Chapter Text
The drum and guitar notes of a classic rock song faded out as Chara came to. Their neck was stiff, whatever they were leaning against kept bouncing into their head, and the world rocked back and forth every few moments, leading to a very disorientating and confusing experience as they blinked a few times to clear their eyes, lifting their head up proper and looking around to try and get their bearings.
If that wasn't enough to wake them, the music flowing through their headphones was quickly replaced by the sudden onslaught of the beginning of a heavy metal song, shocking them awake in their seat and causing them to reach up and quickly rip the headphones off their ears.
“Oh! You’re awake!” Came the chipper voice from their right, the white fur of Asriel filling their peripheral vision, looking over at them. “I was actually just about to wake you. We’re almost there.”
“Ugh…” Chara grunted, shaking their head, still trying to drag themselves into proper consciousness. They reach into their pocket, having to adjust their position on the cramped bus seat, pulling out their phone and finally pausing their music that was still blaring through the headphones in their hand.
38% battery. Surprised it’s not lower.
Tossing it onto their lap, they rubbed their eyes, before finally turning back to Asriel and responding. “Fuck, yeah, sorry. Music decided to wake me up. Guess that's what I get for putting it on shuffle. Sorry, did you say something?”
The goat chuckled. “I said we’re almost there. We’ve got like ten minutes.”
“What?” The human turned their head to look out the window to their left, the multi-lane highway they had last seen instead replaced by vibrant fall-colored trees, with deep forests on both sides of the two-lane road they were driving down. Nothing but hills and trees could be seen for miles around them. Late afternoon autumn sunlight filtered through the trees and glared right into their eyes as they drove east, forcing them to squint and look away.
“Oh, damn, guess I accidentally fell asleep. How long was I out for?” Chara asked, leaning forward to reach their backpack, sitting on the floor and stuffed between their legs. It was almost bursting with all the things they’d stuffed in it, the top zipper hard to open and even harder to close once the headphones were shoved in right on top.
“Uh, about an hour, hour and a half maybe? You didn’t miss much.” Asriel chuckled, returning their gaze forward, out the front of the bus.
“Guess I needed the nap after yesterday.” Chara mused, mostly to themselves, stretching their arms towards the ceiling and yawning. They took that time to slyly glance over everyone else on the bus, making note of everyone. The bus had been mostly full when they’d gotten on a few hours ago, an equal mix of both humans and monsters. But now, the seats were mostly empty, only a few monsters left scattered throughout the cabin. No other humans in sight.
“Ugh. Tell me about it. Got barely any sleep.” Asriel repeated the sentiment, slouching down in the seat. “I can’t wait till I’m home. My family is great, you’ll love them.”
“Hm.” Chara leaned against the side of the bus, watching the trees and hills go by, yawning again as they finally pushed the drowsiness out of their mind. Evidence of mining and cutting was visible along the sides of mountains they passed, the sides of mountains completely mined away and huge swathes of forest clear cut decades ago only now slowly regrowing. Occasional gravel or dirt paths cut off from the main road, leading up or down the mountains, occasional signs for different mining companies put up on the side of the road.
The bus crested a hill, the scene of a small town appearing before them. Short buildings, a train station visible in the distance, and a rocky river running through the middle. The bus slowed, allowing Chara to glance out at the buildings and people they passed. Everything was… sad. The buildings were mostly run-down looking and decrepit, large advertisements for name-brand products painted on the sides of buildings, almost completely faded and illegible. Empty grassy lots where buildings once stood, bordered on each side by buildings with boards over the windows. All the monsters that stood on the street were all older, glaring at the bus as it passed with dark eyes.
No humans in sight.
“Aw, man. The movie theater closed?” Asriel’s voice drew their attention away from the window, the goat's view on a building on the right side of the street. It obviously had been a movie theater at one point, if a small one, with a typical ticket booth and light up sign out front, spots for movie posters on the wall. Now, everything was stripped out, shutters dropped down over the doors, and the glass of the ticket booth shattered on the ground.
“I was actually hoping we could’ve gone there…” The Goat seemed to deflate a bit, a bit of enthusiasm gone from his eyes, before he caught himself, perking back up, turning back to Chara with a smile. “Ah, oh well. Plenty of other stuff to do!”
“...uh huh.” Chara muttered, turning back to the window. They weren’t too sure about that, but heading someplace new was a better alternative than sitting in the college dorms for a month.
The bus rolled on, up another hill, as now Asriel yawned. “Man, I don’t remember the bus ride taking this long. Sorry to make you sit through all this. Our stop should just be up the next hill. Man, I’m happy to be back.”
“Hey, man. I don’t care too much. Sitting on my ass on a bus is better than sitting on my ass back in the dorm playing video games alone.” Lifting their heavy backpack onto their lap, Chara watched as Asriel stood up, stepping out into the narrow lane between seats, gripping onto the top handles, the human then following, the two now standing in the aisle, slowly walking towards the front, doing their best not to nudge anyone who had bags or bodies in the way.
“Heh, that is true. We both know you wouldn’t do shit without me.” Finally, the bus slowed to a halt with a final lurch, and the side door opened with a creak.
“Yeah, yeah, joke about my lack of a social life. Not like you’re any better.” Chara fired back, making sure not to lose their footing on the steep and narrow steps leading back down to the ground. “You haven’t gotten a girlfriend the whole time we’ve been together, despite claiming you’re a jock.”
Chara turned just in time to catch a glimpse of the bus driver looking out at them before the door closed behind them, the bus roaring away before they could do a double take and verify what they had seen.
That wasn’t our driver when we left, was it?
Before they could even continue that thought, they turned to find Asriel glancing at the overgrown bus station that lay on the side of the road. They had a slightly confused look on their face, staring blankly at the pile of leaves and vines that had taken over the stop.
“Hey, uh, you ok man?”
Chara’s voice snapped Asriel out of whatever trance they were in, the monster turning back towards them. “Sorry. Usually my Mom would be waiting here for us. She said she would.”
“Guess she forgot?”
“Guess so. I talked with her a week ago, but I called yesterday and wasn’t able to get through. Phone lines out here aren’t the best…”
“You did tell your family you were inviting me right?”
“Yes! Of course. Ugh, come on. I need to stretch my legs.”
The main two lane road forked off behind the bus stop, and the two of them set off, walking at a decent pace as the road sloped downward, the tops of the buildings visible just poking out above the trees. The sun was beginning to set now, the orange sky meeting the orange, red and yellow leaves of the early winter trees, the sunlight glinting off the large lake in front of them. The breeze kicked up the fallen leaves scattered across the ground, and rustled the treetops, the chill air causing the two of them to shiver.
“Man, it's actually so nice out here.” Chara thought aloud, the two of them descending the hill.
“Much clearer than the city for sure.” Asriel agreed. “Not as loud. No need to worry about getting hit by a car running a red light.”
“Eh, I wouldn’t count on that. I’ve seen how you drive, and if everyone here follows that trend, I’d be even more attentive.”
“I take personal offense to that! I also take personal offense to that “jock” comment. I do cross-country for Angel’s sake! I’m totally a jock.”
“Yeah, and you’re majoring in ‘Advanced Magic Studies’. You spent all of last week studying for a quiz. You only call yourself a jock to hit on girls.”
The goat raised his nose in mock offense. “Hmpf! I’ll have you know, I hit on girls and guys!”
The two chuckled at each other, finally reaching the bottom of the hill and walking into hometown proper, beginning to pass buildings and shops as the trees on each side of the road gave way to brick buildings and cracked concrete.
“So, this is your hometown huh?”
“Yep. Born and raised. Lived here my whole life.” Asriel readjusted the backpack, pulling it higher up their back as they passed a police station. Heck, I was born in that hospital there.”
Chara doubted that the building they walked pass had the qualifications to call itself a “hospital”. Heck, they’d seen bigger dentists office back at college. But in a place like this where there wasn’t much else, they suppose it would suffice. Monsters didn't need as much medical care as humans anyway.
The inside lights aren’t on?
“Though, it's not usually so…”
They reached what Chara estimated to be the center of town, the police station and hospital behind them, and the building in front of them…
They had to squint. … Does that say ‘Librarby’?
“...quiet.”
The two stood there for a second, silent and listening. Even the wind had stopped, allowing them to hear… nothing. Only the vaguest sound of water hitting shore from the lake a distance away.
Not even the sound of any birds could be heard.
“Something’s wrong.”
Asriel held one of their paws out, palm up, as if sensing something in the air. They looked down on it, a deep worried frown on their face, brow creased in concentration.
“We need to move. Come on, my house is to the north.” The Goat took off at a faster pace, leaving Chara having to quickly catch up.
“Whoa, hey, what the heck was that back there?”
“The magic content in the air is… abnormally high.” Asriel didn't even turn to look at Chara, speed walking on.
“You know I know nothing about magic Asriel. I assume that's… bad?”
“Not… necessarily . But…” They only walked faster.
They moved into a more residential area, with small detached houses lining the streets, the two of them running right in the middle of said street. Fallen leaves covered the ground, subtly cluing Chara that no one had driven down the street in at least a few days, but they couldn’t even bring it up to Asriel before the Goat made a sharp turn towards the end of the street, running up a small hill with long driveway. “Here!”
White paneling, two stories, tall black roof. A Red Minivan parked outside the door. Definitely a humble home for the countryside. But just like everywhere else, there were no lights on inside. Asriel dashed up to the door, breathing slightly heavy after running up that hill, reaching for the doorknob, only to try twisting it to find it locked.
“MOM? KRIS? ANYONE?” They knocked their hands on the door loudly, and Chara swore they could hear it echo through the whole town. “Dammit, why the hell is the door locked?! Mom never locked the door…”
“Hey, hey! Calm down!” It took Chara a few seconds to catch up, swinging their backpack off their arms and placing it on the floor with a clunk , placing one hand on the white-furred goat's shoulder, and using the other one to zip it open. “Dude. Calm down and step back, I got this.”
“What-” He begins to question, but before he could even speak Chara had withdrawn their hand from the backpack, black plastic multitool clutched in their grip.
They kneeled down, Asriel looking on in surprise as Chara tinkered with the lock for only a second, before there was a soft click , and the human stood back up, pushing the door open with their foot, the hinges creaking. “Aaaand there we go. You should your mom to replace the locks, I probably could’ve kicked this down if I wanted.”
“I…” The Goat blinked, before instead turning and glaring at their friend. “No no, back up. Why the hell do you know how to pick locks!?”
“Remember when I said I lost my dorm key?” The human gave Asriel a cheeky grin as the monster just glared at them with disappointment. “Besides, it comes in handy, doesn’t it?”
“...Whatever.” The two stepped inside, flicking on the lights with the switch by the door. The living room lit up, a few lights flickering, the room bathed in fluorescent glow.
“...So what now?” Chara stood in the middle of the living room as Asriel went around turning on the rest of the lights. “I think it's obvious that everyone is gone, with nothing saying as to where they went. So…”
“Can you just… shut up? For a minute? Please?” Asriel was rummaging around in the kitchen, opening cabinets and drawers, throwing open the fridge and freezer, both of which revealed themselves to be empty, completely stripped clean, as were all the other shelves. “I’m trying not to freak out right now, so, just, like, look for clues or something. Anything.”
“Sorry.” They’d placed their backpack on the living room couch and had followed Asriel into the kitchen, leaning on the dividing wall as they watched the goat tear the kitchen apart. A landline phone hanging on the wall caught their eye, but when it was pulled off the hook they were only met with a blaring loud tone spewing from the speakers, a bit-crushed sound of static and screeches that kept ringing in their ears even after they placed it back. “Guess we know why the phone wasn’t working…”
They grabbed their own smartphone out of their pocket to double-check as Asriel slammed the last cabinet closed in frustration.
35%. No service. As expected.
“I’m checking upstairs. Just…” Asriel didn’t finish the thought, his voice strained, disappearing up the steps, leaving Chara alone.
The door at the end of the hall led to a bathroom. It was pretty small and had typical bathroom furnishings. White tile, large tub, sink with mirror. Chara couldn’t help but chuckle to themselves at the two shampoo bottles on racks in the shower. Clean and clever mirror, that they couldn’t help but stand in front of for a moment, their reflection peering back at them from behind the glass.
An old worn leather bomber jacket, covered in faded and torn patches, chunky cargo pants, heavy hiking boots, their unkempt and uncut brown hair…
And their dull red eyes, glaring out at them from behind their bangs.
They turned to leave. They try not to look in the mirror too much.
There was a soft thump from upstairs, the sound of something heavy hitting the ground softly, drawing Chara's attention up the stairs. “Asriel? You ok?”
Grabbing the handrail, they jogged up the stairs, sinking into the shallow carpet with each step, floorboards strained under their weight as they reached the top.
“What the fuck…” The sight that met them was something unnatural, they could feel that. Asriel was hunched against the wall on their knees, one hand keeping them supported and the other grabbing the carpet for dear life like they were in danger of being sucked away. Their eyes were crazed, unfocused, wide and dilated like they’d just seen a ghost.
They were breathing heavy, ragged breaths. They were crying. And they didn’t even react when Chara walked past them, their footsteps now not making any sound at all.
The light that was billowing from the first door in the hall reminded them of the flickering glow of a campfire, except much more harsh, jagged, unnatural and uncanny. It didn’t seem to cast any shadows, merely filling the space around it, glowing brighter the closer they stepped toward the room. They hadn’t even realized they’d been moving their legs.
Peering into the door was almost blinding. The floor didn’t feel soft here. What little they could see past the light, it had been a bedroom at one point, two of them pushed up against opposite sides of the room, posters on the wall, trophies on shelves. A computer in the corner. But everything was wrong somehow, the dimensions all twisted and morphed, like everything had been made of plastic and melted slightly. They swear they saw the room pulsing.
In the corner, somehow both too bright to look at and perfectly visible, sat a cage. And in that cage was…
The word heart entered their head, and they didn’t know where from. It certainly didn’t look like anything they’d ever seen, but every time they tried to think about anything else, their mind went back to that. It seemed to completely change shape any time their eyes moved away from it even slightly, each time the shape something they couldn’t begin to describe, begin to understand .
Around it, the room had completely broken down, ripping up the walls and floor and exposing the void behind. The cage remained.
They couldn’t stop themselves from walking toward it. Each blink of the eyes it grew bigger in their vision, the latch of the cage now in their hand, throwing the door open to-
They were walking down a canyon. The ground was covered in a several-inch thick layer of dust. It felt like their feet was stuck in deep mud, an immense amount of effort required to even lift them and push themselves forward.
The wind howled down the rock walls around them, dust constantly flung into their face by the hurricane-force winds. Their eyes burned, but they couldn’t close them.
They stumbled, but the chains around their ankles, their wrists, their waist yanked them forward, constantly dragging them into the wind, the howling wind.
Their whole body was on fire with pain, but they couldn’t feel anything at all.
Something behind them called out their name. It echoed off the walls.
The canyon was buildings now. Ruins of buildings. Buildings covered in dust and snow.
You feel like you’ve been here before.
Flowers litter the ground. Yellow. Bright yellow. They grow over everything, covering the walls. The flowers are covered in thorns.
There’s a door in front of them. A simple wooden one. They reach for the handle with all their strength…
They’re standing in the doorway of Asriel's house, looking out of the town. Everything is destroyed. The leaves have been completely stripped off the trees, each one of them twisted and dead. The buildings and houses have all crumpled as if blown apart.
The sky is black. The ground is black. You can only see things by the faint white silhouette around them.
Seven pillars of black fire spew from the ground like geysers.
They can just barely see several giant beings surrounding the town, just a the edge of their vision. All of them turn, looking right at them.
The flower vines wrap around their chest. The thorns dig into the skin, drawing blood.
They’re yanked backward, the door spinning away into the black.
The flowers surround them, smothering them, they’re drowning…
A light.
Just before they’re consumed by the flowers, you reach for it and…
[ * PREVIOUS SAVE FILE CORRUPTED. OVERWRITE IT?]
Chara LV 0 999:99
Loc.Err.
[ * File Saved.]
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