Chapter Text
And the safety of her children wasn’t guaranteed, and that frightened Toriel more than anything. If everything Sam said was true, there was a choice to be made now.. To free the underground at the risk of the lives of her most precious children, or to protect them until Alphys can find some other way to do it. Yet somehow that seemed impossible, but Toriel was desperate for another solution. Anything else…
“Tori, I don’t think this is a choice for us to make anymore.. Chara is old enough to think on their own now, and so is Asriel, even if he doesn’t like to act that way. I want to protect our children as much as you do, but we can’t protect them from their own fate.” Asgore reached over to comfort Toriel, and Sam only nodded. None of them noticed a sneaky little Asriel creeping next to the door.
“I have to take my leave soon, the road is calling my name..” Sam said with a sigh, but turned to Toriel with a glint in her eye, giving a soft wink in Asriel’s direction, “But mother to mother.. The life of your own child is worth more than anything, do not risk that for the sake of breaking a barrier that can be broken in other ways.”
Asriel heard everything he needed to hear, and he hurried back to the room where Chara and Frisk were lying, jumping down in front of the chessboard with a look of smug satisfaction. Chara, Frisk and himself could break the barrier, they could be heroes to the underground, just like Chara had wanted before when they tried their ridiculous plan. Asriel could only imagine how proud Undyne would be of them both, and how happy everyone would be that they were finally free.
“So? What did you find out?” Chara lifted an eyebrow and began to listen intently, the conversation in the kitchen a faint noise in the background as Asriel drew in a breath to begin his little story.
“Well, I overheard a few things about how Sam was Frisk’s mother, and that she was working with one of our older royal scientists before an accident. They were then talking about yours and Frisks connection, but that’s when it got pretty deep..” Asriel explained, taking in a breath before he continued, “They said that the connection was strong enough for you both to break the barrier with the help of a monster! Do you know what that means, Chara? We could finally be heroes!”
“Us? Heroes..? No way! You’re kidding, right?” Chara’s eyes widened as memories flooded back from before the accident, memories of Asriel and themselves planning out all sorts of ways to get across the barrier and break it. When they finally tried, Chara ended up getting sick and.. Well, everyone knows the rest of that story.
“Yes way! I wouldn’t kid about something like this!” Asriel nodded rapidly with a big, goofy smile. Frisk, however, wasn’t so sure about this. It sounded too good to be true, what with it could go wrong? There had to be something.
“What if something goes wrong?” Frisk asked slowly, holding on tighter to Chara. Something in their stomach was boiling over with worry, like an internal sixth sense. Something wasn’t right about this…
“Come on, the three of us together, we’re strong enough! With that connection of yours, there isn’t any way we can be stopped! We’ll finally free everyone, guys! We can do this!” Asriel beamed with confidence, so much that it was practically contagious. Maybe Asriel was right, maybe this was something they could do.
“Let’s do it. Tonight, when mom and dad are asleep, we’ll sneak out and head to the barrier. We both know where it is, and when we get there.. We’ll break it.” Asriel suggested, knowing that Chara would agree.
“Alright, sounds like a plan.” Chara nodded, but Frisk nudged them and gave them a little look, “But.. Do we even know how to break it?”
"Ah, we’ll figure it out when we get there. With a little magic help from me, I’m sure it shouldn’t be hard.” Asriel shrugged, but he was leaving out something. He was leaving out the part where Sam said ‘don’t risk the lives of your children’ and stuff, and that probably meant this was dangerous. But it had to be done, right? Chara wouldn’t agree to it if they knew that, but Asriel had faith that the barrier would be destroyed and that no one would be hurt.
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
~~That night~~
“Chara, Frisk, it’s time to go. Get up.” Asriel whispered, slipping out of the bedroom and into the living room where Chara and Frisk were laying together on the couch. Chara was supposed to be in the bedroom as well, but much preferred the idea of snuggling it up with Frisk on the couch.
“Alright, we’re ready. It’s time to set things right.” Chara said with a look of satisfaction, nudging Frisk and taking their hand. Nothing else was spoken as they followed Asriel down the stairs and through the corridors. The air hung with a mix of dread and excitement, the anticipation of doing something that no one else would ever be capable of and the fear of failure mixing together into a feeling that made the company heavy in heart.
It wasn’t before long that they finally reached the large open doors that led into the room where the barrier was. Although they had heard a great many things about, neither Chara, Frisk or Asriel had ever actually seen it up close and personal. It was, to say the least, an intimidating sight. It was like a huge wall of impassable fog, glistening with light as it shimmered. They all figured it must have been the light of the moon, something both Chara and Asriel have dreamt of seeing for a long time. The moon, the stars and the sun were all things they were desperate to finally see.. And it filled them both with determination.
With Frisk’s hand in their own, Chara stepped forward towards the barrier with Asriel right next to them. They were finally going to do it. They were finally going to make up for everything they had ever done wrong, they would repay the debt that humanity owed.. With Frisk and Asriel’s help, they were going to fix it all… But something happened.
Out of the darkness that lurked behind them, a thick and shadow-like, metallic form of.. Magic, burst out and slammed straight into Chara’s back, sending them flying to the side and into a wall. Frisk winced and groaned at the pain they felt from Chara’s injury, and Asriel turned, trying to find the source of this horror. He saw nothing, nothing until another slammed into him, sending him flying to the other side of the room. Frisk winced, and ran to Chara’s side, trying to make sure they were okay.
“I really, really wouldn’t do this if I were you. See, I need this thing intact and I would hate to have to hurt any of you..” Came a familiar laughter from the doorway, “Oh, wait.. That’s a lie! I already did! So, why don’t you all scamper back home and leave it be, huh? Or you can tell them all what happens when you cross me, Frisk. You know, the way your mother did? It’s a shame, too.. She was a pretty lady, but not anymore now that’s she’s ash!”
“What?! What are you talking about?” Frisk shouted into the darkness, frantically looking around whilst pulling Chara tight into their arms. Their breathing was ragged, but they seemed to be okay. Frisk could feel their pain, and they knew that it hurt. Then, from the darkness a figure emerged. They bore many similarities to Frisk’s mother, but the aura around them was completely different. While Sam had an aura of chaos and humor, this figure wore one of something so much darker, something evil and twisted. They were dressed all in black, a cloak pulled over their face. Protruding out from their back was a pair of malformed and twisted wings, fleshy and dark, as if made of a tarred skin.
"You heard me, mortal,” The figure sneered, “Your mother thought it would be a good idea to cross me, and so I crushed her and took this pathetic form for myself.”
“Don’t lie to me! That isn’t true!” Frisk shouted, and looked around in hopes that Asriel would stand, or somebody would come to help. Once again, nobody came.
“Please, I am above petty lies,” The figure scoffed, stepping forward, “But now you’re standing in my way. Take your friends and step aside, and I’ll spare you the fate of your mother, and spare Chara my fate. Or would you care to see your precious Chara consumed and destroyed from the inside out?”
“As if! Don’t threaten my family!!” Came a thundering shout from behind the figure, and turned to see Asriel charging with two brightly glowing sabers in his grasp. Just before reaching the entity, he jumped up and raised the blades above his head, and when he slammed them down into the figure, a wave of pure chaos shook the room. The figure stumbled back in surprise.
“And how dare you hurt my Frisk!” Chara growled suddenly, rolling to the side, jumping up and slamming their heel into the figure’s back, causing them to stumble and fall on to their back. Asriel tossed Chara a saber, and they fist bumped. Frisk beamed with pride, running to their sides.
“Well, well. I should have expected this..” The figure sighed, standing back up before their twisted wings took them into the air, a wild wind swirling through the room, blowing Chara’s hair about. “I guess we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”
Light was shining through the barrier, Chara and Frisk’s combined soul was bursting with color and power as Asriel swirled his saber. Terror and excitement rung throughout the room, and they would finally become heroes.. It filled them with D E T E R M I N A T I O N
*The fight against the ultimate evil in vampirism will begin…*
*In part two of the Vamp!Tale AU.*