where you ask this of me.
If you remember more than that, however, there are still bad timelines. There are bad timelines that go all the way to the end.
I can't lie and say that it won't have to happen, that we'll just be here and we can finally deviate from the script. Because I left here before. And I don't even remember it. And you know only a True Reset can really
I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I panicked. How many timelines has it been? How many years?
I no longer know. I don't. But... don't apologize. You were not wrong. Your feelings are not wrong. They're yours.
Asriel. Let me ask you something. Do you believe there was a purpose to our reincarnation? That we were summoned here for a reason? That there is meaning behind the fact we still exist.
Because we're crucial to the script. Back there, at least. You can't remove an asset that keeps it going otherwise the universe starts grasping at straws, trying to find something to fill that void.
But here? I can't say. I don't know why this world wants us at all, or keeps adding and removing components.
I don't believe I'm essential to that world. Nobody knew I was there. Nobody acknowledged my presence. You only called my name when you saw emptiness and dust.
Here, I have had time to think. I have been told my purpose is not strength. I have been told what awaits in our world, should I ever return to it. True Resets. An ambition that is not enough to stop the endless looping. Punishment that does not actually discourage. I will not change, will I? I will be exactly what you believe me to be. We will all forget this. You will fear me. Frisk will not look to me as a friend, or someone meant to be part of their happy ending.
But here...
[They aren't entirely empty. Here, the refrain of "not really human" has died down, tapered off, become something different. Here, Frisk calls Chara their best friend, says they'd be missed. Here, it's not just... settling for a vicarious happiness. They're really part of the world, not just an interloper, a spectator, a parasite.
They have been given guidance, and they think... they might be responding to it.]
I think there is a reason. I think I have been brought here so... all of you can be safe. So maybe there is a chance to divert the world from the fate I would impose on it. Prevent a reset by force.
I don't think I want to go back, Asriel. I think I have a chance to figure out how to root myself to this world permanently, and I am going to do my best to make that happen. I do not know if I have the power to change in our world. I think I will become the very worst thing I can be, because you already remember me doing so. But here... maybe things really can be different.
Does that sound naive? Maybe I'm just making excuses. I would not blame you if you do not believe a word of it. But in this world, I don't want to be... I don't want to be the last remaining threat. I don't want to make you fear. I don't want to be the reason you erase yourself from existence.
[The first step. The first screen they see before they can get anywhere or start any timelines. To name Chara. Without that, would there be a universe? Without them, would Frisk have freed all the monsters out of the Underground? Would there be a System_Information_962 in the bad ones?]
Look, even with the SOULs, even when I completely reprogrammed the entire universe, it still wasn't enough. It's the script, Chara, and it's... it's Frisk's story, really. So don't beat yourself over any of it, okay? As long as I know you were still there in the good timelines, that's enough. You're enough.
If I go back myself, there's going to be a True Reset. There always will be. I'll be back as Flowey, torturing you and Frisk until, in one of those timelines, I drive you to do what you do.
They said I left here too, Chara. Except I was Flowey. Look what happened to me.
[Scared of silence. Scared of what happens when they hear him calling, but don't answer. But they're torn, too. Scattered. Full of things they want to say, but aren't ready to. Might never say. They've given up on "sorry," because sorry is just a meaningless word. Sorry isn't good enough. It's too late for sorry.
They don't want to say it at all. Feels like an excuse. Feels weak. But silence is... they can't tune this out. Can't run away.]
I don't know how else to make it up to you. I don't know how to repent.
That's backwards too. I mean it, Asriel. Don't apologize. Don't blame yourself. I know you blamed yourself, but... you weren't wrong. You weren't wrong at all.
You were scared. You didn't really understand what I was dragging you into, did you?
Sometimes it was hard to understand what you really wanted, Chara. You never really talked about yourself back then, and I respected that. Whatever happened to you on the Surface must've been really really bad.
text
Sans and Papyrus. They found me in the kitchen. I'm not really sure if Papyrus knew what I was trying to do, but he took the knife away from me. Sans talked to me. We all made spaghetti instead.
text - ssssuicide cw ha ha ha
Then... the remaining option...?
Chara, you might not believe this... but I decided... It wasn't worth living anymore. Not in a world without love. Not in a world without you. So... I decided to follow in your footsteps. I would erase myself from existence.
And you know what?
I succeeded.
They taught him this. They went silent, and they made him do this.]
No. Asriel, no.
No.
Please no
text - YOU'RE A GREAT ROLE MODEL
like i probably wouldn't even die it'd just be a good way to get some frustration out and
they stopped me from making a big mistake chara sans and papyrus they were still willing to talk to me even after everything i'd done to sans i'm okay i didn't do anything i'm okay
iim okay
text - LLLLLLLLORD HELP ME
And... and for what? They didn't answer because they were afraid. Upset. Couldn't keep a lid on their own emotions. While they were... were sitting around eating pie with Frisk, he might have been... god. Good god. They were feeling sorry for themselves, they were throwing some kind of selfish dumb pity party, they were making Frisk stick with them, and he...
Answer, Chara. Answer! Don't you dare fall apart again. Don't drive him to it twice.]
Don't ever follow in my footsteps again.
I promise I'll leave you alone. I'll let you have anything you want. I'll find a way to stay in this world for good so I can't ever True Reset. I'll let go. Please, please unlearn this. Please. I wasn't trying to punish you!
text - THESE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
[They're upset again, they're freaking out again, hadn't they started to get better? Should've just left it as pretending to be Sans should have stopped the conversation there.]
i'm s
[Don't apologize.]
i won't. i won't do it anymore chara please don't go again
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There's Frisk, there's Toriel, but nothing matters more than Asriel. Than not being silent again.]
i told mom
please dont be alone until you're ok
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i don't want you hurting yourself ok
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I let go because you wanted me to. Let Frisk be happy let Frisk live their life. I thought it would help. I didn't want to make it worse all I do is hurt you all I do is make it worse!
Tell me what to do. Tell me how to ease your suffering not add to it. Tell me how to make it ok.
text
when did i say that????
text
[Asriel... a flower, but still alive. Alone, but still alive. What a happy ending, right?
Deep breath. Breathe. Keep breathing. Chara is nothing but a memory, in every sense of the word. Only heard it once, but listened. Held fast to it. Recall, recite. It's grounding to recite. To focus on repeating what others have said. To parrot from the script.]
Seems as if everyone is perfectly happy. Monsters have returned to the surface. Peace and propserity will rule across the land. Take a deep breath. There's nothing left to worry about.
Well. There is one thing. One last threat. One being with the power to erase EVERYTHING... Everything everyone's worked so hard for.
...
You know who I'm talking about, don't you? That's right. I'm talking about YOU. YOU still have the power to reset everything. Toriel, Sans, Asgore, Alphys, Papyrus, Undyne... If you so choose... Everyone will be ripped from this timeline... and be sent back before all of this ever happened. Nobody will remember anything. You'll be able to do whatever you want.
text
But he'd never gotten that far. He actually did it, pushed Chara out of his life, told them to never come back, that they would ruin everything. At the time, he meant it. Stood by it. Was firm about that. But now?
They're here, scared for him, nothing like... that creature he'd seen in the bad timelines. This is different, very different.]
It doesn't mean that applies here.
[Trying to be calm, trying not to run off, himself.]
There's no Resets, no bad timelines, no
you don't have to leave ok.
text
If I get past Sans. If I hurt you in a way worse than any other timeline hurt you. Then you were right. In our memory, Frisk's and mine, we stopped at him. Went back, and ended on the timeline where you ask this of me.
If you remember more than that, however, there are still bad timelines. There are bad timelines that go all the way to the end.
text
I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I panicked. How many timelines has it been? How many years?
text
Asriel. Let me ask you something. Do you believe there was a purpose to our reincarnation? That we were summoned here for a reason? That there is meaning behind the fact we still exist.
text
But here? I can't say. I don't know why this world wants us at all, or keeps adding and removing components.
text
Here, I have had time to think. I have been told my purpose is not strength. I have been told what awaits in our world, should I ever return to it. True Resets. An ambition that is not enough to stop the endless looping. Punishment that does not actually discourage. I will not change, will I? I will be exactly what you believe me to be. We will all forget this. You will fear me. Frisk will not look to me as a friend, or someone meant to be part of their happy ending.
But here...
[They aren't entirely empty. Here, the refrain of "not really human" has died down, tapered off, become something different. Here, Frisk calls Chara their best friend, says they'd be missed. Here, it's not just... settling for a vicarious happiness. They're really part of the world, not just an interloper, a spectator, a parasite.
They have been given guidance, and they think... they might be responding to it.]
I think there is a reason. I think I have been brought here so... all of you can be safe. So maybe there is a chance to divert the world from the fate I would impose on it. Prevent a reset by force.
I don't think I want to go back, Asriel. I think I have a chance to figure out how to root myself to this world permanently, and I am going to do my best to make that happen. I do not know if I have the power to change in our world. I think I will become the very worst thing I can be, because you already remember me doing so. But here... maybe things really can be different.
Does that sound naive? Maybe I'm just making excuses. I would not blame you if you do not believe a word of it. But in this world, I don't want to be... I don't want to be the last remaining threat. I don't want to make you fear. I don't want to be the reason you erase yourself from existence.
text
[The first step. The first screen they see before they can get anywhere or start any timelines. To name Chara. Without that, would there be a universe? Without them, would Frisk have freed all the monsters out of the Underground? Would there be a System_Information_962 in the bad ones?]
Look, even with the SOULs, even when I completely reprogrammed the entire universe, it still wasn't enough. It's the script, Chara, and it's... it's Frisk's story, really. So don't beat yourself over any of it, okay? As long as I know you were still there in the good timelines, that's enough. You're enough.
If I go back myself, there's going to be a True Reset. There always will be. I'll be back as Flowey, torturing you and Frisk until, in one of those timelines, I drive you to do what you do.
They said I left here too, Chara. Except I was Flowey. Look what happened to me.
I promise, it's okay.
text
They don't want to say it at all. Feels like an excuse. Feels weak. But silence is... they can't tune this out. Can't run away.]
I don't know how else to make it up to you. I don't know how to repent.
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You were scared. You didn't really understand what I was dragging you into, did you?
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But I didn't think 'taking the SOULs' would mean
like that
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