UnderBound: The Fallen Monster

Chapter 21: True Friendship

About 20 minutes passed by. My SOUL had returned to normal. I was huddled up and sobbing. I thought they were my friends, but I guess I was wrong. I didn't want them to find me. They all lied to me. That's what it felt like at least. 

"I made a mistake," I said to myself, "I shouldn't have climbed the mountain. I should have just stayed at home and enjoyed butterscotch pie with mom and dad." I pulled out the picture of my family from my pocket. Seeing their faces again filled my eyes with tears.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I wish I was more courageous." I placed the picture back in my pocket. As I did, I saw a green SOUL just lying on the ground. I crawled over to it.

"Maybe I can use this SOUL to leave," I said to myself. I picked up the SOUL and placed it on my chest in attempt to absorb it. But I couldn't for some reason. Then, the SOUL floated away from me and formed itself into a being. He looked interesting. He had human-like skin, but he had large wings like angels. His hair and eyes were green, along with the rest of his clothes, which consisted of a light green sleeveless shirt, green shorts, and green boots with wings on the back. He carried a green staff as well.

"How may I be of your service, my child?" he asked me as he knelt down towards me, "My name is Henry. Star Fairy of Kindness, and your guardian and friend." He looked at me and saw my wet teary face.

"Oh my," he said, "Are you okay? You seem sad." I didn't say anything and just huddled up.

"Hey, it's okay," Henry said, "You can tell me."

"Why do humans want us monsters dead?" I asked him.

"What makes you assume that?" he asked me.

"Because it's true," I said, "You're a human, right? You want me dead." Henry sat down and rubbed my back.

"I'm not a human," he told me, "I'm a Star Fairy. I'm here to help you. You awakened me by bonding with my SOUL. I'm here to serve you. So please tell me what happened."

"Okay," I said, "I'll tell you what happened. I fell into the underground because I wanted to see where all of the monsters that fell here went. I lost a friend a couple years ago, and I wanted to go find him. When I arrived in the Ruins, there was this human. I called her Human Mom because she was so kind to me, like a mom. She didn't want me to leave, but I left anyway. She felt like someone I could trust. In Snowdin, I met two boys. They were nice, but one of them told me that the only reason I'm alive is because of a promise he made. The other one wanted to capture me, but couldn't, and became friends with me. In Waterfall, I met a girl who almost killed me, but she was actually super nice. In Hotland, I almost died to a robot because of a smoke bomb. They all want me dead. Humans are mean." 

"Hmm, I see," Henry said, "But something tells me you're not telling the whole truth here. As if there was one other person you forgot to mention."

"Oh," I said, "Do you mean Chara? She was nice to me and even bought me ice cream. She traveled with me throughout the underground and we even fell in love. But it was all a lie! Humans hate monsters! I don't know why I thought they didn't."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Henry said, "But from what you told me, it sounds like these humans are nice people. Am I wrong?"

"No," I responded.

"If they didn't care about you, you would've been dead as soon as you left the Ruins," Henry explained, "I'm betting right now that they're out there looking for you."

"What makes you say that?" I asked. Henry looked right past me.

"Because I think I see them right now," he said. I turned around and saw Chara, Ness, and Jeff running towards me. Ness and Jeff stopped, but Chara kept running. I stood up as Chara jumped into my arms.

"Asriel," she said, "You're okay."

"How did you know where to find me?" I asked.

"I sensed where you were," she told me, "My love for you became so strong, I could sense where you were." She let go of me, and I saw the band-aid on your face. I gasped at the sight of what I did.

"Oh my gosh," I said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I take back everything I said. You don't want to hurt me, you want to be my friend. You all do."

"I accept your apology," Chara said. She looked over my shoulder and saw Henry standing there, observing his fingers.

"And it seems you've made another one," she continued, "Hello new friend."

"Hello," Henry responded, "It's nice to meet you. You must be Chara. My name's Henry." Chara walked over to him and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too," Henry said. Jeff walked forward, with his glasses fogged and head turned down.

"I hate to break up this little reunion, but Asriel was right about something," he said, "We did want all monsters to die. But things are different now. Asriel, it's time I told you the truth. The real, hard truth. If you come back to my lab, I'll show you what we really did. I can't hide this anymore."

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"Come back to my lab, and I will show you the Chimera Experiments," Jeff instructed. As we started to walk back, Ness just lay down on the floor like a sloth.

"Ness, are you coming?" I asked him.

"Nah," he said, "Scary labs aren't really my thing. Besides, I've got better things to do."

"If you say so," I responded. We then left Waterfall, and headed on our way back to the Laboratory.

After we arrived, Jeff opened the door in the lab that was labeled "Bathroom." I raised an eyebrow.

"Why are we heading in the bathroom?" I asked him.

"Oh, sorry," Jeff answered, "The door may be labeled bathroom, but it actually leads to an elevator that leads to the true lab."

"Huh," Chara said, "I guess that's one way to hide your deep dark secrets." We followed Jeff into the room and into the elevator. 

"Can I push the button?" I asked.

"Sure," Jeff answered, "It's the one on the very bottom." I pushed the button, and the elevator door closed. The bright lights in the elevator got darker and darker as we slowly descended from above. Then, the elevator stopped.

"Um, is this supposed to happen?" Henry asked. Suddenly, the elevator dropped at full speed. I screamed with fear. Then, a voice announcement turn on.

"WARNING! ENTERING A DANGEROUS PART OF THE LAB. THERE IS NO TURNING BACK FROM THIS POINT ONWARD. ENTERING BASEMENT 5!" 

The elevator crashed on the ground. Fortunately, we were all in one piece. The elevator door opened and remained stationary.

"Is everyone alright?" Jeff asked. I was still shivering from the trauma. 

"I'm fine," I said.

"I've been inactive for a while, but this is probably the scariest thing to see after coming back," Henry said.

"No kidding," Chara said.

"Follow me," Jeff said, "And I will show you what us humans did."