𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

ℤ𝕒𝕜𝕪𝕦𝕦 09/23/20

455

⍟ 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 ⍟

ʜᴇʏ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ! ᴛɪs ɪ, ᴢᴀᴋʏᴜᴜ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ, ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ sᴄʀᴀᴡʟ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ sᴘᴀᴅᴇs.

ɪ'ᴍ sᴜʀᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡs ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜɪs ɢᴏᴇs. ɪ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʙᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴀɴᴛʀɪᴇs, ʟᴇᴛ's ɢᴇᴛ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ɪᴛ!

⍟ 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ⍟

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭

sᴛᴏʀɪᴇs ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛᴏʟᴅ

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭

1974

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧

ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ʜᴏᴜʀs

ᴀᴅᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ʜᴏᴜʀ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴅɪᴛ

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐮𝐞

[ʙᴀᴄᴋɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ|www.mnstrcndy.tumblr.com]

ᴀsʀɪᴇʟ | [ᴄʜᴀʀᴀ|www.minjing -kun.tumblr.com] | sᴀɴs

𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐔𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝

ᴢᴏʜᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀ

ᴘɪᴄsᴀʀᴛ | ɢʟɪᴛᴄʜʟᴀʙ

ᴘᴏʟᴀʀʀ | ʙᴀᴄᴋɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴇᴅɪᴛᴏʀ

𝐂𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲?

Click here to see the story w/o fonts!

⍟ 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 ⍟

𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-[BC]⍟ 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 ⍟

ʜᴇʏ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ! ᴛɪs ɪ, ᴢᴀᴋʏᴜᴜ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ, ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ sᴄʀᴀᴡʟ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ sᴘᴀᴅᴇs.

You find yourself in a field of Echo flowers, this time. It's always a beautiful sight. Your attention is drawn to the petals soft glow, illuminating your surroundings a a soft blue light. It's still to dark to see clearly, however there is still enough light that you don't stumble in the dark.

Chara's presence shifts behind you, the dark cloak of determination ing overhead.

*𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗰𝗵𝗼 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄.

You happen to disagree. Alone, the flowers are nothing special — but if you take the time to listen, and watch, you learn so many things and so many stories from them. Snippets of conversation, thousands of emotions, all left to be found by the next person.

You've never been this far out in Waterfall during your runs before. It's a nice change of pace.

*𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆, 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲. 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻. 𝗦𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳.

There's something odd in Chara's voice, the influx of their pitch recognizable to your sensitive ears. You rely on your hearing more than your sight, so it is more like second-nature to you at this point.

You turn to where you know Chara sits, languidly laying back surrounded by a patch of flowers and staring at the crystal-speckled ceiling.

You decide to settle next to Chara and bring your knees up to your chest, resting your chin comfortably between them. A breeze — artificial, you know — sweeps by, only you and your hair are being affected by it.

By accident, your fingers brush against one of the flowers next to you. A conversation begins to unravel, like a domino effect that needed your touch to activate.

I still think it's weird how these plants repeat exactly what I say.

If you actually had your eyes open, then you were certain they would be blinking in shock and bewilderment. That voice almost sounds exactly like Chara, if it were a pitch higher. There's also a hint of something truly young that your friend very much lacks, as old as they claim to be.

You think you imagine Chara turn stock-still.

You think so? They're pretty normal here in the Underground.

Well, up until I fell I thought monsters and magic were mere fantasy, Azzy.

Oh yeah. Good point.

You know who Chara's talking to. How could you not? You've been through so many runs, so many timelines where you encountered the prince of the Underground -- its hard to forget.

*𝗙𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸, 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗼?

Chara asks this tentatively, but you only frown up to where you feel their presence, and stubbornly remain seated. You don't know much about Chara and Asriel's lives before they died, and they don't tell you anything. You figure if they were dumb enough to have a conversation in a place filled with Echo flowers, they should have seen this coming.

*𝗨𝗴𝗵. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆.

Pfft -- dork. Did you just suddenly forget that I was never from around here?

N-No! Hey, come on, stop laughing, it just slipped my mind! Back me up here, will you?

You know he agrees with me Azzy.

Don't speak for him! Come on, you see where I'm coming from don't you?

You sit up a little straighter, curious about who Chara and Asriel seem to be talking to. Of course, it's not a stretch to think that they both probably knew a lot of the monsters Underground, it's practically required for crying out loud.

But this is the first time you've ever heard someone else in the royal sibling's company. Through your time here in the Underground, you've only ever encountered records of only the both of them included. This time, there was a third.

Of course you're curious. Maybe they're still alive after all this time?

You don't notice the air around Chara's incorporeal form charge up like electricity, negative energy rolling off them in waves. You do, however, notice Chara's soul pulse rapidly, and assure them as best as you can while listening to the ensuing conversation.

Why aren't you -- are you actually 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴? You're such a bonehead.

Bonehead. For some reason, a strike of familiarity strikes you. Your curiosity grows stronger than ever, and you're dying to know who Chara is talking to.

*𝗙𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝗹𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼, 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲--

There's an edge to Chara's voice, urgent and pleading. You look over to Chara in concern, and you see that they're clutching their arms tightly, hugging themselves. They're floating now, trying to steer Frisk away from the field.

For all that you are a pacifist, you're also really nosy. So you dig your heels on the ground and stay on the path.

Sansyyy, wake up! Chara and I are having a serious conversation here!

You feel your mind grinding to a halt.

Sans? Asirel and Chara were talking to Sans? The revelation shocks you that you actually let your mouth fall open. At first you think there must be some kind of mistake, surely there were other people with the nickname Sansy. But Chara clearly called 'Sansy' a bonehead, and what other person with that name be specifically referred to as a bonehead, if not your short skeleton friend?

You need to know. In fact, you are almost DETERMINED to do so. You thought it was awfully odd that aside from Asriel, Chara had such a fixation on the ever-smiling skeleton. Perhaps this will shed some light.

Chara tries valiantly to turn away, but their soul is tightly entwined with yours, so they can only stop a few feet away from you, still able to hear the conversation in its entirety.

The flowers resume echoing the conversation that transpired long ago.

ℎ𝑢ℎ? 𝑜ℎ, 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦. 𝑖'𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑦.

You confirm with yourself that it was indeed Sans. That kind of voice inflection was hard to replicate, and not for a lack of trying. There is still that tint of innocence, but it was undoubtedly Sans to your ears. You walk along the path, where you assume the conversation leads, because it seems like all three were walking while talking.

Three flowers burst into racuous laughter, mimicking Chara's voice exactly right. For once, you are silent, surprised by the sound. You've never heard Chara genuinely laugh out loud.

*𝗙𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸. 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲.

You express to Chara that you really want to know. You won't ask them anything, but in exchange they have to let you stay here, listen, and make your own conclusions about it.

*...𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝗸?

You turn to Chara and verbally promise that you won't.

*𝗔𝗹𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

What?! You didn't even LISTEN to what we were saying!

𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜. 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑧𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒.

How did you know?

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐.

Sansy! Be serious!

He can't be Serious, Azzy, he's Sans!

Urgghhh!

𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎.

You stare for a good long while, at the direction of the voices are coming from. You can't believe your ears. Chara PUNS?

*𝗨𝗴𝗵. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗮𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺?

You internally wonder why Chara sounds so angry and lonely at the same time. Do they miss Sans? Why call him that? What happened between them?

Sadly, you are a keeper of your promises, so you can't really ask Chara about it.

Do you ever miss the Surface, Chara?

The conversation obviously continues from there, but there are no Echo flowers that reflect this.

Eventually, you find it, a few feet away from the previous one.

No. Not really.

So you don't miss the sky?

𝑎𝑧𝑧𝑦, 𝑖 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘--

It's fine, Sansy. And I don't know. I'm just happier down here, I guess. But I get why you guys want to see the surface again. The stars up there are cool, but I see them everyday.

...I bet they're even better than the crystals down here.

I don't really see a difference.

𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚. 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑓𝑓. 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠.

Wow. Where'd you learn all that Sans?

He probably read it from a book somewhere, the nerd. Ow, hey! It's true!

𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑡.

You feel a pang of sympathy dash your soul. It always makes you sad whenever you hear a monster's wish to see they sky of the surface, and it makes you clench your chest even more when you hear the bitterness in Chara's voice.

You chuckle a little when Sans once again displays his intellectual prowess, despite how hard he tries to downplay it.

*𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝘇𝘇𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲.

You whip around to stare at Chara in surprise. They're looking away from you, a bittersweet expression coloring their face.

You don't know how to respond to that. So you don't.

You continue listening to the conversation the flowers recorded.

When we get to the Surface, we should all look at the stars!

Huh? Why?

𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡?

You're both my best friends, silly! I want my first glimpse of the sky to be shared with you-- cause you two mean so much to me.

Aww, Azzy! I love you too!

Chara, ow! Not that hard, you know that hurts!

You smile. It's heart-warming to hear the affection from their voices alone.

Your eyes then bulge in shock, however, when you hear a soft voice speak up next.

It's Sans.

𝑖...𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜...𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢...𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢.

You are gaping.

(Chara shakes beside you, their shoulders are hunched up high. They bite their lips, averting their eyes, trying to stop the tears from rushing down their face. They're sure you don't want to see them with black goops of liquid run down their face.

They take a shaky breath. Chara misses Asriel. They miss Sans.

They miss their best friends so, so much that it 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴.)

Look, look bro! Sansy's blushing!

Sans! You're so cute!

𝑢𝑟𝑔ℎ, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒. 𝑐'𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑒.

Group hug!

Three voices laugh in unison, the sound resonating with a group of Echo flowers.

You are silent. The kind of silent that defeans the room entirely, despite the sound of the flowers repeating the chorus of laughter over and over again.

You look over at Chara, noticing their shaking form, their face shadowed in darkness. You've never seen your friend so vulnerable. A part of you feels guilty for bringing up bad memories for them, but a part of you is glad you got to know more about your partner. It's complicated, so you try not to think about it anymore.

Morality is a hard thing to balance when you can just RESET, after all.

Instead, you pull Chara as much as you can into your arms. They need a friend to comfort them.

You will be that friend.

Chara stiffens in your hold for a few moments, before a sob escapes their lips and the crush their head into your shoulder, finally letting go of all the pain they must have been bottling up all this time.

Chara cries. They cry for their mistakes, cry for their pain, and cry for the ones they left behind.

Chara cries, because they got to know two of the most kindest, most selfless best friends in their entire life, and they chose to throw it all away for a plan doomed to fail.

They cry, because there is only so much burden, so much responsibility a child can hold until they reach their breaking point.