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Silence hung over the room, over the hallway, over the house. Everything was still.
Every so often, a cough broke the silence, but it didn’t last long. A cough, and then everything went back to that horrible quiet.
The prince of the monsters, Asriel, was cowering over the bed that his best friend, his sibling, was resting on, no movement coming from them. A washcloth was placed over their forehead, their mouth hanging open as they took deep, raspy breaths. Asriel stared at them in terror, just hoping, just praying that they would be okay. Their breathing was slow, it looked like they were struggling, and it was such a painful thing to look at. Asriel’s eyes had already been welling up with tears, but now he let out quiet little sobs from where he kneeled next to the unmoving human. He held onto their hand tightly, looking at where their eyes would be.
“Wake up… Please, please, please…” He whispered in a distraught tone, another sob escaping his throat. He couldn’t let them die, not yet, not yet, not yet…
He knew what he had gotten himself into.
He had accepted this plan, and agreed to do what Chara wanted him to do.
But why was it so painful?
He had expected this outcome, knew that Chara would take their last few breaths by his side, so he could absorb their SOUL… And then they would get six human SOULs. Just six. That’s all that they needed. It couldn’t be that hard. It couldn’t be. He could handle it, he knew he could! Chara trusted him, and he trusted them. He wasn’t going to let them down.
So why did it hurt so damn badly?
Asriel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, remembering all the fun times he and Chara had together.
He remembered when they first came to the Underground. He had just been exploring the ruins, going to find some golden flowers to give to his mama, as he knew she liked those, but then he had heard a voice crying out, which he followed, to find the human lying in a patch of flowers, below the hole that was the only way to get in. Asriel had been so excited, as he’d be able to meet a new friend. He had seen everyone living in the Underground already, because he was the prince, so he could learn about somebody new, and even better, someone from an entirely different race! He had helped the human, allowed them to lean against him as he led them to where he and his parents had been staying, while making sure not to be seen by any guards. He hadn’t wanted to get in trouble, after all! Once he had shown the human to his parents, they both took the time to inspect the human and heal any injuries they had. Which was a lot. They had bruises all over, some thanks to the fall, but Asriel thought he heard his father murmur to his mama that some of them weren’t fresh enough to be from the fall. …Whatever that could have meant.
He remembered how long it took for Chara to get comfortable with living with the Dreemurrs, only staying by his side for a while and being too afraid to leave their room. But once they were finally comfortable, it was like their family had grown. Chara was definitely like a sibling to Asriel. No, they were his sibling. He loved them and didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. But… he had agreed on all this.
He had given them a matching heart locket like his, and it was nice that the human never seemed to take it off, unless they needed to. He remembered the day they thought they had lost it and panicked while searching the house like crazy, when in reality they had just left it on the drawer next to their bed. They felt stupid about it afterwards, but in a way, it kind of made Asriel happy that they cared about the locket he had gifted to them so much.
He remembered the day Chara had shook him awake earlier, a big smile on their face as they told him that they wanted to surprise their parents by sneaking up on them in the morning, as they were still in their room when usually around this time, the king and queen would get themselves out of bed, and make some tea and pie together. Asriel had agreed on this plan, and the two had snuck over to their parents room in their pajamas, though Chara had told Asriel to wait for their que. They overheard their parents talking.
Asriel remembered something about his father, Asgore, saying something about Chara. Like they were the future of monsterkind, and that he believed in them that they would save the race. Asriel thought that that was a good compliment to Chara, so he had smiled at them, hoping that they would look proud. But the look on their face was not one of pride. It was one of horror. They had gone silent and just stared at their feet. They didn’t say anything to Asriel, before simply walking back to their room. The two hadn’t even finished surprising their parents! That was confusing for Asriel. Why had Chara just left?
And what was weird, after those days to come, Chara had been a lot more… quieter than usual. They would just lie in their bed, as if thinking deeply about… something. When Asriel tried to ask, they just snapped at him to mind his own business. That was when Asriel had known that something was wrong, but he was too nervous to ask. He knew Chara wouldn’t ever want to hurt him, but… he didn’t want to get them even more upset.
He remembered when instead of putting cups of butter into the pie they attempted to make… they put in buttercups. Those flowers really did something to their father. He was in a lot of stomach pain, had even passed out a few times, which scared Asriel horribly and made him cry and scream for help from their mother. Chara just stared with wide eyes. Then they laughed it off, their entire body shaking as they stumbled back to them and Asriel’s room. Asgore was okay, which was a big relief, but he had still been sick for a few days, and Toriel had been extremely upset over that. But it was okay, right? Everything was fine.
And then Chara brought up the plan.
They told Asriel that it was perfect, that it would work, that they would be able to save monsterkind together if they did it.
Chara told Asriel that the future of the entirety of monsterkind… depended on them . That they needed to stay determined, that the monsters’ fate rested on them. They told Asriel that they needed to do this.
They would eat the buttercups, a lot of them, to make sure they wouldn’t survive. Then they would die, and Asriel could absorb their SOUL, and together, the two would leave the barrier, get six human SOULs from the village, as Chara’s already counted as one, and shatter the barrier forever. Asriel had started crying when Chara was finished telling him the plan.
When Chara had first gotten into bed the week ago when they had fallen ill, they had one last request for Asriel. They wanted him to take their body to a patch of golden flowers in the middle of their village. And Asriel had sworn that that was what he would do.
“I don’t want to live on the surface without you.” Asriel had told them through tears.
“It will be worth it in the end.” Chara had replied, “Besides… Everyone is depending on me. Stop crying. O…Only little kids cry. It will be fine…” They had told him firmly, though Asriel did catch onto a tremble in their voice.
Asriel had kept his parents busy while Chara ate the flowers.
It all started within a few hours, when they were eating dinner, but Chara didn’t touch their food, saying that they didn’t feel good. Toriel had asked if they were feeling okay and why they weren’t eating, and at first, Chara hadn’t responded, but after a few moments, they gasped and stood up, as if trying to get somewhere, before vomiting all over the floor near where they were sitting and stumbling to the ground, unconsciously. Toriel had screamed in terror as she desperately picked up her child and checked to see if they were okay, Asgore rushing to get to a doctor. Asriel had sat at the dinner table in horror as he watched his parents panic.
Chara said that this would be a good idea.
Chara said that they would do it together.
Chara said that they could free all of monsterkind.
Chara said.
Chara.
“Chara…” Asriel had realized that he had been whispering the name over and over. He shook himself out from where he was kneeling beside Chara’s bed, tears still slowly streaming down his face. He looked at them, hoping for something different. Hoping that they would finally wake up again. “...I don’t think I like this plan anymore.” He whispers, sniffling aloud as he rests his forehead against the side of the bed, sobbing outward again.
“...Asriel.”
He jolted up with his eyes wide, looking at Chara’s face. Their eyes were still closed, but they were smiling weakly. Their frail figure was still barely moving, and their breathing was getting quieter, but they were awake. They were finally, finally, awake.
“Chara! You’re okay…!” Asriel shouts, grinning.
Chara coughs again, wheezing this time. They open their mouth again to speak. “...Where’s mom and dad?”
“They went out to get you some more medicine, you’re awake now, good! Just-”
“Stop it.” Chara said firmly, interrupting their brother. Asriel blinked at them, trembling a bit from their tone of voice. “Stop, Asriel, stop…” Chara repeated. “Look at me. I- I’m not going to make it.” They whisper, sighing aloud. “But that’s what we want.”
“No it’s not!” Asriel shouts, shaking his head.
“Yes it is.” Chara says again, letting out a cry from pain. “...You agreed to this plan. You said you would help me.”
“I don’t like this plan anymore, Chara! It’s too soon, it’s too soon! I can’t say goodbye to you yet!” Asriel cries, tears coming from his eyes as he screams at them in protest. “What will my life even be like without you?”
“Like how it was before I came here.” Chara struggles to get out in response. A jolt of sadness hits Asriel’s stomach as they say that.
There’s a silence.
“I- I’ll be able to let them all go. To give them hope, to save them all, Asriel.” Chara starts, letting their body go limp as they smile.
“No, no, no- Chara, no-”
“You should be smiling, too.” Chara interrupts. They let out a small chuckle. “Aren’t you excited? Aren’t you happy?”
Suddenly, their SOUL appears from their chest. Asriel’s eyes go wide as he sees it, the pure red SOUL hovering over their limp body.
It was happening.
It was time to go.
But he wasn’t ready, not yet, not yet!
“You’re going to be free.” The human whispers, before they let out a deep huff of air, their body going still. Asriel’s eyes go wide and he cries out loudly as he feels Chara’s breathing stop, and he attempts to grab them to pull their body in for a hug. His paw brushed against their SOUL, and his vision was blinded by light.
When Asriel came back to consciousness, opened his eyes, the room was messy, the books in the shelf were scattered about, the dresser knocked over, Asriel’s toys were thrown about. It looked like something horrible had really happened, like a fight or something. Now… it felt as if Asriel were hovering, it felt like he was taller. He looked at his paws, a frightened feeling coming to him. What had happened? Why did he suddenly feel as tall as his father? The king ?
He reached for his heart locket to squeeze, which was still around his neck, a bluish purple dress on below, the Delta Rune symbol on his chest.
Transformation. The word popped into his mind. The plan had worked. Now that he had Chara’s SOUL, he was a being with indescribable power.
…The realization terrified him.
“ ...It worked.” He heard Chara’s voice ring through his ears.
“Chara?” He whispered, looking at the human’s body, which was now on the floor. They were still completely frozen in place. No matter how much it hurt to believe, as Asriel gazed at them, he knew. They were dead.
“ I’m here, Azzy. ” Asriel hears Chara’s voice again. “ It worked…Come on. Let’s just get this over with, okay? We need power. Just six is all we need. Let’s go. ” They said in a demanding voice. Asriel let out a deep breath of air, and opened his mouth to protest, but then he took a step forward, an unexpected one. He hadn’t done that. ‘He’ walked over to Chara’s body and picked it up. What was going on? It felt like his body was being controlled, that he had no choice over what he could do. Chara was doing all of this. Chara made Asriel turn and start walking out from their room, into the front room, and down the stairs. They were going to the barrier.
“Chara! I-” Asirel starts, taking a deep breath. “I’m still not sure about this, I- you- you died, look at yourself!”
“ I see it .” Chara responds quickly, bitterly. They sighed aloud. “ I know, Asriel. I knew what this would lead to, I knew I was going to die, okay? …It’s what’s best for everyone. Stop being such a crybaby. ” They say, their voice trembling a bit. This hurt. This hurt both of them. Both of them knew that they didn’t have much time left together. After Asriel absorbed the other SOULs… He didn’t know what would happen to Chara. He knew Chara didn’t know either. He was terrified. He knew Chara was terrified, too.
It was as if their thoughts and feelings had combined together, too.
Chara continued to make Asriel walk throughout the entirety of New Home, a silence hanging over the two of them, until Chara finally broke the silence.
“ You’re going to see the surface. Everyone’s going to. Isn’t that exciting ?” They ask Asriel, a laugh coming from them as well. “ It’ll be better there. For you. ”
“It isn’t worth it.” Asriel says loudly. “What good is a world without you in it?! Sure, we’ll all be free, but I don’t want to live without you, why can’t you understand that?” He cried as Chara continued to walk. They stopped for just a moment, before walking again. They were getting closer to the Throne Room. Asriel’s anxiety continued to pile in his chest. “I need you to be with me, Chara.”
“ Asriel. The surface will be better for you monsters. But for me? Heh… nah. There’s a reason I came here. I hated living there. The humans didn’t care about me, they never did! They didn’t care. They won’t now. I didn’t want to live there anymore, Asriel! I… I didn’t want to live anywhere …” They whisper the last part, and a feeling of sadness comes to Asriel. “ I didn’t think I would survive the fall. I still don’t know how I did. Bad luck, I guess. ” It made Asriel even sadder that Chara considered it bad luck instead of good luck.
“But… you wouldn’t have met me if you died.” Asriel tried to say.
“ Heh. ” Chara responds, “ I guess that part’s true. ”
Asriel looks upward when he feels light on his fur, seeing the barrier now right in front of him. When did we get here? He thinks. He must have lost track of time.
“ Well… here we are. ” The sound of Chara’s voice echoes throughout Asriel’s mind once more. He takes a deep breath of air and tightens his grip on the human’s body. “ Hey, stop that. You’re scared. ”
“No I’m not.”
“ I’m not the one who’s shaking, that’s all you. ”
“I’m not scared.” Asriel says again.
A silence.
“ Then let's go. ” Chara says after a while. Still, neither made Asriel step forward. Chara was waiting until Asriel felt safe. But of course there was no way he felt safe. He began overthinking everything again. “ Asriel. Stop thinking about it, it… it’ll only make things worse. I’m sure everything will be fine… okay? ”
“Okay…” Asriel replies, inhaling deeply before closing his eyes and taking a few steps forward. “It’ll be fine.” He repeats Chara’s words as he walks through the barrier. “We just need six.” What used to be impassable just felt tingly now. “We’re going to save everyone… right?”
“ Of course, Asriel. ” Chara whispers back.
Another silence.
And then the sound of what Asriel assumed to be the breeze. He opened his eyes and blinked, looking out at the surface. There was the outline of a village a distant way away. It was beautiful. Tears almost formed in his eyes as he looked upwards, looked at the sky for the first time in his life, and looked around at nature. Natural nature. Birds were chirping, the wind was blowing, leaves were slowly coming from the trees, the sun was shining, and flowers were blooming… Asriel just stopped to admire all of it. He let himself just stare outwards at the surface. Chara didn’t make him move either.
“I didn’t think it could be this beautiful…” He whispered aloud, a tear streaming from his face. “...Mama and Dad should be here to see it.” He cried. Everyone deserves to see a wonder like this.
“ ...It’s been so long, I forgot how beautiful it really was. ” Chara whispers. “ Lucky you. After today… you’ll be able to see this everyday. ” They reminded him. Asriel smiled. That part was true.
But he still didn’t want a future without them.
They had made it to the village. It was still early morning, so Asriel hadn’t seen any humans just yet. Now, he was walking through, but Chara gave him directions on where to go to get to the flowers in the middle of the village. Other than that, both of them were quiet, Asriel’s nerves refusing to stop acting up. He didn’t know why he was so scared. Chara kept reassuring him that everything would be fine and that they only needed six human souls. Just six. Surely, six humans couldn’t be so bad? …But that meant he had to kill. Sure, his LOVE and EXP would increase. But it was only six. Six couldn’t hurt anyone. Right?
“ We’re almost there. ” Chara whispers to Asriel. Asriel nods his head and exhales deeply, now seeing the center of the village. There was a circle of yellow flowers. Asriel understood why Chara had wanted to see them again. They were quite beautiful.
Slowly, Asriel made his way to the circle of flowers, bending down on one knee to gently place Chara’s body against it. Both of them were silent for a few moments before that feeling of sadness came back to Asriel and he clutched onto Chara’s body once more.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” He cried aloud, sniffling loudly as he held onto their body.
“ Asriel no… come on, it’s- it’s all going to be okay, I-”
“HEY!”
A loud, unfamiliar voice rang through the village. Asriel slowly looked upwards from where he was leaning down, seeing a human staring at him from a fair distance away. This human was male, and he seemed to be bigger in size with a beard growing from his face, a bandana over his head.
Asriel was scared. This was the first human he had ever seen other than Chara.
“ Go. ” Chara commanded.
“That monster, that-” The human started to speak aloud. Asriel stood upwards with wide, scared eyes as he noticed other humans emerging from the houses, a few of them having weapons in hand thanks to the sudden outburst from the first human.
“I- I mean no harm, I-” Asriel started, though he knew damn well that was a lie. But he was terrified.
“That monster killed that child!” The first human screams in an angry tone, pointing at Chara’s body. The humans surrounding all made noises of shock, staring at Asriel with wide eyes.
“ WHAT?!” Chara’s voice erupted in his head. “ No- Why do they care? Why the hell do they even care?!” They shout loudly, though Asriel knows he’s the only one who can hear them.
“No, I- this human wanted me to take them to these flowers, back to their village one more time, I- it was their dying wish, I-”
“Lies!” The first human shouts once more. “We banished you monsters underground and you still want more?! This just shows the evil running through all of their SOULs!” He yells. Asriel takes a step backwards as he notices the humans starting to close in on him. “We will get vengeance.”
“ NO NO NO!!!” Chara screams, making Asriel jump away and they attempted to run, but a human with a pitchfork jumped forward and swung it forward, Chara being able to dodge out of the way so the wound wasn’t fatal, but it did swipe across Asriel’s fur, making him cry out in pain as Chara gasped aloud. “ It isn’t safe here, they’ll never quit! We need more power to retreat, Asriel! ” Chara shouts, and Asriel can feel the magic in his SOUL give off a burning feeling. He almost couldn’t think with the terror running through him, but then he realized what Chara was doing. They were trying to use his full power.
“What are you doing?!” Asriel screams
“ Saving you! ” Chara screams desperately as they put Asriel’s paws forward, attempting to attack one of the humans.
No.
This would make everything worse.
Asriel stopped himself from attacking, turning around and sprinting back towards Chara’s body on the flowers.
“ WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! NO NO NO!” Chara screams loudly as Asriel refuses to let them control him.
“GET HIM!” He hears somebody scream.
He cries out in pain as he feels an arrow hit his shoulder.
Everything hurt.
Everything was terrifying.
Everything was so loud.
He didn’t want to be here.
He wanted to go home.
He wanted his mama and his dad.
He wanted Chara.
He cries loudly as something sharp strikes his ankle, and he collapses a few feet away from Chara’s body, scooping them up to hold tightly as he winces in pain.
“ ASRIEL NO, THEY’LL KILL YOU!!!” Chara sobs.
Asriel lets out a bloodcurdling cry as he feels a spear stab into his side. Pitchforks hit his back. Punches and arrows and spears and tridents and fire and everything and everything hurts why won’t I die why can’t I die why does it hurt so much I didn’t want this I didn’t want this
“ FIGHT BACK!!! PLEASE!!!” Chara screams once more.
Asriel sobs loudly as he struggles to stand up, trying to run back towards the mountain, the humans following.
“ NO, NO!!! ”
Asriel is bleeding everywhere. Everything hurts. He had been repeatedly stabbed everywhere, unable to control his cries and screams of pain. The humans don’t stop. But Asriel refuses to fight back.
He can’t.
He doesn’t want to hurt anyone.
He can’t hurt anyone.
He can’t.
He won’t.
He…
The final thing he hears Chara say rings throughout his ears. Buries deep into his memory.
A phrase he’ll never forget.
“ YOU IDIOT!!! ”