"Do you believe in fate?"
"No. Not anymore."
"So then you used to? What changed your mind?"
"... If you knew someone who always tried to do the right thing and they had everything they loved taken away from them, how could that be fair?"
"Fate doesn't need to be fair."
"Then what's the point of it? What purpose does it serve? Besides, I make my own fate now..."
Drip... drip... drip...
The soft sound of dripping water echoed through the empty room, the scent of damp permeated the air. There was nothing to see, even the few luminous plants that grew in this small cave had dimmed and no fake stars shone without light for them to reflect.
Drip... drip... drip...
And he was alone, again. Suzy had left a while ago... he wasn't sure for exactly how long, it was hard to tell time here. He'd guided her to a patch of seagrass and they spent nearly an hour trying to find and catch bugs there before she'd had to leave.
Drip... drip... drip...
The rhythmic sound was soothing. As far as he knew, barely anyone was aware of this cave. Well, he'd never seen anyone come here on the first loop around, at least. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. He smiled. Suzy was a nice person, if a little annoying, and the night had been fun. He felt like we might have been good friends if she'd been around back when I was...
Drip... drip... drip...
Are you forgetting someone? You know who your best friend is, how could you abandon them?
What? No! I would never abandon you, Chara! How could you even think that?!"
"Stop crying."
Chara looked down at him as he sobbed into the flower-patch, their face blank and unblinking. Above the stars shone in such splendor as to bathe them both in ethereal light.
"I... I'm so sorry... I should have trusted you, Chara."
"I said stop crying. This isn't going to fix your mistake, is it?"
He brought his sleeve up over his eyes to dry his tears. "No... your right. You're always right." He pushed himself to his feet and stood to face his sibling, mustering a weak smile.
Chara smiled back, they wrapped their arms around his neck in a hug. "You see, this is much better, isn't it? I'm not mad at you."
"I screwed up." He scrunched up his eyes as more tears formed, trying to stop them from dripping onto Chara's shirt.
"Shhhhh..." They soothed, patting him lightly on the back. "Don't worry about that now. Just trust me next time, okay? Do you trust me Asriel?"
"Of course I trust you Chara!"
"Then you won't mess it up next time." They let go and stepped back.
He frowned. "Next time?..."
"Oh, don't be so silly! We can't let one little screw up stop us from freeing everyone, can we? They are still counting on us."
Asriel's eyes widened with horror "But how?! We don't have a plan!"
They just rolled their eyes and chuckled, then griped him by the shoulders and shook lightly as though to dislodge something obvious stuck in the back of his brain. "Of course we have a plan! It's the same as last time, silly."
"But... but we don't have any souls! We can't leave the Underground." He started hopping from foot to foot frantically as an unnatural sense of confusion and panic overcame him.
"Stop being such an idiot, you're smarter than this, little brother." Chara placed their hand on his arm in a gentle calming gesture. "I fell down, do you honestly think that in a hundred years, no other humans ever fell after me?"
"Well... no other humans ever fell before, and the barrier's been up for a long time so..."
They shook their head. "No human has ever SURVIVED the fall before. People have been disappearing on Mt. Ebott for a long time, it's in the legends, remember? But now they have something to land on."
"Those flowers?" Chara stared at him as though he'd just stated the obvious. Asriel lowered his gaze and decided to drop the question. "Where would they be?"
Chara regarded Asriel for a moment, then put on the smile which always creeped him out. "I'm sure dad knows."
He... what? "What are you saying?... Haha... you're joking right? No, he would never do something like that."
"You're in denial." They stated flatly.
"Am not!" He snapped back.
But Chara simply shook their head."Did you forgot what that skeleton said already? Where else would they go? Heard any mention of ANOTHER monster requesting humans be brought to them?"
"I..." He trailed off. This couldn't be true, his own father wouldn't... after everything he had done to prevent taking lives... kill innocent humans for their souls...
"Exactly."
"No." No sooner had the word passed his lips than he immediately regretted saying it. Chara's eyes glinted dangerously. They were mad at him. Very, undeniably angry.
"Say no to me one more time, I dare you." They said, their mouth contorting into a horrifying shape. "After what you did out there, after telling me that you trust me just now, you still have the NERVE to say no?" Their eyes clouded over and started to ooze gunky black liquid. "Well, you know what little brother? I AM right. You don't believe me right now but eventually you will see it for yourself, then you won't be able to deny it any longer. And when that time comes, i'm not going to be there to help you. You'll be all on your own."
The next moment was like a scene from a horror movie, Asriel could barely comprehend it. Chara's skin melted away from their face and pooled onto the ground like thick, sticky black tar. Next their body - now nothing more than a bare skeleton - collapsed into a heap and sunk into the inky blackness which was spreading outwards in all directions. The stars had stopped shining, the tar crept up his body and he tried to scream but he couldn't make a sound. He couldn't feel his arms, he couldn't feel his legs, just the tendrils of tar creeping higher and higher and high-
Drip... drip... drip...
He threw his eyes open and gasped as sweat ran down his face. it wasn't really Chara. It wasn't really Chara. It wasn't really Chara. Chara would never do that. Chara would never do that...
He repeated over and over in an effort to reassure himself. It was just a dream, it wasn't real. It wasn't true.
Drip... drip... drip...
Calm... calm. No matter how many times he had nightmares, these never got any easier... but he had to sleep. At least... at least in most of his dreams... he had his body back.
... It couldn't be true what Chara said, right? His dad killing humans and stealing their souls? Haha... haha... ha... ha...
Drip... drip... drip...
Don't be ridiculous... my dad could never hurt another living thing... heck he... he even feels bad about pulling up weeds from the garden sometimes!"
"Son, could you come over here for a moment? I need your help."
"Coming dad!"
He got up from the shining tiled floor where he'd been sat with his handheld games console. Asgore was knelt in the flowerbed tending to a patch of forget-me-nots, Asriel approached him eagerly.
"What do you need me to do?" He asked with a smile.
Asgore matched it. "These seedlings are very delicate. Can you see?" He pushed aside the stalks of some of the older plants so that Asriel could get a better look. "I am going to transplant them somewhere less crowded, but I need you to fetch me a pot to put them in. Can you do that for me?"
"Sure!" He bounded away gleefully and was halfway down the shimmering gold corridor before realizing that he didn't remember where any of the gardening tools were kept.
"Azzy!" He turned around. Chara, silhouetted by the light from the tall castle windows was running towards him with arms wide open. They caught him in an embrace before he could react. "I'm so sorry about earlier!"
"About what...?" He frowned, puzzled. What happened earlier that he couldn't remember?
"Let's forget about it... please? How about a game of hide-and-seek, to make up for it? You get to be seeker!"
That sounded like fun. "Okay! But you better start hiding because i'm gonna start counting right... now!"
He heard giggling and the tapping sounds of footsteps getting quieter as he covered his eyes and started counting. "One, Two, Three, Four..." Something felt weird but he didn't think too much of it. "Coming ready or not!"
How strange, the halls had gone dark; they looked dusty and cracked like an eon had passed in just a moment. He felt uncomfortable, but didn't think too much of it and walked into the garden. The entire area had been overgrown with brambles and vines which made it hard to traverse. Above, moonlight filtered through the cracks in the high cavern ceiling. Chara wasn't here, neither was his dad.
He walked out into a dull and featureless corridor and followed it. Stairs at the end led down into the basement. Aha, if Chara was hiding anywhere, they must be down here! He followed the stairs down, with each step the space around him grew darker and darker until he found himself standing in complete darkness, unable to see in any direction. Even the light from the top of stairs had disappeared.
Asriel was becoming uneasy. Forcing himself to stay calm, he focused his will into conjuring a fire in his palm. The flame was small, it flickered weakly, threatening to be extinguished at any moment but he was grateful to have it. He held it up and let it light up the room, feeling more confident as it grew and revealed a row of strange boxes that he'd never seen before.
He approached the nearest one and put his non-fire-bearing hand onto it. It was cold, rough, made from stone and easily large enough for someone small to hide inside. He grabbed a hold of the lid and tried to shift it, but it wouldn't budge. It was too heavy... huh, there was something engraved onto the front.
He squinted to read the inscription, but it was very hard to focus for some reason. The first line appeared to be gibberish but underneath was a word in much larger letters. If he tried hard, he could just about make it out. It read, 'CHARA'.
The flame in his hand extinguished suddenly and the darkness closed in again. He yelped out as a low, quiet noise began emanating from in front of him. It was getting louder... and louder... and louder. A horrifying laugh, hollow, twisted and insane. Terrified, he tried to run but he could barely move his legs and fell hard against the cold ground, shaking uncontrollably.
"Help! Please! Someone... anyone! Mom... dad... Chara... please help me! I'm... i'm so scared!"
But the darkness just laughed at him. It seemed to be getting closer, wrapping itself around him, breathing down his neck.
For a moment there was silence, then came a soft sound, a cracked and broken, poor imitation of his sibling's voice spoke dripping venom right into his ear. "... But nobody came."
Then it roared with laughter. He covered his ears and clamped his eyes tightly shut. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real...
Drip... drip... drip...
This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real! He shivered awake, this time it was tears rolling down his face. The dream was already fading away as his recollection flooded back. Stone boxes... tombs. Something that humans used to contain their dead until they could turn to dust... he shivered again.
Drip... drip... drip...
Ugh... he didn't want to go to back to sleep. He didn't feel rested at all but, somehow... he got the impression that sleeping wasn't going to help him all that much tonight.
He dug down and burrowed away from the damp, dark cave and resurfaced in the Wishing Room, the most beautiful sight in all of Waterfall... and at this time of night it was all to himself.
Who needs sleep?! He thought defiantly, gazing upwards while stifling a big yawn. I have the stars!