Chara could hear the front door slam shut, they knew what that meant. They took a moment to look around the room before the last moments of silence ended. They were wearing a somewhat raggedy black and red striped sweater that Asriel gave, or more accurately, threw at them. Asriel had left to do something for the day, leaving Chara's neck chained to the closet dresser that they were sitting against. They sat on the carpet, the door was directly ahead at the other end of the room, Asriel's bed was near their left. They would have rested on it, but it was out of their reach due to the short chain.

The stomping sound from down the hall was getting louder. The door burst open and Asriel stormed in. He quickly walked over to his bed and sat down. The sheets were crumpled in his grip, his teeth clenched.

"Are you okay?" Chara asked in their normal meek tone. Asriel was too worked up to give a scolding about breaking the speech rule. He didn't enforce it much anyway as Chara barely had anything to say in the first place.

"Okay, so I went to Waterfall today…" Asriel started, speaking quickly, looking as if he was going to explode. Had started his rant without the intention of stopping without any time soon.

Chara tried as hard as they could to follow. He was speaking incoherently, and without providing context, as if he was only talking to himself about things he already knew. What Chara understood was that Asriel went to do sword training with someone named Gerson. This old monster was being boring and patronizing the whole time, constantly criticizing Asriel on the things he did. Chara wondered how much of this was true and how much was exaggeration. It couldn't have been that bad, but Asriel was… Asriel.

"It was so annoying, I felt like ripping out every bit of my fur after it was over," Asriel concluded with, letting himself crash onto his soft bed. After about a minute, he sat up, and his gaze wandered aimlessly around the room in thought before it eventually landed on Chara. His expression turned to one of curious surprise. Chara couldn't help feel a slight chill run down their spine instinctively. Did they do something wrong?

"Are you feeling better?" Chara asked quietly. Asriel just stared back, not moving.

"Uh… y-yes actually," said Asriel, just managing to find the words. "Oh, it's been awhile, do you need anything?" There was no sarcasm in his voice, the genuine concern was almost uncanny. It was something Chara would like to get used to.

"I haven't had much to drink. Could I have some water please?"

"Yeah."

A few minutes later, he came back with a glass of water. Bewilderment was still visible on his face.

"Are you okay?" They asked as they took the glass.

"What, oh yeah… it's just a bit weird. Usually when I talk to someone, they tend to just not listen. Then they speak and you start to not listen and..." He didn't need to finish the thought.

"Oh." Chara said. They understood. Their gaze fell to the floor. They understood exactly.

"It's just how things work around here. But I'm not saying I like talking anyway, especially to a dirty human." He said playfully, even though it looked like he wanted to be serious. Chara looked up again.

This was nice. Seeing Asriel like this was a rarity. Maybe he would stop with… no, it would end the same way as always. However, for now, Chara just wanted to enjoy the tranquility.

Chara started to drink their water, but almost spilled it when they quickly had to move out of the way. Asriel had gotten up, went over to the closet and opened it. Curiosity took hold of Chara and they peeked Inside to see a large, black bundle of cloth with many strange jagged edges. Asriel grabbed at it, there was a sound of jostling metal as he pulled the heavy load into the center of the room.

Asriel unrolled the bundle and looked out onto a pile of bits of metal, wires, and strips of leather. Chara scooted up to sit by Asriel's right. He immediately went to work; separating similar parts into general piles on the four corners of the cloth. He grabbed a tool with a round wooden handle and small curved blade.

He took a strip of leather and wrapped it around his arm. He cut a bit off with the knife, wrapped it again, and kept this up until it fit perfectly around his arm. He put the knife down on the floor to his right. Chara picked it up assuming Asriel wanted them to hold it.

"This is that important stuff?" Chara asked, remembering Asriel's words from yesterday.

"Yeah," said Asriel as he threaded the leather strip through a metal buckle.

"What exactly is it?"

"Okay, so you know armor right?" He started, a light flickering on in his eyes.

"Yes," Chara said, smiling slightly at Asriel's uncharacteristic giddiness.

"I had this Idea. Normal armor is really bulky and heavy and it slows people down too much. I had this Idea for something that was like armor but weighs a lot less."

"How does it work?" They asked genuinely. Well, as genuinely as their conditioned quiet and melancholy voice could sound.

"There is a lot less plating; It's more like a wire-frame that you wear. It can't block hits as well, but it's not flimsy, and more importantly, you can move a lot faster. What do you think?" He said excitedly.

"I don't really know a lot about armor, but it sounds like it could work."

"Yeah," Asriel's smile faded, "but everyone else I talk to about it just brushes me off. I really hate it… but when I get it to work, I'll show them!" he said, his mood returning. Chara watched him turn and began to work meticulously, putting a couple small metal tubes together to form a miniature fence-like structure. He hit it against the floor a few times, each thunk sounding louder than the last. It didn't break or even bend. Asriel's grin grew a bit wider.

The room fell back into silence. Maybe today would be bit better? They leaned against Asriel, very lightly at first. Asriel tensed up immediately, then Chara could feel his muscles relax. Chara added a bit more pressure. Him and his sweater were very soft and cozy, like a big pillow. Even though the chain was irritating, their tired eyelids started to droop. Maybe it was possible that...

"Hey Chara," he began slowly, straight-faced.

"Yeah?" Chara said, jolting back a bit harder than they intended,

"Why… exactly did you climb the mountain? Isn't there a legend that says all people who climb the mountain disappear or something?"

Chara looked away, tapping their fingers together. Why did he have to bring this up of all things? Asriel's patience did not last very long. They needed to say something.

"I…" they began, "Didn't really… I wasn't very happy." There was a long silence. Chara desperately hoped that was enough and he would drop the subject.

"Why… was that?" Asriel prodded. Chara pulled their legs as haunting images slipped through their mind. Broken bones, screaming to deaf ears, meaningless apologies, resentment… repeat.

"I don't really wanna talk about it." They realized how dry their throat was.

"Oh come on, please?" he pushed a bit further. Chara's gaze lowered to the floor.

"Some people… were hurting me," they said, awkwardly crossing their legs. "I wanted it to stop." Chara looked up at Asriel, his gaze was fixed on the still visible bruise on their cheek. Was it possible he was feeling bad about the things he does?

"Do you want me to stop asking?" He said with something resembling empathy. Asriel, the Asriel that didn't hurt them, could be reached.

"Please."

"Alright." He finally concluded. Chara let out a quiet sigh of relief. They picked up the glass of water and downed it one go, setting the empty glass down on the floor. Asriel set to work for a while; fiddling with wires and bits of metal. Chara sat in comfortable silence. They could just let the world go by. Asriel was a good person, Chara just needed to convince him, and they were certain they had. Even though things were a bit rocky at first, coming to the underground was the right choice.

"Hey, um… do you want some more?" Asriel said, pointing to the glass.

"Um, Asriel, actually could I ask you another favor? Please?" They were looking at Asriel again, a real smile was on their face. This was it. The day things officially changed.

"... Sure. What is it?"

"Could you take this chain off please?" His smile faded. He wasn't looking at Chara's eyes, he was scanning their body until his eyes stopped at their hands. His eyes narrowed to slits. He slammed his fist on the floor, Chara jolted back a bit.

"So that's what this is?" Asriel said with venom in his words.

"I… I… wha-" Chara sputtered, shaking.

"This is just part of your plan!" Asriel stood up and towered over Chara.

"No, no, I- I'm" They were on their back, trembling.

"You're not being nice. You just wanted to get on my good side so you can escape!" It made no sense, yet it felt horrifyingly familiar.

"Asriel-" Chara was grabbed by the shirt and yanked to their feet.

"I know a lot about humans. I know that they try and trick others! You want me to lower my guard so you can kill me!"

"I d-don't know what your talking about!"

"Then what's this?" Asriel said as he grabbed Chara's arm. The leather knife in hand.

"I thought you wanted me to hold if for you." Chara was barely able to get the words out.

"If I want you to do something. I tell you to do it remember? To think I almost lowered my guard because I felt bad for a human!" he said with disgust. This always happens, people rationalize and justify.

"I'm sorry, please-" Asriel kicked them in the stomach. Their head landed hard on the closet door behind them. They struggled to keep standing. They couldn't breathe; it felt like all the air had been sucked out of their lungs.

Chara caught a glimpse of Asriel raising one of his hands. This palm glowed with flames. Something inside Chara snapped. If the slightest gesture of kindness makes them forget, then it won't end. Things don't just change, not for them. They've had Enough.

Chara whipped their leg up and snapped Asriel in the stomach. Caught off guard, he pitched forward, the light in his hand died out. Chara grabbed the chain, gaining as much slack as they could, and circled it around Asriel's neck. They used every ounce of muscle and pulled. Asriel's gaze met Chara's; all the fury in his eyes gone, replaced only with wide-eyed horror.

Asriel's arms flailed about, trying to grab the chain to pull himself free. Chara raised their leg, and pushed down on his chest, making the chain sink deeper into his neck.

"You're no different!" Chara screamed wildly. Asriel kept flailing, he could have used fire, but it was obvious he wasn't thinking. It was so different yet Chara could see the same event happening to them in their memories. Their hands began to tremble.

Chara felt their grip loosen slightly. They were trying to hold on, but their fingers felt like they were prying themselves away from the chain. It never ends. They just wanted it all to stop. No more… no more.

If Chara let go then they would be hurt more then they had before. There would be no mercy for what they were doing. Asriel couldn't be their friend, that's just not how the world worked. Yet something pushed to let Asriel go.

Chara let the chain go slack. Asriel fell to the floor, gasping and coughing for air.
Chara slid back along the dresser to the floor. Whatever they had in them had left, leaving them feeling hollow and drained. If they survived the inevitable punishment, they would be lucky to be alive, but probably wish they were dead.

"Just... get it over with." They said before they buried their head in the sleeve of their sweater. Soon they would feel the searing pain of being burned. Or hands would take them away to be beaten over and over again. Maybe a rope would hold them down as… Either way, it didn't matter. Chara just sat and waited.

They heard Asriel's breath steady. He wasn't saying anything. It was coming. But the seconds dragged out into long, painful minutes. Chara eventually looked up.

Asriel was sitting, his back against the door. He was staring with a gaping mouth. His eyes were wide, but unfocused. It was so quiet, Chara could hear him taking quivering, shallow breaths. Chara put their head back down. They wanted to soak in the last moments of tranquility.

Then there were footsteps on the rug. Hands grabbed Chara around the neck. Here it is. The chain jostled loosely around their neck. A pressure slipped away as the chain clanked to the floor.

Chara looked up. Asriel was looking at them, it was hard to read his face, but it was apparent he was hiding something. Asriel sat down, his eyes were on the floor now.

"You, um…" Asriel finally said, "...thanks, for not… you know..." There was a long pause, Chara could feel the discomfort emanating from Asriel. "I'm not going to do anything to you... That was the last time, honest."

"Okay." Said Chara quietly. He said he would stop hurting them. Another thing to give them hope. Hope that they would finally be free of the cycle. Warm hope that circled through them before fading as cold fact consumed it all. The fact: the one they wanted to forget but cursed themselves every time they did. Every time was the last time.

Authors Note: For earlier updates on future chapters, follow me *At* emeraldlazers on tumblr.