Notes from the author: I hope you all enjoy this chapter! The RecommendedVibe this time is It's OK, You're OK by Bonjr. It's fitting in everything from the ethereal, sad tone to the name itself. You should be able to easily find it on YT!
Anyway, to the story!
The squeak of pen on paper and gentle shuffling of paperwork were the only sounds in the LAB. The King and Queen had agreed to permit the experiments, albeit with a few more restrictions and regulatory procedures than the scientists had anticipated, and there was a vast array of papers that needed signing. Lambdys guided the monarchs through the multitudes of forms and waivers that needed to be read and agreed to. Chara sat wedged between the King and Queen, his brilliant grin somehow more radiant than before, and signed his each form with the finality and flare of a national hero.
Asriel paced back and forth across the LAB's main floor. His eyes occasionally flickered to the loft, where his entire family sat signing papers he had no part or play in. Part of him mourned the fact that Dr. Arnoob had already left; even though they barely knew each other, Asriel had found her liveliness and noiseness comforting. It was okay, though. He was okay. He would just wait, and they then would all go home, and then Mom would give them dinner and dessert and tuck them both into bed with a kiss. And then, as they were falling asleep, Chara would remember how much Asriel loved him, and everything would be good again.
He muttered these words with the hushed insistence people often do when they try to deceive themselves. The tile underneath his feet grew cold, and the pink pads of his feet cringed from their coolness. Asriel scrunched a fistful of his royal robes in his hands and twisted it back and forth, leaving a matrix of crumples and wrinkles behind. Maybe he just needed to get some fresh air? Fresh air. Yeah, that sounded good.
With quick, hurried steps, Asriel speed walked out of the LAB and took a seat on the dusty, baked stone pathway suspended above the lava. He dangled his feet over the edge and smiled as the heat brought back the feeling to his feet. His eyes drifted to the boiling red sea below him. Magma was such a strange thing. The hot, yellow sludge beneath bubbled and tore through the cooler sheet of orange on top, leaving strings of red and white in their wake. Puffs of scalding air drifted upwards at regular intervals. A blistering breeze ruffled Asriel's hair. He leaned back on his hands, letting his mind wander. What would happen if something fell down there? His claws scrabbled idly on the pathway and extracted a little hardened lump from the burnt earth. Eyebrows piqued, he tossed it into the magma below. It hissed furiously upon contact and was promptly silenced as it sank underneath layers of red and orange and yellow.
Wow.
What would happen if he fell in there?
"Prince Asriel, may I take a seat next to you?"
Asriel's muscles jerked in surprise, and he whipped his head around so fast that a bone popped and the fur of his neck grew very hot. His eyes landed on the thin, imposing form of Dr. Gaster, who had taken off his black lab coat and was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans.
For some reason, the odd normalcy of his outfit was comforting. Asriel scooted over and patted the spot next to him, not sure exactly how to phrase his answer to the Royal Scientist. Dust rose in pathetic clouds as Dr. Gaster took a seat beside him. Asriel folded his hands on his lap and stared anxiously at the ceiling.
"How are you feeling, young Prince?"
"...me?"
"Well, there is only one prince."
"No…" Asriel's eyes grew cloudy. "There's Chara too. Didn't you guys call him a prince during the presentation?"
"Indeed."
The fur above Asriel's eyes cinched together. He gave the Royal Scientist a look that was a cross between incredulous and genuinely confused.
"Why, why did you guys call him that? A prince, I mean?"
"Did the term disturb you?" Dr. Gaster questioned. The dark, empty pits that made up his eyes were trained on something far off.
A chord deep within Asriel twanged.
"No...no. No, it didn't. But, isn't that something you call the King and Queen's son?"
"I believe so," the Royal Scientist replied. There was a lingering confusion in his voice.
Asriel's chest blossomed with warmth, and an old hurt buried deep within his heart ached once again. He'd thought it healed a long time ago, but it stung with all the rawness and freshness of a newly-earned wound.
"...that would make Chara my brother, right?" Asriel whispered.
"Technically, yes," the scientist mused. Asriel's heart beat faster, and he hid his face in his hands. Dr. Gaster's head tilted to one side, and tiny pinpricks of light within the pits of his eyes flickered to life. Growing uncomfortable under the hard stare, Asriel subconsciously scooted away. "But Chara is no brother to you," the scientist remarked.
"What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
A crimson flush stained Asriel's cheeks. He felt his voice tighten with indignation.
"Chara's not bad."
"I didn't say he was."
The Prince huffed and turned to look at the flat stone ceiling above his head. His legs swayed over the edge. The fur of his feet was now browned and nearly blackened from the heat beneath, but he didn't feel a thing. "Chara...Chara's good! He wants to save monsterkind! He's, he's better than me!" Asriel's voice quivered as he pushed on. "I...I don't want the barrier to be broken. I'm selfish. He's...he's not selfish."
"What do you mean, you don't want the barrier to be broken?"
"I'm selfish," Asriel lamely supplied.
"We all are. You aren't answering my question."
If the air had been any less torrid, Asriel's face would have been wet with tears. But the air greedily sucked up the salt and water trickling down his face.
Oh, he was such a crybaby.
This was why Chara hated him. This was why Chara didn't want to be his brother or even be his friend. He was so selfish, so weak, so emotional...
"...what would happen to me?" Asriel heard himself mumble. "If we get to the Surface, I would become a prince of nothing. Who-what would I be?"
Dr. Gaster's shoulders fell. He settled his elbows on his knees and the lights in his eyes grew brighter.
"There is more to life than titles and prestige."
This wasn't the answer Asriel had been expecting. He looked at the scientist with wide, curious, questioning eyes, begging for elaboration. Dr. Gaster said nothing and explained nothing, and instead swung himself up on long, boney legs and extended a hand towards Asriel. He held out his gloved hand and pulled the Prince to his feet, leading him away from the pathway's edge.
"Trust me, Prince Asriel," Dr. Gaster began as they made their way back to the LAB, "You are the only one in the Underground worthy of this title. You always have been. You always will be. Your strength and determination will be the redemption of monsterkind. Not Chara's."
This wasn't supposed to be comforting.
But it was.
Asriel sighed and crumpled slightly under the weight of his pauldrons.
"I don't-"
"You don't have to believe me. The future will prove my statement to be true. I'll be going now, Your Majesty." Dr. Gaster walked ahead and hovered at the LAB's threshold. He placed a hand on the white sliding doors and looked back swiftly. "Is there anything else you would like to say?"
A tear dribbled off Asriel's face and landed on the hot, baked stone beneath with an angry hiss. The dirt around it darkened and crumbled.
"Dr. Gaster…please. Please take care of Chara for me."
The scientist's eyelights flickered and disappeared.
"I will, if only for your sake."
»»-««
The fire crackled. Asriel skated the metal underbelly of his spoon over the hard, sugary crust of his creme brulee. His back and chest felt curiously light after the pauldrons and heavy royal garments were swapped out for silken pajamas; he was so, so glad to finally be home. The muscles in his back groaned happily as Asriel rolled his shoulders in small circles.
"Are you going to eat that?" Chara questioned, setting his empty ramekin down and making a movement to take Asriel's.
"Yes. Wait, no, don't take it! Chara, no!" Squeals echoed off the living room walls as Asriel held his dessert above his head. His face broke out into a wide smile as Chara waggled his fingers threateningly.
"I'll tickle you if you don't..." Chara's dark eyes glittered playfully.
"No! It's mine! Mom! Mom! Mom, help me!"
Toriel chuckled from across the room. She wiped her hands on her nightgown, trying to scrub off the faint burning sensation the window cleaner fluid had left on her hands. A pun started to come together in her mind before Asriel let out a particularly loud squeal of protest.
"Gentlemen," she urged, "please try and keep it down. Your father is trying to sleep. And, Chara, please don't take Asriel's desert if he asks you not to."
"Okay, Mrs. Queen Mom," Chara conceded. If the chastisement had struck a chord with the dark-eyed, pale-skinned human, there was nothing to show for it.
"Asriel, please finish your creme brulee quickly. I would like you to both get to bed soon; it's been a very long day for everyone."
"Mmmkay."
Chara and Asriel settled back into a comfortable silence. Asriel pressed the tip of his spoon into the dessert, grinning as the sugar crust gave way with a satisfying crack, and scooped up the soft goodness inside. He half-expected Chara to be enviously observing the whole affair, but instead the human's eyes were trained on the fireplace embers.
"Think about that, Azzy," Chara said suddenly.
"Think about what?"
"The surface! You'll see the surface. And soon, too! Maybe we'll be up there before the end of the year."
"You think so?"
"Yup!" Chara's eyes grew even wider and the tips of his smile pushed harder against his cheeks. A pinkish glow spilled over the lower parts of his face. "Oh, I just can't wait. I can't wait!"
"What are we going to do when we get up there?" Asriel wondered, absently swirling his spoon in his ramekin and watching the sugar break up and sink into the dessert. "I know that, uh, you didn't like the people up there that much."
"Eh, I'll let them live." If Asriel had been any less acquainted with Chara's morbid sense of humor, something he'd begun to pick up from the Royal Scientists over the past few months they'd worked together, he would have flinched. "You know, who cares about them? Not me. Hey, what about this? When we get up there, I'll be an ambassador and make sure nobody gives monsterkind a hard time again. Ever."
"...what about me?"
"You can be an ambassador too, if you'd like."
"No, I mean, what's going to happen to me? Are you going to forget about...us?"
Chara's face darkened with incredulity. A tremendous weight lifted itself from Asriel's SOUL.
"Of course not. Asriel, you're my best friend. Ever heard the phrase 'kindred SOULS'?"
"Someplace, I think." That was a lie. He'd never heard of such a thing, but he wasn't about to admit that, especially with Chara looking so bright and animated as he did now.
"That's what we are. You know, when I was on the surface, there was this story an old man told me about two friends. One of them was a prince. The other one was a hero. They were best friends. They fought battles together. They laughed together. They protected each other when things were dangerous. One day, there was a war, and the hero had to fight on the opposite side of the prince. They were very sad, they made a promise to each other that, if the other one died, they would take care of the other's legacy: their things, their reputation, their kids, things like that. That story kind of reminds me of us."
Asriel clung to each word and turned them over with the reverent, hesitant heart of a jeweler appraising a precious stone.
Two friends. One hero, one prince.
Two friends. One human, one monster.
His SOUL burned with a vagrant, sojourning sorrow that only stayed a moment and disappeared into the recesses of his mind.
Asriel did not let himself cry. His next words came out steely and strong.
"Chara, do you want to make a promise like that?" Asriel's voice was so hushed it could barely be heard over the crackling fire.
"Like what? Oh, no, I'm never going to have kids," Chara said with the teasing tone often used to lighten a heavy mood. Asriel ignored it.
"No, not like that. Do you want to make a promise...a promise that we'll stick to each other no matter what?"
Their eyes met. Chara's were noncommittal and calculative. Asriel's were wet and determined.
Chara shrugged.
Asriel hugged the human so tightly he could feel Chara's collarbone pressing into his own.
He didn't want to ever let go.
Closing notes from the author: I've been waiting such a long time to share the last scene with you. It's the reason the fic is titled what it is; the story of Prince Jonathan and David from 1 Samuel has always broken my heart. Asriel is a sort of tragic, self-sacrificial hero in a way that always reminded me so much of Prince Jonathan.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought, and keep yourselves safe!