Sans was getting really sick of this.

He had lived through the same past fifteen minutes at least thirty times now. At least, probably more, though.

Whatever was happening to the kid, it had to be pretty bad.

He groaned inwardly as the world flickered black, then rebuilt itself. He found himself running once more through New Home towards the throne room alongside everyone else.

He skidded to a halt. "this isn't working."

The rest of the group came to a halt beside him.

"Sans, we have to hurry!" Undyne shouted. "Frisk needs our help!"

"but we won't make it!" He said back, then looked to Gaster. "we haven't made it yet, and this is, like, the thirty seventh time we've tried."

Gaster looked at him. "Are you saying they actually..."

"yes! i am!"

Gaster nodded. Everyone else just looked confused. "What do we do then?"

Before Sans could respond, everything went black. He groaned.

This time, he immediately stopped running. Everyone else did, too.

"Sans, we have to-"

"i know!" He cut Undyne off. "hold on!"

Then, before anyone could argue, he let out a roar, reaching out with Blue Magic. Grabbing each of their Souls, he pulled at a shortcut.

For a second, everything was black. Then they were all tumbling out of the shortcut onto Asgore's bed of golden flowers that surrounded the throne.

It was just a little Magic. Sans told himself, trying to psychologically ward off the queasiness that threatened to overwhelm him. I'm fine, it was only a little.

He stood, saw that everyone else was already standing.

Undyne and Asgore were already running towards the Barrier room. The rest were quickly following.

Sans paused a moment only to dust a few flower petals off his clothes, before running after them.

~o0o~

Flowey was about to grab the six Souls when the monster's burst into the room.

"STOP." Asgore shouted in an authoritative tone. "Chara."

"Dad," they sneered, "it's so nice to see you one last time."

"Chara," Toriel began, "You do not have to do this."

Chara cackled, a sound that sent a chill down Flowey's stem. "I know! But I'm going to anyway! Flowey!"

Their voice scared Flowey. He had not felt this afraid in a long time. Not since...

Not since before he had become a flower. Not since Chara had first told him they wanted to destroy the Underground.

"There are more Souls here for us! Absorb them all!" Chara commanded.

Flowey was so afraid.

He could feel no love, feel no joy, but he was still determined to live. Chara would end that. They would kill everything, then kill him.

He did not want to die.

In a split second, he acted on that.

He reached out, grabbed the six Souls. Twined vines around all the monsters in the room. Pulled and pulled and pulled. Every Soul he could get.

But.

He did not reach for Chara.

~o0o~

Something was strange here. Something was different.

Frisk looked up, peering into the darkness. They reached for their SAVE file.

But they couldn't reach it.

"FLOWEY!" Frisk turned around when they heard Chara shout. Sure enough, the child was there, not a massive beast, just a child. "FLOWEY, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"Chara." Frisk turned around at the sound of another unfamiliar voice. "Chara, I'm right here."

There was a child there. A goat child, wearing a green sweater with more yellow stripes than Chara's had.

Chara said nothing, but Frisk could feel their surprise.

"Oh, come on, Chara! Don't tell me you don't recognize me, do you? It's me-"

The child changed. Older. Stronger. A purple robe with the Delta Rune on the front. Horns that curled back and around again. Black streaks of fur running from his chin nearly to his eyes. "It's me, Chara! Asriel Dreemur, your best friend!"

And then he stuck out a hand. The blackness split, raining massive stars down upon Chara. Frisk was just out of the way, and didn't get hit.

After successfully avoiding the attack, Chara looked up at Asriel. "What are you doing?!"

Asriel pulled from nothing a pair of wicked-looking blades, readying to use them against Chara. "Well, you see, Chara, I can feel everyone's Souls, all beating inside me." He swung down with one of the sabres, and Chara leaped aside. "And Pure, Corrupt, monster, human, it doesn't matter. We all have one thing in common: we all want to live." Chara only just managed to leap away from his next swing. "But, you see, if we were to let you live, you'd kill us all."

Chara froze. Their expression was murderous. "You t̵͘ŗ̴́a͏̀͠i̵t̕͠o̴͘r̷͠." They growled. "No. No, you can't be Asriel. Because Asriel wouldn't have gone back on his promise to me! Ỳ҉͢O̢U̵͞ ̡͜͠Ć̸͢͡͡A̕N̨̡̕'̵̀T͘ ̵͟B̨̨́̀̀È̛́͘͢ ́͜A̶҉S̸̛͝R͢I̛҉E̴͝͠L̡̢͢!̶͟͠" They lunged forward, lashing out with the knife. "Asriel promised me he would destroy this! He would kill everything with me! Destroy all this vile world! He was the one who told me it was KILL OR BE KILLED! Asriel would never go back on his promise to me!"

Chara swung furiously, again and again, trying to tear Asriel apart, but he seemed to have an impossibly high DEF. Chara's attacks did nothing.

Asriel readied another attack.

But Frisk had seen enough. Before he could fire off whatever he had planned, Frisk leaped between the two of them, arms held out in either direction.

"Stop!" They said, realizing they were crying. "Please, stop!"

Both hesitated.

"How can you do this to each other?" Frisk asked, nearly choking on their tears. "How can you tear each other apart like this? Aren't you siblings?  Don't you love each other?"

"I loved Asriel." Chara growled. "And the world took him from me."

"But Chara, this is Asriel!"

"No! Asriel promised-"

"Flowey promised." Asriel cut Chara off. "Chara, you know me. I would never tell you something like that!"

"But here you are," Frisk looked to Asriel, blinking back tears, "trying to kill Chara, because the Souls in you are trying to live."

Asriel's mouth opened, but he said nothing, eventually hanging his head in shame.

Frisk turned back to Chara. "Chara, can't you see that this is Asriel? The real Asriel, not a Soulless flower?"

"My Asriel always kept his promises. Even when he didn't like them."

"Chara-..." Asriel hesitated. "I-... I never promised to kill everyone. I-... I said... I would help you end the war. I never said... I would kill everyone. And now-... with all these Souls... The Pure monsters, they're so... loving. And the Corrupt monsters hurt, so much. Chara, you-... you told me what you wanted to do would stop all the pain, and that was what I promised to help with. This-... This is only causing more pain."

Chara crossed their arms, glowering. "It always gets darkest before the dawn."

"But this isn't letting the earth rotate! This is blowing up the sun! You're obliterating all the light, Chara, you're destroying it forever!"

"Darkness is relative. Without light, there will be no shadows."

Frisk gaped. "B-but that would mean- there would never be any love- or joy- it would all just be--"

Chara waved a hand- the one not holding their knife- dismissively. "Also relative. Look, if there's nothing there to compare it to, then there is no nicer thing. If that's all there is, then there's not something else, better. You can't have shadows without light. You can't have evil without good."

"So you're going to destroy all the good?" Asriel gasped.

"No. I'm going to destroy everything." Chara growled. And they advanced forward, knife in hand.

Frisk and Asriel backed away. Neither of them wanted to fight Chara. Chara couldn't do this, couldn't possibly want to destroy everything, not without being seriously messed up themself. They needed to be stopped, needed to be helped.

"Chara," Frisk began, "you have to-"

With a roar, Chara swung out with the knife. Before it could connect, though, Asriel jumped in front of Frisk, using his god-of-hyperdeath powers to negate the damage.

"Chara, please!" He pleaded.

Chara just swung again.

Frisk continued to back away as Asriel accepted hit after hit.

"Chara, this isn't the solution! We can come up with something else-"

"That's what you said last time, too! And did it work, Asriel?! Did it?" Chara swung with such fury that it actually did 1 HP damage to Asriel. "No! It just got us killed! This time, I'm sticking to my first plan!"

"Chara, we know better now! We can do this right! Chara, please!"

Chara's next strike did 4 HP damage.

"No! Had you listened to me, had you gone through with it and just killed the Corrupt monsters, like I'd said, we'd never be in this situation! Instead, you let them kill us!"

"Chara, they were in so much pain- It hurts, Chara! The Corruption hurts them!"

"Y̛o͝u ͠t͘h҉in͘k̵ ̴I d̵o͘n'̶t͘ ķ͢͠͝n̶̕͢o͜w̛͢͞ ̷̡͡҉͏t̸͞h̵̛͘͠a̸̧͡͝t̴?͢͝͝" Chara's eyes turned black, Corrupt tears dripping down their face as they lunged again. Y̛o͝u ͠t͘h҉in͘k̵ ̴I d̵o͘n'̶t f̕é̶͘͟͞e̵̕͢͟͞l̸̵̛̕͢ ̸̡͜t̶͡ḩ́͞e͞҉̷̛͢ ̶͡͝s̶a̵͡m̷̀̕͞e͏̵̛ ̡̀p̢a̛͟͞҉͞ì̸̡n͏͠?͞҉̶̨"

This time, they did 27 HP damage.

"But they don't want it, Chara! They want to love! They can love! You can love!"

"N̶̛͘͡ò̸͢͠.̷̛́" 309 HP damage.

"I̞̖͕̲͙̰̦̥͇̤̫̜̭̞̭͙͠͝.̷̡̗̥͎̼̙̖̳́͘͠" 5296 HP damage.

"C̳̙̰͖̫̙̔̀̑ͧͤ̓̽͡a̷͍̺̤̣̘̞͉̞͓̭̬̰͖̗̻ͭ̓̈̃̀̿̿ͫͥ̉͜͜͡͠n̛̪̫̊ͫ̉͌͐̔ͫ̏̾͐ͭͮ͑͛̄͘͞ͅ'̴̟̦͙̲͚̳̠̤͈̩͚͙̜͓̟̊ͩͤͣ͢ṫ̶̍͌͐̂ͬ̽̒ͨ̎͑̄́̐̇͑҉̷͈̝̪̬!̴̡͔̗̩̠̭̳͎̮̱̇́ͧ́͆ͯͪ͛ͭ͝͡"

999999999 HP damage.

Asriel dropped to his knees. He was a child again. Sobbing and sniffling. 1 HP left.

"P-please, Chara. I don't wanna. I don't like this plan anymore. Please."

Chara lifted the knife over Asriel's head. Their hands were shaking.

"C-Chara- I'm scared-... please, I don't like this. I don't want to do this plan. P-please, Chara."

Asriel looked up at them, tears streaming down his face. "P-please-..."

For a moment, Frisk could see Chara's Soul, drifting in front of them. It was pitch black.

But then Chara sighed. The blackness cracked, red streaking through it. They lowered their arms. The redness spread.

They dropped the knife. The last few remnants of the Corruption in their Soul broke away, their Soul Pure and red.

They dropped to their knees in front of Asriel. Reached out and hugged him. Hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry, Asriel. I-... I'm sorry.

Frisk watched the siblings. They just sat there, hugging. Rocked back and forth a little. Both crying.

And then there was a sound like breaking glass. Chara went limp, their arms falling from Asriel's sides.

It was over.

"Chara?" Asriel called, pulling Chara away, shaking them a little. "Chara?!"

Frisk walked forward, setting a hand on Asriel's shoulder. "Asriel. They're gone."

Asriel looked heartbroken. "I- ... I know. I knew they would-... because, it was-- it was the Corruption- their own hateful spite that was keeping them alive, and-... I know. It was always going to end like this. I know."

"I'm sorry, Asriel."

Asriel shook his head. "It's not your fault, Frisk. You-... you only happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Carefully, Asriel lowered Chara to the ground, closing their glassy eyes. "Goodbye, Chara." He whispered. "I hope the next life is better for you than this was."

Then, slowly, Asriel stood, and turned to Frisk. "Frisk, I-... heh. Really, I'm the one who needs to say sorry. I... Flowey was awful. He-"

"Asriel. It's okay. Like you said, you're Asriel, not Flowey."

Slowly, a sad smile crept over Asriel's face. "But-... These Souls aren't mine to keep."

Frisk started to talk, then thought better of it. Then, "What about the Corruption?"

Asriel hesitated a moment, then looked down. "That-... That's a little hard. Because, see, even though it was forced on them, and they really don't want it, hate is a hard thing to let go of. And-... I can't just pull all the Corrupt Magic out of their Souls, because that's what they're living on. I can get them to stop attacking, but-... It's up to you, Frisk." Asriel looked up, still smiling sadly. "You have to show them that it's okay. That they're loved, that they can love. You have to purify them. And-... well, even when you do that, they've all been through some pretty rough stuff, and-... they'll be difficult. They'll always be a little rough around the edges. But when you get rid of all the Corruption- because I'm sure you'll be able to- they really will mean well. You just- have to show them that."

Frisk smiled. "Okay."

"Um-, and... Well. I can't break the Barrier. It's a little too risky, since there are still Corrupt monsters, and it might start another war. But, I can weaken the Barrier. I can make it so that, when you're ready, you can break it. You can set the monsters free, when everyone's ready. So, uh, stand back."

Frisk nodded and took a step back.

What happened next was impossible to describe. Asriel reached out. Drew on the power of the Souls. Spread that out, out to the Barrier.

Something cracked, but didn't quite break.

Then Asriel lowered his arms. "There. It's done."

Frisk nodded slowly. "Asriel-... what's going to happen to you, though?"

He sighed. "I-... Without the power of these Souls, I have to go back to being Flowey." Then he smiled. "But that's okay. Just knowing that you're doing your best tells me that everything is going to be okay. Because I know you're never gonna give up, you're always gonna stay determined. You'll make sure everything will be okay."

Still, Frisk could see the tears gathering again in his eyes. So they stepped forward, and hugged him.

And they stood there. Quiet. Hugging. Loving.

They knew it must have been hard. Giving up the Souls like that. Going back to... emotionlessness.

They hugged Asriel a little tighter.

It could have been seconds, or years, or an infinity. But eventually, Asriel pulled away.

"I-... I have to go, now. Before I turn into Flowey again. Frisk, I-... I know-... you're going to do great. At anything. At everything."

He started to walk away. "Oh- ... and... Take care of Mom and Dad for me, okay?"

Frisk just nodded, not trusting their voice.

Then he was walking away, and everything was fading to black.

~o0o~

It was a sense of love and loss. Pride and accomplishment, mixed with disappointment and longing.

Like when you finally complete that one big project, the biggest thing in your life, that thing you've poured your heart and soul into for years and years, and now it's over and-...

You're happy it's over. Glad you got it done. Proud of the results.

But at the same time...

What now? What's next?

You feel like you've lost something. That this immense drive for work is gone, that you've finally gotten it done, and there's nothing left to do. That no matter what you do, or where you go, nothing will ever live up to that, nothing will ever fill you with the same determination.

But you keep looking, anyway. Because you've had a taste of it, and someday, you know, you'll find the feast, and you and your friends will all be there, forever together, joyful.

~o0o~

Frisk woke slowly.

They were lying on the ground, their head resting in Toriel's lap. She was stroking their hair.

They smiled up at her. "Mom."

Toriel gave a small start. "Oh! My child! You are awake!"

Frisk just smiled and sat up. They looked around.

Everyone was in the room before the Barrier room. They and Toriel were in the middle. Asgore, Gerson, and Undyne were all a little ways away, talking. Sans, Gaster, and Papyrus were over kneeling in a corner. It looked like Sans might have been sick, his shoulders heaving, Gaster's hand on his back.

"Hey!" Undyne suddenly shouted. "Hey, punk!"

Frisk looked back to her as she ran up.

"You're not gonna believe this, but there's a crack in the Barrier!"

Frisk just nodded. "I-... When everything is ready, I can break it."

Undyne's jaw dropped.

"What do you mean," Asgore asked slowly, "when everything is ready?"

"When all the Corrupt have become Pure."

"How..."

"They won't attack anymore. But they still... hate. So we need to love them, like Sans, and they'll become Pure."

"soooo..." Gaster walked up, Sans in his arms, Papyrus trailing behind. It was Sans who had spoken, sounding drowsy and drunken. "i-'ll be like deelin' wif'a bunch'a moody teens."

Frisk laughed. "Kinda! Are- are you alright?"

Sans flopped an arm, almost whacking Gaster in the face, but otherwise didn't answer.

So Frisk looked hopefully to the tall Royal Scientist.

"Well," he said, "he's not Corrupt anymore. That, uh-... it's gone now."

"But I thought the Corrupt Magic was like-... like their lifeblood." Frisk recalled what Asriel had said, not without a small pang of sorrow for the goat child.

"That's essentially what the Magic in a monster's Soul is, yes, but Sans' Soul wasn't fully Corrupt. So, uh, he could... lose the Corrupt part and still survive, as there's still enough Magic in his Soul to keep him alive. He's just going to be..." Gaster nodded down at Sans, who had more or less dozed off in his arms, and was sleepily mumbling something about cats and teenagers. "Like this, until the Magic in his Soul regenerates enough."

"But," Papyrus added, "it'll be Pure when it regenerates!"

Frisk smiled. "That's great!"

"Now, though, my child," Toriel began softly, "I must say, none of us remember what happened beyond being grabbed by that flower. Please, do you remember?"

"Um-" Frisk didn't want to tell Asgore and Toriel about Asriel. Having seen Chara must have been bad enough. "Yeah. There was a really big battle, and it turned out, Flowey was on our side! Kind of. So we fought Chara, and eventually, they accepted our mercy! But, um, their hate was the only thing keeping them alive, so, um... they..."

"It is okay, Frisk. We understand."

Frisk nodded. "Um. Okay. So, then. Flowey used the Souls to weaken the Barrier so that, once we've purified all the Corrupt, I can break the Barrier, and monsters can be free!"

"... But where did Flowey go?"

"He-... he ran away."

"Why?"

"... well, um... w-without the Souls... he... actually doesn't have a Soul of his own, so... he... he kind of turns mean again, and... he didn't want to do that to any of you. So... he left."

"That was very noble of him." Asgore said.

Frisk nodded their agreement. "I'm hoping that maybe, we can find a way to help him."

"Of course we can." Gaster affirmed, sitting down. Sans had to be pretty heavy, but Gaster didn't look like he was letting go of his son any time soon. "These two," he gestured to Sans and Papyrus, "didn't have Souls until I gave them to them. Granted, those were a bit different circumstances, since I specifically designed them to be compatible with my Magic, and I have no idea what kind of Magic a flower uses, but... we can figure something out, I'm sure."

"Of course we will!" Papyrus shouted happily, leaning against Gaster.

"And until then," Frisk continued, "we have all the Corrupt to Purify!"

Sure, that was going to be a big task, but they knew they could do it. And then, they could break the Barrier, and let monsters into the sunlight.

And someday, they would see Asriel and Chara again.

And one day, everyone would be together again.

§

A/N

HOOOOOOO BOY, DO I HAVE A LOT TO SAY!

First of all, thank you everyone, so, SO much, for reading, voting, and commenting. I'm not kidding when I say a lot of the time, I kept working on this only because you guys commented and voted on it. Being told that my work is appreciated is the biggest motivator you could possibly give me. So thank you, more than you could possibly imagine, for that.

Then, I specifically wanted to thank my two friends, one of whom not have a wattpad account, and the other who would prefer to remain anonymous, who helped me immensely whenever the plot got tricky. You two know who you are.

Also, thank you, emotistic-optimistic for convincing me to start writing the dang thing in the first place. Seriously, if you hadn't told me this was a good idea, I never would have started in it.

And now Wattpad is being a jerk and not letting me tag more people, but thank you to each of you specifically who always commented and voted on every chapter. Like I said, those are my biggest motivators, and you guys reliably commented within 24 hours of my posting. Multiple people have told me that they get super excited whenever they see the notification for this story in their newsfeed, and I want to turn that back on you guys. You have NO IDEA how excited I get, how happy it makes me whenever I see that one of you commented on my story.

So thank you. I am immensely, unimaginably, unfathomably, incredibly in gratitude to you. You've done me a service which I cannot repay.

Thank you.
To each and every one of you.