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Ebbott City’s bright lights and towering Scrapers illuminated the sky in a dark blue. The Moon shined just as bright in defiance, its full form casting a dim, white light across the ocean. For anyone new to the city, it was a beautiful sight.
Too bad Asriel had seen it about a hundred times by now, and that was just this semester alone.
He had it all: an Honors Society membership, a good degree, enough scholarships to get him through University without a single dime, everything. He had great roommates, pretty much perfect grades, all of it…
And Asriel didn’t feel accomplished by any of it.
The only reason why he even GOT those scholarships in the first place was because he happened to get good enough grades. He didn’t feel that smart, or that prestigious, or even that talented. He only got to where he was by just being good enough.
But in Hometown, that meant everything to them… and nothing to him.
Asriel stood at the edge of the cliffs, where his many, many nightly walks tended to end before he turned back for his dorm. This time, Asriel just stood there, watching the waves crash amongst the coast. The Chilled Autumn breeze bit through his hoodie, but he didn’t respond. He just looked.
He thought about Dess again.
He remembered when they were young, when the school year came to a close and summer truly began. The lake was practically their summer adventure. Kris was still that lovable gremlin they used to be, Noelle was afraid of “sea monsters” (Still not cool, Kris), he himself was always the least into the lake, and Dess…
Dess was there, with all of them.
He didn’t know where she went, or what exactly happened to her, but whatever it was that caused her to disappear into the night left the same result: Dess was gone.
And maybe he’d be, too.
Asriel took a deep breath in, and out. He took another step forward, making sure not to step off too quickly. He looked around, making sure he was alone.
Thankfully, no one was going to the beach at nearly midnight, especially not since it was October, so he was pretty much absolutely alone.
Perfect.
Asriel placed his phone on the ground, not like he’d need it down there anyways. He took another step, before inhaling the oxygen around him for what he thought would be the last time.
Then, Asriel jumped into the abyss below.
*SPLASH*
The cold oppressive sensation of the Fall Atlantic Waters stabbed Asriel’s body as he descended into the dark depths below, illuminated only by the ambient lights of the surface world above. He let himself drift down, descending further and further below. He could only barely see the moon shining down to him, inviting him to the surface above.
Asriel declined that invitation.
Asriel started releasing his breath, in a smooth, silver stream towards the surface. It was controlled: Not too much as to hasten his body’s beg for air, but not too little as to cause the pressure to build endlessly. He remembered learning how to do this back in Hometown with-
With…
Dess.
Why did it have to be her?
Asriel felt the guilt consume him again, for Dess. She was gone because of him. If he had just been there to save her, been there to stop whatever it was that took her, she’d still be here.
At least he’d get to see her again.
He felt his lungs truly and utterly empty. It was time. All he had to do was just take in a deep breath, and in a few seconds it would all be over.
And so, Asriel inhaled…
And it turned out that drowning was a lot more painful than he had thought.
The water burned his lungs like fire, as Asriel grasped his neck in a desperate bid to stop the water from snuffing him out. It did seemingly nothing, as once Asriel coughed out one lungful of water, another would take its place.
Drowning really, really fucking hurt.
Asriel stopped drifting downwards and started kicking up. It was hard, with his body aching from the lack of oxygen, but Asriel kept going, and going, until…
He started to slow.
He really didn’t want to die like this. Maybe in the spur of the moment, sure yeah. But now, he didn’t want it to end like this. He didn’t want Kris to be alone, losing yet another part of his family because he made a stupid choice.
But it didn’t matter now. Asriel had to live with his mistake. Die with his mistake.
Asriel finally slowed to a halt, the surface so close yet not nearly close enough. It was oddly peaceful, as if the water was lulling him into a deep, eternal sleep. His vision got darker yet darker, barely seeing a shadowy hand grab his own outstretched arm and pull him out of the-
*SPLASH*
Asriel coughed the water out of his lungs as he breached the surface, dragged onto the cliffs before taking in a deep, raspy breath. He nearly fell unconscious from the sheer overabundance of oxygen in his lungs, as he laid there on the rocks. Asriel pulled himself up the cliff, back to the path. still coughing and wheezing as he did so.
Asriel breathed in.
And out.
In.
And out.
He was still alive.
He was somehow still alive.
“T- Thank you,” Asriel said to whoever it was that dragged him out, as he started to finally get off his back. “Thank you so-”
“Much…”
No one was there. He was all alone. So, who saved him…?
Did it really matter?
It didn’t change Asriel’s feelings on his own self worth, didn’t really change much of anything at all, but it certainly made it a lot harder to try something like that in the future, that’s for sure. Maybe a time like this would come again, but at the very least-
*RING RING*
Oh shit, he left his phone out here.
Asriel grabbed it, and answered whoever it was that was calling him at this hour. “Howdy,” he greeted, “how’s it-”
“Asriel, it’s 6 AM, where are you?”
Asriel paused, and looked around. “What are you-”
Oh.
It was dawn.
He really stayed up all night, didn’t he?
“Uh,” Asriel stammered, watching the sun begin to peak from the ocean’s horizon, illuminating the city in a tranquil orange, “swimming?”
“In October?”
“... Yeah?” Asriel really couldn’t admit it, could he? Oh well.
“Asriel,” Chara asked again, clearly annoyed at this point, “where the fuck are you?!”