Fallen But Not Forgotten

Chapter 1:

Home

'The closer you get to a light, the greater your shadow becomes.."

Darkness. The thing lurking in everyone's hearts and minds. The feeling of dread it brings. That is me. I felt this to be a truth of mine for a long time. I lingered in that darkness, hiding from my self for a long time. My ambitions, my feelings, all stained by that darkness, drove me forward in ways that warped me. But I found a light deep in that darkness. This is my story.

I remember when I first fell into the Underground. I had gone there seeking that darkness. An escape from my life I hated so much. The long climb to the top of Mt. Ebott. The plunge that was suppose to end it all. The feeling of weightlessness that came with that fall. The memories of my village and how they treated me driving me down into that abyss. I wanted nothing more than to erase that from my mind. I was determined to end it all. Angry at my self for not having the power to end them for all they had done, I had resolved to end my own existence instead. I plunged into that darkness, thinking it was the end, but what I found in that darkness changed me.

I remember waking up in a large bed of yellow flowers, petals dancing on and around my now pain ridden body. The light from above hurt my eyes, and my head felt as if it was going to split in two. My arms outstretched, I was laying on my back. As I sat up and surveyed the surrounding area, it was clear I was in some sort of long forgotten ruin. That was when I saw him.

The figure of a small boy was in front of me, but his shape was noticeably off from normal. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?". The voice was shaky and timid, and I could hear the fear ramped upon his words. I reached down to my pocket, clenching the knife I had stole from the kitchen that morning. The memories flooded back to me, how I hated the family that had taken me in after my parents died, how my parents had been left for dead on Mt. Ebott by the villagers, and how I had planed to use that very knife to kill all of the people in that wretched house I had been forced to call home.

The hours that morning I had spent sharpening that knife, mentally steadying my self to use it for all those years by killing and maiming fauna in the local forest. I will never know why I didn't carry out that plan to kill those detestable people, why I had not just used that same knife on my self when the morals that my cursed-ed parents taught me won me over, leading me to decide I would rather die than stay in that village, or why I bothered to trek up to the top of that accursed mountain I had hated so much in my youth. But none of that mattered now.

I stared into the darkness as the figure slowly moved forward. I was caught by surprise when instead of another human I was greeted by a monster resembling a goat, his eyes filled with tears and some of the yellow flowers I sat upon held neatly in his small, fluffy hands. I thought back to the horrifying tales I often overhead the villagers telling, how they described evil and twisted beings of horrid power, hungering for human souls and slaughtering people by the hundreds. But it all seemed to be foolish and misleading tales when looking at the young child standing before me. I loosened the grip on my knife, and felt at ease. I smiled. Something I had not felt the need to do in a long time.

He continued to stand there, shaking with fear and crying, something I would later learn was normal for him. "A...ar...are you...hurt..." He stammered through his tears, his voice still shaken and unsure. I laughed.

"I think I will be fine." I stood up, filled with a feeling I long had thought lost to me. "My name is Chara, whats yours?" I smiled as I removed my hand from my pocket, extending it out to shake his.

"My name...Is...Asriel..." He was still shaken, his tears now starting to dry. His hand met mine, and after a moment we laughed. I felt as if for the first time in forever, I was happy.

We sat in the flowers for a long while after that. He told me of the Underground, and all the different monsters there. He told me of his home, and his parents. At that moment a frown returned to my face. "Whats the matter Chara?" He asked, noticing at my discontent. I had realized had no home to return to, and sighed.

"I just realized I have no where to go, and that I will most likely die here..." He stopped, a panicked look shooting across his face at the thought of my demise.

"No! You can't just give up!" He stood up, taking my hand. "Listen, come with me, I know my Dad and Mom can help you, they always know what to do in situations like this!" I felt him begin to pull me into the ruins, and having no where left to go, I followed him as he lead me through the Underground.

"Where are we going." I whined as he lead me through the ruins. I kept looking around at the long forgotten buildings and pillars, as we wound and stumbled through ancient corridors and dusty rooms. He was holding my hand tight, and I could feel the warmth of his paw on my hand. He bared a kind and determined look on his face, as if he truly cared about what was going to happen to me, a look I hadn't seen since my parents died.

"I am taking you to the Castle, its where I live with my Mom and Dad...". He kept walking forward as we entered a long hallway that twisted and turned, seeming to have no end. I could feel a cold draft start to rise as we neared the door, and shivered. Pulling me along he lead me through the entirety of the Underground, from Snowden, to the Waterfall, into the Hotlands, past the core, into the Royal City, and right up to the Castle gates. Along the way I had seen many monsters of all different shapes and sizes, and they all stared in disbelief at my presence.

The gates to the Castle loomed high above me and Asriel's small stature, reaching far towards the ceiling of the Underground. I continued to stare at the large gate ahead of me, gawking at the vastness of the structure. After a moment a loud noise echoed from the gate as it parted, and Asriel guided me through the opening. He lead me onwards, through beautiful rooms and hallways, past doors and windows, and up long and winding stairs until we at last reached a throne room covered in the same yellow flowers that had spared my life from the fall. Two thrones sat across from us, with much larger figures closely resembling Asriel adorning them. They sat there, looks of shock and horror plastered on their faces. Me and Asriel panting from our long journey stood there, gathering ourselves. After a moment, his father spoke. "Son, what are you doing? Why did you bring a human here? Where did..." He was shortly cut off by Asriel's mother, who's voice carried a calm and kind tone on them.

"Who is this Asriel? Whats his name?". A small smile came to her face, as she kindly looked at me.

"His name is Chara!" Asriel exclaimed, his voice still shaken and tired from rushing here. "He fell in the ruins, and I found him. He has no place to go, and I want to help him!" Asriel went on to explain how he had found me and how I had told him I had no where to go. After his story had finished we stood there in the throne room for some time as his parents talked amongst them selves.

After what seemed like a small eternity, they once again turned to face us. His dad, now bearing a kind and loving face, looked to me and spoke. "Chara, my name is Asgore, and this is my wife, Toriel..." He motioned his hand to his side, to the goat-like woman standing adjacent to him. She spoke softly to me, a smile never leaving her face.

" We have talked it over, and since you have no place to go, would you like to stay with us?". I felt tears come to my eyes, as a kind of happiness hadn't felt since my parents swelled inside me. "You can make this place your home, and we will be glad to take care of you from now on." Her voice echoed in my mind as I started to cry. They reminded me so much of my parents I had missed for so long. I felt as if I was home again after all these years. I was home.

But happiness like this, it never lasts...