The Dreemurr Fortune: Prologue
Asriel Dreemurr was stolen from his bedroom at some point during the night on November 11th, 1921. He was just seventeen, just about to step into his role as an adult Dreemurr. The family was famous and rich, partially due to their restaurant chain, and partially due to their real estate and construction company, and also just because they were famous for being rich and rich because they were famous.
Toriel, the mother, was a sort of sex symbol and had spent her youth modeling, whereas Asgore had been born into the Dreemurr family and had always been a business man.
It was thought that Toriel couldn't get pregnant, so they adopted a young girl when they were ready to have kids, and then the shock came about a year and a half after that, when Toriel found out she was, in fact, pregnant…
Asriel Dreemurr was the cute little darling of the family, with his fluffy white fur and his bright green eyes, he was quite an attractive young man. Beloved.
He got to be about 17, and that was the last anyone saw him. It was thought that he had disappeared from his room, kidnapped, perhaps, but regardless… after two years they had to have a funeral for him. Had to accept that he was gone forever.
Only he wasn't. Asriel wasn't dead, wasn't even lost. He was happy. The heir to the Dreemurr empire had been stolen from his bed, yes, but it's much more complicated than that.
A young, mysterious woman by the name of Chara, had ordered his kidnapping. The heir to the Dreemurr fortune, stolen from his room, less than a year before his eighteenth birthday. The family would certainly pay a lot of money to get him back. And Chara was counting on that.
Chara wasn't just a common criminal, it would take more smarts than that to execute a kidnapping of a member of the richest and most protected monster family in the country-hell, possibly the world. And Chara was smart enough. Bold enough. Had the means to do it.
Chara was queen of the Underground. At just 22 years old, she had a total of 3 years experience under her belt being leader, too. She had successfully identified the leader of this Underground society, seduced him, murdered him, and took his place. All while she was nineteen, too. And the Underground was thriving under her rule, more than it had ever been.
The City Under The City, as it was nicknamed. Chara ruled all.
All she needed was something big, something nobody could ignore, to really set herself apart from her predecessors. And Asriel Dreemurr that was just that.
She had sent a few of her people to get him with a perfectly planned course of action to achieve this. The Dreemurrs had 24 hour security patrolling their Manor, but these patrolmen were humans and monsters- and humans and monsters make mistakes. Sometimes pay attention to one thing, while a more serious thing happens right behind them.
Chara had racoons released at their fence, distracting the guards that were patrolling around the western side of the Manor, where Asriel's bedroom was.
In the dead of night two women, two of Chara's most trusted underlings, climbed up to his window, and shattered it to get inside.
Asriel woke up to the sound of shattering glass, but was promptly gagged, sedated, and carried off with a cloth bag over his head. Never to be seen again.
When he regained consciousness he was in a dark room, tied to a chair. He couldn't move his arms or legs.
It was only natural that the pampered Dreemurr heir was scared.
The lights came on, revealing an extravagant throne with a silver base and a red cushioned seat and back, black accents and details all over. And in that throne? Perhaps an even more impressive woman.
She had a vibrant, fire engine red pixie cut, which complimented her lightly sun-kissed skin, her eyes were red, like nothing Asriel had ever seen before on a human, and her cheekbones were high, very defined. But perhaps what got his attention the most was her lips. Painted black, she had a defined cupid's bow, and her lower lip was bigger than her top lip.
She was strung across her chair, sitting sideways with a pair of very toned, almost muscular legs positioned over the right armrest of the chair. She swung them back over to be in front of her, and then rose to her feet.
She was very fit all around, actually. Muscular legs, toned arms, a pear shaped figure, all graced her medium build. And she was tall. Probably aided by the black heels she wore, but she towered over Asriel, especially with him tied down to the chair like this.
To say he is intimidated would be an understatement.
His fingers twitched. If his mother wasn't so insistent on him keeping his claws trimmed down he might have been able to tear through this rope and set himself free.
"I never intended to show you my face, Asriel Dreemurr." She began.
Her voice was low, but so, so melodic. It made Asriel's ears twitch.
"I intended to extract payment from your family, and then perhaps execute you publicly. All without you ever knowing what's happening. And yet, I've found myself in quite the trouble…"
She walked towards him as she spoke, gently feeling his soft, fluffy ears when she reached him.
"You're too cute to kill." She grinned, revealing some razer-sharp fangs similar to what you would see in a vampire movie.
Asriel was frozen. He couldn't speak, he could barely breathe.
"I've grown lonely, Asriel… pathetic, isn't it? My self imposed social isolation has created something it was intended to destroy. A weakness."
Chara cringed at her own words.
"And so, I've decided, that if I'm to have a weakness whether I isolate myself from connection either way, I will choose the weakness that minimizes my negative emotions. I will choose to have an attachment rather than a longing. What I'm getting at, is… I will not kill you, nor will I extract money from your family, so long as you stay with me."
All this information at once overwhelmed Asriel. But after a few moments of silence, it became clear to him what he needed to do.
"Would you be surprised if I said I would rather stay here?"
Chara looked surprised. So it could be assumed that, yes, she would be further surprised to hear Asriel say that.
She had expected it to be a long, tedious process to get him to choose her over his family.
Asriel looked down at himself. Even his pajamas were lavish, silk. His fur was finely groomed and conditioned. He had never known hunger or poverty. But it was all at a price. A price too high for him to pay, it seemed.
"My parents expect me to inherit their fortune when they die. And in less than a year I am to start taking control of some of the businesses. My image is constantly prioritized over my sense of self, I…" he shook his head, a fear tears made the fur underneath his eyes wet.
"It is so much pressure. I've considered death before submitting to the future they want for me. But this seems like another option. A way out." He looked up, his green eyes meeting her red ones.
"I will give my life to you if you promise me protection. Promise not to hurt me, and instead shield me. I would rather be a nobody, hidden away from the public eye, than be a Dreemurr. I want to be Asriel."
The desire to disappear was something Chara could relate to. Was that not her desire at nineteen? To disappear from the consequences of her delinquency and seek power, rather than poverty?
She pulled a knife from a holder underneath her dress, and simply cut Asriel free.
"I believe we've come to an agreement, Asriel."
She had such a dazzling, enchanting smile. And she couldn't wipe it off of her face as she extended a hand to Asriel and helped him up out of the rather uncomfortable wooden chair.
Asriel was taking a leap of faith. Anything, he thought, would be better than becoming another Mr. Dreemurr. And if that anything consisted of such an attractive young woman? He would gladly accept his fate.
Still, a thought lingered in the back of his head for his sister.
Frisk deserves the fortune, the power. She's always had such good ideas about what to do with the fortune and how she could benefit the community. She's a business woman at heart. Always has been.
Asriel knew that Frisk would miss him. But this is just something he had to do.
Chara rarely appears in public. But she made an exception today for the very public funeral of her beloved, and definitely not dead, Asriel.
Her hair had grown out into a bob, and she wore regular sunglasses, and dressed in a black dress. The funeral was indoors, so she looked slightly overdressed with her big black coat and the sunglasses still on. But she didn't want anybody to look at her. She just wanted to observe. Get to know Asriel from the point of view of people who didn't really know him, she supposed.
Nobody really knew Asriel, except for her. And it proved true in the speeches all of these people gave. Vague, and sometimes completely false information about Asriel, was spread and celebrated at his own funeral. Chara was disgusted.
That is, until a young Latina woman took the stage. She was about 5'8, curly brown hair that fell just above her shoulders. Asriel's sister, Chara guessed.
"I'd like to start this off by saying thank you to everyone who came here to celebrate my brother. He's a good person and a better sibling." She began.
Chara immediately took note that this woman spoke of Asriel in the present tense. She suspected denial.
"He's brilliant, isn't he?" She smiled sadly.
Chara prepared herself for another series of false statements. But this woman didn't seem to have much of anything false to say.
"I was two years old when Asriel was born. I don't remember it. In fact, I think my very first memory was when he was two. He was such a pain… always wanted to take my toys away from me, always wanted to pull my hair, poke me… It was like he lived to make little four year old me miserable. That… that never changed. He's always loved to irritate me. But our most tender moments consisted of him being very raw with me. Very, deeply honest." She had to dry a stray tear on her cheek.
"When he was twelve Asriel told me he wished that I would take over as the primary heir instead of him. I laughed at him. Why would anybody ever turn down such an opportunity, y'know? But he always listened to my big ideas and plans for charities and thought I would be a better heir. Over and over I mimicked our parent's words, that I'm a woman, that I'm adopted, that I'm their darling and they never want me to have to work a day in my life, that Asriel was meant to be the heir."
Some people were notably uncomfortable, squirming in their seats. Sweating.
"When Asriel was fourteen he told me he'd rather kill himself than become another Mr Dreemurr."
There was whispers in the crowd. A man in a black suit came and grabbed the woman's arms, beginning to pull her away from the microphone. But she got two more sentences out, tears in her eyes…
"I know that wherever he is, he's happy to not be just another rich man giving orders. That's the last thing he ever wanted to be."
It seems Chara may not be the only one here that truly understood Asriel.
But she's the only one to know that these people are having a funeral for a young man who is very much alive.
