Christmas Morning

Asriel’s eyes shot open with fervor. In the corner of his vision, he could see the freshly falling snow. It was Christmas morning. He’d been waiting for this day since he first got out of the Underground… since Frisk saved him. Since he… stopped being Flowey... Even now, thinking about it got him a little depressed. Not wanting his past to affect him, he put it in the back of his mind as he went to wake up his family. Frisk first.

His adopted sibling slept next to him, in another twin bed on the other wall. Asriel ran across the room, almost pouncing on the human. “Frisk! Frisk! Get up, it’s Christmas!” he excitedly panted out. “C’mon,” he whined, shaking Frisk, “Get up!”

Frisk stirred. “Nngh… Az, it’s like five in the morning. Can’t we do this later? Like at noon? Mmm. Noon sounds nice. Wake me up then…” he mumbled as he rolled over, pulling the covers over himself.

“Oh no you don’t!” Asriel playfully threatened, yanking the covers off of Frisk’s bed. “Rise and shine!”

“Alright, alright, I’m up.” he finally groaned. “Let’s go get mom and dad.”

Asriel bounded down the hallway, Frisk lazily lagging behind. Hopping up onto their mattress, he practically yelled into their ears, still full of energy, “Mom! Dad! Get up! It’s Christmas morning!”

The two monsters awoke at the same time, both letting out a groan. “Child, it’s very early. Don’t you think we can wait just a bit longer?” a caring but weary voice called out from the bed.

“Aw come on, Tori. He’s been looking forward to today for so long. We might as well humor him.” a deep and rumbling voice countered her.

Toriel let out a deep sigh. “I suppose you’re right. Come on then.” she said, pushing herself out of the bed, Asgore following not soon after. All the while, Asriel was bouncing on the bed, his smile growing wider as the conversation continued.

With his drowsy party in tow, Asriel rushed over to the Christmas tree, promptly placing his bottom on the carpeted floor. Gifts littered the tree, almost blocking view of the trunk, in all different assortments of size, color, and shape. Some had big, elaborate bows, others were covered in complex patterns of wrapping paper. The pine itself glittered brilliantly, illuminating the whole room. Perhaps the only thing brighter than it was Asriel’s sparkling eyes as he took in the scene. “So, who’s going to open a gift first?” he excitedly asked.

The three of them looked at each other for confirmation. Frisk finally spoke up. “Well, you’ve been looking forward to this the most out of any of us, so I think you should.”

Asriel’s eyes widened even further as he quickly spun around, digging through the gift pile for the best present to start with. Inside the clutter, a single red box called out to him. It was wrapped in a green ribbon, with a small name tag sticking out of it, reading, “To: Asriel, From: Santa.”

With a victorious look on his face, Asriel carefully pulled it out, making sure not to disturb the delicate balance of the other gifts. He held the present high above his head before placing it down onto the floor, as if showing off his catch. Quickly ripping off the ribbon, he tore into the wrapping paper, as a predator might with their prey. Frantically cutting the tape on the box inside, he opened it…

“Howdy!”

Asriel froze. He’d recognize that voice anywhere. After all, it was his own. Or it used to be, anyway.

“So, you think you’d just escape from little old me?” the tiny flower continued from inside the present. “That you’d just get your soul back, and be forgiven, just like that?”

“W-well... No, but-”

“You really are an IDIOT!” he interrupted. “Do you really think anyone here actually loves you? Take a look around!”

Doing as Flowey commanded, Asriel fearfully stole a glance at his family. But instead of seeing smiling faces, or even ones of surprise or sadness, they were all… Sneering at him. They just stared, their eyes full of pure hatred, despite their unnaturally wide smiles. In complete and utter shock, he slowly turned his head back down to the flower, who now had a cruel look of bemusement on his face.

“Oh don’t you worry yourself about me, the best part is about to begin…” Flowey said with an ominous laugh as he plopped down into the floor, leaving nothing but brown cardboard for Asriel to stare at.

“W-what do you mean by tha-” he started, before realizing what was going on. His ankles and wrists had vines wrapped around them, constricting his body. In a panic, he frantically flailed his limbs, to no avail. They snapped his hands and feet to the ground. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t break free of their grip. Giving up, he stared at the floor, overcome with a myriad of emotions. Sadness. Fear... Guilt.

He heard the “plop” of some sort of liquid falling to the floor, breaking him from his thoughts. Turning to find the origin of the sound, he stared at his family once more. Their sneers were gone, but instead, they were replaced with something infinitely more horrifying. Their faces were covered in a strange, wax like liquid, dripping down at a steady pace, hitting the floor. The longer he stared at them, the more their facial features seemed to twist and deform, until they were unrecognizable. The wax eventually finished dripping, taking their faces along with it. What was left made Asriel sick to his stomach. It was that deranged, twisted expression that he’d spent so long learning to do. The corners of their mouths formed into a jagged smile, one full of malice. The sockets where their eyes should have been were instead replaced by two black windows to the void. Asriel thought he could see them mouth “Die” before his attention was drawn away by more pressing matters.

The vines holding his limbs in place had started to retract into the ground, intending to bring Asriel with them. He could hear a repulsive sound as they sunk into the floor, partially melting. Looking at his hands, it seemed as if they had began to melt as well. The whole floor turned into a pit of quicksand, dragging Asriel down the more he struggled. With tears in his eyes, he screamed. For his mom, or his dad. For Frisk. For someone. Anyone…

But nobody came.

He braced himself, and waited for the end…

Asriel’s eyes shot open with fervor. In the corner of his vision, he could see the freshly falling snow. It was Christmas morning. His eyes darted across the room. Everything was normal. He felt for his body, making sure it was still there.
Everything was normal.

Asriel anxiously walked over to his sibling’s bed, and shook him awake.

“Nngh… Az, it’s like five in the morning. What is it?” he groaned.

Asriel recalled hearing those exact words in what seemed like moments ago. Recoiling from the surprise, he tried to come up with a reason. “O-oh! It’s uhh.. It’s just that today’s Christmas morning and um...”

Frisk sat up straight, almost fully awake now. “Az. What’s wrong? Come on, out with it.”

It never failed to surprise Asriel how protective he was. The moment he could tell something was bothering him, Frisk always jumped headfirst at the problem. Normally, he didn’t mind, but he didn’t want everybody’s Christmas ruined because of a bad dream he had. He decided to keep quiet about it.

“I-it’s nothing, bro. Heh heh.” he stammered out, a little more nervous sounding than he’d hoped.

“...Fine.” Frisk finally replied. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll just have to guess.”

“Really, Frisk, it’s fine!” he said, flustered.

“Was it a bully at school?”

“No! I told you, I’m fin-”

“Did you get into a fight?”

“...No.”

“Did you have another Flowey dream?”

Asriel quickly belted out another “no,” but not before a gleam of surprise flashed across his face.

“So that’s it, huh?” Frisk concluded, apparently noticing.

“It’s not that bad!” he said, quickly laughing it off. “I mean… It’s bound to happen... I can’t come crying to you for help every time, y’know?” His gaze casted to the floor as he bit the inside of his lip. “You were there to save me as Flowey, but I know you can’t keep doing it forever…”

“...Alright, let’s do it.”

“Huh?” Asriel asked, confused.

“Christmas.” he answered. “I’ve got something special planned.”

“If you say so…”

Grabbing Asriel’s hand, Frisk led him into their parents’ bedroom, where the two were sleeping peacefully. He practically yelled into their ears, “Mom! Dad! Get up! It’s Christmas morning!” The two of them grunted, and after a short while, stirred.

Checking the time, Toriel asked, “Child, it’s very early. Don’t you think we can wait just a bit longer?”

“C’mon mom, Az has been looking forward to this for so long!”

Toriel looked over at her son, who was practically melting into his baggy sweater, feet crossed with anxiety. She heard a deep rumbling voice call out from the other side of the bed, “Tori, he’s right, y’know. We should do it now.”

Her face breaking out into a soft smile, she replied to everyone, “I suppose we have to, don’t we?”

Walking over to the sparking tree that was drowning with gifts, Asriel anxiously glanced at the trunk, looking for that box…

His search was interrupted by Frisk however, as he nudged Asriel’s elbow. “C’mon, over here!” he said as he motioned to an empty spot next to the tree. As Asriel nervously sat down, Frisk disappeared behind the pine needles, showing up a few seconds later with a gift in hand.

A red present with a green bow.

For a split second, he was paralyzed with fear, broken only by Frisk’s talking. “Alright, I got you this one especially for you! I hope you like it!” he said, grinning. Asriel gave a strained smile back, as he took the gift from his hand, doing all that he could to keep his body from shaking. He would not let this be ruined by his stupid fears. Asriel slowly took off the ribbon, reluctantly tearing the wrapping paper. Borrowing a pair of scissors from the kitchen, he cut the packing tape sealing the box. Expecting the worst, he opened it…

Then, nothing. No antagonizing voice, no vines, no melting faces. The only thing he could hear was the silent humming of the christmas tree. He stared into the box, looking for the contents, eventually finding it buried under some packing peanuts. It was an action figure, one of his favorite superhero from the Saturday morning cartoon he loved watching with Frisk.

“Surprise!” Frisk shouted. “I knew you really like him, but they were all sold out at the store. I had to order it from online. I hope you like it, it really took a bite out of my allowance-” was all he could get out before Asriel embraced them in a hug, dropping the toy on the floor.

“W-what is it, Az? Did I get the wrong one or something?”

“No, it’s not that.” he replied. Frisk could feel something wet stain the shoulder of their t-shirt. “It’s just… I’m so happy.”