CHAPTER 2: CHARANS
The hybrid skeleton monster/human sat in the middle of the living room deep in thought sitting cross-legged on the floor with their arms crossed over their chest.
"What about Chans as a name?" Chara suggested to Sans, talking to the monster that he now shared a body with.
It had only been a day and a few hours since the fight with Betty, and so everyone was only really just starting to recover from their injuries and trauma and so on from the battle. After depositing Asriel, Gaster and Papyrus over at the Arena where Toriel and Asgore were, as they looked the most exhausted after the fight. Chara had been controlling their hybrid body, checking up on the humans and monsters and taking note of those most in need of healing and made sure they got the help they needed as well as the casualty count for both races. Them being the Ambassador and all, they also made sure to inform them the danger had passed, and one hour into nighttime they had finally returned home. Or, what was left of it.
The next day, after they'd all had a good breakfast, thanks to Toriel's cooking, and once Chara had felt Sans coming back to consciousness, his magic slowly returning. They had decided to take time out to first focus on name ideas for their new hybrid body before telling everyone about the metaphorical elephant in the room about who they were and also question Sans for why he'd started to melt suddenly and what had happened to him, after rescuing him from the HATE Betty had given him.
Chara thought a name to call themselves could also help know what to call themselves now, considering they technically weren't just "Chara" and "Sans" anymore. Even though they both still retained their own individual memories and personality. And just their SOULs and body had merged but both could still control their new body individually or even together, as hinted by the color of their eyelights.
Although Chara also wasn't afraid to admit it to themselves and Sans that it was also half to not focus on the trauma of the past three days as well and for stalling purposes, sensing how Sans really didn't want to relive his own almost-death again. Though Chara couldn't blame him
Chara knew Sans and everyone had been through a lot, and he especially didn't want to freak out their new soul roommate by recalling the details of what had happened to him since Betty stole his soul, up to when they reunited again when Betty had used Sans against Chara in their fight before Papyrus saved Sans. Chara thought this would have been a good excuse to avoid the topic for as much as possible, and to buy time for Sans to relax a bit now that he was conscious again within his SOUL. Not to mention too, Chara was getting tired of not knowing what the heck to call themselves, or having both their families not know either when addressing them.
It felt 'wrong' in a sense when their families called them by their former names, as even though Chara indeed chose to fuse with Sans soul for a noble cause, to save his life. They were now stuck like this permanently, and their SOULs could not be separated. As doing so would kill one of them for sure. Or even both, if done sloppily.
Sans was still quite tired despite the time that he had spent resting in their hybrid body while Chara remained in control, and the breakfast that they had had . But, that was to be expected, considering that his SOUL was only about half full of magic right now or less. Since he was at maybe 0.10% magic by the time Chara had fused with him.
Sans always had superb magic reserves. Partially, it was his because it was his body's own way of making up for his poor stats and especially weak 1HP. He needed something to be able to defend himself with. Which was the main reason why Sans was able to shortcut and teleport his way around, momentarily freeze time, and so on. However, now since he was fused with Chara, it felt he had way more, having his own determination to boost his magic from the small sliver Gaster had injected him with, mixed along with a little of Undyne's blood. And now access on top of that to Chara's own indefinite amounts of DT too.
It would definitely take a lot more to recover his magic back to full. But it was enough in the meantime. At least to keep him conscious while they talked.
"eh, i don't know chara." He replied tiredly, though Chara could tell that he was very grateful that they were using this to help avoid having to explain, well, everything. These past few days had been bad enough as it was, and Sans was not looking forward to relieving it all again. "it doesn't really sound right, if you get what i mean."
"Hmmm, you're right. It sounds too cutesy." Chara told them, thinking harder. "Sanchara? No… it doesn't roll off the tongue too well. Sansra? Sanara?"
"What about Sara?" Asriel suggested, trying to be helpful. He was sitting by the Hybrid as well, along with Papyrus who was watching them a little anxiously, never wanting to leave his brother's side.
Sans could feel how worried Papyrus was about him, even though he was also extremely grateful that he hadn't lost the one person that had always been by his side forever. But still, for Papyrus it still felt odd, feeling his brother's presence and magic around him, but not seeing him. In a sense. Only the blue tint to the Hybrids left eye socket giving any sort of indication that Sans was also now sharing half control at least to speak.
"That sounds like Sarah, and that's a girls' name. Good try tho Az, but hmmm..this is hard." Chara frowned, almost pouting in frustration. "Uh, Pappy? How about you? Have you got any name suggestions?" Chara asked.
"HUH? OH...I DON'T KNOW…" Paps said, scratching the back of his elbow, shifting his sockets to the side. Part of him not wanting to call them anything but the name 'Sans' and 'Chara,' but he knew that wasn't who they were now and he was struggling wrapping his skull around this entire situation. He just missed his older brother so much, and he felt so alone even though he knew Sans was still there, feeling his soul strongly now in nearly 24 hours and that sensation brought some feeling of comfort for Papyrus but not nearly enough.
Papyrus just wanted his brother to have his own body back so bad, he wanted to hug Sans and never let him go. To protect him from the world, and feeling as though it was partly his fault for not protecting them faster and maybe Sans wouldn't have pushed himself that far to start melting for an unknown cause. Even though Paps also knew that was silly to think about, since Sans had told him he was still slowly dying anyways.
Even if Sans hadn't pushed himself, it would have maybe bought Sans another 5 minutes or so until he probably started melting anyways. Maybe it was better this way, and Chara had absorbed his brother's soul. At least Sans wasn't dead, his soul shattered and him gone for good. He was still alive. Just, sharing a body now. But he was here. Alive and well. Papyrus shouldn't be ungrateful.
Right?
Chara looked back at Papyrus, feeling a bit guilty as he noticed how Paps shifted in place, feeling bad for the younger skeleton and sighed. Chara was determined, but he wished he knew what to say to make Papyrus feel better. It was weird and wrong seeing him so sad beneath that smile of his. It reminded him of Sans at times.
Sans had also made a mental note to talk to Papyrus about this later, as he hated seeing his brother this upset and didn't want him to suffer in silence.
'even though that's what i did. and still do.' He thought to himself, thinking about the resets and the countless timelines he'd been brought to the Surface, and then thrust right back Underground again only to see everybody killed and then killed himself eventually, and then most recently with what Betty had done, and how he was still hesitating to talk about it, before quickly pushing the thoughts aside, somewhat hoping that Chara hadn't noticed.
Chara felt Sans thoughts and suddenly just really wished that he could hug both the brothers in an act to comfort them both, almost even doing so and reaching out slightly wanting to grab Papyrus, but he held back. Knowing full well he was the reason why Paps was so sad at the very least. 'Paps is never allowed to be sad,' Chara thought. So used to Paps being the sensible, happy one who always, always looked for the positives in life and believing in everyone. Chara couldn't help but doubt whether he did the right thing or not in this sometimes.
Papyrus seemed to sense this, and thus, forced a smile not liking that he was bringing everyone down. He was the Great Papyrus after all! "UUH, WHAT ABOUT CHARANS?" Papyrus piped up.
"Hmm… "Charans" huh?" Chara asked, kinda liking how it sounded. "'I am "Charans," the demon that comes when people call it's name.'" Chara thought too himself, liking it more and more with their little angsty, edgy nickname he'd given himself when he and Asriel were playing and made up their edgy names for each other. "What do you think Uncle Sans?"
"i like the sound of that. good idea bro." Sans said out loud, their body's eyelights both flashing blue as he took control and smiled happily at his brother.
"I like it too!" Azzy agreed, nodding his head, his little floppy goat ears bouncing with the movement.
"Hehe, sure. Alright, Charans it is then!" Chara agreed happily. "Charans Dreemurr the skeleton?" Chara blanched, also suddenly realizing the other elephant in the room and not really knowing who's family they belonged to. His mind seemed to freeze in place, not really wanting to leave Asriel, or Toriel and Asgore. And he knew Sans wouldn't want to be separated from his own family either.
A sudden feeling also occurred for him, and that was the fact that technically, now he and Sans were, theoretically neither Monster nor Human anymore. Physically anyways, and who knows in other ways too... Would this cause problems for trying to get peace? What about Chara's job as the Ambassador? What even were they if neither one?
How would the humans react seeing this new being? Yesterday they reacted fine, but it might have been because some were still in the initial shock from the Betty fiasco. But still- What if all they'd done up to this point was undone because of Chara's actions?
"chara, i'm sure it will be fine." Sans said comfortingly to him. "even after asgore revealed that he killed those children, the only person that tried to get revenge on monsterkind soon regretted their actions. i think it's safe to say that humans have accepted us." Although he was trying to comfort Chara, Sans still shivered a little when he mentioned Jessica, even though he did believe what Papyrus had told him, that she regretted what she had done and redeemed herself, it still brought back some bad memories for him and his feelings about her were still somewhat complicated.
"I don't know...Humans have a tendency to get violent and scared whenever it comes to anything that they don't understand." Chara said bitterly, it was obvious they still had that habit of not liking humanity too much, even now and Chara hated that he still fell into old habits even if it was somewhat true.
"but they still mostly accepted us basically as soon as we escaped the underground, hell the amd has been completely disbanded now."
"Yeah, I know but...still," Chara argued, as he tried to stay determined. Sure, Sans had a point but humanity was fickle and oftentimes, both predictable and not at the exact same time. Humanity would always find some reason or another to disagree over stupid stuff. Racism, Feminism and Womens' rights, LGBT people, Magic and non magic, Monster Rights. All the same.
Chara could just see it now, and it pissed him off. They'd ignore the fact a 14 year old boy decided to save his friend through fusion and that they're still technically two separate people. They might even write it that the Monsters Ambassador was killed or something in the headlines. They'd then complain that their new hybrid body was double dipping in both Human and Monster resources, even though not even Chara and Sans knew how this worked yet.
Chara had been in a Human/Monster hybrid body before but it lasted only around 10 minutes before he and Asriel had both been killed. This one, hopefully would last a lot longer, if he had anything to say about it.
They could also very well just see 'Charans' as some kind of freak-of-nature, and probably sell them off to a Circus… Probably do some horrible experiments on them, see how they tick. They'd be tortured…
What if their family also got hurt because of them? Because of Chara's brash decision to save Sans' life without thinking about the consequences first?
Of course, Chara didn't think about the consequences again before acting…
'Now, you understand. It's time to begin your judgement. Look inside yourself. Have you really done the right thing? And, considering what you've done… What will you do now?' Sans voice spoke up, in a far-off distant memory, sounding slightly different without his comic sans accent to it, as memories seemed to flood Chara's mind. He seemed to be speaking to a black silhouette of a kid that looked like Chara but he could not make out their face, the memory glitching. And Chara just a little ways from them, still a ghost and very much dead.
But then….why did it also feel like Sans was telling THEM that?
Chara winced a bit, trying to remember the child that was outlined all in black and in shadow. 'Who...was that?' Chara thought, as he struggled against the slightly growing headache as he struggled to remember. Somehow, he knew Sans wasn't talking to him, even as the shadowy, glitchy child kept turning into Chara. He just knew it wasn't since Chara was supposed to still be dead then.
Sans mentally noticed this, focusing his magic inward to gently poke at Chara's soul. Waking him up from the lucid daydream.
Chara frowned, trying to refocus again on what was directly in front of them and the here and now. "I-I'm just saying...We all probably still shouldn't let our guards down. Who knows how humanity is gonna react to all this? I just don't want another War on our hands and it turns out to be all our-...my fault." Chara said, stopping himself. Part of him wanted to still say 'our' just so he wouldn't feel alone in all this, but the truth was, if Monsterkind did in fact start suffering again, it really would be all Chara's fault.
Because, once again, Chara had reacted without thinking first.
Because he was still just a dumb little kid, making dumb mistakes, still not thinking things through before acting, still going off and ruining things as he always did. People always paying the consequences for loving dumb old Chara.
Clumsy Chara. Lying Chara. Stupid Chara.
'Just smile and laugh away the pain.' Chara thought to themselves, retaking control just to clench their hands into a fist, still tucked beneath his arm and over their chest. This isn't going to end the same way it did with you and Asriel. You learned. You'll be more careful this time. You won't get anyone killed again this time, He told himself.
"chara…" Sans interrupted, before waiting until he had the humans full attention before he continued. "i understand your fear, hell i'm afraid to. but you need to remember that it's not your fault if another war happens, okay? it's not your fault if some human decides to be terrible again. because remember, if you hadn't done what you did...i...i..wouldn't even be alive right now. all you wanted to do was save the life of a friend and there's nothing wrong with that. and right now, there's nothing that we can do about it but move forward and deal with whatever the world decides to throw at us." He continued gently, before wrapping them in a tight mental hug, sending his magic over slightly, and all the love, hope and compassion that made Monsters over to Chara, wrapping up the human soul glued to his own monster one in gentle warmth.
Chara stayed silent, although he was grateful for the mental hug, still brewing over a ton of 'what-ifs' and trying to tell himself he's not gonna get Sans killed like he'd done to Asriel. Not again.
Asriel and Pap stared at them, not knowing what either of them should say to cheer Chara up.
"Ch-Cha...I don't think Mom would just..kick you out of the house, even if you did look like this now." Asriel spoke up, gently after a minute passed. "We accepted you into our home, just 20 years after the War and treated you like one of us. You'll always be our Chara. And my brother. No matter what you may look like now. And, you know how Mom is. I'm sure she'd even let Pap and Gaster stay too so they can still be with their family too."
Asriel also then added. "And, Dads been alone for so long since… I'm sure he'd be more than willing to accept everyone here when he wakes up! It'll be exactly the same just- slightly bigger with having two Dads and 2 extra siblings."
Chara looked up at Asriel's face, seeing the hopeful look on the goat monster's face and smiled. "Y-yeah..maybe you're right."
"and i'm sure that you guys, tori, fluffy buns and dad would be okay with us being a part of both of our families." Sans said tiredly, briefly taking control again so that he could speak out loud as well
Paps smiled, a little more genuine this time, and hope filled his still aching, tired and lonely soul that he wouldn't have to be separated from his brother. "NYEHEHEH! I ALSO AGREE! LADY ASGORE IS SO KIND AND WELCOMING, AND YOU, SANS AND HER ARE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS TOO, I DO NOT SEE WHY SHE WOULDN'T ACCEPT US? UNLESS, MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE YOU WERE ALWAYS SUCH A SLOB BROTHER! HOPEFULLY CHARA CAN HELP YOU FIX THOSE BAD HABITS!" Papyrus added, teasingly.
Chara smirked at Papyrus gentle teasing, searching inwardly at Sans and could almost feel Sans feeling embarrassed and laughed.
Sans retreated a little from his link with Chara, their shared body cringing as he was still in control, seeming embarrassed but not super upset or anything, especially since Chara could tell that he was laughing a little as well. "alright, alright. i'll try and keep our room a little cleaner, alright?"
"Don'tcha mean our room? Haha, don't worry. I'll help keep it clean." Chara also teased, joining in on the fun, gently making their right eye glow red, so they both could share control at the same time.
Asriel chuckled too, already feeling like a family and they hadn't even yet brought it up to Toriel and Gaster whom he could still faintly hear through the walls arguing in one of the guest rooms. Asriel was grateful at least they weren't arguing in Asgore's room where he was still healing and unconscious.
Asriel shuddered as he recalled yesterday, seeing his father like that, and then finding out Mom had been the one who'd injured their dad so badly because of Betty's influence while Asriel was still under the control of the Hate. How it had made Asriel so viciously mad at his mother but luckily, Asriel was too tired to have done anything, having used up a lot of his magic in trying to heal Papyrus when Gaster was accidentally draining him.
Asriel still held some resentment towards Tori and refused to look her in the eyes that morning, or even speak to her even as everyone ate and replenished their energy and magical levels. Asriel himself continued to ignore her, even as Chara and Papyrus tried to gain peace among their small family.
Gaster too seemed to be just as angry at Toriel for what she did to his friend, which was why they were arguing.
Asriel still was worried for their father and hoped he'd make it through somehow and survive.
Sans noticed Asriel's distress and immediately teleport-glomped him, then continued hugging him tightly.
Chara, also sensing Asriel's distress and worry through the gently shifting tone of Azzys magic, joins in on the hug, Chara controlling their right arm, and Sans controlling the left to hug him tightly. "Shh..Dad's gonna be fine, Az. We got all the best Monster doctors on the clock watching over him, and even Undyne too standing guard. It's gonna be okay, Az." Chara said to Asriel in an effort to comfort him.
Asriel nodded, already tears beginning to form in his eyes as worry consumed him, not able to get rid of the traumatizing memory of Asgore just lying there on the ground, fur and the skin under badly burned and him bleeding out. Coupled with other memories from days before that when Sans had moved to protect him from Betty. Asriel did feel somewhat better especially at the thoughts of having such a strong monster such as Undyne keeping watch, even though she too, looked like she needed some healing, but she insisted not to rest when so many Monsters and humans had been attacked and in need of more care than herself.
Though Asriel thought that was simply Undyne also coping with the fact her Alphys truly was gone for good. And she was dealing with it by distracting herself with her hero duties. Asriel sniffled, clinging to Charans and trying so hard not to start crying, knowing he wouldn't be able to stop once it started and then Chara would tease him calling him a crybaby. Eventually, Asriel calmed himself down enough, gently backing away from their hold. "Thanks." Asriel spoke, now noticing the glint of blue in Charans left eye and puzzled a bit, "Sans? Why did you hug me?"
Sans gave Asriel a gentle smile, Charans' right eyelight briefly flashing blue as well. "because i'd be a pretty bad big brother if i just ignored the fact that one of my little brothers was upset." He replied, before gently nuzzling Asriel.
Chara swore he coulda melted right then and there as he watched the two from within, now watching through Sans eyes as he allowed Sans to have this moment with his brother. My. Stars, were they adorable. He did not regret this even the slightest bit as he felt a warmth send his soul aflutter.
Asriel giggled in reply and nuzzled up with Charans right back affectionately, his fur soft against Charans skin…? It had the texture of skin anyways, but hard like bone at the exact same time. "I love you Sans-Charans. Oh, I hope Mom and Mr. Gaster say it's okay, we're going to have so much fun!" Asriel promised, already feeling so happy, that he completely forgot what it was about he was even sad for in the first place.
"asriel?" Sans mumbled after a few more minutes, deciding that there was something else that he needed to say, though that didn't stop him from shivering at the memory. "i don't blame you for what happened. you did the best that you could and it was my choice anyway."
Asriel's smile vanished instantly when Sans brought that up, turning into a pout instead. "You should...Because of me, you- you could've died! A-And now, you and Chara are stuck like this. Possibly forever, why wouldn't you blame me? I know that was all my fault…! I messed up, again." Asriel argued, as he soon got stuck into some self-loathing thoughts. "Just like I messed up Chara's plan to free us all way betrayed him. And, and ended up as a soulless flower and tortured you and-!"
"asriel, listen to me." Sans said firmly. "i can't exactly speak for what happened with you and chara, but i was the one that chose to save you. you never forced me to. we all had no idea what that thing was planning, what was about to happen, and i doubt that there's anything that we could have done differently considering what we knew. so, i don't blame you at all, and i really mean that." He then sighed and looked down at the floor, starting to shake a little "and about what you did as flowey, yes it was horrible, and yes, i wish that you hadn't done it, but as you asked me too before, i'm not going to look at you as flowey anymore. after all, we can't change the past, so all we can do is move forward."
"Yeah, especially since I literally destroyed the Reset button...Heh." Chara broke in, momentarily taking control while trying to lighten the mood before giving it back to Sans, knowing that Asriel needed to hear this. Poor little guy can get so obsessive, and he knew Asriel still hated and blamed himself for the things he did as Flowey, even if it really couldn't be helped and it wasn't Asriel's fault.
He and Flowey were two separate beings. Simple as that. They just so happened to share...dust..or whatever. But nothing more.
Asriel could feel the waterworks start again, burning the backs of his eyes as he fought hard not to let himself start crying. "You're too kind to me Sans...but...even so, I still could have stopped that. I-I should have been stronger, and- broke out of Betty's illusion faster, then you wouldn't even have had to save me… Then you wouldn't have had your soul stolen, and then used to fight Chara and your own brother, and...and all that happened yesterday too may not have happened either, but, I will make it up to you, somehow. Both of you…! Okay?" Asriel gently squeezed the pants leg of his trousers tightly as he said that, blinking back furiously the tears still threatening to spill like a dam from his eyes. "I promise, won't ever have to go through all that again. I know you hate making promises, but- still."
Papyrus noticed the tense shifting of Asriel's shoulders and hugged the little goat boy tightly. "ASRIEL. STOP. I DO NOT BLAME YOU EITHER FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DEAR BROTHER. AND YOU SHOULDN'T NEITHER."
"B-But-"
"Az." Chara said this time, again stealing back the control for but a moment as he looked Asriel dead in the eyes, as Papyrus held and coddled him.
Chara sighed, "Look, I don't...I mean, I guess I should have known..the plan would fail from the get go. You were always such a good little kid. You didn't have the same bitterness and anger that I did towards those humans, and...I'm sorry I pressured you into tagging along. If anything, it's just as much my fault as well for not thinking about how you felt about the entire thing and for the plan failing. I just wanted to make it up to you for allowing me into your home and for treating me like I actually belonged even though I was a human, and part of the species that trapped you all down there." Chara said with as much sincerity as he could manage.
"It wasn't fair what the humans did to you and I was just desperate. But, I'm sorry too brother. And for...stealing the control and forcing us to take my dead body up to the Surface. That was also stupid. I...I'd be lying if I said I didn't also may have used you because I wanted revenge on those people for everything that they did. To the Monsters, to me. For putting you all behind that godforsaken Barrier. It was a stupid plan. And I see that now. After everything that happened. And I'm sorry…"
Sans carefully took partial control again and resumed gently nuzzling Asriel while he waited for Chara to finish talking, also giving them a mental hug as well. "i promise that i don't need you to do anything to make it up to me. and you should know how seriously i take my promises." He said gently, once Chara had given him back total control, before a small smile crept onto Charans' face. "except for maybe cleaning my room for me." He added jokingly, before his smile faded and he shivered again. "sounds like we've all got a lot of stuff that we need to work through."
"Yeah. You got that right." Chara agreed, letting Sans have control in the meantime and returning the mental hug.
Papyrus' lower jaw quivered, and suddenly he wrapped his long boney arms around both Charans and Asriel squishing them both up against his chest. As if attempting to suffocate them all with all the love he had in his soul to give and then some.
Asriel grunted a little, patting Paps on the skull before nodding at Charans as well in agreement. "G-Guess...we're all a little bit m-messed up." Asriel struggled, having a bit of trouble getting some air in as he continued to be squished by Pappys hug. Paps noticed this and after a minute longer he loosened his hold on them both as Azzy flopped on the floor, gasping for air.
Soon they heard the sound of a door opening and footsteps heading towards them all. The footsteps then stopped outside of their room and there was a knock on the door.
"I got it." Charans said, sneaking out of Paps hold and going to open the door. "Oh, greetiya, tMom." Charans had said when both decided to speak at the exact same time. Both eyelights were glowing both red and blue at the same time.
Asriel and Papyrus snickered teasingly. Papyrus's bones rattling gently with the motion of trying to contain his laughter.
Toriel laughed quietly as well and smiled at the little group. "Greetings my children, Papyrus, Sans. Have you decided on a name yet?"
"HELLO, LADY ASGORE! I HOPE YOU ARE WELL TODAY!" Papyrus beamed, trying to show his best mood and hope that it would give her the same feelings as well.
"Papyrus, could you please just call me Toriel?" She asked gently, though there was a slight touch of irritation in her voice.
"SORRY, LADY A- ER, LADY TORIEL?" Papyrus corrected himself, though finding it difficult once stuck in a habit as he often did. Papyrus seemed to sense the bad mood she was feeling and shrunk in on himself sadly.
Toriel thought for a bit, then smiled at him again. "Lady Toriel is fine." She replied.
"Oh, yeah. We've decided to call ourselves 'Charans.'" Chara spoke this time, and both eyes now glowing red as he resumed control. He and Sans noticed how Paps had shrunken wishing to give the poor Skellie a hug before they continued, "How's...Dad doing?"
Asriel remained mute, still slightly angry, but not nearly as much as yesterday. He too seemed to perk up however when Chara brought up Asgore, at least now showing he was listening for any news about him.
Toriel hesitated before replying, easily noticing Asriel's anger "Asgore is doing well. The doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery." Despite her attempts to control herself, Chara and Asriel could still hear the sadness and guilt in her voice, as even though she didn't really like Asgore, she hadn't wanted to hurt him, and she especially hadn't wanted to hurt him so badly.
"Oh, that's great Mom! I hope Dad wakes up soon." Chara said, trying to keep the peace as much as possible. At least, somewhat understanding of what had happened, as Toriel had explained to him when Sans was still asleep after everything that happened. Chara also couldn't help but feel partly to blame for their separation, but he hoped they'd get back together some day, and Chara stayed determined to make sure they did.
Asriel on the other hand, wasn't as understanding as Chara was, though he tried to be. He was more confused and hurt as to why his mother would try and kill their dad, knowing Asgore couldn't help it that he had to kill those children. And for wanting war because of what happened. It had been tough on both of them.
Asriel remembered some days, living in the Ruins with Toriel as Flowey and how many times she'd even cried herself to bed some days while muttering Asriel's or even Charas names. Asgore had been more conservative, putting the kingdom over his own emotions, and as Flowey, he couldn't understand any of it either. Not having a soul or emotions of his own. Asriel couldn't help but think back to those days even now, and how their family was still strained, even after he and Chara had come back.
He just couldn't understand why they couldn't just go back to loving each other like before….
"So...uh…anyways..." Chara scratched the back of his head, knowing Toriel wanted to know what had happened with him and Sans that made...Charans but wasn't quite sure how or even where to start and he wanted to also be sure Sans was ready to bring up past traumas. Chara checked within himself, giving Sans a little mental poke just to be sure he was alright and who should start.
Chara could feel that Sans had noticed their mental poke, but he seemed reluctant to discuss what had happened, instead seeming to retreat a little further from the outside world.
"It's alright, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Toriel said kindly, seeming to notice how uncomfortable Sans was with the situation.
Chara pouted also noticing this, and, really he didn't entirely blame him, although a part of Chara was also a tad bit curious as to what Gaster even did with his determination he gave and considered something. "Um, do you want me to explain for you Sans? You can tell me instead and I can just relay it back, if that's easier?" Chara suggested, trying to be gentle and not also just pry into Sans life by reading his memory as he wanted it all to be consensual, with trust.
"...i don't know. i don't really even want to think about what happened, let alone talk about it." Sans said hesitantly. "especially since i would normally hide things like this." He thought, before once again quickly pushing it away
"I know…we're only asking because we care though, Sans. And, I mean I don't even know what happened, I just know by the time I got there, you looked like you really needed some help."
"i know, but that doesn't make that much easier to talk about."
"Hmm..do you want me to just ask Mom then what she thinks of adopting Pappy and..you. Us? And we can talk about it some other time?" Chara suggested, giving Sans a mental pat on the back.
"...okay. i should probably talk about it though."
"You can later. It's whenever, I don't wanna make you feel you're forced to do this. I mean, I know how Monsters are regarding their souls and Betty had yours for a long time...I can't even imagine what you went through, half alive within your soul. So, really it's fine. Heck, I did live with you guys for years before I up and killed myself trying to be a hero. Just, do it whenever you're comfortable okay? Mom'll understand." Chara spoke to Sans before bringing his attention back to Toriel.
"Mom? Since...I'm kinda fused with Sans now...Can Papyrus, Sans and Mr. Gaster live with us? I mean-..." Chara stuttered, not sure how to word it, since technically it wasn't like Sans just stopped existing. He was still alive. And could still interact with everyone, think his own thoughts, had his own memories and everything. Just… they shared a body now. That's all.
This still heavily confused Chara, but he hoped Toriel still understood.
Toriel smiled at Charans, seeming to understand what he meant. "That would be completely fine. I wouldn't want to separate Dr Gaster and Papyrus from Sans after all."
"R-Really?" Chara grinned. "Hey Sans did you hear that?"
Papyrus could barely contain himself, inflating again like a balloon as he quickly got to his feet and gave Toriel a massive hug happily, practically spinning her around in his delight. "OH THANK YOU LADY TORIEL! NYEHEHEH!"
Asriel could also barely contain his excitement at the news, actually smiling finally. Though he still refused to speak to Tori. "Told you Pappy. Haha"
Sans was grinning as well, though he still seemed on edge. "yeah, i heard."
Toriel hugged Papyrus back, smiling happily at him. "You're all very welcome." She replied, trying to hide how hurt she was that Asriel still wasn't speaking to her.
Papyrus then put Toriel down, and now picked up both his new brothers just as Chara was about to speak to Asriel to forgive Mom already before he was cut off. Papyrus spun them around as well and then gently bumped foreheads to them as well in an affectionate manner.
Asriel and Chara began to laugh, doing the same thing to Paps, they were so happy. Still, Chara couldn't help but feel he needed to have a serious talk with Asriel about how he was behaving, as he hated seeing Toriel looking so sad. Sans laughed as well and forehead bumped his skeleton brother back, seeming more relaxed now than he had been a few minutes ago, but still not completely relaxed.
"NYEHEHE! I SHOULD MAKE SOME SPAGHETTI IN CELEBRATION!"
Chara could almost feel Sans cringe in anticipation and Chara smiled. "Sure, Paps. Maybe Mom can help."
"NONSENSE! I CAN ASK UNDYNE TO HELP ME! LADY TORIEL SHOULD SIMPLY REST AND LEAVE EVERYTHING UP TO I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"
"Papyrus dear, Undyne is busy guarding Asgore. But I would be happy to help." Toriel said gently, leaving out the fact that she also didn't want her kitchen to get set on fire, which always seemed to happen when Undyne and Papyrus cooked together
"NYEH, OKAY LADY TORI."
"So, what would you like to cook? It doesn't have to be spaghetti." Toriel said politely, even though she was pretty sure that Papyrus would want to make spaghetti anyway.
"UMM, WE COULD TRY LASAGNA?" Paps offered.
Toriel laughed quietly, but not unkindly at this. "Of course we can try lasagna."
"Mom can we have chocolate too? We beat the Bete Noire or whatever it's called! And saved the city. And, yeah know. If it's alright." Chara suggested, really hoping Toriel would say yes.
"Okay, does Sans want anything as well?" Toriel asked, smiling at Charans.
"i would prefer a hot chocolate." Sans said to Chara. "but a chocolate bar is fine as well."
Chara seemed to be taken aback by that, surprised Sans even liked chocolate too. "Mom can I have hot chocolate?"
"Of course Charans." Toriel said, suspecting the decision change was partially because of Sans, and her smile grew even wider, before she looked over at Asriel. "Asriel, do you want anything?"
Asriel blinked, not really sure. "Ummm I'd like butterscotch pie? But, I wanna wait til when Dad wakes up cuz I know he liked that recipe too you used to make."
Toriel smiled at Asriel, then replied. "That would be okay. Just let me know if there's anything else that you want." She then walked over to the door again and turned to face the group. "Come on Papyrus, we should probably go get started. We'll be back soon with food and drinks."
"Okay! Thank you Mom!" Chara smiled. Watching as Paps got up to follow Toriel to the kitchen excitedly and looking determined to impress her. "Your brother sure is something Sans, haha." Chara said to himself, before getting up.
"i know, he's the best and the coolest." Sans replied happily.
"Yeah he is, he just can bounce right back from anything. But so is Asriel, when he's not being a crybaby anyways." Chara teased.
"Hey! Watch what you say minion for I am the great God of Hyperdeath!" Asriel laughed.
"Okay, 'god of hyperdeath' wanna say hi to Mr. Gaster? Or...Other dad?" Chara wondered tilting his head. "We should probably tell him the good news anyways."
"hey, that's dr. gaster to you." Sans said, semi-jokingly
"Oh, so Mr. Bone Dad Guy. Okay." Chara teased Sans also, already getting up to find wherever Gaster was, Asriel in tow. They went through the open door where Toriel had come through, trying to find Asgore's room where Chara assumed Gaster would be possibly as well.
Soon they found around half the Royal Guard Members standing by, looking poised and alert, ready to fight and defend and need be. Chara couldn't help but think about how cool they all were and how it was no wonder Papyrus was so obsessed with them. Through the door they could see Gaster brooding inside on a chair right by Asgore's bed.
"Hey Punks!" Undyne stopped them, summoning a spear just as Charans nearly walked into it. Undyne could sense the mix of magic from Charans SOUL, sensing the mix of determination but also what faintly felt like a monster mixed in it as well, narrowing her one good eye. Chara was startled yet at the same time, grateful she was cautious, exactly as the Captain of the Royal Guard should act. "State your business, before I beat it for ya!"
"Uuh, hey Undyne. Don't worry it's just us." Chara said, trying to sound calm despite the shock from earlier. Though also noting the one strand of grey hair poking out of her usual ponytail, and the tiredness in her voice.
"do you know what happened to her?" Sans asked Chara as Gaster looked up from his brooding, recognizing Chara's voice. Gaster then stood up, walked to Undyne and carefully got her attention.
"Gaster?" Undyne said seeing him coming over to her. "Do you know this punk?" Undyne said, obviously meaning Charans. She knew the prince Dreemurr well enough, that he was the Kings kid.
"Only from what I heard. Apparently she took out the massive blob in the center of the city all by herself. Used up nearly all her own natural determination and magic to do it though. I also know she got pretty badly injured, right before that from some of the humans that were around the area when it happened. I was on my way to her, when I heard then I made my way to you guys at the time." Chara explained to Sans.
"and what exactly did you plan to do to the blob the size of a skyscraper?" Sans asked, raising a metaphorical eyebrow.
"I don't know, offer assistance if Undyne needed it? I'm not sure. But It looks like she didn't even need help."
"Yes, it's Chara but they absorbed Sans' SOUL." Gaster explained quietly, knowing that Undyne would probably ask why their SOUL's felt so weird if he didn't explain, sounding tired and still sad.
Asriel sensed this, feeling a little pity for Gaster. "Hi Dr. Gaster. Are you okay?"
Gaster looked down at the ground and answered quietly after about a minute. "Not really. These past few days have been hard."
"THAT'S them?!" Undyne said, her eye widening turning from Gaster then to the fusion, now seeing the resemblances, and outfits too being a mix of both. "Damn. Holy crap, and here I was about to skewer you two. Heh, uuh...sorry about that." Undyne smiled suddenly embarrassed. "Please don't tell your Dad and the Queen…"
Chara smiled, "Wouldn't dream of it. You were just doing your job anyways." Chara said, suddenly self-conscious when he also noticed how Greater Dog, and most of the Dog Monsters were taking in his scent, sniffing about. They noticed he smelled of ketchup and bone, from Sans. While also having that similar human, maybe a faint of chocolate too.
"heh, i wouldn't dream of it undyne." Sans replied, taking control and gently petting the dogs
When Sans pet Lesser dog, his neck started growing longer as his tail wagged faster in excitement. Soon the other dog monsters started barking, getting jealous and wanting and demanding for pets.
"Uh oh, now you've done it." Asriel laughed, petting Doggo too and trying to help calm all of them down.
"Ugh, Hey guys! Keep it down! The King needs his rest!" Undyne yelled over the barking, not realizing that if anything she was also being just as loud.
"sorry." Sans mumbled, even though he knew that Undyne wouldn't be able to hear him over the racket. Gaster walked over to them and started trying to help quiet the dogs, a faint smile starting to appear on his face before he suddenly hugged Charans.
Chara felt the hug, seeing through their shared vision it was Gaster that hugged them, and he cooed in encouragement. Realizing how much Gaster must have really missed his son.
Asriel also noticed this, his soul warming at the sight, realizing it's been a while since he'd also seen Gaster smile and felt happy for them both.
"I'm so sorry Sans." Gaster said quietly, almost sounding like he was trying not to cry. "I hurt you so much, just because I wanted to play god."
Says quickly hugged Gaster back and nuzzled him comfortingly. "g, it's fine. there's nothing that we can do to change the past, and besides, if you hadn't done what you did, i would be dead."
Gaster nodded in response and hugged Charans tighter, though he still seemed sad about what had happened.
Chara continued to smile at them, not entirely sure what to do or say, not wanting to interrupt their little moment. He hoped Gaster could learn to forgive himself too for what he did, but, due to this distraction, half forgetting why they were looking for him in the first place.
Asriel watched as well, suddenly also wanting to hug his father but he could see he was still unconscious. Pouting, he decided to sneak into the room to check on him, since they were already there anyways, once the dogs had been calmed and Undyne was no longer freaking out.
Asriel walked into the room, grabbing another chair and dragging it forward, sitting there quietly.
"So, have you come up with a name yet?" Gaster asked after hugging Charans silently for a few minutes and wiping a few tears out of his eye sockets.
"yes, we've decided to collectively refer to ourselves as charans, though we're also still obviously separate people." Sans replied, still nuzzling his father.
Chara broke in only for but a second, just to speak. "Yeah, but we figured this would be a lot easier if you wanna talk to both of us at the same time. Or just call us by our own if it's just one." Chara then hid away again, allowing for Sans to have his family moment with Gaster and tried to give them some privacy, or as much as he could anyways. Given he could still feel and hear everything.
Gaster then gently started nuzzling Charans back, still smiling faintly and despite everything, seeming happy that both of his sons were still alive, though he did also quickly glance over at Asriel, seeming torn between making sure that he was alright and wanting to spend time with Sans
Chara decided to occupy themselves watching Azzy and Asgore to give Sans and Gaster some "space." A long time passed, until Pappy started calling everyone downstairs as the food was finally ready.
Gaster slowly released Charans when he heard Papyrus call, then looked over at Asriel and Asgore again.
"come on dad, let's go have some lunch." Sans said, smiling at Gaster, before gently handing control over to Chara. "i think you'll have a better chance of convincing asriel to come eat than i will." He explained mentally, while Gaster decided to wait and see if the prince was coming.
"Alright.. Well, wish me luck." Chara agreed with Sans, slowly, he turned to Asgore's room, seeing Asriel hadn't moved since he'd gone to their fathers room. Chara went to walk in the room. "Uh, hey Azzy. Didn't you hear Paps? Foods ready."
"...I'm not hungry." Asriel said, his eyes still fixed onto Asgore. Though Charans could tell he was worried.
"maybe we could bring something back for him to eat?" Sans suggested, understanding why Asriel wouldn't want to leave his father's side
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Sure." Chara said, agreeing with Sans' plan before turning towards his brother. "Okay Azzy well, we're gonna bring you food then okay? So you can eat whenever you do feel hungry. Okay little guy?" Chara said, ruffling up his fur affectionately.
Asriel pouted a little, when Chara messed up his mane, chuckling a little, though there was still a slight tone of sadness to it. "Okay Cha… Thanks."
"Mhm, anytime little bro. I- We'll be back." Chara then took a glance at Asgore, frowning a little. Please be alright, Mr. Dad Guy. Asriel and I really miss you.. We need you Dad. Chara thought sadly, though he trusted the monsters there to be able to heal him, but he still couldn't help but worry too.
"Is Asriel coming?" Gaster asked gently. "Or does he want to stay with Asgore?"
"he wants to stay with asgore. we'll bring him some food later." Sans explained and Gaster nodded in response, then gave Asriel a kind smile. "I'm sure that your father will be fine." He said reassuringly.
Asriel pouted, looking at his lap, and tightening his fists. "...Yeah…" Azzy said, though he still didn't sound sure, as he thought about how close to dusting Asgore was back at the Arena the other day, is HP barely hovering over 2. And his anger at Toriel seemed to rise again, when he thought how badly injured Asgore was. Stupid Mom. How could you…?! It's our fault he- Mom…
Chara sensed the negative feelings rising from Asriel, and was about to go talk to him. "H-Hey, Azzy.. Come on, I'm sure..Mom didn't mean it. Dad's gonna be fine. Okay?"
Gaster tensed, also still seeming angry over what Toriel had done, but he didn't say anything about it. "Come on, we should probably get going before Papyrus comes to get us." He said instead, keeping his face neutral.
Sans laughed internally at this, remembering how many times Papyrus had physically dragged him to the table when he had wanted to go to Grillby's instead, and took partial control of their body, ready to go for lunch when Chara felt okay with leaving Asriel.
Papyrus, was halfway to the stairs to grab Charans and everyone and saw them heading towards them. "OH! I WAS JUST ABOUT TO COME GET YOU! UM, WHERE'S ASRIEL?" Paps asked.
"He's still with Dad.. we'll bring food for him later."
"OH, AND HOW IS THE KING ER, OTHER DAD?" Papyrus asked this time addressing Gaster since he was with Asgore the longest.
"He is doing very well and will make a full recovery unless something else happens." Gaster replied, still keeping his face neutral.
"'Something else?'" Chara asks. "Like what?"
"Like him losing a lot of hope or being attacked again."
"Oh…" Chara said sadly. Now knowing why Asriel was so upset. "I see.."
"I THINK ASGORE WILL DO JUST FINE. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE HIS FAMILY ALL CARES ABOUT HIM SO DEARLY! NYEHEHEH!"
"Of course Papyrus." Gaster replied, a slight smile creeping onto his face again. "Expect for one person." He then adds under his breath, his smile fading again.
Chara, Sans and Paps caught that but they all chose to not say anything. Though Paps had very conflicted feelings, believing whole heartedly that everyone deserves a second chance, and that anyone could still be good if they just wanted to be.
Chara on the other hand, was even more conflicted. He could understand Toriel's anger, though he did think he was and should take half the blame at least. Maybe I should tell Mom and Dad about that day… Chara thought, realizing they never knew of the plan. And he doubted Asriel ever told them, like he'd asked him to. But he realized, if he wanted to have a happy family again, and for everyone to forgive each other he should tell them. Even if they hate him for it afterwards.
Chara swallowed, nervously. "Sans, what do you think…?" Chara thought, asking inwardly, wanting a second opinion.
Sans sensed that Chara seemed upset and gave them another mental hug. "i don't know, i don't really feel like this is my decision to make. it sounds like this was rather traumatizing and difficult for you." He said gently. "but if you feel like it would make things better…." He trailed off, not really liking that he was being asked to make such a hard decision.
"Well...Kinda. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It really is my choice.." Chara said, frowning.
"it's fine." Sans replied quickly. "i can understand why you'd want a second opinion before making such a difficult choice."
"Yeah.. Since. I didn't really ask Asriel for his before...I…" Chara stopped himself when he remembered how painful it had been after eating the buttercups and forcing himself to slowly die. How heartbroken Asriel had been, forced to keep quiet and the only one knowing why Chara had chosen to kill themselves, but being unable to say anything. How Chara had been so convinced this was the answer to save his family and the mess everything became afterwards. Chara couldn't help but feel guilty. "Sorry…"
Sans gave Chara another mental hug, almost seeming to mentally nuzzle them as well. "it's fine, it seems like you had a lot of pressure put on you even though you were just a kid, and so you decided to try and save us because it's what you were told you would do. heh, like i said earlier, we've all been through a lot."
"I guess so..I guess, that might have been half the reason. But, too, I genuinely did want to help all of Monsterkind. I mean...I never really felt I belonged anywhere, until I fell down here. Then the Dreemurrs were so kind to me. I just felt like I owed them. Ya know?"
"yeah, i get what you mean." Sans said simply, remembering how much he felt like he owed Papyrus for looking after him when he was having a bad day.
"Thanks Sans." Chara smiled inwardly, giving him a mental hug.
Sans accepted the mental hug, while Gaster politely waited for them to finish their internal conversation.
Chara smiled, "Uuuh Sorry. We're good now."
Paps happily lead them then to the kitchen.
Chara stared at the food, rather hungrily. And then a thought occurredas he suddenly realized their mouth doesn't open. "Uuh Sans? How do we eat?"Chara asked.
"absorb it with magic." Sans replied, watching as Gaster grabbed his food and then quickly excused himself while kind of glaring at Toriel who tried to ignore the look that he was giving her.
"Uhhh how?" Chara asked, still confused and also grabbed a plate, noticing the glare as well and suddenly feeling very, very awkward.
"umm, i don't really know how to explain. it's just something that i do as naturally as walking or talking."
"Oh, okay.." Chara said, still unsure how it works, but just deciding to roll with it and decides to try Pappy's lasagna first, bringing a forkful of the pasta to his mouth nd saw how the magic had activated almost automatically, as he saw little green particles move from the pasta into his mouth and down to either his stomach or Soul restoring more of their magic and refilling Sans' SOUL a bit more.
Sans chuckled quietly but not unkindly at Chara's confusion, seeming content to let them be in control while they ate, though he did seem a little disappointed that Gaster had decided to go back too Asgore's room, having obviously been hoping that him, Gaster and Papyrus, (if not the entirety of his new family as well) would have been able to have lunch together. Though he still seemed happy that the food was refilling more of his magic, as he hated having so much of his magic missing. It felt wrong, almost like there was a cold, empty space in his SOUL, and that feeling only served to remind him of the horrors that he had experienced. He shivered, and tried to refocus on what was happening around him and to remind himself that it was over, the creature was dead and it wasn't coming back. And that even if another one appeared, this time they'd know how to deal with it.
"And we supposedly have the power of a God...whatever the heck that means." Chara spoke suddenly, speaking to Sans. And referring to what the Ancient glyphs mentioned back in Waterfall in the Underground. "Also..crud, I think we forgot to tell Gaster the good news. heh."
"shoot, we didn't. i'll tell him next time we see him, okay?" Sans replied. "and we should probably make sure that we use this power responsibly."
"Sure. I guess we kinda got distracted by Undyne and the dog monsters haha.. I thought we were forgetting something as we were leaving! Oh well.. And yeah, you're right. Although I am still curious what that even means though."
"me too, but we probably should be very careful if we decide to do any testing." Sans said, sounding rather curious about their abilities
"Hmmm maybe we can ask Undyne or Skeledad to help us out? They're pretty strong, though then again.. " Chara thought wondering if they'd still need to rest from the Betty fight first. "Well, I don't know. I do agree we should be careful. I don't wanna add to the damage to the City than it already has." Chara laughed lightly. "Or accidentally hurt someone."
"agreed. especially if the old stories are to be believed. and we probably should get someone to check that my soul is healing properly, you know, just in case." Sans said with a shiver.
"Do you want Mom to? She's good at healing, plus she's a Boss Monster. Although I assume you don't want me to just summon out our soul though, right? Cuz the little hairline cracks on your share of it from the resets? I...noticed them when I grabbed your soul before it shattered but just for a split second." Chara said, lowering their tone in case Sans was still sensitive about the whole world knowing he knew of the resets or at least studied them and stuff and his trauma regarding them too.
Though a part of Chara kinda did want to summon their soul now come to think of it. Which way would the heart point to? Chara thought, wondering now. What if it's not even heart shaped and some random shape now? Chara hadn't had a chance to check it out, nor the state of Sans soul ever since yesterday, and he was curious and concerned as well if it would have any lasting damage to it because of what Betty had done and also swallowed, noticing Sans' fear.
"Hey, I'm sure it..should be fine." Chara said to Sans, trying to comfort him. "I mean, at least you can't die again. Since you have my DT now too." Chara laughed, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"yeah, that's true. and we would have noticed if my soul was too badly damaged." Sans replied, trying to relax again and somewhat succeeding
"Yeah, exactly. Like, either you would have probably noticed or I would have if something was wrong with it. So, maybe it is healing or doing the best it can. Like you, and everyone. But, I'll ask Mom anyways, just in case to do a simple CHECK on us okay? Or Skeledad."
"that sounds good to me. though, i don't know if any of us are going to be able to heal completely. but, that doesn't mean that we won't eventually be able to live reasonably normal lives again, even if it takes a while to get there. so, i guess we just gotta stay determined, huh?"
"Hehe...YES! And you got me, the most determined one out there, and the only one of their kind with you all. I believe we'll all be able to finally have a happier future one day."
"...i believe you kid. eventually we'll get our happy ending, right?" Sans said, still sounding like he's still getting used to the whole idea of choices actually mattering, even though it's been a month since the reset button was destroyed, but also like he did have some genuine hope for the future.
"Mhm. It's gonna be hard. We all have trauma from the Betty stuff, but I believe it. We have to, in memory of all those who've fallen trying to help us get here… In their memories." Chara said, speaking for all the dead monsters during the War days, the (now dusted) amalgamates, Alphys, Jessica and so on. "Today is just the beginning."
"yeah, but we'll reach the end eventually, heh, that still sounds weird to me."
"Heh, yeah." Chara said, finishing eating."How'd your magic now? And thanks for the food mom and Pappy" Chara smiles.
Toriel smiled back at Charans. "You're very welcome and I'm glad that you enjoyed it." She replied
"it's a bit better, hopefully it'll have fully come back soon."
"Hopefully." Chara agreed. "You do still sound kinda tired. More tired than usual anyways. heh."
"yeah, i'll probably have to get some rest soon. but we should probably go give asriel his food and gaster the good news first."
"Yeah, I'll let you take a nap after. Sounds good to me." Chara says before standing up. "Mom, I'm going to bring Azzy some food okay? And then go take a nap so Sans can rest up still from yesterday."
"Alright my child. I love you."
Chara blushed a little, his cheeks turning slightly blueish before replying, "Love you too…" He put his dirty dishes in the sink, before grabbing a new plate and pretty much putting a little of everything on it before heading back to Asgore's room.
When Charans got to Asgore's room, they found Gaster sitting next to Asriel with his empty plate on the floor beside him. Gaster looked over at Charans when he heard them enter and gave them a small wave
Asriel notices Gaster waving and turns to see who he was waving to, just as Charans had entered the room.
Chara hands Azzy his own plate of food he'd gotten earlier, "Here bro. Eat up okay?"
Asriel accepted the food, smiling a little, "Thanks Chara. Sorry about that…"
"Don't be. We all perfectly understand." Chara told him, lightly ruffling Asriel's tuft of fur on his head again.
"yeah, i know that i'd be really worried if one of my family members almost died. uhhh, that's not too say that i don't consider you guys family or anything, you know?" Sans said, starting to speak rather quickly at the end while awkwardly scratching the back of their bodies' head.
"Huh?" Gaster asked, confused at first.
"Umm, what Sans I think meant to say, and why we came up here originally… before we kinda forgot and got distracted. Haha, Um Gaster. Welcome to the Dreemurr family, Mom said you and Paps are one of us now. Since..Sans is part of me and we didn't wanna just separate you and Paps from him, just cuz our Souls are fused. So, yeah. You're a Dreemurr now, and we're part of your family too now, "Skeledad."" Chara smiled, gently taking control from Sans when he sensed how awkward Sans was feeling and wanted to make it a bit easier on him.
Chara could sense that Sans was very grateful for this, especially considering that he was still quite tired. Gaster smiled back at Chara, seeming very happy that he wouldn't be separated from Sans. "Thank you." He said, only a little of that happiness showing in his voice.
Chara gave Sans a mental hug then smiled back at Gaster, "You're welcome. I'm glad you won't have to be separated, though...I will admit, it's gonna be a bit odd having two dads now. Haha. But so cool at the same time!"
"IF Dad doesn't just turn to Dust or Falls Down...yeah...it would be." Asriel said, still sounding upset and worried about Asgore.
"Asriel." Gaster said gently, laying a hand on the prince's shoulder. "Asgore will be fine. He's healing well and there is almost no risk of him falling down."
"But why hasn't he woken up yet then?" Asriel asked, still worried for his father, "I just miss him..and I can't stop thinking what if something is wrong and no one can see it. Or, what if Mom hurt him worse than we all thought she did." Asriel sighed. "I just hope you're right…"
Sans carefully took control of Charans again and slowly hugged Asriel. "i'm sure he'll be fine. especially since he's only been injured physically, in ways that we already know how to heal." Sans said comfortingly, though he still shivered slightly
"...So was Undyne and she recovered in no time." Asriel said, somewhat bitterly.
"Well...She also has determination. Plus she's Undyne. The Undergrounds Hero. She has a reputation to live up to, plus she's strong and wouldn't let a few wounds keep her down. She's cool like that." Chara said, taking back control, wishing there was a way to cheer up the little guy.
"And Dads a Boss Monster and the King. And I'm not in the mood for your jokes Chara." Asriel said firmly, pouting. "But...thanks… Maybe I am just worrying for nothing.. But I can't help it."
"i know what you mean. it isn't always easy to stop worrying about things." Sans said comfortingly, gently rubbing Asriel's back
"Mhm.. I'm trying not to..but…"Asriel sighed again."I should have played catch with him when I had my chance. And spent more time with him..."
Sans nodded silently and continued to gently pet Asriel. "yeah, i know it's hard."
Asriel snuggles up with Charans, "Thanks for understanding. And for trying to cheer me up, both of you."
"it's fine, asriel." Sans murmured quietly, while also giving Chara a mental poke in case he wanted to spend some time with Azzy
"Everything will be okay Azzy." Chara told Azzy. "We won't let anything happen to Dad okay?"
"Okay.." Azzy said, nodding. "I know you won't. I mean, you even saved Sans. You can do anything Chara."
Meanwhile, Gaster was quietly healing Asgore some more while the others talked, though he did keep glancing over at them.
"Ehe..I don't know about that. I just did what felt right.. Though this was all I could do, given the circumstances."
"and i'm still glad that you were at least able to absorb my soul, as i would have died if you hadn't gotten there in time. and i'm sure that dad and my bro are very happy as well. um, once again, i'm not saying that i don't also see you two as my brothers or anything, i'm just, uh, not used to it." Sans said awkwardly, trying to rub the back of their bodies head again.
"Ahaha, no it's fine. I understand. I suppose it is gonna take a bit to get used to." Chara smiled, not at all offended or anything, "and yeah, I am too. I'm sure if I got there even a second later you'd have been gone. I'm just glad you trusted me, after everything you'd been through. Sure, I could have also just forced your soul to fuse with mine but I worried it might have caused it to shatter which was why I asked for your trust first."
"and even if my soul didn't shatter, i imagine that it would be very…unpleasant." Sans said with a shiver, his thoughts again drifting to more traumatizing recent events.
Chara seemed to sense this, "Yeah but..you know I wouldn't have hurt you though, right? Even if I had to force your soul to save you. I wouldn't force you to trust me if it had come down to it. Which thankfully it didn't." Chara gives Sans a mental hug again as a comfort.
Sans gratefully accepts the mental hug. "i know that you wouldn't have hurt me, but that didn't exactly stop me from freaking out yesterday, heh sorry about that by the way, so things probably would have been unpleasant at first."
"It's fine, you don't have to be sorry for anything. You were- are traumatized. But we'll make it through. Together. Cuz you're my friend, AND now my big brother. And, I wanna help you through this. So we can all look forward to a happier future."
"thanks." Sans said happily. "you guys are great friends and great brothers. And yeah, we can get through this." Sans continues, though he does sound like he's also trying to reassure himself with that last statement.
Also Gaster has passed out by Asgore's bed because he's still very tired, due to not having slept for three days and he used up lot's of magic while fighting Betty and he caused his SOUL too crack in that same fight, which means that he really did need to go the frick to sleep so that he can rest and heal.
"Uh, guys?" Asriel spoke when he'd noticed Gaster had passed out. "Is-Is he okay?" Asriel asked them, slightly panicked.
Sans quickly took control and looked over at Gaster. "i think he'll be fine." He said after a few seconds. "i think he's mostly just exhausted."
"Oh, thank the stars.." Asriel sighed with relief, really worried something just happened.
"No wonder he passed out- he hasn't slept in days. Poor guy.." Chara said, also relieved.
"yeah, not to mention how stressful everything that was going on must have been." Sans said as he took control again and gave Gaster a gentle hug, nuzzling him as well.
"Yeah..with him almost losing you twice, the stuff with Betty, Dad getting injured, Alphys gone, Paps thrown in jail- We should probably take him to bed so he can finally get some rest, now that things have quieted down. I can help you carry him if you like." Asriel offered.
"that sounds like a good idea." Sans replied, once again shivering a little as he moved to gently help Asriel carry Gaster to a bed.
Asriel took Gaster to one of the other rooms, helping Charans gently place Gaster on one of the empty beds and covered him with the sheets, being extra careful not to wake him up.
Once they had finished, Sans walked back outside of the room, then stopped. Chara could tell that he wanted to either rest or go spend more time with Papyrus, but he also didn't want to drag them away from Asriel; especially when Asriel was so worried about Asgore.
Asriel followed behind Charans, gently closing the door behind him so any noises would not disturb nor wake up Gaster so he could finally get some rest, and looked at them confused as to why they suddenly stopped moving. "?"
"Uh, maybe, we can ask Paps to come hang out with us all in Asgore's room? So that way, you can still spend time with Pappy, and I can be with Az and Dad all at the same time." Chara offered. "And you can get rest too, maybe while we're visiting King Dad. That is, if it's okay with you Azzy?"
"Huh?" Asriel cocked his head to the side, slightly confused to what they were talking about, but after a moment he realized what Sans wanted and worried for. "Oh, yeah I don't mind. I'm sure Dad would like the company anyways, and...I didn't really wanna be alone in there again, or all the bad thoughts would come back again…"
"okay, and i'm sure that paps would love to spend more time with me." Sans said, taking back control, before hugging Asriel again.
Azzy giggled hugging Charans back lovingly, "Of course he would! He's the Great Papyrus after all! Let's go get him. Oh and let me get the dirty dishes or Mom might have a stroke haha." Asriel ran back to Asgore's room, as quietly as he could picking up his own and Gasters dishes before bringing them back to where Charans was waiting. "I hope they're still in the kitchen."
Asriel and Charans then made their way back to the Kitchen, and saw that they were just cleaning up, Tori leaving some food aside for in case Asgore woke up, and for Undyne and the other Royal Guard Members, and washing the dishes while Papyrus finished drying them before putting them away. They were on to the last 3 dishes or so when they noticed Azzy and Charans there.
"HELLO MY BROTHERS!" Papyrus called out as happily as he can be.
"heya bro." Sans called back, sounding just as happy despite how tired he was as he waved at his brother.
Paps happily waved back, gently putting the plate and silverware he'd been drying with a towel down on the counter and went over to gather Charans into a hug, picking him up when he'd sensed how tired he was by the tone of his voice. Then he went to pick up Asriel as well, hugging them both who giggled, starting to cheer up a little. "WAS GASTER HAPPY AT THE NEWS?" Papyrus asked, still carrying them both, one in each boney arm as they latched on, in fear of falling.
Sans squeaked in surprise when Papyrus suddenly grabbed him and picked him up, quickly latching onto his arm, before replying after a few seconds. "of course he was, bro." He said smiling at his brother and leaning into him a bit
"Yeah, he's resting in one of the guest bedrooms. Poor guy hasn't slept in days since this whole mess started." Chara said, gently taking control back before giving it back to Sans to spend time with Pappy.
"OH, WELL I'M GLAD HE'S GETTING THE REST HE RIGHTFULLY DESERVES!" Pappy beamed.
"yeah, it is good that he's finally getting some rest." Sans said tiredly, leaning into his brother even more as Charans' eye sockets started to drift closed, even though Sans was trying to stay awake.
"Can we all go to Dad's room? Er, King Dad?" Asriel asked, also starting to get tired but at the same time he wanted to be there in case Asgore woke up and be with him and his new family at the same time.
"WE CAN GO TOGETHER. I THINK I AM MOSTLY DONE HELPING LADY TORI WITH THE DISHES! AND IF IT'S OKAY BY HER OF COURSE!"
"Yes, you can go, my children. I can handle the last two on my own, thank you for all your help Papyrus." Toriel said gratefully.
"NYEHEHEH! YOU ARE MOST WELCOME!" Papyrus happily replied, carrying Asriel and Charans to Asgore's room, just happy to spend any amount of time with his new siblings. He walked to the door leading to Asgore's room and, while carefully balancing Asriel on his hips and arm, he grabbed the door handle using blue gravity magic to turn it, and slowly opened the door and walked in.
Sans seemed quite happy to just snuggle in his brother's arms and relax as well as he could for however long he could, though he was also willing to let Chara take control if they wanted too.
Paps moved a chair into a corner of the room that would be directly facing Asgore's bed, and so Asgore could see them, in case he woke up, and moved to sit down in it. This way, Paps thought, in case he too fell asleep while holding Charans and Asriel, they wouldn't be able to fall, with the sides of the walls pretty much surrounding them and they'd still be able to rest semi comfortably.
"Thanks Paps." Asriel said, smiling.
"Get some sleep Sans..you need it too I think." Chara chuckled. Somehow, they were also feeling a bit tired, though mostly cuz they'd been running on sheer determination, running around since yesterday to make sure who needed the most care as the ambassador and to tell everyone who'd been helping them deal with Betty that everything was safe. And they too, barely had much rest, having to deal with and realize that they now shared a body with Sans and to come to terms with what they'd done and that the threat was finally over.
"yeah, you're probably right." Sans mumbled back, settling into Papyrus' arms even more. "but i think i'll sleep later." He continued, completely content to just spend time with part of his newly extended family.