Chapter Text
The greatest adventure is what lies ahead
Today and tomorrow have yet to be said
The chances the changes, are all yours to make
The mold of your life is in your hands to break...
“Come ooon, Chara! Pleeeeease?”
Asriel knelt in front of his older sister, hands clasped together as he made his plea. It had been three years since she was named custodia of the royal vaults and Asriel had yet to see inside them. It was his hope that she could do him a small favor and quell just a little of his ever-burning curiosity.
Chara massaged her temples and took a deep breath. She was eye to eye with Asriel when he was kneeling, but at the moment he thought her much, much taller. “Azzy, you know I’m dealing with... delicate stuff down there.”
“Err… kinda? You and Frisk only ever tell me vague things about it.”
“I don’t mean delicate in that sense. I mean that it’s literally delicate. Some of the scrolls and books down there will fall apart if you sneeze on them.”
Asriel put on his best puppy dog eyes.”Then I won’t sneeze! Look, I promise to be careful, and you don’t even have to let me down there for very long! Just a teeny tiny peek, please?”
Chara raised both hands. “I’m not opposed to the idea. It’s just… there’s always the chance you’ll touch something you shouldn’t or see something you’re not supposed to see.”
“Th-That… I mean, nobody has to know if I do, right?”
Chara’s shoulders slumped as she groaned. “Look, Azzy, part of the reason mom and dad keep things from you is because they know you can’t keep a secret. I’d agree, too, based on how many times my chocolate stash got ‘shared’ with Frisk…”
“Come ooooonnn, Chara! That was forever ago! I’m older now. More responsible and all that jazz.”
“You never grew up, Azzy. Not all the way at least.”
There was silence for a while. Asriel’s pleading gaze wavered, dropping to the floor more than one before Chara spoke again.
“I’ll call dad. See if he’ll let you have a peek at the first level of the vaults.”
Asriel jumped to his feet and pumped a fist in the air. His limbs all protested at the action, still sore from his last session with Undyne just last night. “Yes! Thank you, Chara! Thankyouthankyouthank-”
“Calm down. Dad hasn’t said yes yet. Now step out into the hall, will you? He and I might have to talk about… you know.”
After a nod, Asriel did as she asked and stood in the hallway outside her quarters. Years of her and Frisk keeping secrets from him had sort of numbed him to it, especially since he knew they just did it out of respect for mom and dad’s wishes. Buuuuut… that didn’t mean he wouldn’t take any chance to find out what he was missing out on.
Checking to make sure nobody was coming down the hall, Asriel got down on his back by the door and slid one of his ears through the gap underneath it. Now he could hear the ringing of Chara’s phone, followed by her speaking quietly.
“Hey, dad? You busy?”
The phone wasn’t on speaker, so Asriel couldn’t hear his father’s reply.
“Well, Azzy’s been asking if he can have a little peek at the vaults… No, dad, I wouldn’t take him any further than the first level… Well don’t you think it’s a little stupid that the prince of all people can’t see even a little of the vaults in his own palace? Every other prince in our history has got to be a part of this but-... Right. Not the time. Anyway, can I show him? Just a little? It’d mean a lot to him and Undyne doesn’t give him many breaks these days, so… Okay. I’ll tell him. Don’t worry, mom won’t hear a word.”
Asriel drew his ear back and stood up, wincing at the pangs in his legs and arms as he rose. Training with Undyne was fun and all, but… he didn’t get much time to recover and not even healing magic could take the soreness away. He took a few steps back from the door and paced back and forth in front of it. With any luck Chara wouldn’t guess he’d been eavesdropping.
The door swung open without so much as a creak and Chara stepped out, looking up at Asriel with an inscrutable look. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “You’re not half as sneaky as you think.”
Asriel winced and scratched the back of his neck. “S-Sorry... I didn’t hear anything I shouldn’t have… at least I don’t think I did.”
“You’re fine. To be honest I only told you to stand in the hallway because the ear thing is funny and I knew you’d do it.”
“Golly, am I really that predictable?”
“Like I said: in some ways you never really grew up. That’s beside the point though; as I’m sure you heard, dad said I can let you in the first level of the vaults. So long as mom never hears about it. Can you keep that a secret?”
Asriel nodded, for once completely serious. “Yeah. I hate it when mom yells at dad, and… I’d feel worse if it was because of me.”
“Good. Then let’s go.”
Chara led him through the palace halls and to one of the stairways that led down into the forbidden levels of the palace. Asriel had been here before, but had never been able to get far before a guard escorted him out or Undyne hauled him away by his tail and horns. At some point sneaking down here had become an excuse to see her, at least until she started training with him. Undyne didn’t have guard duty anymore and he got plenty of chances to talk with her in between their sparring bouts, so he hadn’t tried to come down here in the last three years.
They passed a number of guards who questioned Chara about Asriel’s presence, but all stood down at her assurances that he was allowed to be here; just this once. At last Chara stopped at a dead end in the hall, and before Asriel could ask why, she had pulled a key from her robes and put it in a small hole in the stone. The “dead end” slid to one side with a harsh grinding sound and Asriel’s eyes widened as he followed Chara into the chamber beyond.
The vaults Chara spent so much time in were more like a cross between a library and a museum, with a similar musty scent. Rows of bookshelves lined the walls of the dimly lit stone chamber, their titles written in a language Asriel had never seen. This same strange text appeared on the various artifacts that sat in glass cases all about the room, and while it seemed routine to Chara it made Asriel wish he had been more studious in his childhood.
“Wowie, this is all so… weird, but cool.” Asriel whispered as he peered at a particularly interesting stone mask through its protective glass case.
“It’s not fair that you’ve been kept from all of this.” Chara spoke with a similar volume from the other side of the case. Neither of them felt right being loud here, even if they were alone. “I wish I could show you more or tell you what this writing says but looking is the most dad would consent to letting you do.”
“Thanks for going to bat for me. It’s been really, really frustrating to not even know what kind of stuff you worked with down here. Let alone what Frisk’s been up to lately.”
“It was the least I could do before I… have to leave.”
“C-Come on, Chara, you’re pulling my leg, right? This isn’t a very funny joke…”
“I wish it was just a prank, Azzy, but I really will be leaving for a while. There’s just some questions I have that even mom and dad can’t answer.”
“How long?” He whined. “And why?”
“The questions are personal. I’ll tell you when I come back. As for how long, I don’t expect to be gone for more than a few months. We’ll see each other again soon. I promise.”
“I’ll miss you…” Asriel’s voice was weak. His eyes watered at the thought of life without Chara. With Frisk away so frequently and his parents often busy at the royal court, the palace was going to feel… lonely.
“C-Could I go with you?” He asked with a whimper.
Chara shook her head sadly. “You need to stay here and train with Undyne so that when I come back...” She gave him a light tap on the snout. “...I won’t have to keep any secrets from you.”
“Th-Then… I guess all I can do is wish you good luck, huh?”
“Hopefully I won’t need it, but I appreciate the sentiment. I’ll miss you too Azzy. More than I’ll miss anyone else. Don’t think that I’m leaving because of you, okay? You haven’t done anything wrong.”
She walked around to his side of the glass case and embraced him. It was like she could read his mind, for her words calmed his worries and the hug was exactly what he needed. If she really was only leaving this one time, he could handle it. He’d be strong for her.
He crouched down, allowing Chara to be at eye level while she comforted him. They were both silent for a while as Asriel made peace with reality. It was foolish for him to have thought that Chara would never want to go to the surface. She was human after all, and she couldn’t spend her whole life away from that world. If she thought this was necessary, Asriel could trust her. He’d always trusted her. No reason to stop now. She knew what was best, just like she always did.
But right now, he needed to cry. He let himself weep into Chara’s shoulder as he often had when she comforted him in the past. He would miss her so very much, more than anything in the world, and he would be scared that she might not come back.
“Golly,” He chuckled at last, feeling a bit foolish for his actions now that he had calmed down. “You’d think that I’d be less of a crybaby by now. Especially after the scene I made when Frisk went for her first big trip to the surface.”
“You’re soft, Azzy. That’s just the kind of person you are. You’ll toughen up someday; but for now just keep being you. There’s no need to change quite yet.”
“I’ll be the same when you get back, I-I promise.”
“And I’ll look forward to seeing you again. I’ll miss the underground a lot, but you most of all.”
“Will you bring back pictures? Of the human world and stuff, I mean. I’ve never been able to go farther than the city outside Ebott and I really wanna know what it’s like…”
Chara patted him on the head, touched as usual by his ever-present curiosity.
“Trust me, you’re not missing out on anything. But I’ll do as you ask. Just for my big brother.”
“Thanks, Chara.” Asriel sniffled. “S-So, when are you heading out?”
“A few weeks. I’ve already talked it over with mom and dad so there shouldn’t be any complications.”
An emberassed smile came over Asriel’s face and he scratched the back of his neck. “Oh… I, uh… thought you were leavin’ tonight or something.”
“Please, Azzy. I wouldn’t do that to you. I just cleared it with dad this morning and I was meaning to tell you when you came to ask me about coming down here. Only Frisk runs off on a whim to go on adventures.”
They shared a brief laugh, the tension in the air draining away. Asriel still felt scared and sad about Chara leaving, but it really seemed important to her. He’d just have to bury himself in his training if and when Undyne returned. In the meantime he’d just distract himself with games and exercise as best he could.
Something else then distracted him from the rough news. A large leather-bound tome lying on one of the room’s many desks drew his attention. His eyes narrowed as he stood back up and stared at the object, feeling almost entranced by the item. It didn’t look special in any way, being perhaps the most plain item in the room. Yet, for some reason, Asriel felt sure it was the most important thing in the vault.
“Hey, Chara.” Asriel whispered, pointing a finger at the book. “What’s that?”
Chara followed his gaze with her own and gave the book a double take when it finally caught her eye.
“Oh, geez!” She exclaimed. “What are you doing out of the deeper chambers?”
Asriel found it strange how she addressed the book as if it were a person, but given the cryptic nature of the vaults he wouldn’t have been surprised if it had a personality in some strange way.
“You shouldn’t be out here, pal.” Chara continued, walking over to the desk and retrieving the tome. “Sorry, Azzy. You weren’t supposed to see this. We should go and talk more in my room after I put this away. Give me a minute or two and don’t touch anything while I’m away.”
Asriel couldn’t help but stare at the book as Chara took it back to the deeper chambers of the vault. Just before it left his view entirely, he could have sworn he heard a whisper. Faint but clear, nowhere and yet everywhere.
Return to us…
The words echoed in his brain for a brief moment before vanishing. They sent a chill down his spine, as if triggering some primal fear. Suddenly his family’s vaults felt strange and alien, making the wait for Chara’s return from the back rooms a tense affair. His sister was back in no time though, and the two soon departed. Asriel chalked the whisper up to his wild imagination, triggered by the mystical nature of the vault. Soon he and Chara were discussing other matters, and the oddity was forgotten entirely.
But I shall tell you now: that was not to be the last time he saw that book. Nor the last he would hear of it.
I thank you for bearing with me. You were promised the story of the prince’s life, and this was necessary for it.
Soon the shadows shall reveal themselves, and our tale may truly begin.
The greatest adventure is there if you’re bold
Let go of the mold
That life makes you hold
To measure the meaning would make you delay
It’s time you stop thinking and wasting the day
The man who’s a Dreemurr
And never takes leave
Who thinks of a world that is just make believe
Will never know passion
Will never know pain
Who sits by the window, will one day see rain
The greatest adventure
Is what lies ahead