The Mountain East (An Undertale Fanfiction)

Chapter 42

The doors slid open to reveal a stark contrast to the radiant and vibrant, sweltering colors of fire and lava. The faint smell of dog food accompanied by an omnipresent beige, peeling wallpaper was mixed with a pristine white, and a charred black at some places. The tables were a scientific chaos. A controlled experiment in the form of a paper hurricane. Despite the smell, the place looked desolated. It seems the inhabitants had left in a rush.

Two figures stepped into view, their feet scattering sound across the room. Though they were no connoisseur of design, they wrinkled their noses slightly. Perhaps it was out of disgust. Perhaps something else.

The sound of the flat of a shoe hitting the ground in a desperate manner rang throughout. A figure stumbled slightly, her arms flailing as she braced for impact. In the nick of time, the other figure managed to save her from a grounding fate, though only barely. He struggled to slightly to lift her, though not due to her weight. Her arms symbolized frailty, and yet beads of sweat still exuded heavily from his fur.

"Thanks, Azzy." Chara wiped her brow as she stood up, and as she glanced upwards, she, too, noticed the abnormal amounts sweat and strength being leeched out him. She reached upwards and tried to wipe his forehead clean, though the best she could manage was a slightly moist and curly hairdo, along with a flustered, red cheeked goat. Score.

Asriel tried to flatten his fur back into its normal self but failed as it continued to resist its oppressor and sprang again and again to his discontent. Chara laughed quietly at her companion's failed attempts to allay his fur, but his tired posture, something he had not shown to her ever since she woke up, did not pass her perception undetected.

"Chara!" Asriel groaned, pointing at his worsening hairstyle. His fur was sticking out at random angles, the only place of solace left being the back of his head. A stroke of serendipity and a leaked pipe of water that somehow landed exactly on his only white field of peace later, Chara howled in laughter as Asriel stood, dumbfounded, at the stupidly childish yet amazingly hilarious interdimensional joke the universe decided to pull on him. He, or rather his body, resisted the urge to snort and join Chara in hysterics.

However, his exhausted mind could only smile. He looked upwards at a ticking clock. The hands were almost silent in their interminable cycle. "Huh. I guess Alphys is running late. And I thought we'd be late."

Chara stared at him slightly, debating with herself whether to question about his situation. She knew it had nothing to do with sleep deprivation. After all, after she... inadvertently made him stay up all night to help her adjust to the realm of living, or rather, quell her beliefs about the land of not-so-living. He slept for 14 straight hours, snoring loudly and generally acting adorable. Even Toriel and Asgore, who came bursting in at a supposed tip-off, did not wake him in his peaceful sleep. He deserved it. He had gone through so much more, being on the brink of living rather than the brink of death.

His parents did not say much. They mostly left her to her own devices, after engulfing her in a crushing hug for what seemed like hours. They made cinnamon-butterscotch pie, a family tradition and a favorite, but Chara did not eat much, instead insisting on force-feeding Asriel in his sleep his portion. But other than Toriel's sudden emotional outburst that flooded Chara with tears and her equally terrifying look at Sans when he showed up to check on her, they did not pester them for details. What happened, why it did, how it did. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss, and not just for the ignorer.

Perhaps they too only wished for the past to be reverted. When simplicity ruled over duplicity. Where carefreeness reigned supreme. Despite everything, it would be a blatant lie for Chara to not nod her head in agreement.

But Asriel... he in himself held an entirely different story at heart. A tale that was not present before. A prophecy of his own. He had changed so much, whether it be his fatigued self, which she did not think played a part. It was his sudden protectiveness of her, and his new will to stand alone. In solitary, he would make choices. He no longer needed clarification from others, assurance that everything will be fine. For once, his heart, the most integral part of Asriel's being, took the throne.