PATCHWORK SOUL - NEW MEDIUM

apples not falling far from trees, or something like that Chapter 108

Even though it had only been a few hours since they'd returned home, Asriel felt like he'd been holding Chara's secret in his soul for years. He'd been imagining what exposing it would be like since the day he'd learned his lost sister was still able to exist, somewhere out in the universe.

How many hundreds of years had it been since they'd seen her? How long had the results of his and Chara's scheme poisoned the whole kingdom? How long had their influence destroyed their parents and everyone who cared for them?

And yet...

Asriel had been welcomed back with open arms. Months back, he had told Asgore and Toriel every horrific thing he'd done since he was resurrected, and still, they'd embraced him.

Maybe it was denial; a parent's blind love. Maybe because the repercussions of his actions didn't exist outside a few people and the physical harm was undone, it had been easier to digest. Maybe the fact that he hadn't had a soul when he'd done all those things made it simple enough for them to let the nightmare of it fade away. Maybe someday he'd ask, but for now, he was content not knowing.

All of that might have been enough of a buffer for Chara. He didn't think he'd be so glad that their mother had guessed what the topic had been, but the relief he had felt almost made him jump with excitement. His parents' reactions had been in the same genre as he'd expected, but better than he'd ever hoped for.

Toriel's exhaustion was completely understandable, and with Asgore and Gaster being so receptive to the news, Asriel felt a lot lighter. He almost couldn't believe it himself, but showing the other photos and videos of Chara had brought a joyfulness to the ordeal, in his father especially. The recording he'd made when Frisk and the other Papyrus were playing music with the monsters in Arnbjörn's hall, the one where he asked Chara to sing, lightened the mood significantly as it played. The music certainly helped, too.

As he regaled Asgore and Gaster with more of what they'd done, he caught sight of Papyrus slipping over to Sans, pointing at the TV with a gleam in his eyes and a grin on his face. Sans's thoughtful expression lightened a little, too. When Papyrus embraced his brother, Asriel couldn't help but feel a little better.

In the back of his mind, he'd worried about Sans. Asriel had seen— often times from a front row seat— exactly what Chara and her hosts had done to him. Sans had every right to be cold, or scared, or fuming. However, the skeleton seemed fairly calm. Mostly curious, if Asriel had to describe it. He assumed that Frisk had said something more about the whole thing while she and their brother were upstairs, before all this.

Of all the people in existence to be given a second chance, surely there were better candidates than a pair of world-ruining abominations. But, Asriel thought, as he looked up at his father's face, at least maybe some part of this could fix a little of what they'd broken.

"Asriel." Asgore's voice, still raw from weeping, cut through the kid's thoughts. He sniffled deeply. "It sounds like you three had such fun together."

"Yeah, when we weren't, y'know, doin' all the crazy stuff," Asriel said.

"I'm so glad," he said softly. "You deserve it. And Chara, she... She had such a hard life. She did not deserve what happened to her."