A/N So, next chapter! Just like the previous chapters, this is a hour challenge chapter, so forgive me if it's a little rough. Or extremely rough.
"What happened? Why... Why are you a flower?"
Chara was completely, utterly horrified. Asriel, her best friend, was somehow now a damn flower. She didn't even know that could happen, let alone it actually being a thing she'd come across personally. And, as if that weren't enough, it had to happen to one of the nicest people in the underground.
Seriously, what happened? She had no idea how long she was gone, but the transition from death to rebirth felt immediate, yet terrifyingly long. But she chalked that up to the fact that it was death and all. It couldn't have been that long, could it? And even if it was, it still didn't explain why her best friend was not only a flower, but still underground. Chara felt her surprise and horror change to despair. What happened? Who did this? How?
Asriel should be in the capital, being hailed as the savior of Monster-kind, or, better yet, on the surface, feeling the sun on his fur, looking at the stars at night. Not down in the underground, stuck as a... plant. Did the plan somehow fail? Did her Soul do something funny to him? They didn't know what a human soul would do when they made the plan, and she knew that humans were bad and all, but she didn't expect human souls to be that horrible...
As Chara was mentally reeling, Asriel made an awkward chuckle, bringing her out of her mental spin. No, she needed to focus. She couldn't grieve. Asriel needed her attention.
She made a mental acknowledgement, not trusting herself with anything else, and Asriel sighed. "Well... Er, how do I say this? You know how I got your soul and all?"
Chara mentally nodded, her full attention now on him. Asriel would know the answers. Maybe he even knew how to fix this.
"Well, after all that, I died. Like, hardcore. Barely got back to the underground with your, er, body. Don't you remember?"
Chara certainly didn't. Her heart sunk to the bottom of her gut, and she felt little more than soul shattering shock. Her plan... It got her best friend killed. He was supposed to be the hero of the underground. Not a dead child. All she accomplished was getting herself and her best friend dead.
She should've expected it. She was just a human, after all.
"You... You died?"
The flower then sat there silent for a bit, as if thinking, before finally giving a theatrical sigh. "I tried, Chara. I tried to do like you wanted, but... er, I didn't really know how to fight. I ended up having to run away, but they hurt me too bad, and I died, and... woke up as a flower."
He then mentally leaned into her, the sensation dulling the emotion, the sting. It was nice, and honestly, he seemed to enjoy it as well. But after a moment, he sighed, this time... happily. "When I woke up... I was alone. Mom and dad... They didn't recognize me... I couldn't feel anything, and... you were gone. I... I don't have a Soul anymore, Chara. I can't feel. Emotions and stuff are just gone, and I've been alone for so long... but now... You're here. And I'm so happy you're back."
Another gut punch. Chara couldn't even formulate a genuine response, and all she could do was sit there and feel as Asriel, again, leaned in mentally, almost greedily drawing in her emotion. After a moment, the drain weaned, and the emotion was dulled enough for her to manage a response. "How long?"
At the question, Asriel perked up. "Oh, I don't know. A hundred years? Two hundred? I've lost count, to be honest. Time flies when you're a flower."
That made her feel even worse. She left her friend to this fate for that long? Again, Asriel leaned in and drawn from her sorrow before speaking. "But you! You actually came back! Mom and Dad are alive, and they never did that! And you died! I wouldn't have blamed ya if you didn't show up, being dead and all, but you actually showed up!"
He gave her the mental equivalent of a snuggle, and sighed. "You're the only one I need, Chara."
"But... I got you killed!"
Asriel smiled at that, but it seemed... fake. "Pssh! It was my fault, anyway. I didn't think humans would be all strong and stuff, and... Well, it doesn't matter. Like you said, it's kill or be killed!"
He then shook his head, and made another sigh. "But, even if I did blame you... I forgive you. You did what no one else did. You showed up when I needed it. And, even better, I can feel what you feel, so if you feel so bad, you can help me feel again!"
"But... you were alone for-"
"Eh, doesn't matter! Better late than never, right? I forgive you!"
His words were soft and kind, and with him already drawing on her grief, it was enough to balance it out, and Chara felt herself perk up a bit. "Maybe..."
But, the void said this was... wrong. She was supposed to be elsewhere, not with Asriel, as nice as that was. Maybe she was supposed to save him in a different way, maybe even help him get his soul back. But even if that was true... it didn't matter now, seeing as she was here. She would just have to fix what she screwed up where she was. And, well, she had someone she could trust in Asriel.
She'd make it work.
"So, er, wanna go after the human?"
Oh yeah. There was that, too. There was a human in the underground, one who might just start killing at a moment's notice. She had to save the underground, Asriel, Asgore and Toriel, and fix everything. But, she could do it. She had to.
"Yes. We have to protect the underground."
There was a spark of fury at her words, and Asriel lapped it up happily. "Alright! So, er, back to the ruins!"