Hey look, we uploaded at a time other than midnight. That's a first.
Sorry this took so long; we have school, and we don't get to see each other much. But we spent pretty much all of last night writing this chapter and binging Voltron, so we got a fair amount done.
I think this turned out pretty well; hopefully you guys agree. Please review; authors love that. Enjoy!
"Chara, I swear, you're out of your mind if you think I'm gonna let you win another race!"
"Nah, Azzy, ya won't have to. You'll be lucky if I even let'cha catch up!"
Frisk had gotten pretty good at making things with her magic; particularly things like branches. She'd woven a finish line for these races out of some. I'd drifted more towards weapons, primarily knives. Figures, right? I told myself it was just because I liked the way they looked and felt. What a load of crap. I was a fucking murderer. I wasn't intentionally evil or some shit like that…it seemed like I just couldn't seem to be good. It had been four months since I'd gone and poisoned Asgore (he'd recovered by now, thank God), and I'd started thinking about what else the buttercups could be used for.
"Chara wins! Again!" Frisk yelled over my thoughts. Well, also over my head. The times of me being taller than Frisk were long gone. Out of all of us, Frisk's growth spurt seemed to have had the most effect. We still weren't all that tall, though.
"Nice try, Azzy...I gotta admit that was pretty… good… damn, I'm totally winded. Wanna get a drink inside?" I asked Asriel.
"Sure...Frisk, do you...wanna...join us?"
"Yeah, totally! Mom's lemonade sounds perfect right about now, especially for you two."
We started to walk back to the castle.
"Wow, Frisk, you're really chipper today. I mean, you're always happy, but you're especially so today. What gives?"
"You don't remember, Chara?"
"Remember what?"
"Chara, it's been two years since we fell underground!"
Wait, what?! "No way! That's awesome!"
We never really had birthdays in the orphanage; they didn't exactly know when we were born. And obviously when we got adopted by…her…she'd never given a crap whether we ate or not, much less about our birthdays. So when we fell down here, we just started using our 'falling' date instead. So I guess you could, technically, say we were twins? Whatever.
"Oh, yeah! I wanted to give you two something, but Gerson has it. I haven't stopped by yet. I could get a ride to Waterfall from the Riverperson now." Azzy said.
"You don't want to get some lemonade first?" I asked him. It was a bit surprising that he'd put this before a drink, considering everything.
"Well, that's all the more reason to do it quickly. Then I can come back for some of Mom's lemonade."
"Alright, then. We'll see ya in a bit." I ruffled the fur on Azzy's head, and I noticed two pointy things near his ears.
Huh, it finally happened. Well, he'll find out eventually…
There was an underground fundraiser in a few days, so Frisk and I spent the time helping Toriel make baskets and cupcakes for it. After about an hour of that, Asriel came back.
"Okay, everyone, I'm back!" Azzy called.
"About time! I was beginning to think you fell down the waterfall or something like that." I joked.
"Heh, yeah. Well, Gerson had the things, but then he started talking, and…well, yeah. You know how he gets."
"I don't blame you. Now, whatever that thing is, you should show it to us before Frisk goes absolutely ballistic."
I looked over at Frisk, who looked like she was about to explode.
"Okay, well, then you first, Frisk."
Asriel pulled out a piece of clothing. It looked like a purple jumper, knee-high, but at the same time, it resembled a nice dress. It had a sign on the front of it; the same sign that I always saw Toriel wear.
I described it to Frisk, and she looked about ready to pass out.
"It's supposed to be formal wear," Azzy explained, "but it's more comfortable, and you can move around in it more freely. I figured that since you couldn't really care for looks, this would be nice."
"Wow, Asriel. That's…amazing."
"And now for you, Chara." Asriel took out a golden, heart-shaped locket with 'Best Friends Forever' engraved on it. It was beautiful.
"Azzy, I-wow. I don't know how to respond."
"Don't mention it." I noticed that Asriel had a matching necklace. It looked pretty good on him.
"Seriously, Azzy, this is beautiful. I just…" I trailed off, not sure how to respond.
"Oh my goodness!" Toriel exclaimed. "Frisk, Asriel, Chara, we need a picture of you in your dress outfits. You look adorable!" Of course.
I went into our room to change. I took out my fancy dress, which was purple with gray sleeves and a sash of golden flowers. I headed into the room where we normally took pictures in, and BOOM.
"Surprise!"
"Whoa! Chara, what's happening?" Frisk exclaimed.
"It's…a surprise party? For us?" I looked around.
"Happy birthday, you guys!" Azzy screamed. "Or…would falling day be a better way to put it?"
Frisk shrugged. "Anything goes."
I glanced around. A bunch of the monsters we'd met were here. The ghosts, Napstablook and Hapstablook, were hanging out in one area. Undyne had seated herself next to Alphys, who looked like she might pass out. Papyrus was holding a container of what might pass as spaghetti, and next to him was…Sans? I could tell that they were kind of a package deal, but while Papyrus had always been friendly and kind towards us, Sans…wasn't. It seemed like he didn't trust me or Frisk, and whenever we saw each other, he got all weird, like we should know something we didn't.
"You guys are the best!" Frisk and I said in unison.
"We've been planning this for ages!" Hapstablook exclaimed. "So come on, let's par-tay!"
We hung out for the rest of the day. There was cake. Sans looked happier than I'd ever seen him-of course, that wasn't a very high bar. It looked vaguely fake, but it was hard to tell. Napstablook and Hapstablook were jamming. Napstablook was handling the music, and Hapstablook could apparently sing. Papyrus was talking with Undyne. She was pouring random things in her juice and…chugging it. She looked nauseous after a couple cups. Alphys was sitting in a corner, looking at Undyne. She looked like she wanted to talk to her. Frisk, Toriel, Asgore, Azzy and I were kinda doing our own thing. Dancing. Having cake. It was awful, how humans threw away completely unused things. I mean, don't even get me started on food. Back at the orphanage, we fought over every last bit of food, right down to who got the last table scraps. With Mother, whether we got food depended on how good and obedient we were, and even then it was barely anything. And yet there were spoiled brats who just threw away perfectly good food. It made me sick.
After the party, Azzy, Frisk, and I were hanging around in Azzy's room, playing with our gifts. After a while I noticed that Frisk was asleep, so I decided to carry her into her bed. I remembered that she was still wearing her dress, and a question came to mind.
"Hey, Azzy. The symbols on Frisk and Toriel's dresses. What do they mean?"
"Oh, you mean the royal emblem? Okay, one sec, let's see if I remember this correctly. I'm pretty sure that the triangles represent the humans aboveground, and the monsters underground. The circle with wings is supposed to symbolize the prophecy."
Huh? "What prophecy?"
"Wait, nobody's told you?" His eyes widened. "Well, the prophecy says that one day, an angel who has seen the surface will clear the underground. Some people think it means that an angel will fall and free us, but others think that it means a dark angel will kill us all. I've always thought that was silly, though. You know, now that I think about it, you and Frisk could both fit the role of the angel. I mean, obviously not the bad kind-you'd never kill, right? Of course you wouldn't."
I didn't meet his eyes for the rest of the week.
I kept thinking about what he'd said. Not about how I'd never kill anyone-that was flat-out wrong. But what he'd told me about the prophecy of the angel, how someone who had seen the surface would free them…I couldn't stop thinking about that. Slowly but surely, a plan began to piece together in my mind…
I knew what I had to do…