Over the next several days, Chara did not get better. They continuously coughed up blood, their hands had begun to swell and blister, and their eyes were red and puffy. The doctor had done routine check ups on the human every day, but had no idea how to help them. The doctor tried to use healing magic, as did Toriel and Asgore, but to no avail. They all knew what was coming, even if they didn't want to accept it.
Chara was dying.
Asgore and Toriel had barely left the human's side as they were ill, only leaving if they were needed for royal duties. They both did their best to make the human as comfortable as possible, and neither of them could stand to see the pain in Chara's face when they coughed up blood.
Asriel never once left the human's side. He had become a mess of tears and sobbing throughout the whole ordeal, but he never left them. His parents had asked him again if he knew what had happened, but Chara's words hung in his head. "Mr. King Dad and Mrs. Queen Mom can't know." Their plan also hung over Asriel like a dark shadow as he watched his sibling suffer. Absorb the soul, cross the Barrier, gather six more from the humans, free everyone. It had sounded so simple when Chara had first told him, but now the plan seemed anything but simple.
After several days, Chara awoke in the middle of the night and began coughing again. Toriel and Asgore were immediately at their side, holding a cloth to their mouth so they didn't cough up blood onto their sweater again. Asriel rushed over to them as well, wondering what he could do to help them. The human had been asleep most of the time they had been ill, their face always contorted in pain. The only time they ever really woke up was to cough up blood or to groan in pain. Toriel had tried to feed them simple meals such as soup or even just broth, but those meals always came back up.
Once Chara's coughing fit ended, they looked up at the three Dreemurrs. "I don't think I'm gonna get better," Chara said, their voice raspy and strained.
"Chara, do not speak like that," Toriel said. "You will get better."
Chara shook their head and asked, "Can I ask you all something?"
"Anything Chara," Asgore said. "What is it?"
"I want to see the golden flowers."
All three Dreemurrs looked at the human in perplexion. Asriel knew why they were saying what they were, but looked perplexed so as to not arouse suspicion from his parents. "Golden flowers?" Toriel asked.
Chara nodded weakly and said, "I want to see the golden flowers from my old town. Can I please see them before I die?"
Asgore and Toriel looked at each other sadly and didn't answer. "We will be right back," Asgore said, beckoning his wife to the door. As the two of them left, Asriel looked at his sibling again. Chara looked at him weakly and gave a half laugh, the laugh being incredibly strained.
"Go with them," Chara instructed.
"Chara?" Asriel asked.
"Go with them. I'll be fine. I won't die yet. You know what to do."
Asriel nodded sadly and left the room. He immediately heard his parents arguing to each other in their bedroom. He cautiously walked over so they wouldn't hear him and listened in on their conversation.
"What are we going to do?" Toriel asked.
"I do not know," Asgore said. "You know as well as I do that there is no way for us to cross the Barrier."
"Chara cannot cross the Barrier on their own either. We cannot even fulfill their dying wish."
"I wish there was a way we could…"
Asriel then accidentally bumped into the doorframe, alerting his parents of his presence. "Asriel, it is rude to spy on people," Toriel said.
"What are we gonna do about Chara?" Asriel asked, ignoring her chastising.
"I do not know my child. We cannot honor their wish, as much as we wish we could."
"Why not?" Asriel asked, playing dumb. The less suspicious he was, the better.
"Asriel, you know that they cannot cross the Barrier on their own," Asgore said. "When they die, they will still be stuck here. There is nothing we can do."
"Your Majesties?" a voice asked from behind Asriel. All three Dremurrs looked to see the doctor standing behind Asriel.
"Pardon me, but I am here to check on the state of Chara," the doctor said.
"Yes, of course," Asgore said, going to the doctor. Toriel and Asriel followed the two of them back to the bedroom. When everyone entered the bedroom, they all gasped at the state of the human.
Despite only leaving Chara alone for a few minutes, the human looked far worse than anyone had seen them. Their breathing had become incredibly shallow and their eyes struggled to remain open. They weakly looked over when the door had opened but couldn't do much beyond that.
The doctor quickly went over and started looking over the human, trying to get an analysis as to how bad they were. After looking over them for a while, the doctor beckoned the rest of the Dreemurrs out of the room.
Once outside, the doctor shook their head and said, "I'm sorry. I don't think they have much time left. I'm afraid that, the next time they try to sleep, they won't wake up.
Asgore and Toriel hung their heads at this news, while Asriel tried his best to not look uncomfortable. Whether he liked it or not, Chara's plan was going to come true sooner rather than later. "I will return tomorrow," the doctor said. "Please, do not hesitate to call if something happens."
The Dremurrs all nodded and the doctor left. "So there is nothing we can do," Toriel said gravely.
Asgore shook his head and voiced exactly what Asriel had been thinking.
"It's only a matter of time."
For the rest of the day, the family did all they could to make sure Chara stayed awake. They all feared that, when they fell asleep, Chara wouldn't wake up. In the middle of the night, Chara had a particularly violent coughing fit, spraying blood all over themselves. As they coughed, they knocked the old video camera off of their nightstand, but none of the Dreemurrs bothered to pick it up. The red light indicating the camera was filming turned on as Chara finished coughing and closed their eyes.
Toriel and Asgore immediately panicked and tried to wake the human up. Toriel's voice was choked up as she tried to wake the human up by gently shaking them. "Chara, can you hear me?" she asked, trying her best to keep her tears back. "We want you to wake up…"
Toriel could no longer hold her tears back and began to sob as Asgore tried to wake them to. "Chara!" he exclaimed. "You have to stay determined! You can't give up…" He trailed off as he too became incredibly choked up. Before he began to cry with his wife, he choked out, "You are the future of humans and monsters…"
Asriel then accidentally kicked the camera and the red light shut off. He realized that it was time as he sniffled out, "Mom, Dad, can I be alone with Chara? Just one last time?"
Toriel and Asgore looked at each other, then at the sleeping human, then at their son. "Of course Asriel," Toriel said, her voice almost a whisper. "We will be in our room. Tell us if anything happens."
Asriel nodded and the two adults walked out of the room. Asriel walked right up to his sibling and kicked the camera again accidentally, moving it under the bed as the red light came on. "Psst…" Asriel whispered, his voice laced with sobs. "Chara...Please...wake up...I don't like this plan anymore. I...I…"
He wanted to back out. He wanted to say he was too scared to go through with the plan. He wanted to tell Chara this was a bad idea. But he knew it had to be done.
Asriel sniffled and wiped his nose as he said, "...no, I said...I said I'd never doubt you. Six, right? We just have to get six...And we'll do it together, right?"
Chara then let out their final breath, their chest no longer rising and falling. Asriel gasped and tried his hardest not to cry as he saw a bright red Soul float out of Chara's body. The Soul began to shake and start to crack before Asriel reached out and grabbed it.
"Here we go…"