Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing to do with Undertale or anything of the sort besides this story. If I did, there would be no reason to write this story.
-Chapter 3: Nostalgic cinnamon-
"Hey... Asriel. Are you awake...? I wanna ask you something." The sound of tired shuffling met my ears. I couldn't sleep. A younger voice responded tiredly. "Ask away." I licked my dry lips a bit before replying.
"Do you... Do you think even the worst person... do you think they can change? That everyone can be a good person, if they just try?" No longer so tired, they gave a thoughtful sound as they sat at the edge of their bed.
"Hmm... sure? Mom and dad say anything is possible if you put your mind to it. So it could happen I guess. Wait. Why did you even...ask?" They gave me a confused look. My eyes started to water and... I couldn't help it...
"Oh no. Are you crying? Did I say something bad?" No you idiot. You didn't. I swear. I'm gonna protect that smile of yours. "I'm not crying..." "Yes you are!" I pulled the sheets over my head, the book I had been reading falling to the floor. "Hey. Tell me what's wrong." "It's... it's nothing you idiot. Just... go back to sleep. I'm just tired is all."
"Oh... Ok. Well, night then." I sighed softly. "Yeah. Night Az." I didn't sleep that night though. I spent it starring at the cover of the book I'd read in deep thought. It's title read plain as day -The Sealing War-.
Some time later I woke up. Some small bit of panic set into me as I looked around for someone who wasn't there. I was in the room I'd fallen asleep in though. Right. I was underground. The smell of cinnamon and butterscotch brought me back to reality.
It seems in my sleep Toriel has came in and left a piece of the pie on the nightstand. My stomach grumbled in response. So as you might expect I took the pie and ate it. The flavors exploded across my tongue and... I couldn't help feeling filled with nostalgia for some reason.
It was something I'd never had before and yet it was a taste I could never forget. Feeling re-energized and full, I took a moment to think. That dream had been different from my usual. It... didn't actually feel like a dream at all.
The nagging feeling that I was missing something important grew. I wasn't discounting the possibility that I had gone mad just yet. I didn't feel mad at least. I had nearly been murdered by a psychotic flower and had been more or less adopted by a cute goat woman though, so the court was still very much out on that one.
Honestly I didn't care if this was real or not anymore. I was safe. I was happy. I had a roof over my head and someone who I felt I could rely on besides myself. Taking the empty plate with me, I set out to bring it to the kitchen. A convenient excuse to explore more of my new home.
Stepping out into the quiet hall, I took a moments glance at the other doors in it. If this was a bed room it stood to reason that at least one of them was her room. The kitchen had to be the other way since that's where she went before. So I decided I'd head that way first.
It opened to a lovely dinning and living room, the same color scheme as the entry way. A large book case rested against one wall, and a grand fireplace was the centerpiece of the room, a large comfy chair next to it. A dinning table with several chairs in the corner. The fireplace was lit and filled the room with a warm glow. Judging by the fact there was no obvious fuel source perhaps it was some sort of magic fire?
Toriel rested in the large chair in front of the fire, reading a large book titled '72 Uses for Snails'. Oh lovely. Well, I guess I'd have to get used to it and trust her judgement on how they tasted I suppose. Noticing my presence she set her book aside for a moment. "Oh. I see you found your pie, my child. I do hope you liked it."
I gave a firm nod. "It was really good. Almost good enough to have every day." I shifted slightly on my feet, still not really feeling comfortable with prolonged conversations. "I'll... I'll be right back. I'm gonna put this in the sink." Toriel gave a soft and understanding nod. "Of course, my child. Don't let me hold you."
Exiting through a door to the north of the living room, I entered the kitchen. It was a slightly darker but still warm shade of tan. The floor was well tiled as well. A large monster made fridge took up a corner of the room. As expected there was a sink, kitchen counter with a number of drawers, and a stove as well. The stove was perhaps the stranger part. It had no visible dials or gauges, or obvious moving parts. A safe guess would be that it ran on some type of fire magic then.
The kitchen still smelled strongly of fresh baked pastry. Was this what a kitchen normally smelled like? A small and instinctual part of my brain, a part that still expected Flowey to suddenly pop up and try to eat my face off or something equally horrible, wondered where the knives where. Quickly I shoved that unwelcome thought down as far back as I could, and put the plate in the sink. I did allow myself a bit of curiosity though, and peeked inside the fridge.
Mostly unfamiliar brands of familiar things. Nothing terribly unusual... but there where some chocolate bars. Nice. I wouldn't have to miss that at least. With that settled I returned to the living room. "Ah. You have taken care of what you needed to, my child? Then I shall share an interesting snail fact with you. Did you know that snails sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature?"
Well, that was definitely a bit odd and out of the blue. I guess I could give it a pass though since she clearly had a fondness for them. I endeavored to be a good child. I would learn to like them as well. Without any idea how to respond when faced with an out of the blue anecdote like that however, all I could manage was a slightly confused smile and a thumbs up.
Looking at the book case, my mind was drawn back to something. That dream I had. Could that book be real...? I couldn't be sure why but my gut told me it was and that I should read it. Running a finger along the aged books, it settled upon a familiar and rather worn one. -The Sealing War-. So it did exist. A chill ran down my spine, as I tried to process what this meant. I carefully took it from the shelf.
Toriel gave a soft sigh, drawing my attention away from the tome in my hands. "My child... I do not believe you ever gave me your name. If it is not too much to ask. I can understand why you might feel you do not need to yet." I mentally slapped myself. How the hell did I forget that? She introduced herself and everything. I took a breath before facing her.
"It's... Chara. I don't have a last name." For the briefest moment it looked like she had seen a ghost. Just enough of a moment for me to catch before it passed into a look of melancholy. That told me a lot... and very little at the same time.
There where a lot of puzzle pieces falling onto my lap as if begging me to solve them, but all I wanted was to just live with her in peace. so she had children before I came around and I was reminding her of one of them? Fair enough. I wasn't going to try and pry, and dig up painful memories for her.
I decided to lighten the mood a bit. " Hey. No need to feel sad. You GOAT me." I flashed the best smile I could manage to go along with it. Puns are universal, right? At first she blinked in surprise at what I'd said, before laughing to the point of tears and pulling me into a firm hug.
"A-ahahaha... O-oh my dear Chara. You have GOAT to be kidding me..." Oh god. She had a thing for puns, didn't she. Oh. She was hugging me now. It felt nice... I returned it after only a moment's hesitation. Moments like these made me determined to stay with her.
Dinner came and went quietly, and eventually it was time to rest again. Sitting on my bed, I remembered the book I had taken. I gently cracked it open on my lap and began to read. "Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day... war broke out between the two races."
Oh nice. It even had some particularly well done illustrations to go with it. "After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell. This is what we today know as The Barrier. Things may come in, but none can leave." Oh. Well that made things easier. I wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon anyways. Still, what kind of people could do something so terrible to an entire race? I just didn't get humans sometimes.
That was an interesting and very informative bit of information, for a preface to the rest of the book. More interestingly was some old doodles in the margins of the book. They looked to have been done by a kid a few years younger than me. The drawings where a bit crude but I could make out that it seemed to be a vague outline for a plan of some sort.
The person, a human and probably the one who drew it since they wrote 'me' under their little primitive drawing would give their soul to a monster of the same kind as Toriel who was labeled 'brother', who would then go through the barrier and get 6 other souls and return to break the barrier. The last image was them and a bunch of happy monsters around them. All of them happy and together...
The plan probably didn't make it past being doodled out anyways since the monsters where still underground, meaning whatever this barrier was, it was probably still up. I mean, I'd have known if any monsters had left here I'm sure. I could save the rest of the book for later, I had enough to think on already anyways.
Closing it and setting it aside, I turned in for the night. Easing back, I closed my eyes. I couldn't get those doodles out of my head though. It seemed that my mind had made itself up that this was a vital piece in understanding whatever puzzle this was. Suffice to say resting easy was going to be a bit harder than I thought.
Between the dreams, the feelings of deja vu, the book, the doodle, and mom's reaction to me, I couldn't help but feel unease creeping back in. I decided instead to focus on the feeling I had when she hugged me, and once more I was filled with determination. This time it was to get some real sleep. Starting tomorrow my new life would begin.
MsYakumo: It might be a bit slow before I have any new chapters since this is how much i've had done at the moment. Anyways, a bit of feels, a bit of fluff, and a whole lot of plot pieces in this chapter. Can even the worst person change? Who knows, but Chara is sure as hell going to try. You could say they are DETERMINED to... I'll see myself out.