Undertale: Reason to Live

Chapter 83

Frisk focused his mind while holding his bow to his violin as he did before, but he found no music was coming out. He lowered his instrument and shut his eyes to focus better as Papyrus and Undyne made their way out of the maze.

"Hey, punk!" Undyne yelled noticing Frisk slumping from his perch on top of Papyrus' shoulders. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Papyrus said. "I thought you were going to play us a song."

"I want to," Frisk said sadly. "But I can't remember a single song. I don't get it. I remembered a song my mother taught me when I was at the instrument shop. Why on earth can't I remember anything now?"

"Have you tried using your determination?" Undyne suggested.

"That's just it," Frisk replied. "I know my determination had something to do with me remembering that piece before, but I don't know how I got it to work. I can never remember that either."

"Well, that's okay," Papyrus said comfortingly. "Maybe you'll remember later…"

"No way," Undyne interrupted. "That's not giving up I hear. Is it, punk?"

"Well," Frisk stammered.

"What did I say earlier about dealing with your weaknesses, Frisk?" Undyne interrupted again. "You have to face them head on until they're no longer scary. Now, punk, you're gonna sit up there until you remember what you did last time to get your determination to work! You got it, mister?!"

"Yes, ma'am," Frisk replied with a smile. "Okay, what did I do last time? Hey! I remember. I was thinking about my mother and remembering all the good times I had with her and somehow that made me remember a song she taught me."

"Awww!" Papyrus gushed. "That's so sweet. You must have been so happy."

"I was," Frisk said with a bigger smile. "Ever since I've been getting better, my memories have been getting stronger and the happier I get the more clearly I can remember certain things. I remembered that short piece when I played Undyne's piano and earlier I remembered another song my mother taught me."

"I think you're onto something, punk," Undyne said.

"What do you mean?" Papyrus asked.

"Let Frisk figure it out for himself," Undyne replied. "What do all those incidents have in common, Frisk?"

Frisk sat down and thought for a minute before he could realize what all those incidents had in common. Every time he sat down to play, Frisk remembered his mother. Whenever he remembered his mother, Frisk felt truly happy. Whenever Frisk felt truly happy, he could play. That could only mean one thing…

"My emotions," Frisk said in realization. "My memories are connected to my emotions! That's how I can use determination to access my memories! It's like my Dad said. Determination doesn't work unless I put my heart in it. That's why I can only play when I'm really feeling it."

"Oh," Papyrus said. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

"Yeah," Undyne said. "And because you have magic blood that flows through your brain and carries memories within it."

"That, too," Papyrus replied.

"Now, punk," Undyne said. "I know using your magic ain't easy. I had to work like hell to control mine…"

"Really?" Papyrus interrupted. "I thought you were always a badass."

"Nope," Undyne replied. "As I've told you, it takes work to be this awesome. Anyways…Frisk, accessing your memories with determination sounds extremely useful, and now that we've figured out how to do it, I want you to test it out. Use your determination to play a song, but not just any song, try to summon the longest song you know…"