The Mountain East (An Undertale Fanfiction)

Chapter 23

A door creaked open to reveal a brooding child sitting atop his bed. The walls of the room were now strewn with drawings and illustrations of their family and themselves. Between her hands, she held a single, wilting yellow flower. She clutched it almost as if unsure of what to do with it. To dispose, or to enjoy it? She could not decide.

She looked up from her thoughts as she heard the door open. Her hands trembled a bit, her thoughts playing out the future before it happened. Asriel revealed himself from the shadows, his face full of relief. Chara sighed. Despite knowing and reading his facial expressions, she thought it was only right to ask.

"How is he?"

Asriel surveyed the floral pastime Chara's hands had resorted to. He sighed and took a sit at the rim of his own bed.

"Dad's alright. We had to rush him to Snowdin so the innkeeper could tend to him. He'll recover soon." His voice sounded hollow, tired. His fur was disheveled and attire unkempt. He seemed to have suffered a toll, whether physically or mentally.

Chara could not find a way to comfort him. After all, had she been in his place, she would probably have blamed himself too. So remained the only other option, throwing oneself under the bus.

"It's not your fault. It's mine. I should have known. I – I'm so stupid." She hung her head in shame and laughed hollowly. Asriel furrowed his brows, knowing exactly what Chara was trying to accomplish. And he knew no amount of persuasion would shift her thought.

He played a game of cat and mouse with their eyes, Asriel trying to make contact whilst Chara weaved away. Finally, Asriel grabbed ahold of her cheeks and turned them slowly to face him. She flinched slightly but otherwise allowed Asriel to win for once.

"Chara," He began, clutching her face tightly. "You don't have to do this. I know I messed up. I know that I... nearly killed dad. But... it's not that big of a deal, you know? Dad didn't even blame us for it, even when he was lying on the bed, his fur a sick shade of green. Mom just wanted us to learn from the mistake. And, well... I should have laughed it off like you did. But instead, I chose to latch onto the past, and now you're trying to pry me away from it."

Chara looked at him. The similarities were uncanny. Almost as if life itself was laughing at her face, holding what she wanted dearly tantalizingly close to her. Asriel seemed to notice his mistake in his choice of words and quickly wrapped his arms around her. Their conversation before had almost been entirely forgotten.

"Azzy," Chara choked from behind his hug, "You're choking me." He quickly jumped back and apologized profusely, not realizing the immense irony being portrayed. Antics aside, there was some good that came out of the incident. A spark of the lightbulb, if you will. Something that clicked inside her. A debt repaid.

A promise finally fulfilled.

"Say, Azzy," Chara said, after he had calmed down. "There's something I've been itching to tell you. Something... something about the barrier."

"Yeah?" Asriel asked. "What about it?"

Chara sighed. Her mind had yet to make a decisive choice. A balancing scale sat tentatively in front of her and lowering either one even the slightest could risk the lives and hopes of thousands. She shook her head. It was unfair to put her worth at a ratio of others.

But this was not entirely about repayment, nor atonement. She wanted Asriel to see the sun. The magnet of light that flew across the sun like a chariot. He had earned it. She... had not.

As she sat down solving her own inner conundrums, Asriel grew tired of waiting. He grabbed Chara by the arm playfully and lead her out of the room.

"Wait, Azzy!" Chara laughed at his eagerness, more specifically the face he made whilst he was eager. "Where are we going?"

"Waterfall! Come on, I promise it'll be fun! There's even these strange blue talking flowers!"

"Waterfall? After last time?"

The two arrived at a river just behind their house. Chara had never really bothered to check the perimeters, so this took her by surprise. The waters were eerily quiet and still, almost as if awaiting someone.

"Don't worry! The river boat guy should take us there safely!" Asriel said, bounding towards the delta of the stream.

Chara let go of Asriel's hand. "River... boat guy?"

Almost as if on cue, a silhouette of a stout man riding a canoe came into their view. Asriel looked at his partner with a gleam in his eyes. The man seemed to be propelling the boat forward, even with his lack of appendages. As he neared, he was revealed to be concealed almost entirely by a blue, draping hood. It did not seem to flutter as he moved. It remained oddly still, defying all known laws of physics.

Then again, the laws of science are less of a boundary and more of a guideline.

The man stopped in front of the two. His head swiveled uncomfortably slowly towards them. The boat rose slightly, revealing a dry bottom. "Tra la la. I am the river person. Where would you like to go, your majesties?"

He did the best curtsy any person without arms or legs could do. His face, despite not being shadowed by the hood, remained unclear from all angles. The color was indescribable, so black that it wasn't black. It was like a void. A hole devoid of light.

"Yeah! Can we get to waterfall?" Asriel hopped onto the boat, trailing a single finger in the water as he did so, making several images and shapes in the still water. The river person beckoned his head, motioning for Chara to join him. She climbed aboard, and they set sail at a snail's pace.

Chara sat awkwardly at the rear of the vehicle, unsure if she should have trusted Asriel on their method of transport.

However, after a minute, despite their seemingly sluggish progress, the cracks and cliffs of Waterfall began to show themselves. Chara frowned. Looking back, the transition looked natural. Too natural for reality to handle.

Whatever, she thought. As they disembarked the canoe, Asriel immediately raced towards their left.

Chara stayed behind, surveying the person with a puzzled expression. Finally, she spoke. "Who are you?"

The river person turned around to leave. "Nobody. In this world, in this time? Nobody of importance."

She tired of his riddled speech. She tried to grab ahold of him, but her hand phased right through. When she looked back up, he was standing behind her, with his boat, with the river. Unmoving. Not like Sans' shortcuts. This was a much smoother operation. From an outside eye, one could have argued that it was Chara that had reached out for nothingness.

Chara was mute with confusion. She had learned that it was best not to question the everyday actions of the monsters. Apparently, she hadn't learned enough.

"You wish to free those in keep," He said. "But what is it you really seek? A redemption's metaphor, a spiteful save? That legacy would serve you as noble and brave?"

Chara said nothing. By now, the words only added to the mystery.

The river person hung his head. The boat started drifting away once more. "I mistake you for your eye so near. Your fates intertwine, pathway clear. A trait in your soul he would embed. A plot doomed to fail, to forgive and regret."

Slowly drifting away.

"Such ambition. Plans so grand."

He was now completely enveloped in the darkness of the horizon. He waited a while, and for a split second, Chara could just see two misty white eyes penetrating her own in the pattern of the Delta Rune.

"Just..."

"Beware of the man who speaks in hands."