Soul Matter (Chara x Asriel)

Chapter Six ; Puzzled

The white furred boy had his hand gripped around Chara's wrist, smiling brightly as he led his new companion out of the house,

"We are in the beginning of Home right now. Not a lot of monsters stay around here since it's mostly just boring puzzles. Well, I'm not a huge fan of them, but I can show you back to the beginning and show you how they work." Asriel explained, stopping at a black barked tree.

Chara gazed above them, paying minimal attention to Asriel.
Above them, the tree flourished with bright red, beautiful leaves, and the ground was a pale purple stone and dirt path,

Asriel looked to Chara,
"Does that sound alright? Going through the puzzles? That way, you'll know how to do it if you ever want to come back and visit!" He grinned.

Chara nodded, though Asriel had practically dragged them around the old catacombs against their will. They were sure if they requested, Asriel would stop, but Chara didn't quite mind.
What had gotten to them was that Asriel proceeded to cover Chara's eyes while they walked.
Asriel walked through all the deactivated puzzles, while Chara was blind, and he took them to the beginning,

Finally, he let Chara see, once they arrived at the summit.
"Alright! This is where you fell. It's also the only place you can see sunlight in the underground." Asriel explained.

Chara took a moment to glance around, noticing a dried puddle of blood on the ground.
The crimson liquid was now settled into the ground and brownish.
They grimaced but looked up to the surface.
The drop made it look like Chara would have died on impact.

Chara nodded, wearing a soft frown,
"Oh." They commented.

Asriel nodded, and grinned, leading them to the next room,

Chara admired the construction of the room.
Two stair cases, red leaves, and a sign over the next door written in a strange language consisting of odd symbols.
"What does it say?" Chara asked.

Asriel frowned,
"I never learned how to read the old monster language. I think it's just an introduction to Home." He said.
"Only mom, dad, and Dr. Gaster understand monster language. Well, I think more people understand it too since he's the doctor... Dr. Gaster speaks it. I think I have a few books on translating it, but I haven't read it yet. It's too hard," He explained as they walked.

Chara followed Asriel, as he had lead Chara up the stairs and into the next room,
"This is the first puzzle of Home. You should just read the sign, it gives you a hint on how to solve it." Asriel smiled.

Chara observed the switches on the ground. There were six, 3x2, and a pale purple stone was under the middle row of two.
They frowned, and walked over to the sign, attempting to read the worn script.
This, however, was in English.
"Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones, both not walk the middle road."

Honestly, if Asriel hadn't told them that it was related to the puzzle, they would have been stuck there.
Chara pressed the four buttons on the ground that were around the two in the middle.
Nothing happened.

Chara felt relatively defeated. They had been confident, and the buttons they pushed were stuck down.

Asriel had giggled,
"Psst! You've got to flip the lever to finish it!" He said.
Chara looked around to see what he was talking about, before seeing a yellow lever on the wall. Chara rushed over and flipped it before a door with an odd symbol slowly creaked open, each half of the door going into their respective side.

They allowed their eyes to widen, observing where the door had once been shut in awe,
Chara wandered over to the door frame, looking around in the next room.