Chapter Text
The ice rink was crowded with monsters and humans laughing, twirling, or, in some cases, clinging to the rails lining the ice. Ceroba and Starlo sat on the stands, each holding a cup of hot coffee. They waved to Dalv, Martlet and Clover, who ventured onto the ice.
Martlet’s claws scraped against the ice. She grimaced, her wing holding the bar.
“Sorry, sorry!”
A human sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. Stupid monsters…
After all, it had only been two month since the barrier had been broken. Some were still reluctant at the idea of having monsters among them.
Dalv stood near the edge of the ice rink, Clover’s hand gripping his arm.
“Ah’m not cut out for ice, that’s for sure!
- Do not worry, replied Dalv. You don’t have to be good at everything.
- Ah don’t think it’s so much a question of being good at it anymore. Now it’s a matter of survival.”
He let out a light chuckle.
“How dramatic of you!
- I’ve already got bruises on all over my arm, ya don’t know how much it hurts!
- Maybe try landing on your other arm.
- Still hurts!”
They stayed close to Dalv, feeling a little envious of all those humans performing graceful pirouettes on the ice. Martlet slipped right in front of them. Her head hit the ground with a thud that echoed.
“Sorry! I’m really sorry!”
She got back to her feet, rubbing the back of her head. Clover nudged her, a mischievous grin on their face.
“Don’t hurt yourself, Martlet!”
Starlo added from the stands:
“We don’t want to end up in hospital today, feathers!
- I’m fine, don’t worry!”
Ceroba whispered in Starlo’s ear:
“I don’t think any of us were really… worried about her.
- Nah, this bird is made of… I don’t know, steel perhaps? But definitely not feathers.”
Martlet lowered her head.
“I’m supposed to be good at this, I’m from Snowdin…
- The three of us are rubbish at this, smiled Dalv.
- No, you are quite good.
- The rails help.”
She put her wing on Clover’s shoulder, still trying to stabilize herself.
“Not my fault is the ice is so slippy…
- Slippery.”
The word escaped them before they could stop it.
She turned her head at Clover with a puzzled look.
“What?
- Slippery. The ice is… slippery.
- Isn’t that the same thing?
- … not for someone I know.”
She tilted her head.
“Who?
- Chara… they would have corrected you straight away.”
A smile formed at the corners of Clover’s lips.
“They like to use the most… flowery prose for trivial things.”
Their gaze drifted across the ice rink.
“Narrating… it’s their thing. The ice glistens with a frosty sheen, the laughter of both humans and monsters mingles, it fills you with Determination.”
Their smile faded.
“I bet they’d have said something like that. I wonder if-
- Hey, Clover, I’ve got an idea!” interrupted Martlet.
They winced, their shoulders stiffening.
“We could get hot chocolate for you later! Since Ceroba and Starlo have their coffees, it’s kind of unfair to you!
- … yeah, we… we’ll do that.
- Cool!”
Their grip tightened around Dalv’s arm. Martlet took a step back, trying to imitate the elegant movements of the humans.
“If something wrong, Clover? asked Dalv.
- No.
- I’m sorry to press the point, but you are squeezing my arm with a really strong hold.
- Sorry.”
But their grip didn’t loosen.
“Do you want to talk about it, Clover?
- … I dunno.”
Their voice took on a bitter tone, a far cry from the warm and comforting tone Dalv was used to.
“It seems like it doesn’t really interest you guys, why should I bother you with it?
- I’ll listen to you, whatever the subject.”
Dalv didn’t know what to except from his friend. They’ve been quite weird since they were revived. Of course, everyone was delighted about their comeback. Dalv the first. But something wasn’t quite right with them. Something that neither Starlo, nor Ceroba, nor the Feisty Five nor Martlet had noticed. It worried him far more than he let on, and he hoped that Clover would eventually tell him what was troubling them.
“Even if it’s about Chara?
- Of course.”
Clover always felt that their friends didn’t care about their ghost-buddy. In a way, they could understand why: they didn’t know them, had never spoken to them, had never seen them.
But Clover did. And they’d always thought their friends would like to know with who they spent their “dead” days.
Whenever they brought the subject, their friends would nod, barely listen, then changed the subject to something lighter, something easier to talk about. They were… clearly uncomfortable at the thought of talking about Chara. Clover could never quite understand why.
It was still better than it used to be, though, when people used to look at them as if they were mad and treat the whole “ghost” thing as nothing but a lie. They remember bringing Frisk along to prove they were right. See, they were the human we followed! And the one who set us free! And the one who revived us! And the one whose soul was bounded to Chara’s! Frisk, tell them I’m not going nuts!
After a few weeks and some following a few threats to seek medical advice, they accepted the fact that the deputy had indeed “lived” some days as a ghost alongside the royal family’s deceased child and another human who fell almost a century later.
“Y’know, Chara, they are… quite a character, no pun intended. Kinda cold. A lot show-off too, but they have all the reasons to. They know all about monsters history, they have greats speech, and… and great smiles too.”
A slight blush spread across their face.
“When they smile, it means I’ve said something really funny.”
They paused.
“Or something really sinister. They have a… strange sense of humor. Maybe all children from the 1920s were like that, but, uh, I’m not really sure. I don’t think anyone on this earth is anything like them, not even remotely.”
They shoved their hands into theirs pockets. The smooth texture of the photograph they held there was… almost soothing. They had never shown this photograph to anyone. Part of them wanted to keep to themself this image of the faint, almost unnoticeable grin on Chara’s face. They’d spotted it after hours spent scrutinizing it closely, the paper almost pressed against their face.
“One of the strangest thing about being ghosts was “physical” touch. We couldn’t touch Frisk or anything, our hands passed right through. But when I tried to put my hand on Chara’s shoulder, it did… such a strange thing. Like a jolt of electricity. They said it was like the touch between two worlds that weren’t meant to meet.”
They let out a shaky breath.
“They weren’t wrong, after all. We were never supposed to meat each other. It was kinda weird when Frisk told us Chara could be my grand-parent. Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it any more.”
They shook their head.
“But I’m glad I met them.
- You make friends with everyone your meet, tell me!
- It was way easier with you than with Chara!
- We’ve all tried to kill you at some point.
- Chara didn’t try to kill me ‘cause they couldn’t! If they could… hell, I think I would be double-dead before Frisk even fell in the Underground.
- Can I ask why they hated you so much at first?
- I’m a human. They hate humans.”
Dalv frowned.
“Isn’t Frisk one too?”
Clover shrugged.
“I dunno, I suppose Frisk and I are the exceptions.
- You think they make an exception for you?
- Of course! I’m lovely, how couldn’t they?
- You’ve got some serious self-confidence.
- Seriously, they like me. I know it.”
A lump formed in their throat.
“I… I really miss them. With them, ghost-hood was… colorful. Funny. It wasn’t just a series of observations. It was endless discussion, debates about silly things, the famous white chocolate dilemma… I can’t say I regret those days. Being alive againt feels incredible. But… it would have been so much better with Chara.”
They rubbed the back of their neck.
“Y’know, they…. They’d would hate me if I said this, and even though everyone who knows them would tell you otherwise… they are a great person. They love their family. More than everything. Sometimes, it… it hurts, hearing Flowey tell things like “Oh, Chara was worst than me! They didn’t care about Asriel for a single second of their pathetic life”. ‘Cause… I know that’s not true. If… if he could see what I’ve seen, if he would see the Chara I’ve spent days with, he wouldn’t say that.”
They felt tears welling up in their eyes. They quickly wiped them away.
“I would have loved to spend more days with them. It was… both a few seconds and an eternity.”
Dalv nodded, listening to them more attentively than he had done in recent weeks. He hadn’t realized how much this was hurting Clover. He’d always thought they were tough, some days being dead wouldn’t break them that way. He took off his cape and draped it over Clover’s shoulders.
“They seem like a brilliant person, he softly said.
- Yeah, they… they are. You and them would have got on really well.”
The discussion turned to more trivial, less heavy topics. Clover’s heart felt a little lighter, just a little.
Chara would never be back. But Clover was far from forgetting them.