Decaytale

Chapter 4.

Here we go.

(Gaster's POV)

As soon as Queen Toriel absorbed the human soul, her entire body changed, she grew at least five feet taller, her horns grew twice their lengths, and her eyes turned black.

"Y-Your Highness?" I spoke haltingly.

She looked at me with her void, empty eyes, the sight I swear made my soul seize for only a moment.

"Just...be careful." I said feebly.

"Do not worry," the queen replied, her voice distorted and gruff, "this will not take long."

With that, she headed towards the barrier.

A few minutes later, I was still waiting anxiously in the throne room.

"Uncle." I suddenly heard.

When I turned around, I found Asriel looking up at me curiously.

"Where did my mom go?" he asked.

I tensed at his question.

What was I supposed to say?

I couldn't possibly just tell him what was actually going on could I?

How do you tell a child that their mother is going out on what I can only assume is a murder rampage.

Of course, he'll find out about it regardless of whether I tell him right here and now or not.

"She...had something that she had to take care of," I said awkwardly, "but, there's no telling how long she'll be."

The prince looked disappointed.

"Okay then," he said, "I'll just wait here until she gets back."

"Wait...here?" I uttered tensely, "Are you sure?"

Of course he'll find out what his mother's doing no matter, but...there's no telling what she's going to look like when she gets back. I don't think he should be here for that.

"Asriel, you know...you don't have to wait here," I offered, "that's my job, you can do anything else, heck, go play in the lab if you want."

In any other circumstance, I would never suggest such a thing, but...I had no idea what else I could say or do to get his attention.

"Nah," the boy replied dismally, "I don't really...feel like...'playing' right bow."

He walked over to the corner of the room and sank down into the flower.

"I just want my mom." I heard him mumble.

Seeing him sit there, I could see that there was nothing I could say that would make him leave, the only other option would be to actually pick him up and physically take him out of the room. But...I couldn't do that, it would just make him ask more questions, questions that I could not and would not answer.

Silently wracked with anxiety, I walked over and leaned against the wall, just wishing that this whole thing would just end quickly.

(Toriel's POV)

After absorbing the human soul, I marched straight through the barrier and headed straightaway for the human village.

I did not even bother entering, mustering all of the power of the combined souls inside me, I rose high into the air and promptly bombarded the entire area with a fierce barrage of massive fireballs. Just like that, the entire village was burning and humans were fleeing their houses and running every which way to escape the flames, but, they were not all going to get away.

I dropped to the ground, in the center of the village, and created a shockwave that shook the surrounding area, causing many of the burning establishments to crumble and every human within range to fall to the ground.

"You..." I growled, "You are all going to pay!"

I closed my eyes and, using my power, I telepathically lifted much of the heavy, some still burning, debris, and proceeded to fling it in all directions, all the while, the humans continued to scream and cry and beg for it to stop. Let them carry on, they brought this upon themselves, this is what centuries of senseless mistreatment will get you, filthy, horrible, savage creatures.

I continued my siege for what seemed like an eternity, until I finally got tired and stopped all at once.

Finally, I opened my eyes and looked around at what I had done, every structure was destroyed, no section of the pavement was left intact, smoke was filling the air. I looked around and saw several wounded and some, more than likely, dead humans scattered across the ground.

I think they got the message.

With that, I turned away from the destruction and made my way back towards the underground.

As soon as I entered the throne room, I saw Dr. Gaster still there waiting for me.

As soon as the skeleton man saw me, he recoiled in shock; I then separated the human soul from my own and handed it back to the scientist, who took it with shaking hands.

"It is done." I huffed.

I then noticed that Dr. Gaster was now looking past me with an anxious look on his face, I turned to see what he was looking at and saw...

"Asriel?" I uttered quietly.

Somehow, when I entered the room, I had completely missed my son standing in the corner, I can only assume he had been waiting for me to return.

"Mom...ma." he spoke meekly.

My child looked on with the most horrified look on his face, probably the most afraid I had ever seen him, and he was looking at me.

I then looked down at myself for the first time since I finished laying waste to the human village and found that I was covered from head to toe in soot, dirt, and even human blood.

Only then had I realized what I had done.

Oh God...what had I done!?

(Asriel's POV)

I saw Mom enter the throne room, but, she looked quite different, obviously from merging with the human soul, which she quickly handed back to Dr. Gaster, who looked quite disturbed by her. However, he then turned his attention to me and, soon after, so did my mom.

It was then I got a better look at her and what I saw...was like something from a horrific nightmare. Her fur was filthy, he clothing was soiled and torn in places, she was even covered in red stains of varying sizes. No doubt, it was human blood, I had seen Chara bleed enough times to recognize it.

Did she really...

"Mom..." I questioned, barely able to get my words out, "what...why are...you..."

She now looked very nervous.

Dr. Gaster, who also looked quite anxious, quickly left the room, clutching the case with human soul in it, looking as if he was about to fall apart.

"A-Asriel," she voiced tensely, "it is...okay...Mommy was just...teaching the humans a lesson...and...it was the only way to get any human souls..."

"What human souls!?" I uttered.

The only human soul I saw from her was the one she had used to go to the surface, the one Dad had brought back with him.

Mom froze with an alarmed look on her face, apparently only then realizing that she had not gotten any other souls in her endeavor. But, what actually was her goal? She's talking about "Teaching the humans a lesson", but, what did that have to do with anything?

After all, it was Chara who was responsible for Dad's death!

So, what was the point of her actions?

What exactly were her actions!?

If she was talking about getting human souls...

"Momma...what did you do?" I asked uneasily.

Honestly, I don't think I actually wanted to know, she's covered in blood!

Mom looked at me restlessly, her mouth was moving, but, no actual words were coming out and the look in her eyes was fixed and pained, it was as if he brain had momentarily shut down.

"I just...the humans...I..." she spoke shakily, faltering over her words as she did, "...I had to...punish them...for all that they have done to us. You see...I had to...I made them...feel our pain...feel Daddy's pain...the pain that they..."

"Stop!" I uttered.

I couldn't stand to hear anymore of what she had to say, what little I had heard was enough to make me feel physically ill. Seeing her eyes turn vacant and her blood-soaked hands shake as she spoke, I knew, I knew that she was gone.

"You killed them!?" I queried hysterically, "You went up there and you killed people!?"

She didn't say anything, she just looked at me guiltily in affirmation.

I felt tears building in my eyes as the room seemed to start spinning, once again, I prayed that I was actually asleep and having a nightmare.

God, tell me this isn't real!

Tell me that I'm going to wake up and see that everything is fine and normal, that Mom and Dad are happy and sound, that nothing bad has happened to us!

"What happened to 'Violence is never the answer'?" I voiced tearfully, "What happened to treating all life as precious? How could you have thrown your ideals so quickly and so horribly!?"

"A-Asriel..." Mom spoke feebly.

She took a step towards me with outstretched arms, possibly attempting to hug me, disgusted, I quickly lurched away from her.

"Don't touch me!" I cried, "You're psychotic! You're horrible! You're sick!"

My vision was blurring, I felt woozy, I just wanted to disintegrate right then and there.

"I HATE YOU!" I screamed.

Without a second thought, I pushed past my mother, dashing out of the throne room, running as fast as I could through the castle. Even when I had found my way out of the castle, I didn't stop, I couldn't, I wanted to escape, to get as far away from her and this place as possible. So, I continued to sprint all the way through the Core, then Hotland and Waterfall, I'm pretty sure I heard other monsters call out to me as I ran, but, I payed them no mind, I couldn't stop now, I couldn't.

Eventually, after running for so long, I actually made it all the way to Snowdin Forest and found myself on a familiar pathway.

By now, the run had finally caught up with me, as well as the cold, but, that was not too much of a problem, thanks to my fur. My legs had become numb, making it impossible for me to run anymore, but, I still did not stop, I kept walking along the path until I came to a massive door.

I knew this door, I had been quite a long time since I had seen it, but I knew where it lead. It was Home, the first city the monsters had created after being forced underground after the war. It was also the place where I was born, where I lived with Mom and Dad for many years, until...Chara came. Chara lived with us here for a while, before we moved out to New Home.

As soon as I got to the door, I used our family's special spell to get it open, we were the only ones who could open it from either side, to every other monster, it would be locked from this side. I stumbled down the long corridor until I came to a flight of stairs, despite my legs being numbed, and now a bit sore, I managed to pull myself up the stairs. When I got to the top, I found myself back in my old house and I was amazed at the good condition it was in. It was like time had stood completely still, like it had not been abandoned for more than a day.

I staggered through the house, looking at everything, my mind instantly flooding with memories from so long ago, memories of just me and my parents living our days simply and peacefully. Somehow, without realizing it, I had made my way to the front entrance of the house and wandered out into the "yard", where a big, dead tree stood. I couldn't believe that it was still there after all this time.

However, it was then that my mood had gone from nostalgic to doleful, as I remembered that it was right here, right by this tree, that I had introduced Chara to Mom and Dad. I remember that day so vividly, I brought Chara here from the far edge of the Ruins, after I found him on the ground, hurt from his fall. Chara had said practically nothing the entire walk, about the only exchange we had at that time was our introductions.

Looking back on it, I remember now, how cold and indifferent Chara had been then, when I found him, when I brought him to Mom and Dad, when they offered to take him in. I didn't think much of it at the time, I chalked it up to him being in pain from his injuries and possibly having had a rough time on the surface.

But, now I think differently, after what has just recently happened, I am now certain that what I saw back then was a glimpse at who Chara really was. The Chara I knew after that, who shared a room with me, played with me, shared secrets with me, and listened to Mom and Dad's stores with me, was not real, none of it was real.

Lost in my thoughts and with my legs unable to go any further, I finally collapsed to ground in a slanted sitting position and proceeded to sob uncontrollably. Everything was ruined, everything that I knew was gone, Chara had lied to, betrayed, and deserted us, my dad was dead, and my mother had come completely unhinged.

The fact that it all happened so quickly only made it worse, Chara's betrayal and Dad's death had happened only yesterday, Dad's dust was still fresh in the garden of the throne room, and now, only moments ago, my mother went to the surface and murdered God knows how many people in cold blood.

Why did Mom have to do that!? Why!? Those humans had no idea what was happening, they saw a monster come into their village uninvited, they saw it kill a human, though they were unaware of the circumstances surrounding it. They were probably scared, horrified, they probably that they would all be killed, I'm sure they had families of their own that they were worried about.

How could she fault them for fearing for their lives, how would we have reacted if we found a human down here with a pile of monster dust at their feet?

"Daddy," I uttered in my despair, "I want Daddy."

I continued to wallow in sorrow, until I heard strange noises, shuffling, scraping, even croaking; I looked around and was surprised by what I saw. A small number of familiar looking monster folk had showed up, Froggits, Moldsmals, Loox, and Whimsuns were all looking at me curiously. I guess they must have heard me carrying on.

"Oh...um..." I replied meekly, "hello everyone, sorry if I disturbed you."

"*Ribbit* Prince Asriel? *Ribbit*" one of the Froggits croaked curiously.

"Yeah," I sighed, "that's me."

"What are you doing here?" a Loox asked, "Are you here by yourself?"

"*Ribbit* Yeah *Ribbit*," a Froggit added, "why isn't Chara with you?"

A Moldsmal then made a squelching noise.

"Yeah," a Loox voiced, "where are your parents?"

"And why were you crying?" a Whimsun added.

So many awkward questions all at once, but, from them it occurred to me that these monsters were unaware of the situation. I guess the news had yet to reach all the way out here, then again, it had only been one fricking day!

"Um...you guys didn't hear about it yet, huh?" I voiced, "Then, I guess, I better tell you..."

I explained the whole situation to the other monsters, the truth about Chara and what he did, Dad's demise, Mom's transgression, ending of course with why I was there now. Naturally, they were stunned.

"King Asgore is...dead?" a Whimsun whimpered.

"Queen Toriel really did that?" a Loox mumbled.

They didn't believe me immediately, I didn't blame them of course, who could, or would even want to, believe such things. But, when I began to tear up again after giving them the news, I guess they didn't doubt me any further.

"I don't wanna go home," I lamented, "I can't, I can't, I just can't."

As I rubbed my wet eyes, I was suddenly surrounded and hugged by some of the other monsters.

"Please, don't cry anymore your highness." a Whimsun murmured.

A Moldsmal made a quietly squishy noise.

"Yeah, you can always stay here with us for as long as you want." a Loox said.

Finally, I felt the first sense of true comfort since all of the bad things had happened.

"I guess I could stay here," I said docilely, "the old house is still intact and there's plenty of room here."

I tried to stand up, but, as soon as I did, I fell right back down, I guess my legs were still shot.

"Oh yeah," I told the surrounding monster, "by the way, I literally ran the entire way here."

Since I was unable to stand up, some of the monsters helped me back to the house, I asked them to take to my old room, so I could see how it looked after all this time. Just like the rest of the house, it looked just about the same at the rest of the house, like time had stood completely still. Everything was still here, my old wardrobe, my old dresser, my old bed, everything that was mine and mine alone. We left it all behind when we moved to New Home, because we had planned to fill the new castle only with brand new essentials.

"You've had quite the ordeal, your highness," the Loox at my right side said, "and you've come an awful long ways, on foot no less."

"*Ribbit* Why not rest for a bit *Ribbit*?" the Froggit at my left offered.

Feeling my desensitized legs quivering and my eyelids now surprisingly heavy, I could not help but concede.

"Yeah," I said, "I guess I could."

I climbed onto the bed and collapsed against the old pillow, too tired to mind the layer of dust coating its surface.

As soon as I was covered, my eyes closed, practically involuntarily, and I was out.

Yay, new chapter done.

I will get back to the Tyrantale finale, I just got distracted by some other games as of late, but, I am still working on it, I swear.