It was early morning, well past sunrise, but not too close to noon yet.
Two children, wearing jumpers identical to one another, were watching as their parents whispered to one another in their throne room. They perked up as they're parents tried to grab their attention. Asgore cleared his throat causing both of them to look up.
He smiled and turned bowing to Toriel. Who curtsied back. Taking up a waltzing stance and showed them through the steps, slowly. Asriel tilted his head as Chara sat back. The human child tilted their head absorbing the lesson with ease, meanwhile the small goatling frowned, not sure how to follow the moves.
As they glided around the throne room, with the ease that came with years of practice. Asriel curled up, wrapping his arms around his knees and resting his head on top, watching nervously as he looked over at his friend and sibling. Chara looked at them with vague interest. Asriel looked back at his parents faces' and blinked, they looked so happy. He stole another peek at Chara, wanting to move like his parents, if more for anything, than to see that same look on their face.
Unfortunately, their first time dancing was short of a wreck. His large feet were not as nimble as Chara. Chara seemed to posse the talent that all humans have to flawlessly mimic dance styles. Sadly, Asriel wasn't as talented constantly stepping on the others feet and occasionally hurting them on accident. At first, though, this didn't deter him.
It wasn't until after, what was the fifteenth time, did he pull away in frustration. Tears blurred the edge of his eyes as he turned away, disappointed and ashamed of himself. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over the other side and was met with warm honey eyes, they encourage him to try again.
He took a deep breath and turned taking their hand and took it slow, careful as they moved through the steps as one. It seemed like time slowed down. Only focusing on their eyes, their smile. He wished this feeling, would never end. He wished for his best friend, his sibling to be happy forever.
But that wasn't to be…
They passed on and himself before they got the chance.
When he awoke again, they were nothing more but a flower.
It took a while but they escaped, the lab they awoke in. They spent time with his father, but left seeing it was a waste of time, it was the same with their mother. One thing the small monster had come to wonder, not that they really cared was why their parents separated they were always so in love, but now.
Well, as stated before, they didn't care.
As time marched on he learned to master the reset ability- doing sometimes nice things, but more times than not he chose to hurt. Some deep part of him knew what it was like to be in pain and so he made it his mission for everyone to feel what he did.
It started off mainly watching others.
He found some monsters were more interesting to watch than others. Like the skeletons.
He found them the first time, at the waterfalls, it was a hidden away room from the rest of the main path to Hotlands. The ground was solid with only a few deep puddles, to allow smaller waterfalls to collect, the area was wide enough for them to practice, blue glowing echo flowers glowing around, with crystals shimmering above them. It was truly a beautiful place.
It started off small and slow, once catching an older skeleton teaching two younger ones to dance, one a bit older than the other. It took the small flower back to when he had another name. The older skeleton gracefully waltz in front of the younger skeletons.
The Flower was impressed, it was like watching his father, save for it being thinner and more gangly. He snickered to himself mirthlessly. Watching as the tall skeleton offered a hand to the younger boy. He wasn't much older than himself when he was starting to learn to dance.
And just like him, his first attempts were terrible.
He watched, hidden, as the child tried clumsily to follow his father? Uncle? Honestly he could have been a grandfather for all he knew.
So on it went, he would show them the steps and the older blue skeleton would try to follow, without much success. At one point the flower could see that all he wanted to do was give up. To be honest may he should have, but something stopped them, or rather someone. How could someone with no eyes hold the same expression, love, encouragement, warmth. Yet as the small skeleton sat at the place he fell down and curled up his head buried on his knees. The Oldest skeleton knelt to his level and said something.
The flower couldn't understand a word of what the skeleton said, but the meaning was universal, by the look and body langue, don't give up, try again. As he offered a hand to the child, he helped him up, and try again they did.
Of course eventually he found it boring and left them to their lesson.
As the years past they found other monsters interesting, the fish knight, the robot, even their own creator. As they went through the underground, he learned every dance style learned to mimic it flawlessly. If only to use it against other monsters.
Once again he came across the skeletons.
This time in the Snowy town, in a large field, it was late, when no one was awake at this hour. To be honest he was surprised to see them awake. Seemed they wanted to practice alone with no one around.
This time, there was only two skeletons, something happened to the oldest one. It was the blue skeleton teaching the small red clad skeleton to dance. His style was much different from the older skeleton. It wasn't uncommon but it was still a bit strange to see.
He showed the smaller monster a few moves then motioned for him to try. With mixed results, it seemed the blue skeleton's style wasn't for them. Blue didn't seem to mind if anything he motioned for them to try something else.
It went like that throughout the night, they'd try something he wouldn't like it, then they move on to the next style of dancing. The flower was more or less going to give up watching them, the smaller skeleton sat down in a huff in the snow, just as ready to give up. Then it happened again, that same look, those same words, don't give up, try again. For one moment it was like seeing Chara again.
As the years passed, the flower slowly grew bitter and angry at the world. He felt the world had robbed them of their best friend. Soon he began to take it out on anything and everything. True he'd have his fair share of resets thanks to the blue skeleton but none of that mattered, not without Chara.
Eventually, something different happened, another human fell, then another. Before long there was 6 more humans that had fallen below. It gave the flower a new goal, to finish what he and Chara began. To break the barrier and let their father begin a new war to wipe out the ones who had imprisoned them.
So he plotted and planned and guided until finally they only needed one more human.
When, finally, the last human they needed fell he felt like he was at the end of his journey.
There was one small problem though, this human was special, this human was different, right when he met them…This one made them feel- angry, sadness, confusion, fear and many more emotions that they hadn't in a long time. True it was faint, the memories of a bygone era, but still there.
They made their way underground, using the same abilities that he had. Sometimes, they were good, sometimes they were bad. 25 time, it took them 25 times to finally get it just right. To finally get to the end.
He was excited to dance on their grave, and when he absorbed every soul underground, save for the last human, he was ready to take it and finally put an end to the humans above ground.
As he readied to do his final dance, so ready to go to the surface and taste that crisp air. Finally end all of those humans, he felt their hand take his, true for most of the battle they seemed to have the upper hand. Reminding their friends, dodging his moves and dancing beside him, but this is different. They looked up at him and he looked away. Something about their look was unnervingly familiar.
As the music slowed and they dance, it felt so familiar, it all did. He didn't understand or know what they were getting at but he wasn't liking it because it made him feel bad.
He looked down as the human looked up at him, he glared, that look. So familiar and warm, loving, encouraging. He almost tripped over his feet as he realized where he had seen that look before.
He tried to stop but the human closed their eyes and pressed on forcing him to move. Even though he desperately wanted nothing more than to stop. This was their dance! How dare they dance Chara's dance with him. He bowed his head, feeling his vision blur.
They smiled up at him and moved slowly, whispering to him.
*You tell Asriel, to not give up and try again.
He stopped. Large tears rolled down his cheeks as he took a step away.
He couldn't go on. He…shouldn't go on…But this was the only way he'd get to see Chara, his Chara. His best friend Chara. The one he was doing everything for, the one who pushed him on. The one who wanted nothing more than monsters to walk above ground free from danger.
How dare they dance Chara's dance, he was supposed to dance this way with them, see them smile like that.
Yet…somehow…
It just felt so right to dance with them, as if they were Chara.
As the music stopped, as he felt everyone's love, it reawakened feelings he hadn't felt in the longest time, combining and growing.
This was wrong. All that he had ever done was wrong leading up to this moment.
He felt like nothing more than a child, the child he truly was. He cried as he never had before, feeling a presence loom over him, he looked up and spotted the human dancer. The ballet dancer. Seeing them, took him back to his first days learning to waltz like his parents with Chara. They even had that same look.
A smile that was warm and inviting.
And to be honest, he was done being cold.
