♤ Leaving the Underground ♤

Hello! I'm YetAnotherPersona, and this is my first entry as part of team #ScrawlingSpades for the Cards and Souls event, for the prompt "Entrances and Exits." This story is about Asriel and Chara's exit from the Underground. I hope you enjoy it!

Unfortunately, Amino has not played nicely with the formatting for this story. The spacing of some words has been messed up, and there's a lot of dialogue that should be in italics that will be difficult to read here. If you want the best experience, I recommend clicking here to read this story on Archive of Our Own.

Content warnings: character death, descriptions of blood and gore.

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“Chara?”

Asriel stands next to the bed, his fists balled anxiously inhis sweater, his eyes trained on his best friend’s face. Chara makes no reply.

“Chara? Can you hear me?” Asriel whispers. “Oh, God...”

Chara stares at the ceiling, still and silent. A drop of fresh blood, brought up by their coughing fit less than a minute ago, beads at  the corner of their mouth and traces a narrow line down their cheek. Theseconds drag by; they still don’t answer.

“Chara,” Asriel croaks. He draws back the bloodstained duvetand lays a trembling paw on their chest. No breath buoys it up; no heartbeatpulses beneath his fingertips. Their nightshirt is still damp with cold sweatand sticky blood, but no life stirs under the thin fabric.

“No... not already...” Asriel whispers. He grabs Chara’shand, squeezing it so hard they should surely cry out in annoyance and pullaway. But they just keep staring at the ceiling, their fingers limp in hisgrasp.  A tear forms in Asriel’s eye andruns down his fur – one of many that have come before, just like the drop ofblood from Chara’s mouth. He wipes it away quickly and chides himself. This isthe moment! He needs to be ready.

“Chara.” Asriel lets go of his friend’s hand, leaving it totrail loosely over the side of the bed, and clutches at their chest with bothpaws. “What do I do? How do I... how do I get it out?” He fights back panic.Their soul should be leaving their body, shouldn’t it? Will he be able to seeit when it does? Will he have to... to what? Reach out and catch it? What if hemisses?

He takes a steadying breath. The seconds are wearing on, andstill nothing has happened. Oh, God, what if he has to get it out himself? Justwatching the bleeding brought on by the buttercups made him feel sick – hedoubts he has it in him to inflict such a wound himself. But Mom and Dad willbe back any second. This is his only chance.

He sets his claws against Chara’s chest and makes one lastvain effort to slow his breathing, steady his paws so that he can make a cleancut. He screws up his courage, and–

Suddenly, the room is plunged into darkness. The sensationof the floorboards against Asriel’s feet and Chara’s skin under his claws growsdistant. Even the noise of his own breathing seems deadened, overwhelmed byanother sound. It’s faint at first, but it quickly grows louder: a high-pitchedringing that seems to by his ears and resonate within his very mind. Heshakes his head, trying to dispel it, and peers into the darkness. He canbarely even see Chara’s body in front of him.

Then, without warning, a bright crimson light forces Asrielto scrunch his eyes shut. The ringing changes in quality – it’s even morepiercing now, but it no longer comes from inside his head. Instead it’s rightin front of him; right beneath his paws. He opens his eyes just a crack. Thelight and the sound... they’re coming from the same place, right in the centreof Chara’s chest. He lifts his paws away in shock.

The light rises slowly out of Chara’s body, ethereal, brightred, like a brilliant ruby or a drop of shining blood. Its glow, getting softernow, bathes the room eerily. The ringing, which reached its peak as the lightemerged, grows gradually quieter until Asriel has to lean in close to make itout. It hums out of the light, pure and sustained like the chime of a distantbell. There’s no doubt in Asriel’s mind that he’s hearing the sound of Chara’ssoul.

What now? He cups his paws around the soul, beckons itcloser. It follows the motion, drifting from its position above Chara’s chestlike thistledown caught in the breeze. Asriel hesitates, stops moving... butthe soul continues. It floats out of his hands towards him, moving of its ownvolition. He gasps as it gently bumps against his chest, sending ripples ofwarmth all through his body.

“Chara?” he whispers, his voice a mixture of fear anddelight. “Is it – are you–?”

The soul rings a bit louder, and bumps against him a secondtime.

“Okay,” Asriel says. “Okay. Here we go.” He exhales slowlyand lifts his hands up to the soul once more, pressing it back into his chest.

The light gets brighter; the ringing reaches a fever pitch.Asriel squeezes his eyes shut and pushes as hard as he can, willing Chara’ssoul into his body. The ripples of heat grow faster, more intense, untilAsriel’s hands and chest burn with each fresh pulse. More tears form in hiseyes; he opens his mouth to scream...

The light vanishes. The ringing cuts out completely. Asrieldraws in a deep, ragged breath and stumbles back, his feet thumping on thefloorboards. There’s a moment of utter stillness.

And then the world explodes.

The ringing, the heat, the light all return at full force –but this time they come not from outside, but from the very centre of Asriel’s being.He falls on his hands and knees as unfathomable power wracks his body,demanding to be released at every point. He shouts at full volume; his claws scratchlong grooves into the wooden floor; every strand of his fur stands on end. Thesensation goes beyond pain or pleasure – pure, overwhelming energy the likes ofwhich no living monster has ever wielded before washes over him in waves, intoxicatingand terrifying in equal measure. He takes a shuddering breath, and feels theair whistling past huge, razor-sharp fangs.

In his head the ringing fades, giving way to thrilled, maniclaughter. He recognises the voice even before it calls his name. Asriel!

He breaks off from howling and lifts his head up in shock. Chara?

Asriel! It’s me! Theirvoice is sparkling, elated. It worked!You did it, Asriel!

Chara! You’re here! hecalls back. You’re here. You’re alive.

I’m here. I’m here.God, we’re so powerful, Asriel. Canyou feel it?

A fresh wave of heat emanates from Asriel’s chest with thosewords, setting his fur bristling, causing him to bare his fangs instinctively.He nods. I can feel it alright. It’salmost too much. The power of monsterand human soul combined thrums through him; his dust vibrates as thoughthreatening to blast apart. This isinsane, Chara!

It’s awesome, theyreply. Asriel, we’re unstoppable.

A hysterical laugh escapes Asriel’s lips; Chara’s enthusiasmis infectious when their soul is so close to his. He springs to his feet andfinds himself towering over the bed that just moments ago came up to hisshoulders. Chara’s body looks so small and distant from this height. He tilts hishead back and glances at the ceiling; it’s much closer than it was before.There’s an unfamiliar weight about his head as he moves it, as well. He reachesup tentatively with one hand and is surprised to feel a fully-grown pair ofhorns.

Oh my God, Chara! heyells excitedly. Check out how big we are.

There are footsteps pounding down the hall. Quick, Chara hisses, dragging his mindback to the task at hand.

Asriel turns to head for the door, but he’s only taken onestep when he freezes, his feet rooted to the spot. Wait, Chara says.

Asriel’s body twists round involuntarily, and before he knowswhat’s happening he’s walked back to their bed in lurching, unsteady strides. Hestumbles and flings out his arms to catch the mattress, barely managing tobreak his fall.

Chara? he asks ina panic. What’s going on?

My body, they say. We need to take it to the surface. Asriel’s paws clutch at it, dragit from beneath the sheets. It’s so small in his arms, still warm, but limp andutterly lifeless. How long has it been since their soul abandoned it? The rushof sensations that came with the sudden increase in power momentarily wiped outhis sense of time.

Chara... he says,uncertainty resonating in his mind. He seems to have control of himself againnow that their body is cradled in his arms.

I want them to see me,Chara says grimly. I want them toknow what they did. Then we’ll make them pay.

Chara...

The door swings open. There stand Toriel and Asgore, wearingmatching expressions of horror. Asriel turns to face them and they step backinstinctively, leaving the doorway clear. Their wide eyes flick between theface of their son, altered almost beyond recognition, and the body of the childcradled in his arms.

“Mom... Dad...” Asriel says.

Go! Chara shouts,the force of their order propelling him to the door. We can talk to them later.

Asriel walks past his parents into the hall, progressingwith ungainly steps on too-long legs. He’s seized with an urge to stop andexamine his reflection as he es the mirror, but Chara spurs him on towardsthe landing. There’ll be time for you tocheck yourself out later. Let’s go!

Asriel turns and heads down the stairs leading to the throneroom. Mom and Dad looked so frightened,Chara, he says. I’ve never seen them likethat.

Don’t worry, theyreassure him. They’ll understand when it’sover. They know it’s still you.

Chara... we must lookterrifying.

We look badass. Those humans are gonna pee their pants whenthey see you.

Asriel carries on through the final corridor and into thethrone room. He’s quickly getting used to the extra height, and is amazed athow far his legs take him with each stride. He feels buoyant, packed withenergy like a coiled spring. Like he could leap into the air and never have to landagain.

He’s at the barrier now. He’s stood here many times before,and in the past he was always intimidated by its cold indifference: theconstant, throbbing hum, the unyielding surface beneath his paws, hard asdiamond and smooth as ice. But now it feels different. It reacts to hispresence, its hum resonating with the two souls in his body and spiking likethe buzz of swarming bees as he gets closer. And when he steps forward, prods itwith a single toe, it reacts: bending under his touch, deforming around himuntil his whole foot is embedded in its surface.

The hum becomes painfully loud, and turns into apins-and-needles tingle that shoots through Asriel’s leg as though threateningto shake him into dust. His claws tighten on Chara’s body and he takes a stepback – the barrier seems to shove at his foot at it disconnects, repelling itlike a magnet. He steadies himself and roars in anger.

What happened? Charaasks anxiously. Is it still blocking you?

Asriel doesn’t answer, instead glaring at the barrier withnarrowed eyes. “No you don’t,” he growls. “Not this time.”

Asriel...?

“You’ve kept us here long enough.” Asriel squares hisshoulders and leans forward, preparing to walk into the barrier again. “Thatends today!”

He marches forward decisively, forcing his right leg throughthe barrier and following through with his left before it can repel him again.His whole torso plunges into its gleaming surface and it twists and deforms onceagain, moulding itself to his body like a sheet of plastic wrap. He presses on,screaming with pain and righteous anger, shoving his whole body into the wretchedseal.

He feels the barrier tugging, a sensation like a milliontiny barbs hooking into his skin and trying to drag him back. It clings and pulls,as though trying to strip his fur from his body or rip his newly-grown horns offhis head. But he grimaces and endures and pushes onwards, and...

...his horns are the first thing through, stretching theseal taut and then piercing it, two neat puncture wounds that slide down theirlength and widen around his scalp, and...

...his head is next, fangs bared, roaring in defiance, eyes glowingand sharp stripes of black fur standing out on white jowls, and...

...then his chest, arms curled tight around the body of hisbest friend who gave their life so he could make this journey, razor-sharpclaws still drawing flesh blood where they’ve pierced the corpse’s waxy skin,and...

...then the rest of his body, faster and faster as thebarrier loses its grip, realises it’s failed to keep the mighty prince ofmonsters contained, and last of all...

...his left foot, the rocky outer surface still desperately clinging,stretching out like thick liquid before finally coming loose and falling backinto the mountainside, the hole resealing as quickly as it appeared. Asrielplants his feet firmly on the ground and stands tall, illuminated by the fieryglow of sunset, breathing in the freshest air he’s tasted in his life. Chara’sroar of triumph echoes in his head and comes to his lips in time with his own.

For the first time since the barrier was created, a monster hasexited the Underground.

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Thank you for reading! If you liked this story, I encourage you to check out my other works on my AO3 .