Wholehearted Half-Souls

Chapter 13: Growth (Part 3)

After the trio moves into the hallway and sits along the wall, Frisk nods. "So, one of Asriel's favorite weapons was a shocker breaker." Asriel nods solemnly, and Frisk continues. "He also made it rain stars, had a chaos buster, and twin swords call chaos sabers too."

Asriel looks over at Susie and bites his lip slightly. "The sabers were my favorites if I had to pick one." He gulps and folds his hands. "Last time I went hyperdeath, every single soul in the Underground except for Frisk's was fused to my body. Sans' soul, Undyne's soul...the souls of my parents...as far as I know, anyway."

Susie's hair covers her eyes again, and she smirks up at the ceiling. "That would make sense, given the blackout right before the barrier broke. It's all a blur to me." She shrugs. "But hey, that's still pretty epic. Your hyperdeath form sounds like a boss."

Asriel shakes his head and holds his head in his hands. "I'm not proud of it...I was a menace, and I'm sorry for absorbing your soul, Susie...and everyone's soul."

Susie shrugs. "Dude, it's fine. I've seen and felt worse."

Asriel's face hardens, and his head sinks low, with part of the tuft of his hair covering his eyes. His tongue sputters. "Pft...'god of hyperdeath.' How horrible."

"Bro, what? Sounds more epic to me," Susie retorts.

"Susie...I'm no god," Asriel says solemnly. "I never was...it was blasphemous and arrogant for me even to say. I thought I was strong and untouchable, but even at my strongest, I was broken." Asriel's eyes begin to water again. "I've never been strong. If anything, I'm weak. Very, very weak. That power I had was a total façade."

Susie backs up into the wall and places one foot up on the wall. She folds her arms and sighs. "Dang, that's heavy."

Asriel breathes deeply and glances up at the ceiling. "I need to be strong, but in the right way this time. That's what I'm trying to do right now. And I'm doing better at remembering now that I've been forgiven, but I'm still too weak to protect you guys as well as I want to." Asriel cups his right hand over his chest and smiles. "Don't kill, and don't be killed. I'm keeping that promise."

Frisk nods but then frowns slightly. "Azzy, there's one thing still bothering me."

"What is it?" the goat kid asks.

"Considering our souls are linked through my soul energy, would that be enough to use your hyperdeath form for long periods if necessary?" Frisk inquires. 

Asriel shakes his head. "I don't think so." He taps his finger on his mouth. "Back then, I would've stayed in my hyperdeath form forever with all those souls in my body, easy-peasy. This time though, we're sharing a soul. It may be the most DETERMINED soul we've ever seen, but it's still shared between us. So, I think my hyperdeath form would only last for a few seconds. A minute or two at most."

Asriel looks up at Frisk and smiles. He then glances at Susie, and her eyes burrow into his. He raises an eyebrow. "Um, are you ok?"

Susie holds her fist out. "Extend your fist."

Asriel slowly lifts his arm. "Um, alright."

The goat child presses his fingers together and places them in front of him. Susie fist-bumps Asriel quickly and smiles. She then gets up from the floor and walks to the door. "That's a fist bump for buds; we got each other's backs now."

"Oh...cool! Thanks, Susie," he says politely as he rubs his reddened knuckles.

"Don't tell anyone that I'm going soft, though. I've got a bad girl's reputation to maintain," Susie barks.