Chapter 8
After describing what Christmas was to all the monsters in the inn dining room, Chara would not open up about anything else Asriel asked about. There was so much about not only the surface that Asriel wanted to know, but he also wanted to know about Chara's life on the surface. Yet he couldn't get Chara to talk about anything, not even after they had returned to the castle. Getting Chara to talk about the surface, albeit a little, was one thing, but getting Chara to talk about his own life there was another thing altogether. It was as if Chara wanted to completely forget about living there. Asriel may have not known what unhappy reason Chara had for climbing Mt. Ebott, but he started to consider that perhaps the unhappy reason was the life itself Chara had lived prior to his climb.
"Chara!" Asriel called as he flung open the door to their bedroom to find Chara sitting on the floor. It had only been a week since they returned from Snowdin, but Chara still carried the sadness he picked up during their visit. After breakfast, Chara dismissed himself to their room so he could draw. Yet in the hour Chara had been locked in this room by himself, there was nothing drawn on any of the sheets of paper in front of him. Even the crayon in hand was held as if it too was unable to create.
"Chara?" Asriel slowly walked forward and sat across from Chara. "Hey, are you okay?"
Without a word, without even so much as looking at Asriel, Chara nodded.
"Do you want to go outside and hunt for bugs?" Asriel offered. "Or maybe sit in the garden and read? I know how much you like to do that!"
Just as wordlessly as before, Chara shook his head.
Asriel frowned. This was more than the rain cloud Chara sometimes had over his head. If Asriel didn't know any better, he would think this was a different person.
"Is there anything you want to do?" Asriel tried, his eyes welling with tears.
For a moment, Chara sat there. Then, he shook his head again. Not once since Asriel stepped into the room did Chara ever turn his attention towards his brother.
"Okay." Asriel said after a minute. He turned around, walked out of the bedroom, and softly closed the door behind him. Worry gnawed at his stomach, but Asriel tried to ignore it. For a split second, Asriel considered talking to his parents, but he pushed the thought away. There was something Asriel had to do to cheer Chara up. He just had to figure out what.
"Thank you for meeting me one such short notice, Queen Toriel," said Ms. Ivey, a plant monster that had a green, humanoid body save for her head, which was a large dandelion without a visible face.
"Of course," Toriel replied as she sat across Ms. Ivey at a table outside the café. "When your children's tutor requests to speak with you, it is of upmost importance than the meeting be held immediately. You would not ask to speak with me if you were not concerned about the wellbeing of my children."
"Child, more specifically," Ms. Ivey corrected. "Asriel, as always, continues to perform excellently with his studies. Such a bright child with an even brighter future ahead of him."
Although the praise towards Asriel filled Toriel with a sense of pride, that pride was quickly replaced with worry as she stated, "Then it is Chara you wish to discuss."
Ms. Ivey nodded. "As you may recall, Chara has always excelled in language and arts but has struggled in math and sciences."
"Yes, I recall," Toriel said, "but what does this have to do with now?"
"Well, you see . . . Chara is an intelligent child, but I am starting to fear that they are becoming lazy."
"What do you mean?"
"Chara's grades in language and arts have dramatically fallen, and I don't think they're even trying with math and science. Queen Toriel, on the last math test I gave your children, Chara only filled in one blank on that entire test: their name. Despite Chara's struggles with the subjects, they always gave it their best try. Yet as of late, Chara has been trying less and less. It is as if they do not care anymore. I fear if Chara remains on this path, it may negatively affect their quality of life as they grow older."
With each word Ms. Ivey spoke, Toriel's heart sunk more and more. Now that Ms. Ivey had mentioned it, Toriel had indeed noticed that Chara had not been as active as before. Getting Chara to do their chores was a chore in and of itself.
Although Toriel did not want to ask, she knew it was better for her to question, "How may Chara's quality of life be affected by their current behavior?"
Ms. Ivey tapped her pointer finger against the table as if deciding the best way to answer. "As much as I with my profession do not wish to say it, academic excellence is not necessary for a high-quality life. Good grades do not equate to a good life after school.
"However, there is a correlation between one's work ethic and their quality of life, and Chara's work ethic – that is, how hard they try with their schooling – has taken a dramatic plunge. If Chara continues to be lazy, they are setting themself up for a life spent struggling. I fear that being adopted by the royal family may eventually give Chara a sense of entitlement, if they haven't developed it already."
"But Chara is the least entitled person I have ever met," Toriel tried to argue in favor of her human child.
"So that may be what you currently see," Ms. Ivey argued back. "The lack of effort they are currently displaying may very well be the first sign. If we are to protect the future of your child, we are going to have to take action sooner rather than later."
Forcing herself to swallow past the lump in her throat, Toriel asked, "What do you suggest? I could try tutoring Chara myself. I think if I worked with him myself—"
"With all due respect, Your Majesty," Ms. Ivey interrupted, "you are in no position to tutor either of your children. I know how much you want to be a teacher, but your queenly responsibilities prevent you from fully committing yourself to educating. That is why you have hired me to tutor your children instead of your doing it yourself."
Toriel opened her snout to argue but then closed it. Ms. Ivey was right. As much as Toriel wanted to be a teacher – a dream she had since she was a little girl living on the surface – she knew being queen made teaching difficult for her. She would never know when she would have to be away from home for days or even weeks at a time. Asriel and Chara needed consistency, even if life as a queen was not always consistent.
"Then," Toriel began slowly, no longer able to look Ms. Ivey in the eyes, "what do you suggest for Chara?"
"Tighten the reins, and increase the workload," Ms. Ivey said as if she had been waiting the entire meeting to say as much. "I don't think Chara is being stimulated enough, thus resulting in their lazy attitude. If I make their work more challenging, then perhaps it would motivate Chara to once again show me the effort they were putting in before.
"As for you, your majesty, I would recommend being stricter with Chara. No, don't protest. I can see in your face that you do not wish to do such a thing, but please, listen to me. Anyone can see you care for the child. Too much, possibly. I have heard rumors that you might even love Chara more than you love Asriel.
"Now, of course I know that is utter nonsense, but I do not blame anyone for thinking otherwise. After all, you smother the human. You do whatever it takes to keep them safe. For God's sake, Toriel, you even filed down your fire pokers! Don't you think that was a bit extreme?"
If you saw the scars I saw on Chara's body, you would understand why I did the things I did and do the things I do for the child.
Sitting upright, Toriel stated, "I have my reasons for protecting the child, even above Asriel at times. Every single monster Underground loves and respects Asriel. They look to him as their future king. Chara does not have that same love and respect. Some monsters distrust them. I fear there are others who would hurt Chara for their soul. Am I being, as you put it, extreme? Perhaps. Nonetheless, I will do whatever I can to keep Chara safe. The child is my responsibility now. I will not allow myself to fail them."
Ms. Ivey sighed. "Such pretty words. You know, Queen Toriel, I was too young to remember life on the surface when we were sealed Underground. I have never interacted with humans until your human fell through a hole in the mountain. However, you, I am aware, used to live with humans before the war. I know you care far too deeply for the species that murdered hundreds of our kind."
Flinching, Toriel was at a loss for words. The way Ms. Ivey said those words was almost like a slap to the face. Doubts began to rise within Toriel.
"The point is," Ms. Ivey continued, "you care far too much for Chara, and it might be contributing to their newfound laziness. Being a part of the royal family alone can lead to a sense of entitlement, but with the queen herself treating the child as some precious treasure to be protected—"
"How am I to know that you are speaking for Chara's benefit and not out of some sense of prejudice?" Toriel challenged. "Your distaste for humanity is starting to become evident to me, and I can only imagine that it pains you for a human to now be royalty over you."
"Okay, you have seen past me. I have strong negative feelings towards humanity for what they did to us." Ms. Ivey confessed. "How are we to know whether Chara's grandfathers fought in the war? How many monsters have died in the hands of Chara's ancestors? Do you think that doesn't cross my mind whenever I look at the child?
"However, I have been a teacher for decades, and I can separate my personal feelings from my professional career. What I see in Chara now is no different from what I have seen in monster students in the past. Chara may be lazy out of rebellion, or they may be lazy out of boredom; but whatever the case, they need to be held to a higher standard. I will increase Chara's workload appropriately, and I will expect the same time to complete the work as when there was less for Chara to do. As for you, there needs to be more discipline in the house. Trust me, the stricter environment will be good for your child."
As much as Toriel wanted to argue, she felt she was not in the position to do so. Ms. Ivey truly did have more experience than Toriel in matters such as this. Although Toriel had her doubts in the procedure, she did trust that Ms. Ivey knew what she was talking about.
"Okay, I will listen to your advice," Toriel finally said. "Where do you suggest we start?"
It took a lot of coaxing and even almost begging, but Asriel was able to talk Chara out of leaving their bedroom to sit in the garden. Now that the children were there, they say near the bushes and listened to the birds whose songs entered through the holes in the mountain and filled the throne room with music. It was peaceful, and when Asriel cracked open an eye to look at Chara, he saw that his brother appeared more alive than he did in the bedroom.
Chara sat stone still, his eyes also closed. Yet there was the faintest smile upon his face. It seemed getting Chara to sit in the garden was the right way to cheer him up after all.
As if sensing what Asriel was thinking, Chara muttered, "Thanks for dragging me out here."
"I just want you to be happy, Chara," Asriel replied. "I know how much you like flowers and Dad's garden. If anywhere in the castle was going to cheer you up, it was going to be here."
Opening his eyes, Chara looked at Asriel and smiled. The rain cloud was still there, Asriel could tell. Yet in this moment, Chara gave Asriel hope that Chara will be happy again in time.
