The Awoken

Kawabata dragged Edrege into her home, slamming the door behind them before anyone could see where they went and harass them. Sighing softly, she took Edrege and sat him on the couch, and swiftly sat on the couch across from him. "Okay… I think we are good…"

Without warning she slapped Edrege with all her might, surprisingly hurting him, which not even his father could do. He stared at her in shock, wondering why she would slap him, and saw pure rage in her face. "What the hell were you thinking?! Pleading guilty! You didn't call me?! After everything… you don't trust me?"

Kawabata just sighed, leaning far back on her couch, her lizard physiology allowing her to lean ridiculously far back. "I'm not letting you get off that easily"

Edrege couldn't bear to look at her any longer, averting his gaze to the unlit fireplace, which he realized Kawabata was now looking at as well. She made her way over to the fireplace and lit it, standing by it for a moment and taking off the coat of her suit. "Downside of Snowdin, not a great place for someone like me to live. My body will just shut down, but it's so quiet here. It's so peaceful. The hotland is too hot, and the capital is too expensive, Waterfall is another option, but I also don't like living too close to my dad. So, this felt like the best possible option, don't you think?"

Edrege remained silent, he was ashamed of his actions these last few days, and he couldn't bear to make her ashamed of him as well, although, he probably already has

"You're being more silent than usual. So, let me cut to the chase. I've reviewed everything and I can get you clear of all charges. For the first charge, Second Degree Murder of W.D. Gaster, this was an act of self-defense. As you and your father both signed off on the creation of the core, it is your property. You can see in the security cameras that W.D. Gaster had an active weapon that he sought out when you tried to question him. You were following a lead on the missing Princess Samas and Chara Dreemurr. He was harboring the primary suspect and when you attempted to question him, he evaded you and went for a weapon. Death of Gaster, Self Defense, Not Guilty."

Edrege just sat in awe at what she was saying, he couldn't believe how easily she could twist a narrative, but she wasn't done. "Next, the second-degree murder of Samas Dreemurr. This one is simply impossible for you to have done. Samas suffered hundreds of cuts from an extremely small and extremely sharp blade. Forensics discovered a scalpal coated in blood that was hidden in a crack in the wall. The scalpal was far too small for someone of your size to wield that effectively against an opponent so small. Especially with the locations of the cuts reported on Samas' body. Due to these circumstances, you can't have been responsible for the death of Samas Dreemurr. Not guilty."

"Third charge, Assault With Intent To Kill on Times Roman, the damage to Romans skull, Doctors report was done with a single point blunt weapon. The damage was too small to have been from your fist, your mace is also far too large to have been used to do this small amount of damage. No matter how you look at it, you are not capable of doing such little damage. Especially in comparison to your blow against Dr Gaster, which took half his head off. Assault With Intent to Kill on Times Roman, you, are not guilty"

Edrege didn't know what to say, he was fully ready to take the blame for everything due to his madness, it had all been a blur, maybe Kawabata was right. "But even so, there have to be some repercussions"

Kawabata put her hand to her chin thinking a moment as she stood up and paced behind Edrege, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing him on the cheek. "I'd say, probably an extended leave from work and in-home arrest here with us"

She laughed a bit, placing Edrege's head against her stomach and holding home there "You deserve a break, don't you think?"

Edrege knew her words were true, and he was sure that this was what he wanted. Maybe it was time to take his father up on his offer and truly ascend to the throne. "Remember when Dad offered me his throne? Maybe it's time… especially with this…" He looked to where his missing arm was, now just a stump. "lack of an arm, I guess you'd call it"

Kawabata nodded, running her hands through Edrege's fur as he spoke, happy to hear him finally be ready to move on, she was scared she'd have to fight him for it. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Especially with how dangerous things have been lately. It's not all peace in the underground, but you got us damn near there… it's time to pass the mantle onto someone else"

Kawabata made her way around the couch to sit in Edrege's lap, snuggling in close to his chest and kissing him underneath his jaw. "I promise you this will be better. Besides, imagine how pissed my dad will be knowing not only are we gonna get married but you'll be his boss! He might have a stroke!" She laughed to herself. Wrapping her arms around Edrege. "I love you, big guy"

She slithered up his body until they were face to face, Edrege wrapping his arm around her as their lips slowly met.

***

Dr Roman opened his eyes, getting immediately blinded by a bright light causing him to squint heavily. He gazed around the room. A seemingly endless white void greeted him. He had a splitting headache and went to reach for his hand, but couldn't feel anything. Taking a quick look at this hand, he saw it slowly crumbling away into dust.

The endless white void began to change, began to warp. He saw bodies stretched out before him, no clear signs of death. It was as if they just keeled over dead. He went in for a closer look and recognized the body of his brother, Gaster. He felt his heart rate spike and reached for him, when suddenly, Gaster's body awoke, grabbing hold of Roman's wrist. "Where… were you"

Before Roman could say anything, Gaster began coughing up a thick black substance that began to thicken into a bubble as Gaster began to melt into the black goo. It began to spread and spread, consuming the one pure white void with this darkness.

Panicked, Roman turned and ran, hearing the goo expand faster and faster. Hearing the screams of everyone behind him being consumed by this darkness.

He kept on running, too scared to turn back. He kept running until the white void around him changed. He was standing over a cliff in Snowdin. Staring down at a thick blanket of snow. He turned around for the first time and saw the darkness beginning to consume Snowdin. It was getting closer and closer, leading him to the ledge until there was only one way to go. Out of fear, he threw himself over the ledge plummeting into the thick blanket of snow.

He fell deep into the pocket of snow. His breathing was ragged, he couldn't feel himself anymore, just the touch of the cold. He was back in the white void, all white except… one more body, and a puddle of red blood. He walked towards it cautiously, and as he approached he recognized them. The brown shorts… the green shirt with yellow stripes, Shoulder length brown hair. Chara, her head had been smashed on a rock. He stared down at her corpse, sheer terror weighing him down as he fell to the knees.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I wanted to save you… to save us all… where did it all go wrong… I sacrificed everything. I lost… everything. I gave it all up. Is this what it all meant? Are we truly doomed?"

He felt the tears begin to stream down his face as he fell to his hands, which were now almost completely gone. "No… I have to stop it… I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!"

He cried to the heavens, slamming what remained of his hands down over and over again. "Do you have any idea how far I've gone? The things I've done! It was all for this! After everything I've done… I can't save anyone… this is so much worse than what you showed me before! Is this your price?!"

He screamed out in anger, slamming his hands down one last time, causing the floor to crack and break under him, falling into a pool of black liquid and sinking, continuously into the void. This was it. What he faced so many times, staring into the void. Despite how hard he tried, with the abyss staring back at him, he couldn't help but blink.

Suddenly, he hit the ground. He was full again. "Get up! Stop making a fool of yourself."

He was on the railways of the core. Looking up, he saw them all, the Dreemurr Family. Asgore, Toriel, Edrege, Asriel, Samas and… Chara. Even Prince Edrege's bride-to-be. All stared down at him in concern. He looked to the voice that was berating him, just to see his brother.

Recollecting himself, Roman stood quickly., fixing his coat. "Sorry, I… must be tired. Proceed."

They continued their walk into the lab, Roman noticed the occasional eyes of concern that fell on him. He especially noticed the glares between Chara and Asriel… hatred? Something isn't right.

They came to a strange machine. It looked like a goat skull with strange tubes leading into the ceiling. Gaster began to explain.

"This is the determination extraction machine. With this, we can create artificial human souls, this will set us free."

Roman watched as his brother powered the machine, a bright white glow emitting from it then out of nowhere the ground began to shake, everyone was thrown in a panic when suddenly the thick black liquid shot out from the machine, immediately grabbing hold of Asriel and pulling him into the matching.

Panic shot through the room as everyone screamed and ran, but one by one they were all consumed by the black void. Three of them managed to make it to some strange machine. Roman opened the door and lead Samas and Kawabata inside, quickly sealing it. Inside the machine were monitors of the entire underground.

The three watched in horror and it was all consumed. The horrified silence was interrupted by rapid beeping, Roman turned and looked as he saw the world crumbling around him as he suddenly sat up.

He was in a marvellous bed, surrounded by flowers and get well cards. He was heavily swollen, which had caused his heart rate monitor to go off the charts.

He quickly ripped the cords off of himself and sat up. Raising a hand to his head, he could feel the small hole near the top of his head. He had no idea what had happened, it was all a blur. He gazed out the window and realized he was in the capital. He shook his head, trying to distract himself from staring at the awe inspiring scenery beforeawe-inspiringed to find Samas, that structure in his nightmare… it would save them from the void. He wouldn't fail. He wouldn't make those same mistakes. The machine he and his brother had secretly been working on many years ago, their first project, the core was meant to power it.

He knew he had to prepare a few things. The strange structure and of course preventing the Determination Extraction Machine from ever being turned on.

He made his way to the door and flung it open, only to be greeted by a few guards completely in awe that he was awake. "Dr Roman! You're awake! That's wonderful news! This will surely brighten this dark day"

Dr Roman was to concerned with his visions to concern himself with the guards, but something they said caught his ear. "What do you mean Dark Day?"

The guards looked at each other nervously and then back to Roman. "Sir… um… oh man… how do we say this"

***

Chara made her way to the castle in search of Dr Roman, she began searching every floor to find the room they would have put him in. Her mind was fogged and she wasn't paying attention when she suddenly bumped into someone, nearly toppling over. "Oh! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

She went silent when she saw the person she bumped into was Asriel. Fury immediately overtook her upon seeing him. "Oh my god? You followed me?! Damn it Asriel"

Asriel was a bit shocked to see Chara, just as much as she was to see him, and was a bit hurt by her words. "Chara… I promise I wasn't here to chase after you. I was visiting mother"

Chara just rolled her eyes and stormed off, continuing her search, but became more annoyed now that Asriel was following her. "Chara can we please just talk? I don't know what I did to upset you, but can you just tell me what's going?"

"Asriel If I haven't made it obvious, I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to be around you right now. Yet you persist on trying to piss me off, can you please just leave me alone?"

Asriel didn't want to give up, Chara was his best friend, they grew up together, she was like a sister to him. He couldn't just let it, he wanted to help her. "Chara, please. All I know is that I did something that made you mad, I just want to talk it through, I hate it when we fight"

Almost as if fate had wanted them there, the next room Chara burst into was Hers and Asriel's childhood bedroom. The one they shared their entire early lives in. Chara took a step in and looked around, a smile on her face for just a moment. "I remember our last big fight happened in this room… do you remember it Azzy?"

Azzy thought a moment before his face went red for a moment and laughed awkwardly "Yeah… I came to check on you because you were sleeping through the morning… I walked in on you changing"

Chara let out a hearty laugh as she gazed around the room, it hadn't been changed a bit since they left, yet there was no dust or anything. It had been cleaned repeatedly. "I didn't talk to your for weeks and stayed in a guest bedroom."

Asriel's embarrassment turned to genuine laughter reminiscing on their previous fight. "Yeah, it was honestly the worst two weeks of my life. Chara, you're my best friend. I care about you more than anyone else, and you know I want to help you with anything that you're struggling with. To always be by your side… but I can't to that if I don't know what I did to make you upset, can you please just tell me?"

Chara's joy disappeared and was replaced by a frown. Turning away from Asriel she opened the door to the balcony and stepped out. Overlooking the city. "Asriel… I'm not mad at you. Well. I'm kind of mad at you, but not you specifically, at your obliviousness, it's like everyone knows but you…"

Asriel was now more confused than ever, he was never the smartest in the family, hell, academically he was probably the dumbest. Especially in comparison to Samas, but oblivious? That felt a bit rude. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't like being called your sister, but not because I'm not grateful for everything you guys have done for me. Taking me in, raising me…"

Tears began to fall from Chara's eyes as Asriel approached her on the balcony, putting a hand on her shoulder. This soothed Chara a bit and she turned to look him in the eye. "Asriel… I love you… but not in the way you love me. To you, I'm just your sister… Even to Toriel and Asgore I'm not their daughter. To Samas and Edrege I'm not their sister… but, to you… I am. Asriel, if you were the king, I'd want to be your queen. Do you understa-"

Before she could finish, she felt Asriel's lips meet hers. She was shocked by the sudden kiss, and began to fall into the kiss when she suddenly snapped out of it, pushing Asriel away. "What the fuck?!"

Asriel, again was surprised by Chara's actions, he really didn't understand her. "What? What did I do wrong? That's what you wanted right?"

Chara just growled in frustration, and tried pushing past Asriel to get away. "You can't just come onto me when I'm at such a low point! I'm trying to confide in you! This wasn't just a confession! I was trying to talk!"

Asriel was getting a bit annoyed, so he grabbed Chara by the wrist to prevent her from walking away. "What's your problem Chara? I'm doing everything I can to make you feel happy, can you stop for a second to consider how I feel?"

Chara winced at his grab on her wrist, trying to pull away. "Asriel, let go, that hurts!"

Asriel didn't listen, instead pulling her back out on the balcony. "You're dumping all this on me at once! Our first conversation today you were so rude to me. All I did was not notice that you were in love with me? Are you kidding?"

Chara struggled to get out of Asriel's grip, trying to get away, with his bereavement and how upset she was, she began crying again, desperate to get away from Asriel "Please… let go"

"No! I'm not going to let go! Why are you always running away as your first option! I've just wanted to talk all day, and this is what it leads to? You're such a drama queen!"

Before he could say anymore he saw the door to the bedroom fling open, Dr Roman was there, and he was staring at Asriel in pure disgust. "Prince Asriel… I'm only going to tell you this once… I've received some awful news today… and emotions are high. We are all grieving… but if you don't let Ms Chara go at once… I will never let you forget it."

While he was distracted, Chara mustered up all her strength to pull from Asriel. Asriel in turn, ignored Roman, and tried to maintain his grip, pulling Chara back towards him. Seeing this, Roman made a sprint at the both of them, realizing what was about to happen, but before he could reach them, Chara broke free and stumbled backwards, falling off the rails of the balcony and dropping 12 stories into the city.

The last thing she saw was Dr Roman reaching over the rails and nearly managing to grab her, but it was too late. "I'll never forgive you Asriel"

SPLAT