Overworld: After the Fall - Book One

Chapter Six: Traces

Frisk stared up at the building, taking a breath as she thought out her request. Just ask them, it's not that hard, Frisk.

"Come on," a soft voice murmured, a hand landing gently on her shoulder as she looked to her left. The taller monster was holding his head high, though his fear was written over his face. "Let's get this over with, okay, Frisk?"

She nodded and followed him in, taking a moment to breathe in the surrounding room. It was massive and open, the ceiling that of the domed roof. Paintings hung on each wall, accenting little porcelain and marble busts and statues. A few people walked throughout, taking little tours of the building and speaking with each other. She stepped out of the way of a group, hearing a collective 'morning ambassador' from them.

"Morning..." She murmured, joining the monster in front of the large chamber doors. "Are you ready, Az?" Asriel nodded, opening the doors and stepping in, Frisk following close behind. Many of the ambassadors inside were busy speaking to each other, while others were writing down proposals. She stepped forward, catching the attention of the head speaker.

"Ambassador Gaster, Ambassador Dreemurr. How may we help you today?" Ambassador Evon said, setting down some papers. "If this has anything to do with the war threats, there is not much we can do."

"Yes, this does have to do with that. We came here to ask for a possible palette of bottled water," she said.

"It's come to my family's attention that our stores are beginning to run out, and with the threats scaring people, we would really appreciate any help the Embassy could spare." Frisk nodded as Asriel finished her thoughts. Evon sighed and nodded, glancing at his fellow Embassy members,

"Alright, we will issue a request to Ambassador Russo for bottled water to be delivered to the monster kingdom." Frisk smiled a little and took a breath. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

"Til, do you have any family we should call? If there is anyone out there who might be worried for you, I'd like to be able to tell them you are safe." Chara cast a glance to his right, catching a glimpse of the other human's head shake.

"No. Well, I do, they just kind of disowned me after I told them I didn't think monsters were that bad."

"I understand," Gaster stated, chuckling as Alphys turned on a record. "Thank you Alphys. 💧︎✌︎☠︎💧︎📪︎ 👍︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎👎︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ 👍︎⚐︎☠︎❄︎✌︎👍︎❄︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎ 👌︎☼︎⚐︎❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ☟︎✌︎✞︎☜︎ ☟︎✋︎💣︎ 👌︎☼︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ 💧︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎ ☝︎☼︎⚐︎👍︎☜︎☼︎✋︎☜︎💧︎📪︎ 🏱︎☹︎☜︎✌︎💧︎☜︎✍︎"

Chara sighed and got up, making his way toward the back of the lab, responding that he was going to lay down for a bit and get some rest. Stopping for a bit and staring at the bedroom, he shut his eyes and listened to the silence. Haven't you got anything better to do? He gasped and coughed, shaking a bit at the voice.

"W-where... are you?" he muttered. Where else would I be, Partner? Chara flinched and glanced back as a voice called his name.

"kiddo? are you alright back there?"

"I'm fine!" he called back, making his way to the back door and touching the keypad. "I just nearly fell trying to get in bed! I caught myself so I'm not injured!"

"WARNING, LEAVING DURING A LOCKDOWN COULD RESULT IN POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO SELF OR OTHERS WITHIN THE LAB. ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE, PRINCE CHARA?" He sighed and tapped yes before stepping out through the sliding door as it opened. Glancing back inside, he huffed and started to make his way through the forest and up the slanted slope. The silence was deafened by bird songs and trees creaking in the wind, drowning the voice out as it shouted unintelligibly. Climbing the rocky cliffs, he pushed his thoughts away, trying to force the voice into silence.

"Just stop talking to me!" he huffed as he pushed himself onto the highest cliff. He leaned back a bit, resting his hands against the back of his head to breathe. I don't have to stop talking. You should start listening. The voice laughed and Chara brought his hands over his ears, trying vainly to deafen the sound within his mind. He rushed toward the mountain, disappearing into the cavern and stumbling over a large root. He glanced at it before turning his gaze to the rest of the room. It was overgrown, green vines covered in golden flowers and tangling around the massive throne settled in the center, and a tremendous bed of golden flowers. He looked down and smiled weakly as he found the flowers around his hands bending away from him.

"I missed seeing this flower bed," he murmured. Lifting his hands, he forced back a small choking gasp at the crushed buttercups beneath. Sorry, little guys. He pushed himself up and made a quick path to the other side, picking several flowers as he went and tying them together into a crown. What a silly thing to make. Chara rolled his eyes and looked back at the throne. Leave me alone. I'll make flower crowns if I want to. He stepped out of the room and slowly walked down the castle hall into the sunlit golden hall. Staring down it, he took a breath and shook his head. I forgot how long the hall was, but time and intensive therapy will do that.

And yet it failed...

"Shut the fuck up."

I don't have to. I'm a part of you. I will always be a part of you because you killed everyone. Why would LOVE ever leave someone who gathered so much of it?

"Because I changed. I became a good person."

Just because you tried.

Chara took and sighed, sitting down and setting the crown on his head. Closing his eyes, he listened to the chirping of birds that flittered outside, casting shadows into the hall. I hope Azzy is okay.