Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sleepovers are fun.
Yet here they were, Chara Dreemurr, unable to sleep at all.
Was it because they were sleeping somewhere else, or was it because they were sleeping in a house with some damn cowboy human. Granted this house had many other monsters too, some weird cowboy lizard monster and some fox woman. Apparently those two are dating and adopted that cowboy human. Still, even though that human was...tolerable, they couldn't sleep well, especially considering that human owns a WORKING FIREARM, yeah they couldn't at all sleep now after remembering that. Just the idea that a HUMAN was sleeping just a room away and that they had a literal revolver!
They tossed and turned trying to just even catch a single second of sleep, but no matter what they just couldn't, so they just got desperate and just wrapped themselves in blankets and closed their eyes. Still didn't work.
This was getting repetitive wasn't it? Just the endless suffering of not being able to sleep, its so damn annoying for them.

'This is just...why can't I just catch a single minute of rest!'

It took an hour for them to finally catch some sleep.

-

The sky was dark, air reeked of blood and the trees had leaves scarlet red and the wood itself was vantablack, not only that bit almost around everywhere was corpses, the corpses themselves were also vantablack.
The ground however was entirely littered with golden flowers, it was as if they were glowing, but some were covered in blood and some others were covered in dust.
This wasn't the first time Chara had a nightmare, however this one was more... gruesome, it gave Chara some chills but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle other than the very much amounts of dust and human and monster corpses everywhere.
As they proceeded, it was as if the human corpses began to disperse and more monster corpses appeared, it made Chara more anxious and even began to make them tremble slightly, however it was the absolute moment they passed another dusty flower patch, they were presented with a loud screeching noise.

"AGH!"

It hurt the absolute hell out of their ears to listen to, then the ground itself began to shake as a hand came out of the ground and grabbed them and held them extremely tightly, they screamed loudly from the pain and when they finally saw what was grabbing them, it was some sort of large titanic goat monster, it's eyes were missing and instead blood began to fall from them like some gruesome bloody waterfall, and it's entire body had arrows, spears and blades stabbing through it, as if it was brutally attacked.
Chara recognized this beast, it was the spitting image of Asriel.
When Chara noticed this, they began to unwillingly cry, tears flowed freely like a waterfall.
The beast spoke aggressively
"Chara...Dreemurr.....or so you're called....you're no hope of the underground....no royal.....and certainly no brother...."

"I..."
Chara couldn't even finish their sentence

"You are a demon, why else did I die? It was because of your demonic idiocy"

Chara just began to loudly cry as they were quite literally thrown into another area.
This place had much more sand. It was effectively a desert but the sand was crimson colored and the cacti were even spikier and also scarlet colored.
In front of Chara was the cowboy human...Clover

"Pardner, do you think that this was justified? You wanted Asriel, your brother to kill humans, was that justified?! Only 7 were needed, but because of your darn hatred for humans you wanted to add more. I normally don't kill but you....you...are...despicable, foul and an absolute demon."

This only made Chara fearful and attempt to back up but of course because it's a nightmare they instead backed up to a wall and were met with Clover pointing their revolver at them.

A shot rang out in whatever these gruesome valleys were.

-

Chara woke up from that nightmare drenched in sweat, they were trembling a lot and their eyes were full of tears, so much so that they began to cry.

They never enjoyed being called a demon, even though it's true it still hurts to be called one, especially from their own brother and that cowboy that is currently asleep in the room next to them.

A knock was heard at the door, yet Chara didn't make a move and instead began to cry even more. When the door opened however, Clover stood at the doorframe in their cowboy pajamas.

"Are you okay pardner?"

Clover asked, their tone was gentle and lacked their usual accent dropped
Chara however immediately shifted away
"L-Leave me alone human! I'm perfectly fine!"
Chara said, clearly lying through their teeth
"You don't have to pretend, you're clearly not okay, I heard your crying from my room and I came to check it out, tell me pardner what's the problem?"
Clover said just as gently as before
Chara just dried their tears with their sweater and replied
"I won't tell you anything human, I wasn't crying you're just...being ridiculous!"
Clover wasn't buying it. So they sat next to Chara, the latter shifting slightly away from Clover who then replied gently,
"Listen, I get you don't like humans, but aren't you one? I get why you don't like humans because some are just absolutely off the rails but i'm not one of them, remember that. So please, tell me what's wrong, I promise I won't ridicule you..."
Chara just gave up and simply said
"I had a nightmare, okay? I had a nightmare that some...beast that looked like Asriel told me things and YOU came to shoot me in the damn forehead! So just get out and off my ass about this you cowboy bastard!"
Clover didn't budge, they simply responded with,
"Yes, I understand why but why hide it? I get it's mostly because i'm a human but...why refuse someone who's clearly trying to help?"
Chara was taken a bit off guard bot got back on their feet replying with,
"Help? Oh please, nobody can help me truly! They only make the pain go away temporarily! You're not going to be any different!"
Clover responded with,
"I'm truly trying to help you! So please just...I want to understand you more y'know, I want to know why you hate humans, I want to know why you're so distant and most importantly..."
Clover grabs Chara's hand as they said this
"I want to see people like you to be happier."
Chara looked at the gesture and slightly blushed but immediately pulled their hand away and retorted their mental fortitude fading, "Yeah right! All you're gonna do is just make me feel good for a small amount of time and when you leave me inevitably I'll just go back to suffering like this all over again!" Clover frowned slightly but still gently responded "No, don't you have people that care for you? To my knowledge that'd be Frisk, Toriel and Asgore, of course they'd care for you, they won't leave you like this, suffering alone like this, and neither would I that's just not who I am, and I don't think they are either" Chara just kept trembling, that is until Clover embraced them, where they then just gave up and clung to Clover before crying into his pajamas.

It was nice sensation to at least finally be able to cry without ridicule and the moonlight shining into the room added more tenderness to the moment.
Chara did slowly fall asleep as the warmth of Clover's body against their own along with just the feeling that someone actually cared for them without needing it to be obligatory felt nice.
Clover chuckled as they laid onto the bed with Chara and gently cuddled with them throughout the rest of the night.

Chapter Text

Athazagoraphobia.
The fear of being forgotten by those close to you.

It’d been a while since monsterkind had been freed from their underground prison. And Frisk gets to live their life on the surface with their friends, including the newly revived Clover. They all got a happy ending and could remain so for a while, even if humans throw them all curveballs they’d be able to recover from all of their hardships, no matter what.

However, still they remained in the Underground. They had been forgotten there. They had truly just simply returned to being a ghost, alone in the underground, roaming it. They weren’t let free. Was it because their body was buried there? Maybe. They didn’t know, maybe they were doing so by choice. No, of course they were staying in the Underground by choice, they truly couldn’t move on from their true home even after death.

One cannot let go the place they felt safest in. Ever.

Moving on is a task that takes months to decades.

They knew so. This was their 9th year regardless.

However, this year was different. Not because of the monsters leaving the underground. But what happened before they left.

They followed the last human who fell down and freed the monsters.

And along with them, also following, was a cowboy. An irritable over optimistic cowboy.

They hated to admit that they’ve gotten close to them.

The recent fallen human. Frisk is truly the epitome of Determination and Naivety. Most would call them adorable, sweet and kind. And it couldn’t be denied mostly. But Frisk is truly mature for being someone their age. A 12 year old being able to make those who had problems. And make their lives better.

Something they couldn’t do despite how much they tried.

And along with Frisk came a cowboy, Clover. This human was so…so annoying. From their fake cowboy accent to just how they act. For a 15 year old, they were acting so childish. They were kind and did occasionally act their age. They would mostly just be this damn irritable but occasionally empathetic person.
But still, they do and fight for what’s right. And they proceed to do so up on the surface. After the barrier broke, Clover was revived, but not them.

And honestly they thought that it was justified. What they had done…what people they’ve harmed…it was right that they’d remain in the underground and watch as it decayed into it’s basic state again.

Their true home. And they were buried.
The surface was never their home.

The Underground was.

The fate of Chara Dreemurr.

…

But did it have to be this way?

Chara could’ve followed Frisk as this ghost.

Hell they could’ve just been revived by Frisk. Or Clover.
But that requires them to return to the Underground.
And of course neither of them would return for Chara.

Why return to revive someone bad? Someone who doesn’t deserve it.

Matter of fact, did anyone even remember Chara?

Toriel, Asgore, Frisk…Clover.
Does anyone…even care?

Chara suddenly stopped their absent-minded pacing of the Snowdin Forest.

The thought made them tremble.

Why is this happening…they’ve known that nobody likes them.

So why are they so willing to believe the opposite!

Nobody likes them, nobody cares for them! In fact nobody probably even remembers them.

…

Nobody will come.

They began laughing, it was so funny, their laughter became hysterical. Of course nobody will come! Why would anyone come?!

It was so funny tears began to roll down their face.

Their laughter turned into loud unhinged crying and sobbing as they sat down on a log, hands in their face and continued to weep.

——

Up the summit they went. A pair of fierce golden orbs.
To re enter the mountain.
Equipped with them was their trusty revolver, gold and blue checkered bandana and their cowboy getup.

It was dead in the autumn evening. Autumn itself was coming to an end as winter would soon return to fall.

It was already quite chilly near the mountain but would that stop Clover?

The answer would be no.

They were already this close to the mountain, and they didn’t wanna give up. Especially not while they were holding a heavy briefcase, containing what might as well be a new life.

The 15 year old cowboy was determined to save the last one left in the underground.

Frisk had told them that Chara had returned to the Underground after the events of the battle with Asriel and Monsterkind’s freedom.
They thought it was for the best they never would see the surface.
A punishment suitable for them.

But what was there to punish for?
The events of the past doesn’t define who you are in the present.
Yet Chara was seemingly brainwashed into thinking so.

Clover climbed up the summit with these thoughts in mind and found the hole that led to the Underground.

This time they had a long rope, so they slowly climbed down with the briefcase in hand.
Eventually reaching the patch of golden flowers.

Clover then rushed into the Ruins. But before looking for Chara immediately thought of something.

‘How am I gonna even be able to see them, much less interact with them.’

When an idea struck Clover.

They opened the briefcase and took out a canister. With an Artificial Soul in it.

Courtesy of Dr. Alphys. It took so long before she had perfected it. But it had been done.

An Artificial Soul.

A New Life.

Clover had learned some things from Alphys.

Specifically Determination Ghosts.

A Determination Ghost is a type of Ghost that purely runs off of residual Determination from its former body.

Examples being; Formerly Clover and Chara.

These Ghosts cannot interact with any other being unless said other being had high levels of Determination or shared the same trait.

Clover had neither.

But Determination Ghosts can still be interacted with if the Ghost’s soul is recovered and if the person interacting with said Determination Ghost is Determined enough

Some situations of Determination Ghosts contain records of said Ghost having so much Determination that it actually creates it’s own part of a Soul.

This is specific to Chara but has happened before in history.

A being that houses Determination can only be conscious if it has the essence of a fallen monster’s dust or a dead human’s blood. And is injected with Determination.

Such beings include Flowey.

So simply, Clover needs Determination to interact with Chara, much less see them and also be able to give them the Artificial Soul.

Clover checked the briefcase again and found 2 syringes both filled with Determination.

‘Here goes nothing.’

Clover thought before jabbing the needle into their arm.

The sensation was nauseating at first, but it felt weirdly invigorating. Like a wave of energy just got poured into their soul.

*HP Fully Restored.

Clover felt it. They could hear it. No. They could hear them.

Chara.

‘Chara…’

Clover then proceeded to run into snowdin after closing the briefcase.

——

Chara had eventually just stopped sobbing and began floating around the snowdin forest with the thought of everyone forgetting them still weighing on the back of their mind.

It’s not like they’ll ever be neither seen nor heard of by anyone aside from Frisk. Besides, Frisk has probably forgotten about them already. Which is possibly why Chara hasn’t been heard of on the surface. Frisk would have visited regardless. They were the only ones who could see and interact with Chara.

…

If they were even remembered by anyone they’d probably be hated. They did so many bad things. From poisoning Asgore to getting Asriel killed and inadvertently turning him into Flowey who’d done even more things to causing a massive dark age in the Underground as a result of their death.

Maybe they exaggerated the last part.

Still, it’s clear to them that absolutely nobody would come for them as they were either forgotten or despised-

“Chara? Where are ya?”

What.

No…it couldn’t be…

“Clover…?”

Chara could recognize that voice anywhere. Even if it’s casual accent is temporarily missing.

“Chara! Uh…can ya hear me? I can’t see you! Come out! Uh- pretty please?”
Clover asked.

Chara walked to where Clover’s voice came from.

“You…you can see me!?”
Chara exclaimed.

“Yes! Are you there?”
Clover asked again.

Silence…

“Where…Where are-“

“Boo.”

“AAAA- oof!”
Clover fell backwards in shock.

“Heh~ never gets old.”
Chara giggled.

“Not funny!”
Clover hissed.

“It was!”
Chare then sighed.
“Now tell me what the hell you’re doing here. How can you see me, and why did you even come here?!”
Chara hollered.

“Alright alright! So. I kinda…stole some of Alphy’s stuff including 2 needles of Determination, I took one and yeah now I can see you.”
Clover chuckled nervously.

“That still doesn’t answer the last damn question! Why did you even come here!”
Chara demanded.

“I-I um…I…”
Clover stuttered

“Answer me!”
Chara yelled.

“I WANT TO REVIVE YOU!”
Clover blurted out.

Chara was in shock.

“…say that again.”
Chara asked, as composed as possible.

Clover exhaled and replied.
“It was Frisk’s idea, and mine somewhat. It shouldn't be fair for you to remain down here after most of us got to see sunlight again.”

“Well it’s stupid. I am not coming back to people who either forgot about me or hate me! Besides, I need a soul and body to live anyway! It’s not like you have just a soul lying around!”
Chara barked.

“I uh, actually do.”
Clover nervously chuckled as they opened the briefcase and took out the canister.
“I honestly don’t know if this will even work. But…it’s better than doing nothing right?”

“...”

“Uh…Chara?”
Clover nervously asked

“Why? Clover. You didn’t have to do all this, you know. They’re not gonna want me back. They never did. I don’t need this second chance.”
Chara said, their expression darkened.

Clover was visibly confused.
“What do you mean? When we were with Frisk, it was obvious both Asgore and Toriel missed someone. That would be you and Asriel right-”

“IT WAS ONLY ASRIEL! THEY ONLY CARED ABOUT ASRIEL! I WAS BARELY EVEN MENTIONED!”
Chara yelled, their body slowly showing signs of mental breakdown.

“Chara…do you actually know how much they cared for both of you?”
Clover calmly said

“I-No! They only cared about Asriel! I wasn’t even mentioned as a member of their family! And why should I be?! I was just a glorified house guest for them! A damn leech!”
Chara shouted, clearly tearing up again.

“It could’ve been they forgot to, or whatever records they had were outdated. It’s just…complicated. But if I know anything, I know they did care. Even if they did so for such a small amount of time.”
Clover said yet again, somewhat soothingly.

“I-I just…”
Chara just sat down in the snow, emotionally tired and hands in their face.

“Here…”
Clover reached out their hand at Chara.

Chara lifted their head up and slowly took Clover’s hand and slowly got up, and just embraced Clover.

Clover took too long to register what had just happened.
“H-Hey-”
Clover was also blushing a whole lot when they realised.

“Clover…I don’t deserve a person like you”
Chara muttered.

“Hah! Well I guess you’re lucky aren’t you Chara.”
Clover nervously chuckled.

“I guess I am.”
Chara laughed lightly.

“So…I’ll be reviving you now I guess.”
Clover said as they let Chara go.

“Yes but how? You’d need my body first off, and I don’t know where that even is. And a soul, which you already have…and I think some Determination too, I take it you have some right?”
Chara asked.

“Yeah. And actually, I might have an idea on where your body is.”
Clover calmly said.

“Really? Where?”
Chara eagerly asked.

“I think the landing spot where me and Frisk first fell, the golden flowers.”
Clover said

“…they did listen to my wishes.”
Chara silently said, smiling.

“What was that?”
Clover questioned.

“Oh! Nothing.”
Chara nonchalantly added.

“Alright well…I’m gonna guess you’re gonna be floating nearby right?”

“Yeah pretty much.”

“Well onward it is!”
Clover enthusiastically said.

Chara floated above Clover and Clover kept making sure Chara was still there as they strolled out of Snowdin and back to the Ruins…
Along the way, they came across many landmarks…like Home, the puzzles and the Ruins Entrance.

Before long, they had reached the Golden Flower Patch.

“Here we are Chara! Your resting place!”
Clover said with too much enthusiasm as always…

…

“Chara?”

Silence.

“I swear if yer just gonna scare me again!”

More Silence…

It was then Clover had realized their Determination had run out.

“No…No! Dammit! Did it run out?! How?! No…I have to see them…”
Clover said as they opened the briefcase again and took out the second syringe…

‘Should I? Chara needs it so the artificial soul can even revive them…but I need it to see Chara and be able to revive them’

Decisions Decisions…would be easier if Frisk was here…but then…Clover had an idea.

They shot the Determination back into themselves.

“Clover! Why’d you do that!”
Chara angrily yelled as soon as they came back into Clover’s perception.

“I have a plan!”
Clover yelled back as they hastily took out the canister and frenziedly dug their hands into the soul.

It took about 6 minutes for Clover to reach the coffin where Chara was buried.

They painstakingly pulled it out with all the strength they could muster.

Their soul was burning with Justice as they pried the lid off the coffin.

It revealed Chara’s mummified corpse which Clover proceeded to remove the wrappings off revealing Chara’s Corpse. Aged up to be their 14 year old self now.

“Damn I look great.”
Chara whistled

“That you do”
Clover blurted out.

Once Clover realized they said that they blushed furiously

“A-Anyway uhm…right!”

Clover took out the Artificial Soul Canister and opened it.

“Please work…”
They prayed as they shoved it into Chara’s body, and it proceeded to enter their body.

“Now Chara! Possess your body!”
Clover yelled

Chara nodded and did as followed, entering their body.

‘Now for the final part.’
Clover manifested their Yellow and Red Soul. The Determination evident in it in the red part and took out the Corpse’s hand and placed it in it.

…Nothing

…Clover stressed

…They tried again

Nothing…

They Tried again…

‘No No No No! It has to work!’
Clover thought desperately.

They tried again…

Nothing…

‘Chara…please…’

Clover tried again…they were breaking down

‘Wake up…’

Clover tried one last time, placing it for a longer period of time this time…

They felt a wave of exhaustion pulse through them. Not that much but it still made them a bit tired…

They hugged the corpse, silently crying, their soul still in it’s hand…

…

The Corpse responded, hugging Clover back.

“W-What?”

“Nngh…why do I feel so heavy…”
Chara said, as they tried to sit up, the first thing they saw was a teary eyed Clover staring at them in shock.

“What? Is there something on my face-“
They got cut off as Clover hugged them tightly.

“Chara! Oh thank angel it worked! How do you feel?! Are you okay?!”
Clover asked rapidly

“Whoa Whoa! Can you let me go first?”

“Oh yeah…I guess I should…”
Clover proceeded to let go of Chara and helped them stand up.

“I feel like absolute shit.”
Chara complained

Clover had to stop them from accidentally tripping.

“So…how does it feel being alive again?”
Clover cautiously asked

“Like I just gained 56 kilograms and-“
Chara interrupted themselves as they proceeded to hurl a lot of soil out and golden flowers.

“Whoo boy…”
Clover placed a hand on Chara’s shoulder as they continued hurling.

“Ugh…that…was horrible…I think there was blood in there too…”
Chara complained again.

Clover offered them a bottle of water which Chara immediately took and drank completely.

“Jeez you were thirsty”
Clover joked.

“I’m so damn tired of all this…”
Chara exhaustedly said.

“Here…you need new clothes…those old ones are…torn to say the least.”
Clover said as they gave Chara their old sweater and shorts.

“You don’t say…”
Chara said as they proceeded to put on their new clothes over their old ones

“Chara…we gotta head back to the surface…it’s already like 1 AM…”
Clover added.

“But I don’t wannaaaa…”
Chara moaned.

“Then I’ll just carry you.”
Clover said smugly.

“I-Sure! Go ahead!”
Chara said as they proceeded to leap into Clover’s arms.

“Whoa- I gotcha! Okay…now just…rest”

“Are you saying that to me or yourself?”

“Both…come on…let’s go…”
Clover silently said as they cradled Chara in their arms, surprisingly easily.

It took a while for them to leave the Ruins and even longer for them to leave Snowdin.

Clover decided to take a rest in Waterfall and placed Chara on the luminescent ground and then laid down next to them.

……

“I’m gonna miss living here you know…”
Chara solemnly said.

“Didn’t exactly get to do much down in the underground, was there for 8 hours, took one nap and died.”
Clover straightforwardly stated.

“Heh, I lived longer than you”

“Because you lived with a family, I was rushing through the underground.”

“Sounds like a you problem.”
Chara laughed exhaustedly.

Clover proceeded to carry Chara again

“H-Hey I wasn’t ready!”
Chara yelled

“But I was, c’mon let’s get going”
Clover laughed also as exhausted as Chara.

They proceeded to walk through Waterfall and finally reached Hotland.

“And it begins, the elevator and puzzle hell!”
Chara enthusiastically yelled.

“Well jokes on you Frisk had already finished all these puzzles.”
Clover smugly responded.

They had begun to walk through Alphy’s former lab. And Clover had paused as they saw the elevator that led to the True Laboratory.

“C’mon cowboy let’s keep going.”
Chara tugged at Clover’s bandanna

“Sure.”
Clover mumbled as they proceeded to hotland.

They continued to walk throughout the entirety of Hotland, passed through the solved puzzles as they finally reached the CORE.

“Remember when Frisk went through so much hell getting through this place?”
Chara reminisced

“Yeah”
Clover responded smiling as they passed out of the CORE and into New Home.

They went into the Castle where Chara had simply been silent, their expression silent.

“Chara?”

“Yes?”

“Are you okay? I can let you down if you want”

“No I…like it here.”
Chara hesitantly said slightly blushing

“I-Uh um well-”
Clover fumbled over their words as they walked upwards to the ledge of Mount Ebott, and the exit of the Underground.

It’s Midnight, Autumn and slightly raining.

“Aw it’s raining.”
Clover sadly said.

“Tsk, it doesn’t matter. Let’s get going.”
Chara said, annoyed by the rain.

“Uh. Where?”
Clover confusedly asked.

“Home damn it!”
Chara aggressively yelled

“Oh right! Uh, sure, let's go!”
Clover chuckled as they ran down the Mountain.

The rain started getting heavier and heavier, till there was a fog and so they both had to go under a tree for cover.

“I always hated this weather.”

“Yeah, Thunder isn’t the best weather, at least it isn't raining temmies again.”

”I’m sorry, it was raining WHAT?!”

“Yeah, it rained temmies last year, I don’t even know why, not even Alphys.”

“Ugh…the surface is just insane sometimes.”

“Yeah but we gotta get going, the rain is dying down. And you're gonna have to walk normally. I can't carry ya forever.”

“Aw…”
Chara pouted as they were left down.

“Ah ah. Chara, you can’t be going around, you don’t even know where to go.”
Clover smugly said.

“What are you getting at?”

“You’re gonna have to hold my hand for the whole time.”

“…can this get any cheesier?”

“Nope!”
Clover said as they took Chara’s hand as they both walked towards the Dreemurr Establishment.

Chara was looking down the whole time as they walked towards their new home.

“Something on your mind?”
Clover asked.

“How do I tell them? What, their child just magically came back to life or something?!”
Chara said, starting to laugh.

“I’ll tell them, but…you don’t have to see them now. I could take you to where I live, Martlet is pretty nice, we could keep you there until you’re ready.”
Clover said while smiling.

“I…wow, that’d be nice actually.”
Chara reacted, slightly in shock.

“Well let’s go!”
Clover said as they took Chara’s hand and ran towards a tree-like house just a couple blocks from the Dreemurr Establishment.

The duo went up the stairs where there was a key under the carpet that Clover took and used to unlock the door.

The two stealthily closed the door and went into Clover’s room.
The entire area of the room was extremely cowboy themed.
Posters for cowboy movies were plastered, the wallpaper was a mix of Yellow and Brown, there was a hat rack and a pot of Clovers on the bedside drawer.

Clover immediately hopped in bed and laid down.

“C’mon! There’s enough space for us both.”
Clover said, smiling again.

“I…you know what. Fine.”
Chara stated, blushing heavily as they landed face first onto the bed and immediately began to fall asleep.

“Heh…”
Clover smiled at them whilst also blushing as they cuddled near Chara and left a kiss on their forehead.

“I promise I’ll always be there for you…don’t be afraid to tell me what’s on your mind, because…I’ll always love you anyway. No matter how many bad things you have done, or mistakes you’ve made. I’ll be there for you…”

Chapter Text

Humans. Monsters. All the same, intelligent yet stupid.

Human fear brought forth a war upon them and the Monsters, War without any semblance of reason, other than fear.

Monsters fell, overtaken and cornered into a mountain, sealed underground.
Man had won, Monster had fallen down.

Children went missing on Mount. Ebott, 7 of them. Gone.

Monsterkind’s world was white once, but now it is painted red.

Like lambs to slaughter. Children had died, sacrificed for freedom

One day however, it will be worth it…

——

…

…..

……The walls are white

…

….

……The walls are red

…

….

……Walls the canvas

…

….

……Blood the paintbrush

Streaks of blood covered the walls. The world used to be white around them

Now it’s red. Like their soul.

But Determination and Blood of the deceased aren’t the same.

It’d be common knowledge no?

But no. Common knowledge isn’t as common now.

Monsters are harming others for freedom.

Children.

It was sick, but they enjoyed it somewhat

Every death leads to the walls being painted red.

And it is satisfying to finally watch human blood paint these walls, rather than monster dust dirtying them.

Their world was always white. Blank. All they knew was loss of life, and violence.

Every year, groups of children were lost.

To their own village, the leader had them lost.

That’s what they thought at least then. But now, it definitely wasn’t them getting lost.

They were killed.

Slaughtered.

Fallen.

This made their world red.

Red with blood.

They didn't know where they really were.

Was it hell? Or heaven?

Or is this purgatory?

All they knew was that this was their world now.

Making one dumb plan leads them here.

A garden of many forking paths, and yet they chose their own way.

It led them here.

The World That Is Red.

——

“Go on…I’ll be okay”

…

….A bright light enveloped them.

No longer were they alive, they were dead.

Awoken, they have. In front of a garden’s entrance.

It was all white

A sign was in front of them.

“The path ye chooses is where ye will remain for all their existence.”

After reading it they walked, following red stains on the large, cold walls.

…

The World Looks White.

Their yellow silhouette, only somewhat reflected on them.

Throughout the walk, they began to wonder.

Was it a good idea to give up their life for the freedom of many others?

They couldn’t have chosen another way could they?

They could’ve lived with their new family in the underground

Happily Ever After…

For just them.

The sacrifices of the other children…they’d be for nothing if they had stopped the pattern of repeated deaths.

Every turn they made in the garden the more they began to wonder.

Would the pattern still continue if a slight stop occurred?

If a line of dominoes fell down, would one single domino not falling down, but tipping so close to falling still allow the next domino to fall?

Would the domino effect still continue? With just a few standing?

7 dominoes need to fall

If the 6th did not fall, but nearly reached the fall, would it still tip the last domino?

No.

All the dominoes needed to fall in the first place.

Monsterkind needs its freedom.

It’s sad, but all the children must die, they needed to.

It was necessary

…

It couldn’t have ended just this way could it?

…

No.

This was the only way it should have ended.

Death of 7, better than the death of thousands.

But, truly.

They had entire decades they could’ve lived through.

All of the children, including them.

They thought so much about everything.

Everything that lead them here.

A garden of forking paths.

No end in sight.

It was enlightening.

Every footstep made them realize more and more about what had happened rather than what would have happened.

They could no longer hear their own steps, or breaths. All they could do was think now.

Their steps and turns instinctive rather than consciously choosing which direction to go.

Every movement leads them into another room, with more paths.

To call this a labyrinth would be an understatement.

There seems to be no end.

Every room they’d just see different statues, all doing different poses each time, each time they’d look different.

No end in sight…not yet.

Maybe there is none.

Maybe there is but it’s just too far.

But no worries.

In death.

They had all the time in the world.

——

So long, it was never ending, all that was seen was white, reflective walls with black trimming.

Every step echoed now.

Odd, it didn’t do that before.

There were no more different paths.

Now, there was just one.

The world shifted colors.

No longer was it white.

The air was full of dust, choking the air, bloodstains across the walls and floor. Red clashed with White.

In the midst of it all, two sparks remained.

One Bright Yellow.

And One Dark Crimson.

——

Silence.

The air filled with tension.

The dust flew around the area.

Blood began drying, no longer was it glistening.

It was like…a wave of calm swept over the entire garden.

The walls were stained with dried bloodstains and dusted.

A simple question was asked.

“Who are you?”
Asked the Crimson Light.

“Me..? I’ve not expected any other soul out here. All I’ve seen are these statues. Now? I see bloodstains, and monster dust.”
Responded the Yellow Light.

“Answer my damn question.”
Retorted the Crimson Light

“…Clover”
Clover replied.

“And yours?”
Clover asked.

“…Chara.”
Chara replied.

“You got any idea on where we are?”
Clover asked calmly.

“No, not even a clue, all I know is that the statues are creeping me out”
Chara responded

“Right…I just blanked out at some point and walked until I came here…now what?”
Clover questioned.

“This is our life now. In this garden, between us both. We now just…stay here. For all of our eternities.”
Chara stated.

“Well…might as well get to know each other a bit more right?”

“Hell no.”

“Okay, jeez you don’t gotta be so snappy.”

“Sorry, I’ve just been alone for most of my eternity. I never really met anyone, I’ve just been talking to these statues.”
Chara said, pointing to one of the statues.

Clover noticed something…in almost all their walking, they never noticed the fact that these statues were segmented.

And how between each segment was blood..?

It’s like they were stitched together. Or welded. Or something.

“You notice that..?”

“What?”

“The statues…they look like they were welded together with blood or something.”

“Come on, it's not that deep Clover. Maybe that’s how they look like, to creep us out”
Chara replied.

Clover remained uneasy but complied.

“Chara, do you think that when we sleep, we dream of doing it for eternity?”

“Somewhat. I’d say I don’t.”

“Do you think there is a reason why we haven’t seen anyone else?”

“No clue.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Dark Chocolate.”

“Do you like gunpowder?”

“No, why would I?”

“C’mon it’s tasty”

“Hell no”

“...How long have you been here?”

“No idea, maybe a few hours,”

“...Didn’t you fall into the underground in 20XX?”

“Yes and?”

“When I died it was.. 2XXX”

“WHAT!? Does time move slower here?”

“Maybe…oh god..”
Clover realized what this meant.

In an hour, maybe…everyone they knew, they might be dead. Gone, forever.

“No….NO! "I'm getting out of here!”

“...You aren’t gonna be able to, believe me. I have tried.”

“Have you tried everything?!”

“I don’t know you tell me.”

“...You know..this room looks like the many other rooms and paths I took, the only difference was just..they weren’t as bloody.”

“What are you implying?”

“I’m saying there should be a big ass door in front of us!”

“No there isn’t. That’s a big wall, we’re staying here for all of eternity.”

“NO! NOT IF EVERYONE I KNOW WILL BE DEAD…I-I want to be there for them…”
Clover began to sob

“Sigh, Clover, you should understand, it’s been a few minutes, they probably already moved on to them at least”

“No, come on, we’re finding a way out. Now.”
Clover dragged Chara’s arm upward

Clover proceeded to bang on the large door repeatedly trying to break it open, but as expected it was futile.

Clover walked around the room for a bit before finding a slab.

“Hey Chara, what’s this?”

“It’s a slab, with a cursive letter C”

“It has to mean something!”
Clover said as they touched the slab and it proceeded to glow.

Suddenly the large door opened, it opened wide flashing a bright white light across the room.

“Well I’ll be Clover, you did it.”

“Yeah sure, but no we’re continuing”

“Wait Clover.”

“WHAT?!”
Clover said rather ticked off.

“Well, we don’t know what’s past this point, if it’s more twisting hallways or if it’s just an endless white void.”

“...Only one way to find out.”

Clover grabbed Chara’s arm and ran right into the white void, running aimlessly, to the middle of nowhere, or maybe somewhere, who knows.

“Clover, there’s not an end in sight. We’re just running in a void forever now.”

“There will be a point dammit!”

Clover ran faster and faster, genuinely fearing for what will happen to everyone in the mortal world, if they’ll be there by the time they make it.

“Cowboy, is there something on your mind?”

“Like you’d care”
Clover scoffed.

“You’re acting a lot like me, I’m rather impressed”
Chara said slightly flirtatiously.

Clover blushed under their hat but ignored their comment but still ran further into the void, eventually finding another large door.

This door was already open and the duo walked in immediately.

Inside this room remained many corpses of human soldiers with burn wounds on them, weapons stabbed through them or partially eviscerated.

Not only that but there also remained so much monster dust, and monster corpses somehow hanging on the walls.

“Oh my god…”
Chara looked around the very red and bloodstained room, their mouth agape.

All of them, casualties in the Human-Monster War

Millions or even Multi-Millions of lives were lost, both human and monster.

Their gore and dust spread out so unevenly it looks sickening just to even witness it.

So many dead corpses everywhere, the sky running black with darkness, only lit up occasionally by bullets flying throughout and fireballs doing the same.

All that can be seen throughout the entire room was carnage.

Was this even a room? Or was it just another world itself.

But Clover couldn’t give less of a damn, they ran with Chara. Over the corpses and dust piles.

Jumping even the largest gaps in the area, not batting a single eye at all the devastation, not even at the collapsing structures.

The only thought left in their mind being “I must be there for them.”

They ran and ran until they walked into a bright void again.

However this time the brightness dimmed slowly as the duo made it into a large yet dark forest, made of gray wood.

An eerie screaming was heard but it was too far away to recognize.

The trees though, they looked…humanoid and monster-like bodies.

With fruit growing on them and bird like creatures snatching them off their branches

Yet again Clover could care less, rushing past and around the trees.

This time though, Chara wasn’t having any of it and hit Clover in the back of the neck

It didn’t knock them out but it did hurt like hell.

“Argh! CHARA!”

“COWBOY!”
Chara aggressively retorted yelling louder than Clover

“…what.”
Clover said soft-spokenly

“Serioisly! Haven’t you paused to consider what to do next?! We’re rushing so fast I bet you didn’t even notice any of the corpses in the last room!”

“..what corpses.?”
Clover became more intimidated.

“Exactly! You don’t seem to realize that this is somewhat selfish, you know?! I have people I care about too! But they’re probably dead, best case scenario very old!”

Chara explained

“Listen, I know you’re worried, but you are getting too carried away about them, sometimes it’s just best to let everything go and accept what goes on now.”

“B-but what if…what if I don’t wanna do that? What if I want to be there with them?”

“Then you’re an idiot. There’s nothing around that. You’re just desperate to be there for them when in reality it will be too late. Time will be up for them.”

“No. Not if I have a say in the matter.”

Clover said as they left Chara’s grasp and ran aimlessly into the woods.

“Wha- Hey! Clover! No!”

Chara tried catching up but it was too late, Clover was gone.

“Fucking dumbass.”

——

Clover ran throughout the forest, ignoring the living trees and their muffled screams, never quitting, endless running, no thought in their minds.

They ran and ran and went back to the white void where they ran endlessly again, not until they ran to the last room of their trip.

A black void, the sand on the ground though, was scorching hot. This heat…an evil heat.

Every step felt more and more painful to them.

In the end they began to question, was this worth it? Or was it all just pointless.

This strife to be with their friends, is it absolutely worth it..? Is it really worth it to walk through burning sand for them?

…

They didn’t have an answer. They can’t answer that question…they didn’t have an answer to it.

They should’ve accepted their fate in the garden with Chara.

No matter, it was far too late, they were on the trek of no return. A path of continuous pain. All for a selfish desire to be with those they care for.

Their steps got more and more slow as the sand seared deeper into their ghostly boots.

Their yellow light dimmed in the dark void.

It was weirdly serene.

The skies full of nothing else but darkness and falling comets.

Never ever ending torture…

…Is this hell?

…Does everyone dream of eternal sleep?

Clover kept asking these questions.

Their steps began to stop.

The pain, the anguish becoming too much for them.

They were 13 for crying out loud.

They deserve better than this.

They deserve better than this endless strife.

This wasn’t fair.

It isn’t fair.

It’s not fair.

They don’t need to go through all this.

Or maybe they did.

Their selfish desire to be punished by Trial by Fire

Or in this case.

Trial by The Endless Plain Of Scorching Sand.

No end in sight, no friends, no companions, nobody to be with them before they lose hope.

They grew weaker and weaker, their steps stopped.

They kneeled in pain, and laid down on the ground.

They couldn’t move anymore.

Not that it even mattered to them anymore.

They were just tired.

Tired of it all.

The best thing to happen to them was Chara.

They took their interactions with them for granted.

They laid down in the burning sands.

Their body grew numb from the pain.

Tears ran down their face repeatedly.

Flowing like a river of pain and torture.

Anguish followed them throughout their life and now their death.

They just wanted a family.

A good family.

A family that wasn’t always in conflict.

A family that was gentle.

Just the bare minimum of a nice family.

Their life before their death.

Wasn’t happy.

They needed to fend for themselves.

But now.

It doesn’t matter.

They’re in an endless desert.

Fire fell from the skies.

The land grew more and more hot.

They got more and more numb.

They closed their eyes, tears still running down their face.

—

For a second.

They felt a sensation wrap around them…

They could hear someone call for help.

They tried to get up, but they were stuck to the floor.

They noticed the burning sensation vanished.

But instead, vines wrapped around them.

They resisted the pain, and reached for the light.

They grabbed the spark of red light.

They could hear the cries for help coming from it.

They answered the call for it.

“Don’t worry. I’m here…I’m…here…”

They could feel the vines let go of them.

They stood up for the first time in what could’ve been years…

They were no longer in an endless desert.

Fire no longer fell from the skies.

The ground wasn’t burning.

They were free from that hell.

They held onto the light.

They could feel a surge of power pulse through them.

They poured it all into their palm.

And the dim red light grew into a large bright light.

It was magnificent.

And the light in their darkness enveloped them…

Covering their entire body.

—

….

Back into the endless plains.

But this time, they felt supremely invigorated, they felt like the heat never bothered them anymore.

They ran with more intent to reach whatever end there is.

They saw a bright prismatic light.

They ran towards it.

The searing pain stopped the closer they got.

They ran faster and faster, never quitting.

They got so close.

And dove towards the light.

It enveloped them yet again…

—

They felt claustrophobic.

They couldn’t breathe.

They couldn’t move.

Wait…they were breathing…?

Clover punched repeatedly on the ceiling of their enclosed space.

And it worked.

Someone heard their punches, and they opened their space up…

…It was Chara.

“Howdy Cowboy, slept long enough didn’t you?”

…They had no words, they immediately grabbed Chara’s shoulders and weeped on them, tears of joy