Ch. 21: Sickness

Warning for depictions of blood and other symptoms of buttercup poisoning. I changed the rating for this story to a T rating to avoid getting in trouble, but we'll see.

"Asriel?!" Toriel called as she and Asgore ran into the throne room. They both gasped as they saw their son standing over Chara's body, weeping. "Asriel, what is going on?!" Toriel asked.

"It's Chara," Asriel said through his tears. "They're sick. I-I don't know what happened, bu-but they just collapsed!"

Both parents immediately rushed over to the children and Asgore bent down to look at Chara. The human had saliva dripping down their chin and Asgore cautiously picked them up. "We should get them to bed," he instructed. Asriel nodded and followed behind his father as Asgore carried Chara to their bedroom.

He laid the human down on their bed and gently tucked them in under the covers. Toriel looked down at her son and said, "Asriel, I need you to answer me honestly. Do you know what happened?"

Asriel looked at his mother, then back at Chara. Their voice echoed in his brain, "Mr. King Dad and Mrs. Queen Mom can't know."

"I...I don't know," Asriel mumbled.

Toriel sighed and said, "Well, the best we can do for now is to try and help them recover. I do not know much about human diseases or sickness, however."

"We shall do our best to try and help them," Asgore said.

The three Dreemmurrs looked at the human laying in the bed, all worrying about what would happen next.

"Mmmm."

Asriel was the first to hear it. He jumped up from where he was sitting on his bed and rushed to the human's side. Asgore and Toriel stood from the chairs they had brought in and were immediately at Chara's bedside.

"Chara?" Toriel asked.

Chara slowly opened their red eyes and looked blearily at the three goat monsters. They tried to sit up in the bed, but winced in pain and grabbed their stomach as they did so. All three monsters tried to coax the human to lay back down, but Chara waved them off as they shakily sat up.

"Hey guys," they said weakly before they began to cough. To the monster's horror, Chara coughed up blood and stained their sweater red.

"Oh my!" Toriel exclaimed. She immediately jumped into action and rushed to grab a towel for the human to cough into instead. Asgore grabbed them a new sweater out of the closet to replace the one that they had coughed on. Chara continued to cough into the towel while both Asgore and Toriel helped them change into the new sweater.

"Chara, can you tell me what hurts the most?" Toriel asked once they stopped coughing.

"My stomach," Chara said weakly before lurching over. They began coughing again, more blood coming up.

Toriel turned to her son and said, "Asriel, I want you to go fetch a doctor."

"I don't wanna leave them though!" Asriel exclaimed through his tears.

"Asriel, I am not asking." The serious tone of Toriel's voice was enough to make Asriel shrink back slightly as she said, "Go."

Asriel nodded meekly and ran out of the room to fetch a doctor while Asgore and Toriel hung over Chara. Both goat monsters tried to make the human as comfortable as possible, but Chara just continued to cough up blood and grow more pale.

After what felt like an eternity, but was in reality only half an hour, Asriel ran into the room holding the hand of a monster in a white doctor's coat. The doctor seemed very flustered, but bowed when they saw Asgore and Toriel. "Your majesties," they said as they bowed.

"No time for any of that now," Asgore dismissed. The doctor nodded and stood, trying to assess the situation. "It is our human child," Asgore explained to the doctor. "They have gotten incredibly ill."

"I see," the doctor said, looking at Chara. "Can you explain to me what has happened? Your son tried to explain when he went to fetch me, but I couldn't understand him."

Toriel looked down at Asriel, who had tears streaming down his face, and hugged him tightly. She began to speak with the doctor as Asriel cried into her robes. "We are not quite sure what has happened. Chara and Asriel were in the garden when Chara suddenly collapsed. They began to drool and their eyes were puffed up. Their breath has been very ragged, and when they woke up, they started coughing up blood."

"Hmm, interesting. Do you know if the children were doing anything that would warrant what has been happening?"

Toriel looked down at her son, who was still crying into her robes, and pulled him away slightly. "Asriel, I am going to ask you again," she said, keeping her motherly tone while also still being slightly strict. "Do you know why Chara has become like this?"

"Mr. King Dad and Mrs. Queen Mom can't know."

Asriel looked at Chara, then at his mother, then at the doctor, before finally settling his eyes on the ground. "I don't know," he said, his voice a whisper so quiet the adults could barely hear.

"Alright," the doctor said. "I will need to have you all leave the room for a bit while I try to assess Chara here."

The Dreemurrs all nodded and left the room, hoping the doctor could figure out what had happened.

The doctor emerged from the room with a grim look on their face. All three Dreemurrs immediately rushed to the doctor and Toriel immediately asked, "How are they doing?"

"Not very well your majesty," the doctor said gravely. "Unfortunately, I don't know much about human diseases. Nobody down here does. I cannot be sure what has happened to Chara. The best we can do is hope that this sickness passes and they recover."

"That's all?!" Asgore exclaimed, trying to contain his rage. "That's all you could do?!"

"I truly am sorry, your majesties. I will come back tomorrow to check on them."

Seeing no other option, Asgore and Toriel nodded, allowing the doctor to leave. Toriel then turned to her husband and asked, "Asgore, what are we going to do?"

"There is nothing we can do," Asgore said. "We will have to do as the doctor said and hope that Chara recovers. Come, we should be with them."

The three monsters then returned to the bedroom, where Chara looked even worse than when they had left. Their skin was sickly pale and their hair stuck to their forehead that was sheened over in sweat. Their sweater had become covered in blood yet again, so Asgore went to fetch them another sweater.

As he and Toriel helped change Chara, they both couldn't help but notice that their hands had begun to swell and blister. The human winced in pain as they were moved to be changed into clean clothes, and they coughed yet again. When they coughed, they spewed blood onto Toriel's white ears. The goat monster ignored this and continued to dress her child, wanting the human to be as comfortable as possible.

Once Chara was dressed, they looked incredibly worn out and Asgore said, "Perhaps we should let them rest for the night."

"Is that what you want Chara?" Toriel asked. Chara nodded weakly and Toriel said, "If that is what you wish. We will stay with you through the night though, alright?"

Chara nodded again and laid back down, closing their eyes. Their face scrunched up in pain as they attempted to go to sleep, and Asgore and Toriel sat in the chairs they had brought in. "Asriel, you should rest," Toriel instructed her son.

"But what if something happens?!" Asriel insisted, the fur on his face matted with tears.

"Alright, you may stay up if you wish. It is going to be a long night."