“I just hope.............everything goes to plan.” I’m currently overlooking the snow covered Ponyville from a hill. It’s been four months since that day................since I died. “I hope everyone likes their gifts. I worked hard on finding the perfect ones.” I breath in, and out. “Funny how the one universe I can feel anything, is the one I died in. No more stalling.” I snap, changing my cloak to a winter coat, and my other clothes to ones more fitting of the weather.
“Now then, Za Warudo!” time around the town freezes as I run toward the house. Time starts again right as I create a small cloaking dome around the doorway.
“Okay Asriel..............just knock on the door. It’s Christmas. After everything...............everyone deserves a miracle.” My hand shakily approaches the door, and I knock.
“who could that be?” I hear Sans ask.
“MAYBE ITS THE PONIES!” shouts Papyrus.
“they’re in canterlot bro. faust asked them to help with the play.”
“OH. RIGHT. HMM, I WONDER WHO IT IS THEN!”
“I’ll go see who it is!” I hear footsteps approach me, and the door opens to one of the fallen children, in a dark blue sweater. Their dark blues widen when they see me, and back up a step.
“H-Howdy! And m-merry Christmas! Is...............mom in there?” She slowly nods in shock. “Can I.............come in?” She nods again.
I breath in, and out, then slowly walk in. Everything has been decorated for the holiday with lights, vines, and hanging stars. Even Twilights tree has Christmas flair, many lights strung up around it. I look to my left and see the living room has nutcrackers, small santas, and stockings. Not to mention a heavily decorated Christmas tree.
That’s when I spot mom. Wearing a red sweater, she’s looking at me with wide eyes.
“..........Asriel?”
“...........Hi mo.........” She crushes me in a hug before I can finish.
“It’s you..............it really is you!” She starts to sob. “All this time...........I........I thought...........I thought that.....”
“That you lost me again.................” I let go of her, and look down at the floor. “I’m............I’m sorry.................I’ll explain to everyone. And truth is..............I have a promise to keep.”
“What.......?”
“I’ll explain everything. I promise...............just please. Go get the others.”
She sighs, and leaves the room.
“Just want to say..............thanks, for not freaking out, or thinking I’m some evil clone.” Undyne looks at me with a frown.
“now then.........kid. how is it possible you’re still here?”
“Sigh. What I’m about to tell you is to not leave this house. I don’t doubt that somehow, Faust knows I’m here. But if Celestia found out............”
“Everything we’ve done the past few months, would disappear. I believe I speak for everyone that we can keep a promise, but I’m with Sans. How did you survive?”
“Yeah Azzy. We all saw you turn to dust..................your SOUL shattered,” says Chara.
“Sigh.....................Frisk knows.” I take a sip of hot cocoa as I look down at the floor, then up at all of them. “Remember my letter? And how I said I would try to refuse my death?”
“It’s why you brought us back.”
I nod. “But what all you don’t know, is what happened next.” I look down at the floor. “The reason why I couldn’t refuse it then................was I didn’t have enough determination.”
“Only the person with the most determination in the underground, can use those abilities.”
“But if that’s true, why could me and him refuse our deaths before?” asks Undyne.
“You could do it in the Genocide run because your determination to protect, rather than destroy, overpowered Frisks. As for why it worked in Jason’s Equestria, Frisk wasn’t there, remember?” She shows remembrance. I turn to the others. “I was able to do it because I...............had extra.”
“..........what do you mean?” Asks mom.
“I can explain that. A couple of hours before he went back to Barry’s, he showed up to me in the dreamscape. He had fallen down, so Alphys injected him with Determination.”
“We’re getting off track Gaster...............Sans can explain later.” I take another sip of cocoa, and sigh. “What did happen, even I don’t understand...................it’s hard to explain. It was like.............a black void, with only me and something else. A RESET button. But it didn’t look right. It was............glitching, flashing, like.....................when a computer image, has bugs in its programming.”
“A glitch. That button.............it must’ve been the result of someone trying to force a RESET.”
Chara shows shock. “O-Oh no!”
I look at her. “What is it?”
“I............I’m so sorry!” Everyone looks at her, and she looks down in shame. “I..............before you all came back............remember how the Underground had been RESET?”
My eyes widen, and I stand up. “You forced a RESET!”
“Asriel......I.......”
“Do you have any idea, how risky that is!? It’s dangerous enough with just a normal SOUL, let alone with just Determination!”
“Asriel!” I freeze up at hearing her voice. “Please................calm down before you do something you’ll regret.”
I look at my hand, and see it’s glitching a bit, mostly at the fingertips.
“Sigh. Anyway.................that button didn’t do the job. At least............not properly.” I hold out my open hand, palm up, and flip it. The SOULs appear, glitching, and flashing red and purple erratically.
Gaster shields his eyes as he slowly walks up to me. “I’ve seen this once before..........in the Void. You aren’t supposed to exist.”
I nod. “This is the result of that button, Chara. It didn’t repair my SOUL. All this is, is their former power.............and the will to live.” I bring my hand down, causing them to disappear as I walk up to her. “I came here, at this time, to keep a promise. But I need to know. What else did you do after you RESET everything?”
She looks at me for a few seconds, then looks down in shame. “Sigh............you would’ve found out eventually. But........” she reaches into her pants pocket, and pulls out a silver knife. I back up in safety and Sans’ eyes go black.
“the real knife. you broke the rules, just so you could get your favorite weapon back.”
“Groan! That explains why I can still feel the LV Flowey gained! You manipulated the rules of LV, so you would still technically be LV 19!”
“That was a very risky move on your part, Chara Dreemurr. Manipulating a universes laws is risky....................especially when there are people, who watch closely for anomalies.”
“And it’s thanks to your first mistake, that I.............sigh, that I can’t feel, anything.” Almost everyone gasps. “The only time I’ve felt anything till now, in four months, was four days after I hit that button. Two days after I died. When Frisk hugged me in happiness.”
“Where have you been?”
I sit back down. “Simple: I decided to see the worlds.”
Garnet smiles for several seconds before frowning. “Our friends don’t remember us.............do they?”
“Pulling you all from your worlds put the different timelines out of sync; you can’t retain it, no. We still remembered when we went to the Underground because this is our home now. Everyone else...................it was like we never existed.”
Alphys tears up a bit along with Sans, and Frisk.
“Please...........don’t cry. It’s Christmas!” I jump up. “Like I said, I came back here to keep a promise. And it’s time I fulfilled it.”
“What do you mean a promise?”
“He’s talking about me.” they all turn towards Frisk. “Before he left, he promised me........promised he would be home for Christmas.”
“And I always kept my promises, right?”
“Sigh...........that ya did, kid.” Sans walks up to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. “that ya did.”
“I told you, I’m not showing anything!”
“C’mon, after you pulled that prank on Sans? You’re not getting away with that!”
“I want to keep things secret until Christmas Day.”
“c’mon kid. just one trick, nothing else.”
“What are you guys shouting about?” asks Chara, walking up to us.
“apparently the kid has picked up a few tricks these past four months.”
“All I did was transmute the melted chocolate inside the cookie into habanero sauce, no big deal!”
“Wait. I thought you locked off your esso-whatever it was.”
“Essokinesis. And it’s still locked.” I lift up my sleeves, showing both rings. “I used my magic to change the chemical makeup of the chocolate into that of habanero-level capsaicin. But what’s ticking me off is the fact these two, have been bugging me for ten minutes to show them something!”
“Sigh. You know how Sans is when it comes to pranks. He’s not gonna stop until you either give him what he wants, or you snap.”
“Groan! Fine! But this is all your getting till tomorrow morning!” I pull out a vial of red liquid, and a syringe. Everyone save Bravery recognizes it.
“It’s for afterwards.” I place it on the ground, and close my eyes. That’s when my cloths and face start to glitch. I open my eyes and mouth mid-glitching, showing a Flowey-like appearance right as I jump into the air, and a bright flash envelopes me. They cover their eyes for two seconds until the flash fades away, and everyone’s left in awe as I’m staying aloft by flapping two large, rainbow colored wings made of magic.
“Heh! I aLwaYs wAs, thE AnGeL Of DeaTh.” I land on the ground, and let the wings cover me, causing them to fade away.
“So................you not only can transmute objects into other things...........”
“I can also manipulate my glitches through magic.............to break the rules.....” I put a hand on the wall as my left leg starts to glitch erratically. “Hand me.........the DT, quick.”
Sans throws it and the syringe to me. I shakily put the vial in, and shove the needle into my right leg. I tense up from the pain as I push down on the plunger. Slowly, the glitching stabilizes, and completely stops as I pull out the needle.
“Sigh. That’s why I don’t mess around with my powers. Too much magical energy being expended strains my determination, to the point where I start to glitch. Badly.”
I’m sitting in the kitchen when Mom approaches me with a piece of pie. “Here’s some butterscotch-cinnamon pie...................what would happen, if you lost your determination?”
“Honestly? I...................don’t want to think about it. Heh! Funny how the one universe I can feel anything in, is the one I died in.”
“You...............really can’t feel anything normally, can you?”
“Beings without SOULs can only feel three things; Basic survival instinct, anger, especially from losing, and the satisfaction of winning. But for some reason, I can feel................something, here, in this world.”
I grab the fork, and take a bite of the pie. “Aside from those four things, Frisk.....................somehow, she’s actually made me care for her.”
Mom smiles. “She always did have that effect on people. No one could ever hurt her. Not after learning what she’s like.”
“Heh! Yeah. Everything I did..................I did it for her. Breaking the barrier, defending you all, my life............my everything.” I look at my hand as it glitches for one second. “Funny how I’m talking to my mom, like an old school friend..............whereas in life, the one promise I couldn’t keep, was the one I made to you. Hey, I just remembered!” I reach into my pockets.
“What is it?”
“Consider it...........an early Christmas present.” I pull out a golden locket, shaped like a heart. “Inside it is the family picture, and a music box. I think you know which song it’ll play.” I hand it to her.
She looks at it, and clicks it open.
Inside the locket, a music box begins to play.
Her eyes widen as she recognizes the tune, and puts a hand to her mouth as she tears up. Everyone outside stops what their doing as they hear the tune, and turn towards us.
I turn towards them all, and smirk. “I might not be able to feel happiness save satisfaction, but I do know how it felt.” I look at them all, and notice two people missing. “Wait, where’s Lightmare and Riolu?”
Frisk looks away. “You...........you were the reason they came here. They didn’t leave........but only because they had nowhere else to go.”
“Where are they Frisk?”
She looks down, sighs, then at me. “They’re in DJ’s old room, along with the Author.”
“Are you sure you want to risk this?”
“It takes insane amounts of energy to create just one. You want to create the equivalent to seven,” says the Author.
“How else are we gonna get him back?!” shouts Lightmare.
“Considering how risky this is, I’m not helping,” declares Imp Midna, crossing their arms.
“Groan! Fine! I’ll just do it myself!” She raises a hoof, and slams it into the air in front of her. Rather than hitting nothing, it smashes through what looks like glass in the air, shattering a barrier covering four different buttons. “SAVE, LOAD, RESET.............and ERASE, all at my fingertips. Now then.......”
“Lightmare, stop this right now!”
They all freeze up as they turn, and see me at the door.
“Asriel.....?”
“Not now! Not while I’m furious! You seriously wanted to force a RESET!?”
“She just wanted to save you.”
“SAVE me!? Forcing a RESET is the reason why I’m here in the first place!”
She shows confusion. “Wait, what are you talking about?”
“Ask him.” I point at the Author. “He knows. Don’t you?” He looks straight at me, trying to analyze my expression. “...............you don’t know, do you?”
He backs up a step. “How did you......?”
“Your eyes. You legitimately don’t know what happened.”
“Ever sense you died, he’s been unable to know what’s coming. He’s just another character in his story now.”
“Sigh. Still not quite pleased that you tried to force a RESET. Chara did it to RESET the underground, and thanks to it..................I’m here when I shouldn’t be.”
“This is why I didn’t wanna do this, Lightmare. Time doesn’t like it’s rules being broken.”
“Not to mention it has its consequences.” I grab a chair from one of the junk piles, and sit down. “After I died, I appeared..........in front of what resulted from that mistake. A glitching, flashing, broken, RESET button.”
Jack snaps, and points at me. “The timeline. It was compensating for your sister destroying the FIGHT button. The function of a RESET, your determination to back it, and a broken button to activate it.........................it was risky, that’s for sure. It’s a miracle it even worked.”
“Scoff! A miracle? More like dumb luck. I didn’t have enough Determination to do the normal way. So.....................the button didn’t do its job properly.”
Jack paces around the room. “It would’ve come down to healing your body, or repairing your SOUL. Since you’re here, speaking to us.............” he stops in his tracks, and looks at me in shock. “You’re..............You’re a glitch.”
“What’s a ‘glitch’?”
“Glitches, better known as anomalies, are people or places in the Omniverse that shouldn’t exist, yet do. They’re a..............mistake, in the fabric of reality. An aberration. A literal glitch in the universe.”
“Sans always did................call Flowey ‘the anomaly’.”
“Wait...............you mean........?” Lightmare shows realization.
I nod. I hold out my open hand, palm up, and flip it. The SOULs appear, glitching, and flashing red and purple erratically.
“I’m as close as there will ever be to a ‘good Flowey’, outside of Underfell.” I dispel them, stand up, and face Lightmare. “You were seriously going to force a RESET...........just to bring me back!?”
“You.........really don’t get it, do you? You were the first person not to judge me because of my abilities!”
I look at the ground, and sigh. “I just................can’t understand, why you would risk everything, just to bring me back!”
She shows confusion.
“SOULless beings can only feel three things: basic survival instinct, anger at losing, and the satisfaction of winning. I literally can’t understand why, I can’t feel what idiotic thing drove you to do it! Smack!” I land in the chair. She slapped me across the face.
“Shut up! Shut the hell up!! You think it’s idiotic to want your best friend back, to.......to........to get my friends back!? Well.......well.........BUCK YOU! BUCK YOU, AND YOUR IDIOTIC PLAN TO KILL YOURSELF! BUCK, YOU, TO, TARTARUS!” She runs out crying, while the others look at me in shock.
“God..........dude, you went too far. I promised myself when I first came here to never give spoilers. I can’t see anything new, but I can tell you this. That ‘idiotic feeling’ that made her try to save you!? It was love!”
I show confusion. “She...........she really cares for me, that much?”
“I don’t know what she feels right now, but I can say this. She cared for you deeply. So much as to look everywhere for you when you went to Danny’s world, for four days straight. Now I might not know her well enough here, but I can tell her friends mean the world to her! You should at least be satisfied by this, because you might never know, w h e n s h e c o u l d b e y a n k e d f r o m y o u r l i f e!” He warps right up to me. “So for Faust’s sake, apologize! For her sake............and yours.” He and Imp Midna leave the room, leaving only Riolu.
“Do you have any idea how long she cried when we told her you died?” I tilt my head. “She cried for a week straight, only stopping at night after............after crying herself to sleep. You might not be able to understand this but............we cared for you that much...............riolu.” After hearing himself say that, he slams a closed paw into the wall, and walks out.
Right as he closes the door, I sit down on the floor near a large group of piles. “I assume you heard all that................Flowey?”
“Begrudgingly.” A thorned vine slowly exits my sleeve, and wraps around my arm. One of the thorns grows, and blooms into a sunflower with a face. Flowey the Flower.
“It’s still fascinating how the one created without a SOUL can feel stuff, yet I can only feel what you did.”
“True, I could care about people since I still have this SOUL........speck......thing. But...........it feels doesn’t feel like it should. It’s like taking two slices of bread and calling it a sandwich. Sure, you can eat two slices of bread, but it’s not a sandwich. It’s just.........two slices of disappointment.”
“At least you can care................unlike me. The only person who i’ve felt anything for since D-Day was Frisk.”
“You know that’s not the entire truth. You can feel something else.”
“Okay then, smart guy? What do I do?”
He looks at the door as I glitch slightly, then at me. “You tell her the truth. Apologize, and explain everything. I think I know why she was so mad at you after saying that.................she needs to know.”
“But how could it ever work out? Even if I did feel it before, I can’t now.”
“Asriel.” I look at them, straight on. “She stood by your side for so long because she could see how much you cared. Even if you can’t care for them now, you still want to protect them. It won’t matter that you’re a glitch from another world.”
I look down, then smile out of satisfaction. “I’m glad you kept your piece of a SOUL.”
“I’ll admit, i’m glad too. How about after this and Barry’s we jack into that one universe, where there’s the virtual world.”
“Maybe.”
“Just..........come on! I try to get him back for two months, and this is what happens!?” She’s inside her room with Frisk.
“He knew that if Twilight knew, then Celestia would know, then everything we have would be for nothing. Can you blame him for wanting to keep his family safe?”
“He could’ve at least told the rest of us, not just you!”
I open the door. “Lightmare?” She turns towards me. “Can I..........come in? I want to talk.”
She sighs in exasperation. “Fine, come in.”
I walk in, and approach her. “I just want.............want to apologize. It’s just...........without a proper SOUL, I can’t understand............different, decisions like the one you made.”
“And that’s why I’m-i’m...........I’m furious with you! Do you know how I felt that day? To have everyone come..............and for you not to be there? And to have them tell me what happened?”
“I can...........only guess.”
“Just.........why? Why did you leave? Why did you let us think you were dead!? WHY DIDNT YOU COME BACK!?!?!?!”
“Because I was AFRAID!” I regret it as soon as I say it. They both look at me in disbelief. I sit down. “Sigh. I didn’t completely tell the truth. I can feel one thing aside from everything else. Fear.”
“But.............what were you afraid of?”
“What everyone is afraid of. Rejection. Loss. Death. And most importantly...............what I could become.”
They both show confusion.
“Sigh..........You really don’t know, do you? Sans never told you what truly happened during the Genocide run?”
Frisk jumps in surprise. “What? But Sans said..........”
“He said that Chara possessed you, and she accidentally RESET after getting dunked on. He lied. You did it of your own free will................to try and save me. But before you faced Sans............Flowey spoke to you.” I look down at my hand, and close it into a fist. I send out a beam of energy at the left wall, and it glitches into a window. On the other side is Frisk, walking through dad’s old home.
Flowey pops out of the ground. “Howdy, Chara! You finally made it home! Remember when we used to play here?” They chuckle, and their face changes. “Today’s gonna be just as fun.”
“I remember the first time,
I woke up and saw the light.
Armless, legless, I laid there,
Oh Chara I was scared!
Then I learned I was reborn,
A flower as my form.
I called out, I yelled, I prayed,
And yet nobody came!”
“Then, the, king,
Found me, cry-ing.
So, then I, Ex-plained, ev-erything!”
“He held me, tight,
Said ‘it’s al-right’.
But, I, felt,
No-thing, that, night!
E-ven with the king,
Can’t feel a-nything.
Please, be-lieve,
I was, try-ing!
But I would stay determined!
Ran, a-way,
to the, queens, place.
she failed, too,
al-ways, the, same!”
“No, use, there,
I cried, I tried to care!
Felt, like I........couldn’t live, a-nywhere!
A world, without, love.” I raise a hand to Lightmare. “A world, without, you.” I raise the other to Frisk, both shocked. “I foll-owed, her path!
Succee-ded, too!
But, with, no SOUL,
What comes, when you die?”
“Something primal burned inside!
Screamed, at the hea-vens,
‘This is not, how, it ends!’
Then, I woke up, like, from, a, dream,
In the garden again!
I could experiment
So over and over I died!
But with determination
I could come back a-li-ive!
Friends, I, made,
Happy ends, I, gave.
But, I’d always pre-dict,
What they’d do, what they’d say!
I be-lieve,
In curio-si-ty.
‘What’ll happen, if they die?’
‘Well, let’s, see!’
It li-ber-ates,
To be, this, way.
To kill, just to see,
How the world, can, change!
Nowadays it’s all the same,
I’ve read, I’ve burned, killed, saved,
Chara, I have seen it all,
I have played every game!
People spouting the same lines,
‘Til you fell from the sky,
Chara, I can’t predict you,
You surprise me every time!
I saw you almost did forget,
You’d stay determined yet,
You came back from death, like me,
And now I can’t RESET!
Only one question remains,
Why’d you come back to play?
Were you buried in the ruins?
Did you hear me call your name?
Guess it doesn’t matter how,
The tale will end now,
I’m tired of everything,
Tired of being a flower!
Only one thing that’s left Chara,
Let’s finish what we started,
Show them it’s kill or be killed,
Leave them all broken and scarred!
I had plans, I had designs,
Seeing you changed my mind,
Chara, with you by my side,
Surface life seems just fine!
Six souls are locked away,
We can get them today,
Asgore can show them to you,
We can go on our way!
Killer from the world of man,
Only you understand,
We’re pitiless killers, both,
So just follow my plan! ”
Flowey starts to shake. Unbenknownst to them, their feeling something else. Fear. “H-hey... what is this feeling?! Why can’t I stop shaking?! C-Chara. Be honest here!
We don’t have hard feelings!?
Hey! Back, off!
I changed, my, mind!
This isn’t a good idea!
Go back! This place is fine!
Stop, mak-ing that face!
This isn’t fun!
You’re sick, in the head!
That’s enough! You’ve, won!
You still think there’s more to do,
Your killing’s never through!
Are you still human inside?!
What kind of monster are you?!
Long past time to end this game,
Now nothing feels the same!
Chara, did you do all this,
When you heard me call your name?”
The window fades away, leaving only the wall.
“I still don’t understand...............what are you afraid of?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The circumstances in which i’ve lived with since that day, are eerily similar...........to how Flowey began. I woke in our old home, in the flowerbed. For that entire time, nothing had given me any emotional response............everything was the same. When I had gone to Winds of Change, I................I tried to end it all. But like I said, I fear death because..................With no SOUL, what comes when you die? The combined amount of all the determination, from both the injections and SOULs..............”
“You were able to cause a RESET?”
I nod. “Sigh.........what i’m trying to say is..................I’m afraid. Of becoming the............the monster, that Flowey used to be. of becoming..........‘bored’, and curious enough to try everything.................even kill the ones I love.” I walk up to Lightmare, placing a hand on her hair. “Please...............let me make it up to you. Give me a chance to make things right between us. The truth is, I felt.............something, for you. Before that fateful day, four months ago.”
She looks at Frisk, who’s smiling. “Sigh. Okay. I’ll give you one chance, one...............to make it up to me. Just, please..........no more secrets, okay? And when you leave............Riolu and I come with you.”
I nod several times. “I owe you that. To both of you. Now then, I believe we have a Christmas to get back to.”
(Later, during the night.............)
Lightmare slowly walks down the stairs, and into the kitchen. She opens the fridge, and pours herself a cup of milk.
“Trouble sleeping?”
She looks up at the living room, and spots me, sitting at the windowsill.
“Sigh. With the alicorn of the night inside your SOUL, it’s pretty hard to fall asleep. Like Luna has her duty to watch over ponies dreams.....................I have a duty of my own. Plus, when I was still Celestia’s student, I was quite the night owl myself.”
“That’s inconsistent with what Riolu told me. I assume all that crying left you exhausted?”
She nods as she sits on the opposite side of the windowsill. “What about you?”
“I...........can’t really sleep. I’ve tried, really. I guess SOULless beings don’t need sleep to rejuvenate themselves. Flowey never minded, he was too busy trying everything, and wondering why he couldn’t feel anything. Me though....................I guess i’ll never be able to feel relaxed from a good nights sleep.” I look up through the window, at the night sky. “It’s satisfying to see the stars though.”
“Yeah...............For some reason, i’ve always felt............a special connection, to the night. Heh! I guess it’s fitting that I became the host for the the nyx incarnate.”
“Fitting..............that it is.” I look back at her. “Can you keep a secret..........for now at least?” She looks down, then nods once. “Okay...............” I stand up, and jump down to the floor in front of the couch. “Just keep calm when you see this.”
I close my eyes, and my entire body starts to glitch out, and flash red and purple. She covers her eyes from the flashes until it stops. What she sees, she never expected. My left side has cuts in it, especially in the sleeve, and leg. On my back is a backpack with two, golden blades, and a torn, red scarf tied around a strap. Wrapped around my forearm is a green vine with thorns, which is connected to the backpack. One of those thorns grows, turns yellow, and blooms into a certain smirking, demonic flower. Clipped under my sweater on the left leg is seven, heart-shaped bottles. The remnants of the human SOULs, while around my neck is a golden locket. My face has black markings, as well as cracks around a blue, glowing left eye. My hands and feet have sharp claws at the end, and my fur is ruffled up. To top it all off, my blades, left ear, tears, and left foot have red stains. My blood.
She looks shocked, as she jumps down to me.
“Not what-what youuuuuu were expecting?” I grab my chest as I glitch.
“Why...............why do you look like that?”
“Thaaaaaaaaaaat was an-an illusion. I-I-I-I-I-I knew...........that Mom wouldn’t be-be-be happy, seeiiiiiiiiiiing this.” I pull out a syringe, containing Determination. I shakily stick it in my neck, tensing up as I push down on the plunger. The glitching slowly stops as it enters my system. “So.............I used my magic to create a shimmer.”
“A............shimmer?”
“Light-based hologram disguise. This...............this is the result of the glitches, and.............trying to protect Jason.” she tilts her head in confusion. “Sigh. The war with the griffins was getting worse. Not for lack of trying, but......................Rainbow died.”
She covers her muzzle with a hoof. “No!”
“Now, I don’t know what’ll completely happen, but.................Jason was trying to find a way to use his magic, go back in time................and create a time loop. I didn’t stay because...................Nightmare moon, was the one who killed her.” she tilts her head again. “Sigh. Somehow, in their world, she survived...............took over the mind of the griffin king. That’s why they attacked...............but when I saw her, I..........................I was so scared. Flowey here couldn’t recognize that feeling back then, but I could. The pink trait..................fear. Fear, for dying the same horrible way, that Rainbow did. Dying to you. Or, more accurately, dying to the person inside of you.”
She starts to cry. “That’s why you were so angry with me!” she realizes, her voice breaking.
“I’m sorry. It’s just..............” I point a sharp claw at my head. “Up here...............without a proper SOUL, I can only think............with logic, mixed with survival instinct. When I saw them die..............I ran. I ran, and I ran, until about a month had passed between the four worlds we’ve been to................the day I had promised to come home for.”
“And when.........you saw me, with those buttons.......”
“I thought that.............you were trying to RESET, much farther, than when I died.”
“You thought that I was trying to RESET to when she was defeated.”
I nod as we sit down. “I’ll be honest.................if Flowey, hadn’t been keeping an eye on my magic, so I didn’t drop the shimmer by mistake...............I don’t know what spell I would’ve used.”
She breathes in, and sighs. “Well...............I’m just glad that you didn’t.”
I nod. Suddenly, everything around me flickers in and out, and I turn to see everyone near the tree.
“What’s going on?” asks Lightmare. Her voice is faint, and like the wind.
“It..................It appears that i’m Vibing something................I think it’s the morning.”
“I’m glad you came back, Asriel.” says Mom.
“Thanks.” As soon as I say that, I hear the front door open. I turn, and see Celestia come in, spot me, and blast everyone with pure magical energy.
“NO!!!!!!!” it flickers back to before.
“What?” I start to walk around the room as I look at the front door in fury. “I know that look, calm down!”
“NO!” I look straight at her. “Go and get stuff for you and Riolu ready. As soon as things are done, we’re leaving!”
“What ‘things’? What did you see that’s got you in a knot?!”
“Celestia comes here unannounced, sees me, and kills everyone after we open presents, that’s what!!!” I punch the wall as she looks shocked. “WHY, WHY MUST SHE HATE ME SO MUCH!? THAT IDIOTIC EXCUSE FOR AN ALICORN IS GONNA GET HER WHOLE SPECIES KILLED WITH SUCH DISTRUST!!!!”
“Asriel, please!” she puts a wing on my shoulder. “I’m mad too, okay? But smashing the walls isn’t gonna help anyone!” I facepalm. “Look. We know it’s coming now, alright? Which means you can prevent it.”
I breath in, and out. “You’re right.” I snap, several presents appearing under the tree in a red and black flash. “I’ll be in my room, trying to get the shimmer going again.” I walk out of the room, Lightmare following soon after.
Everyone’s starting to get up as I brew a cup of tea. Lightmare races downstairs, and spots me.
“Hey, I thought you said that you don’t really need sleep to rejuvenate yourself.”
I look between her, and the teapot. “Oh, this isn’t for me. I decided to brew a cup of Earl Tea for Dad. Besides..............” I pour a cup, and take a sip. “Just because I don’t need it, doesn’t mean I can’t be satisfied by it.”
After everyone comes down, and I give Dad his tea, We all walk into the living room for presents.
“before we start, i think the four among us with special magic, should promise not to do any spoiling.” Sans looks straight at me.
“Might I ask what you mean?”
“Not just you. After you left, I used a foresight ability to find a crook, and the writing duo showed off X-ray vision.”
“Groan! Look, I’ll admit, I have............something, akin to X-ray vision. But I promise, I won’t spoil anything. Besides, i’m interested in what you all got for each other.”
Alphys got a bunch of anime stuff, as well as a Sailor moon staff from me. Man the squeal she gave when she opened the big box, Even Frisk had to cover an ear. Undyne got exercise equipment from Dad and Papyrus, Mom got her a special type of tea, and she couldn’t believe what I got her. Chara came in at the worst time too.
“Where. Did Undyne. Get that sword!?”
“Oh you mean this!?” She swings over a large, grey sword. “This is just my new, actual, functional, Cloud Strife Buster sword!”
“I saw how Jack here gave her Final Fantasy, and how much she liked it, so I had a specialized blacksmith make it for her. HEHEHEHE! And they said it would be too heavy to wield properly!” I high-five her afterwards.
Mom got several cookbooks, fabrics, and from Dad, a kiss. Frisk and the other kids got different stuff, each fitting their likes. For example, Perseverance got a small tablet for taking notes. Dad got equipment, a kiss from mom back, and from me, a special trident.
“That baby I got commissioned, and was built using one of the rarest metals in the multiverse. Vibranium. Not only is it stronger than steel, it also has the unique ability to absorb kinetic energy, highly valuable, and very useful in the right hands. Just..............fair warning, don’t have Undyne smack it with her spears, all that energy would get forced out.”
Sans and Papyrus swapped special bones. Apparently they’ve been re-gifting them to each other the past few decades. Papyrus got a cookbook from mom, I gave him a rapier to spar and defend with, whereas Undyne gave him some weights. I gave Sans a new jacket and shirt that says ‘make way for the dunkle’, whereas Mom gave him a jokebook.
Everyone else had gotten gifts from each other. “Now then..................Riolu, and Lightmare.” They all turn to me as I walk up to the two. “Lightmare, you get this.” I pull out a pair of wing guards. “These are made of Vibranium, and have a little bonus. I’ll keep that a surprise.”
She takes them and flies upstairs. I turn to Riolu. “Riolu.....................For some reason, I couldn’t see your past, or any dormant memories......................I couldn’t think of a normal gift because of it. So, I thought of something else. Lightmare already knows about this, but....................How would you like to come with me and her, and help out the worlds?”
His eyes widen, and he smiles in ecstasy. “RIOLU!” He jumps up onto me and gives me a hug. I slowly put my arms around his, and he lets go after a few seconds.
“I’m glad you came back, Asriel,” says Mom, hugging me.
“Thanks.” The moment I say that, I turn towards the front door, and teleport in front of everyone. Celestia comes in, spots me, and sends a large blast at all of us. The moment she does, I put up a powerful shield.
“Nice try, Celestia. I assume you wanted to see if I came here?”
She stops firing, and stares at me. “How..........did you know...............I was coming!?”
“Doesn’t matter. What matters to me, is that I changed things. I knew it was coming.” Everyone save Lightmare gapes at me.
“How...........?”
“I Vibed it last night. I literally saw you kill everyone here!” I take a breath, and look at her. I pull out a scroll and pen, and start writing. “You know what? Doesn’t matter. You and your mother will have a word with each other..............” I take a deep breath, and throw the scroll into the air. I spew out green flames, turning the scroll into magical ash which flies out the door. “Whereas my friends and I have to get going.”
I warp behind Riolu and pick him up as a breach opens.
“And where might you be going!?”
“After that day four months ago, and what I just stopped, I know i’m not welcome here, not to you! I’ll be back in time for the wedding. But if you want to find me, to apologize and legitimately work with me, we’ll be helping out the fastest man alive!” I hop backwards into the breach.
Lightmare slings her saddlebags onto her back, and walks towards the portal. She turns one last time towards Celestia. “If this is the welcome you give to people with unique abilities...................I don’t know why I ever looked up to you.” She turns and walks through the breach, which closes behind her.
They all look at her.
Sans closes his eyes “with all due respect celestia............” He opens them, revealing them as pure black. “please leave. and please, try attacking again, now that were prepared for it.”
She looks at all them, and sighs. “Fine. I know when i’m outnumbered.” She turns to the door, and walks out.
“He’s learning pretty quickly,” says the Author.
“It will still take him time......................to find out who they are.”
“I’m more worried about him finding out about you. From how well he chose Christmas...........sorry, Hearthswarming gifts for everyone, he’s shown he’s gotten good with deduction.”
“You are worried......................he will ‘piece together’.....................that you brought me back?”
Lightning strikes. “Not now......................but eventually. Until the wedding, you must stay here, and gather strength until you have more of a physical form. The less evidence we give him, the longer it’ll take to hypothesize you’re here.”
“With how we are going.........................We might have enough time. I just need..................to stay here, in the tower.”
They look outside the door as the weather gets worse. “A storm is coming, my dear. We just have to ready when it does.”