Tyrant Tale (Asriel x Frisk//Undertale AU)

37 - Hope

(Asriel's Appearance in media. ART IS NOT MINE AND BELONGS TO IT'S RESPECTIVE OWNER/S. Actually all of the art in this book doesn't belong to me AHAHA. oh and pls ignore the little auto home button thingy i screenshotted that hehe.)

Frisk sighed at his retreating figure and bent down to look at the flowers.

She gently held a yellow flower in her small palms, and smiled. She vaguely remembered the echo flowers back in Waterfall, and how it's bright blue hue shone in the cavern. Every dew drop sparkled on each petal, and the small dainty fireflies dancing around carelessly. It comforted her. Despite their surroundings, which was sad, slaughtered, and almost dead, they still remained beautiful. 

It was a nice memory, encountering the echo flowers. She wanted to keep it somehow. It was one of the most memorable and beautiful memories she's ever had in the underground.

They carried on, despite witnessing and sometimes even feeling the pain that their companions have been through.

*The memory of the Echo Flowers fill you with...

Hope.

A feeling of determination to keep her going. Hope made her feel like there was a brighter day, despite the events that were currently taking place. Frisk didn't realize that she held on to hope this whole time, promising herself that she would never give up.

No matter how much this place would torment, damage, and break her, she made a promise with herself and her friends that she WOULD set them free.

Suddenly, she remembered an old bedtime story that people used to tell her on the surface. It was about a young girl, who fell down a hole. As the story continued, the girl seemed to have found herself in a magical and beautiful place called wonderland. She saw things that she knew was impossible. She experienced events that were both terrifying but also spectacular. The place gave the young girl courage to believe in herself.

Frisk looked down.

The underground was far from 'magical.' It was the complete opposite. The same thing happened to Frisk from the girl in the story, whose name she has forgotten somehow.

Lisa? Anika? She couldn't remember, strangely enough. She knew it was a popular story in the surface, though.

The only thing that differed from both was that the girl found herself in wonderland. She was happy, she believed in something she knew was real. She made friends and she ended up saving both herself and wonderland. Meanwhile, all Frisk found was sadness, despair, and broken souls. Shattered spirits and tormented hearts. Frisk was slowly losing herself each passing day that she spent in the underground. She didn't even know if she would live to surpass the three days that Asriel had offered her.

But she didn't care. No matter how much she changed, she made a promise. And she wasn't going to break it anytime soon. She smiled and stroked the flower's petal.

Meanwhile, in the shadows of the looming castle, there was Asriel. He was silently peering through the window, looking at the human. The way she delicately touched the flower's petals and the look in her eye made him feel something he didn't understand. The soft smile on her face... It was entrancing, and how the gentle breeze flowed in her soft brown hair. Her eyes held such purity, kindness, love and... determination.

He found himself in awe, staring at the sight. This had been the only human he had ever been close to aside Chara. The way HER gentle presence made the air calmer was powerful.

Compared to Chara... there was always something off with her. She seemed to pay a lot of interest in dark and depressing stuff, even as a kid. She would draw some horrific drawings that Toriel would hide so Asriel wouldn't see, but he saw them anyways.

Somehow, Asriel felt Frisk's plan was working. Although everytime that he felt something warm or loving, a force inside him caused him to replaced the happy thoughts with negative ones. Dark, menacing thoughts that made him kill mercilessly. He felt his soul tighten as his eyes grew darker. He forced himself to move away from the window as whispers hissed in his head.

"She's just like the others..."

"She's going to betray you..."

"She isn't special."

"Kill her now."

"She's worthless."

"She's NOTHING to you..."

Asriel shook his head in pain as he forced himself not to listen to the demands. Angered, he stormed back inside the palace and went away into one of the rooms.

=)