CORRELICTUM
Leavings and Gatherings
Asriel dreamily remembered the few times of his life that he had seen the rain. The calming ambience that it gathered managed to put him in a state of awe and wonder almost every time he heard it. He felt lucky to have experienced it as many times as he did. The inhabitants of the underground once considered the sight an unfathomably rare luxury. There were some places such as Waterfall, where the running water above trickled its way down through small cracks in the ground, simulating a false downpour. But that just could not compare to the real thing. Few seemingly mystical places had allowed it to fully manifest.
The ruins he now called home was one of these places. They were a mystery to everyone, even the former royalty. The reason they were sealed off was unknown, but people accepted it blindly. Ever since Asriel was able to burrow inside as a flower, he had come to understand the ruins' little givings better. Most importantly, the rain was back.
Funny how little it moved him.
Perhaps that wasn't entirely true. He felt... something from it now. He wasn't sure what, it was different from the old calm from his childhood. Almost worrying...
But what was there to worry about?
Only by the splashing sound of his footsteps had Asriel realized that his feet were wet. He looked to the small stream of water that had snaked its way through the ruins by the bindings of the walls. It was slowly growing and began to take up a noticeable portion of the floor, appearing to flow in a very defined direction. Perhaps he and his companion would do well to follow it upstream, It could lead somewhere interesting.
Speaking of his companion, Napstablook hadn't said anything for a while now. Asriel had exchanged a few glances and nods for the intermittent fork in the road, but nothing else.
Perhaps that was his own fault, he had been a bit harsh in his defiance earlier. He too, was confused over the subject matter of his drawings, frustrated even. He simply couldn't explain why he only drew one person. There were plenty of other people he cared about, and plenty of non-people things to draw. Despite that, Frisk remained the only subject that came to thought during his amateur art sessions. Maybe because they were the only person he talked to in his real form since his death.
But that didn't mean he needed to yell.
"Hey... Uh, Napstablook?"
The ghost turned to face Asriel. "I-it might be a good Idea for you to head back..."
Asriel was shocked, not expecting his companion to be so vindictive. "Ah... I-I see..." Maybe he deserved it.
"...?"
He gave Napstablook a sad smile. "I'm sorry."
"Oh no... I-I didn't mean it like that. Umm, this place is flooding. You might... drown."
Asriel looked down to his feet again. The downpour above must've grown substantially because the once small stream now filled the corridor and the waterline reached his ankle. But could rainfall do this much?
This may explain the worried feeling he got earlier.
"...A-are you okay? You seem... out of it."
He couldn't escape to the surface, even if he wanted to. There was no way up, except to pass through the entire underground. It should be safe to just make it out of the ruins...
"I'm going to run to the exit!" Asriel said. The water had reached past his pant-line now. "Are you coming with?"
Napstablook seemed in tune with his plan, already keeping a steady pace beside the young monster. "...Let me know if I can help."
He knew exactly where to go, having walked this route many times. To the small house in the ruins.
Frisk had decided to continue walking past the house, parting ways with Sans and following a path leading to a public park. They needed some time to clear their head, the fresh air would help that. So they figured.
They took the luxury to look around. Trees had been losing their leaves and were now on last reserves. Crisped foliage broke underfoot with tree-fell twigs and sticks. It was getting cold, Frisk's breath was visible and the nearby lamps illuminated it all the more so. The streets had become almost barren, spare the occasional passing vehicle. The darkness had begun setting in earlier and earlier as the recent days passed, heralding eventual snowfall in weeks to come.
This was a good opportunity to think about what they were going to do in the upcoming week. Frisk had decided already that lying in bed on days like these was not helping anyone, and so they would have to take action. But what?
At first instinct—years ago, Frisk wanted to jump back down the hole they found on Mt. Ebbot, find Asriel, and... Well that's why it's called first instinct. Little thought was put into what they'd do after that. Besides, it wouldn't be Asriel anymore, would it? It would be Flowey. That was a revelation that had been gnawing at the youth for some time now. It seemed impossible to come to terms with, losing a friend that they never even had the chance to have.
Forcibly dragging Asriel out of the ruins wasn't the answer. But was Frisk looking for an answer?
Asking advice from their friends was slowly becoming less and less viable as they whittled down the candidates. The only ones left were too difficult to reach.
Maybe they would make way back to the underground regardless. Find Flowey and do something fun, perhaps a picnic. Could Flowey eat human food? Sunlight? ...Fertilizer?
Well, the underground was no longer a prison. It would be safe enough to traverse it with adequate preparation. They could leave whenever they wanted. The following week was a break from school anyway. There was time.
Frisk needed to gather supplies.
The basement which led to the exit was gone, now it was but a murky pool of water, slowly growing every minute. Asriel looked to Napstablook in horror. "What do I do?"
"...Can you swim?"
Asriel shook his head and whimpered. He knew how long the corridor to the exit was. It would take minutes to swim it, and he couldn't hold his breath for even half that long. Panicking, he looked every which way and began opening every door he came across in hopes of finding some form of salvation.
Napstablook, however, appeared calm. He began wandering the flooding house. Phasing through what he could in hopes of finding... something. He wasn't sure what.
CLUNK.
A thundering roar sounded out from the outside of the house. Eyes turned to the front door giving way to a rushing torrent of water, the resulting wave knocking Asriel off his feet and pushing him to the back end of the hallway.
He was slammed against the wall, coughing up what water he could before demanding another breath. The assaulting deluge wasn't letting up. All he could do was flail to stay above the slowly disappearing surface.
Managing to grab hold of a fixture secured to the ceiling, he took one last gulp of air before fully submerging. He cautiously opened his eyes. Perhaps swimming was the only option he had left, there wasn't much time to think about it.
He noticed Napstablook was floating nearby, unaffected by the torrent and staring at something behind the young monster. But the only thing that was behind him was...
Asriel turned around to see an enormous crack adorning the wall. There was light coming from behind... A way out?
He didn't have a choice. He gripped the fixture firmly, raised his legs, and kicked with all the force he could muster.
Thud.
But it didn't give at all.
He pulled his legs back even further, and kicked again.
Thud.
Not an inch. This effort was making him use up that last breath of air all the quicker.
He tried again, all or nothing.
THUD.
Nothing.
Asriel would have been crying if his eyes weren't already filled with water. But still, he kept kicking until he could kick no more. He didn't even notice that Napstablook had left the hallway.
Click.
That was all Asriel heard before blacking out.
Toriel was keeping a diligent eye out of the living room window as her company talked amongst themselves. Sans had told her of Frisk's decision to take a late walk, and she couldn't help but worry.
"—And that's how I finally learned to crack an egg!" said Papyrus.
"With a hammer?" Sans questioned.
"It's not as hard as you would think." Undyne smiled.
"I think that's the problem."
"Toriel, how did you learn to crack eggs?"
"Hm? Oh yes. Of course." Her eyes didn't leave the window. "Of course..."
The brothers and Undyne shared unsure glances between themselves.
"Uh, hey Tori?" Sans waved his hand in front of Toriel's face.
"Hm? What is it, Sans?"
"...Are you worried about Frisk?
At the mention of the human's name, Toriel managed to tear her eyes away from away from the window. "Hm?"
Sans sighed. "They'll be fine. They're just taking a walk."
"But—"
"But nothing. Relax. Frisk will be back before you know it."
Sans was right, she reckoned. Worrying wouldn't do much good when there was nothing she could do about it. Perhaps joining in whatever conversation her company was having would make the minutes pass by quicker.
"Very well. What are we talking about?"
"Eggs!" said Papyrus.
"..." Toriel returned her gaze the window. Perhaps not.
Asriel opened his eyes to darkness, relieved to feel anything at all from his tired limbs. The hard stony ground was damp and he could hear every breath and subtle movement he made echo far into the distance. All else was quiet.
"A-are you okay?" a familiar voice asked.
A dim light had appeared, barely illuminating any of the cavern the young monster now found himself in. He looked to where the voice came from.
"Napstablook?"
"Y-yes?"
"Where are—grrch!" Asriel gripped the back of his head. It hurt something fierce, he must have hit it at some point during his senseless misadventure.
"C-careful... moving around might not be a good idea."
"Where are we?"
Napstablook was quiet. He looked off in the darkest direction, seeming reluctant.
"...Follow me."
Asriel followed. The pair walked into a narrow tunnel, relying on Napstablook's subtle luminescence. As they did, the young monster began questioning a few things.
"How did I survive?"
"...The flooding? Well... there was a lever behind the door... I p—"
"Door?" Asriel didn't remember any doors during the struggle.
"Ah... Yes. The door, the one you tried to break down..."
"...?"
"...The one with the crack."
"That was a door?"
If Napstablook had shoulders, he would have shrugged them. "I guess...?"
"...Why would she have a hidden door in the house? Did she even know about it?" Asriel thought aloud. He looked ahead, there was another light appearing around a bend. An exit?
"...We are getting close."
"Y-yea? Close to what?"
The pair passed through an unexpectedly intricate archway to be greeted by the sight of a massive bowl-shaped cavern. So massive, in fact, that Asriel could barely even see to the other side. The murky atmosphere dulled it out.
What could be seen, however, were the hundreds of enormous structures jetting up from the earthen floor. Buildings maybe? Asriel had never seen buildings of such massive scale in all of his life. He'd never even heard of such a thing.
The taller buildings congregated toward the center of the cavern, towering over the rest in an ominous claim of importance. And the largest of them all sat well above even those. A series of arches connected to and surrounded that structure, creating a dome-like shape. A brilliant orb of light could be seen resting atop the dome, illuminating the rest of the cavern in an eerie green effulgence.
And it was quiet.