The First Steps (Lost and Found Arc)
As the door was closed, everyone in the room, except the good doctor of course, got nervous. They had no idea how they were going to break the news to this human about how they were doing. She could sense the tension, so she offered to let them choose who would start.
"So, who would like to go first?" Asked Dr. Lillian.
"Okay, then. Who would like to state what their expectations are in group therapy?"
Asriel and Frisk's ears flared up in interest; Chara made an intrigued expression; Asgore and Toriel had a startled look.
"Umm...maybe I could go first?" Asriel asked, raising his hand nervously.
"Very well. What is your name, sir?"
"Um...my name is Asriel."
"Good. We're off to a good start. Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"
"Okay. As everyone else knows, my name is Asriel Dreemurr, I'm the prince of all monsterkind, and I'm in group therapy."
"Why do you suppose you're in group therapy, your majesty?"
Asriel gave a surprised expression to the doctor. He didn't know she would be so respectful of his status so immediately.
"Yes, well...I believe...it's because...for a long time, I wasn't even a monster. In fact, I was really just a flower."
"Ah, I see. That's rather interesting. Would you like to talk a little about your time as a flower, Asriel?"
Dr. Lillian Crenshaw got ready to take notes with a pencil and a notepad.
"Okay. Give me a second."
"Of course, your majesty. You may take as much time as you need to prepare."
Asriel took in a few deep breaths to get ready to speak about his sins as a flower. He was nervous, but he was ready to get it out.
"Wait." Chara intervened.
"Maybe...excuse me, madam. I think you should know what happened before Asriel became a flower."
"Oh, I see. There was more to the story. Very well. Let's go to before such an experience."
"Thank you, madam. Asriel, you ready? I can't tell this without you."
Asriel took in one last breath and faced Chara.
"Yeah. We're ready." Asriel said with a slightly distorted voice.
"Oh. Flowey's getting involved, too?"
"Okay. Let's do this. Asriel and Flowey, you start with how it was before I fell."
"Right. Before I even met Chara, I was a pretty lonely kid. And it wasn't just because I was a boss monster. It was also because I was the prince of monsters. I was gonna inherit the throne to the entire kingdom, and everyone knew it. That's why most of them wanted nothing to do with me. They were worried that if they picked on me, I could get them in trouble with mom and dad. I didn't wanna be feared, I just wanted a friend, but I never got one for a long time. Then Chara showed up."
"When I fell into the mountain, Asriel found me and took me home to mom and dad. You know, these two older boss monsters? Anyway, these two are named Asgore and Toriel. Asriel is their son, and they were the royal family of monsters. They took me in as their own."
"When Chara and I first met, I was so happy to finally have a friend, and a human one, no less! She was just scared, but she warmed up to mom, dad and I eventually. After spending time with us, we got close enough to consider Chara as a member of our family. Then came that one day when Chara and I accidentally poisoned dad with buttercups. We were trying to make mom proud by making dad a butterscotch pie, but it didn't work. We mistook buttercups for cups OF butter, and he got really sick."
"I tried to laugh it off, trying to hide how terrible I felt for accidentally poisoning dad, but they all knew how I really felt. Later that night, Asriel saw me break down about the whole incident. I just cried so much, he came to me and comforted me. I swear, Asriel's a great big brother. I just wished I could've been a better little sister. And a better daughter."
"What? Chara, why would you say that?" Asked Asgore.
"Becuase I poisoned you by accident, and I felt really guilty about it, but I tried to laugh it off to keep you from seeing how bad I really felt about it. You got sick, and it was my fault. I mean, how was I supposed to know that buttercups were dangerous? They're beautiful, and they look innocent, but they're beyond toxic? How was I supposed to know that beforehand?"
Suddenly, Chara could feel the control over her body leaving her grasp, confirming her parents were taking over. Thanks to Flowey's natural ability to sense a soul, Asriel could feel Charon and Laura's presence becoming known.
"Chara, sweetie, it's okay. You wouldn't have done it if you knew beforehand what buttercups could do." Charon said, comforting his daughter.
"Yes, sweetheart. All your father and I did was tell you to keep away from the flowers." Laura said through Chara.
"We never told you which ones were dangerous, especially not buttercups."
Charon and Laura gave back control to their daughter. She shook her head a little to get her bearings back.
"Whew! Okay. I'm back." She said.
"Mom, dad, it's fine. I forgive you. I know you were just trying to protect me, and you didn't know if I was allergic to flowers or something else, LIKE buttercups or something."
Chara's parents mentally thanked Chara for forgiving them. Then Dr. Lillian got somewhat intrigued.
"That was unexpected." She said.
"Oh, yeah. My parents are dead, and I absorbed their souls. Now I can be with them forever. Sorry I didn't tell you."
"Interesting. Do you perhaps have the ability to speak to, or otherwise communicate, with your deceased relatives?"
"Yes. They can hear everything I say and hear, see everything that I see, experience everything as I do. Would you like to meet them?"
"Why, I dare say I would."
Chara let her parents out of her soul long enough for them to meet the good doctor, who was surprised that Chara was telling the truth.
"Um...hello there. May I ask of your names, please?"
"Y-yes. My name is Charon." The ghost monster said, approaching the doctor with a pacified hand.
"And I am Laura. We are Chara's birth parents." Laura said, standing next to her daughter.
"Ah. I see. My apologies. This is the first time I have had supernatural patients."
"No need to apologize. We are just here with our daughter. Speaking of whom, I think we'll be going back to her now."
Charon and Laura walked into their daughter, who absorbed them again within a matter of seconds. Chara got aroused for a moment, but she shrugged off her feelings.
"Excuse me, Chara, is it? Are you okay?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm fine." Chara said, recoiling from the resurgence of power that left her for a brief moment.
"It's just that whenever I absorb souls, it gives me a pleasurable feeling. It also leaves a taste in my mouth. Depending on the personality of the soul being absorbed, it can either taste good or bad. Those were my parents, and they taste and feel amazing."
"Oh. I see. You are also a hybrid. Just like Frisk. I was told long ago that he was a hybrid between monster and human, you see."
"Oh. Alright. Well, I guess I don't have to be scared at this point."
"Of course not. This is a safe place where you are able to speak of your secrets without persecution. Those who fail, or refuse, to respect that are not welcome in this room at this time."
"Good. Good. Now I can tell you everything we need to say. Anyway, I accidentally poisoned dad, and I felt really bad about it. I tried to hide it, but I couldn't. My family knew the truth.
Later on, I asked if I would be able to go back to the surface. They solemnly said no, but they told me how they became trapped down there in the first place."
"I think I can explain from this point." Said Asgore.
"Toriel and I told Chara that we were trapped in Mount Ebott due to the humans that employed magicians to incarcerate us all. Seven magicians erected the barrier with every last ounce of magic they had within them. With seven human souls, we would be able to destroy the barrier completely. Even if not seven human souls, at least such an equivalency. However, even if you counted every last monster in the underground, we only had enough for the equvalency of ONE human soul in power and maybe one or two monsters."
"Exactly. Upon telling me that, alongside remembering how I poisoned dad, I came up with a plan. The plan was to have Asriel absorb my soul so he could go to the surface, and retrieve six human souls. Six was enough to break the barrier, but I didn't care. My REAL plan was to use Asriel not just to free the monsters, but to kill every last human on the face of the earth. It took some time to try and convince Asriel to go through with it. You remember, Rei?"
Asriel was about to comment that his name is Asriel and not "Rei", but he decided to shrug it off just this once.
"Yeah. I remember. I gotta admit, you sounded so convincing, considering the fact that I didn't want you to die for us. You told me that all we needed were six souls."
"Yeah. Then you cried a little and tried to wuss out on me. I accused you of being a crybaby, and you agreed to do my plan anyway, despite how much you didn't want to."
Chara started to tear up a little. Dr. Lillian noticed and offered her some tissues, which she promptly took about 8.
"After that, I set my plan in motion. I got some buttercups, and I poisoned myself. I took enough to kill a grown man at the time. I was BEYOND sick. It was so painful to suffer from how incredibly toxic those buttercups were. I should've never even gotten close to them."
"Excuse me, doctor, may I have the tissue box, please?"
Dr. Lillian passed the box over to Asriel in a manner that seemed to say "knock yourself out". He started crying as he and Flowey remembered what happened.
"I remember the way Chara looked in her bed. She looked horrible. She was pale in some parts of her face, her eyes looked sunken and bloodshot. It was like she wasn't Chara anymore. We all started crying over her. Dad tried to stay strong for her, telling her to 'stay determined'. She really was the future of monsters and humans, even if she didn't want to admit it. I lost my mettle and tried to get Chara to wake up. I told her I didn't like the plan anymore. You won't believe how she felt after that."
"I think she would, Asriel. Death by buttercup is fucking torture. It was beyond painful to get so incredibly sick. I felt so weak while I just lied there in bed. All I could do was listen to you guys crying over my body. Then, I made the final wish: to take me to see the golden flowers of my village. I knew you guys couldn't grant me my final wish, but I didn't care. It was just a farce to 'give you a motive' to go up to the surface. Then shortly after I made that wish, I stopped breathing and moving. I just...I...I died. As I left my corpse, I saw Asriel, and absorbed me. The second he finished absorbing my soul, I took the reigns on his body."
"I was scared, and I could sense Chara's anxiety and anger too, but I just kept telling myself what I came to the surface for. I kept saying 'six human souls. That's all we need.' I kept replaying the message until Chara got to her village."
"When I got to my so-called 'home', I saw the villagers there. They were shocked that a monster came to the surface with a dead child in their arms. Then I got angry. VERY angry. I remembered every last one of their faces. To be honest, I was surprised, shocked actually, that they saw my dead body in their arms, and they wanted to attack Asriel for it. They thought Asriel killed me! I was like 'WHAT THE FUCK! You guys didn't care about me when I was alive, and now all you want is to avenge my death?!' I swear, they were all just hypocritical animals! They were ready to murder Asriel in cold blood. As I set my body down by those flowers, I turned to them, so angry at how they treated me, I was ready to slaughter every last human in that village. I couldn't control myself anymore. Asriel could tell I was hurting from them and angry at them all. He could feel my rage."
"I can't think of a worse time to man up and grow a pair. Before Chara could use our full power, I forced her to relent and snatched back control. She was beyond angry, and all of it got aimed at me at that moment. She was upset because she couldn't kill them because I refused to let her kill them all. Then came the barrage of weaponry. Boy, did they do a number on me. I got shot, I got stabbed, some of them threw these rocks at me, I got burned a bit by some torches. They launched everything they had at me. I asked them why, and they said it was because I 'killed Chara'. I should've said Chara killed herself, but that probably would've pissed them off even more. Why? Perhaps they would've thought I lied or something. Anyway, after that siege, I grabbed Chara's body and went back home. To the mountain."
"I was so angry at Asriel. I wanted him to give me back control after he took it away. It wasn't just for my plan anymore. It was for those monsters hurting my brother. I wanted them to reap what they had sown. They threw me away like a piece of garbage, and then they decided that wasn't good enough for them, so they try and murder my own brother?! I had enough of them all. I wanted to force them to pay for their wrongdoings. But Asriel wouldn't let me. He was the only voice of reason and I shut him out like it was nothing."
Chara blew her nose and wiped her tears with some of the tissues she got.
"After Asriel carried me back home, I asked him why he brought me back home. He told me he could sense my anger and hatred at some point, but the reason he gave me was a wakeup call. He said it was because I deserved to be with people who actually care about me. After that, I forgave Asriel for ruining the plan I made. Asriel was right to hold back. If he let me kill those humans, we would've started another, more devastating war against humanity, and I don't think anyone that was human would've survived. That's why when we finally succumbed to our injuries, I told him I loved him one last time before we both died."
"I suppose I should've died happy that Chara loved me as my sister until the end, but that day just REFUSES to leave my memories and I alone."
Asriel started crying softly and blew his nose, letting his tears flow unchecked.
"I blamed myself for that for a long time. I know Chara technically did have a role in it, but I still thought it was my fault."
"Yeah. To be honest, I thought it was all my fault because after all that happened, all the monsters fell into despair again. And the worst part is...I can't take any of it back."
"I...I'm so sorry that happened to you both." Dr. Lillian said, lending her heart out to them both.
"I know I can't take away your pain, but I want you two to know that what you did was simply you two trying to do something good. I mean, sure, it didn't work out, but you just wanted to help your people. Never forget that."
Chara and Asriel were surprised. There they were, talking to a human that didn't judge them for what they did, and it was like she heard it all before. They started breaking down a little.
"Thank you for your kindness, ma'am. Thank you so much!" Asriel said before he started wailing.
"You're welcome. If I may be so bold as to ask one of you, how does knowing what you've done feel in hindsight?"
"It's terrifying." Chara said with her voice breaking.
"It's so terrifying because I realized all the consequences of what I've done. My parents are divorced, my brother died and turned into a soulless flower, I restarted an interspecies war, and the worst part is the whole world could've gotten destroyed by Talrok, and all of it was my fault! I should've never taken that first step. If I didn't, none of this would've happened!"
Chara and Asriel broke down in front of Frisk, the doctor and their parents. Frisk, Asgore, and Dr. Lillian looked at them in sympathy. Toriel had annoyed expression and left. She silently closed the door, and went outside. Then, Asgore and the doctor held out their arms, hoping to give the two a shoulder to cry on.
They noticed, and Asriel held onto Dr. Lillian, and Chara desperately clung to Asgore, both of them burying their faces in their chests as they cried. Frisk joined in, and stretched his dog ears long enough to encompass everybody in the hug. He purred affectionately as if to reassure Chara that she would still be loved.
"Chara, Asriel, you don't have to feel alone or guilty anymore. We're here for you." Frisk said, with one eye becoming pink, and the other turning cyan.
Chara and Asriel saw Frisk's eyes, and smiled tearfully at him.
"Thank you, Frisk. I love you." Chara said, starting to control herself.
Frisk let them all go and Chara went to him and hugged him. She didn't want to let go at all. She smiled at Frisk, feeling her determination flowing back into her.
"Wow. I...I feel...better? Like a weight was just lifted from my shoulders. Dr. Crenshaw, thank you."
The good doctor simply smiled at Chara placcidly.
"Now, who else would like to go?"
Asgore let go of Chara, ready to start.
"If it is no serious problem, perhaps I could go next?" He asked humbly.
"Of course, sir. Your name is King Asgore, correct?"
"Excellent. If you would be so kind as to tell your story, it would be most important for us all."
"Very well. Let me just say beforehand that I am sorry that you had to hear this."
Everyone sat back down as Asgore got ready to tell his story. He was feeling nervous as well, alongside a little guilty.
