Bound Together Part 22

"Seraph the Herald of Death..." She mouthed the words to herself a few times, watching him. "...He's familiar," She finally said, acknowledging Frisk's concern.
"You know him?" Frisk asked, holding onto her.

"Wait a minute...." Toriel said. Suddenly, the realization hit her like a truck. "Habriel's book! Tale of Seraph the Unfallen!"

Seraph turned and smiled. "Well well...." he chuckled. "Who is over there who knows about me?" he waved his arms towards the MTT resort and the glass doors swung open, revealing the family inside. Seraph gasped when he saw who was mentioning him, and started laughing. "If it isn't the queen of the monsters, herself!" he clapped his hands. "My oh my, your majesty. Never have I thought I would ever meet you. I remember an old friend of mine fought your husband. Although, we've never met on the battle field. The stories of the Dreemurrs never ceased to amaze me."

She was not sure of what to do, and waved sheepishly with Frisk behind her.
"Uh h-hello," She called out to him. "I didn't quite believe I would meet you, either. And under these circumstances."

"My oh my, how things change over time." he smiled. "That bastard friend of mine who fought King Asgore, what happened to him?" before she could tell him she didn't know, he gasped. "Wait, never mind." he said. "I doubt you'd know. After all, we sealed you all away. I must say, though. I'm quite surprised at these circumstances. Me, one of the seven wizards, here in the Underground, helping the royal family none the less." he paced a little bit and shrugged. "Enemy of my enemy is my friend...." he chuckled.

Toriel had no idea what was going through that head of his, or what he was talking about.

"Um, I'm sorry?" She had raised her hand up to speak before, but had lowered it slowly as he spoke, more and more confused than before by his soliloquy. Frisk watched him, stepping out beside Toriel.

"Just answer me this one question." she said. The mage turned his head.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What exactly is going on?" she held onto Frisk and Marion.

The man gave an unsettling smile. "It's a long story." he said. "But to make it simple, this boy is cursed. Him and I are stuck with each other in this curse. He can borrow my power when he uses magic. However, my power as a result of this curse attracts the negative forces of this world. He shall always suffer, he shall always be in danger for as long as he is bound to me. There are two ways to break the bond with me. He could either have a child who would bear the curse instead, or he can simply die."

His speech left her speechless. "He... he must suffer as long as he lives... until he grows up and has a child or dies?" She sobbed quietly, looking at the seraph. "Why...? Why has he been cursed this way?" Frisk wanted to cry too, but tried their best to comfort Toriel.

"What, you think he's the only one?" Seraph asked. "The Clemens bloodline has been cursed for over a millennia. The youngest blood of this family must bear this curse." he took a step closer. "It's not through the lack of effort to break this curse, either. Hundreds of parents and children sacrificed their kids and siblings in blood rituals to break this curse before humans forgot how to use magic. Nothing worked. Honestly, if you want to stop dealing with this pain, you should just let him go. I'll move onto whomever is still alive. He'll be free of the burden. You don't have to suffer with him. He doesn't have to suffer anymore, nor would he have to watch his child suffer. On top of that, it brings me a step closer to being free. If I have no one to bond with, I have a feeling I would finally get some rest."

"But... he shouldn't have to die if he wants to break the curse!" She said, her voice raising. "That's just... unfair! There has to be another way! He should be able to live a life like everyone else!" She burst into heartrending tears.
"Can he hear us?" Frisk inquired, perking up a bit.

"He's heard every word, just like I did." Seraph responded. "As well as for it not being fair, take a look at me. Do you think I like being stuck like this? Being nothing but a vessel for stupid little kids who run off and get themselves killed. It's about as fun for me as it is for him. If there was any other way to break the curse. It'd have been done already, believe me." He smiled. "We're stuck like this!"

"I'm really sorry," Toriel muttered, her eyes downcast towards her feet. "I didn't mean to insult you..."

"It doesn't matter..." Seraph shrugged. "I can feel myself slowly fading away. I don't have much time." He turned to fave Chara and waved his hand. The skeletal hands dragged her across the ground and sat her up to face him as he knelt down and smiled. "So I'll make this quick."

"Tch, what?" Chara hissed.

"It's funny how you love to bitch about someone else going around murdering people, meanwhile here you are. Trying to do the same thing with that hypocritical smile." he chuckled.

"I'm making things the way they should be!" Chara spat.

"What gave you the right to determine what's right or not?" Seraph asked. "You're nothing more than a mentally ill, undead child who witnessed genocide in another timeline." Chara widened their eyes. "Oh, I know all about it. My best friend also had that power when he was alive. He told everything he did before resetting."

"So it's okay for them to toy with everyone's lives like that!?" Chara asked.

"It's okay for you to do the same thing?" Seraph asked. He turned to Frisk. "So what happened?" he asked them.

"I....I killed everyone in the Underground." Frisk held their head in shame.

"And I suppose you two met at the end." Seraph said. "Do you remember anything she told you?"

"We eradicated the enemy and became strong." Frisk paraphrased.

"Who is the enemy?" Seraph asked.

"Humans!" Chara blurted out. "They sealed those monsters away!"

"So you planned to gain LV and wipe out humanity?" Seraph asked. "You're even worse than the people you condemn. At least my people didn't wipe everyone out. You care about these people so much and at the same time don't. It doesn't add up."

"I don't care!" Chara spat. "I don't need anyone!"

"Then why haven't you destroyed this world already?" Seraph asked.

"I didn't destroy the world yet because I enjoy to watch them suffer," They pointed a crooked, accusing finger towards Frisk, who immediately hid behind their mother in fear and more remorse. "It's fun! It's interesting to see how long their 'family' can defend them and how I can take them down. So?"

"It's funny." Seraph said. "You know, I created your kind." he explained. "I can control you like a puppet, I can tell exactly what you're thinking. I can also tell when my creations are lying to me...."

Chara widened their eyes in horror. But then laughed it off. "You didn't create me, I woke up!"

"No, you naive fool." he said. "I created your kind. The undead humans. The Liches." He reached out and pulled out her soul. "I know that this soul of yours is infused with a monster's. That's how humans can come back from the dead. That's how liches are made. All you're missing is a body. I created your kind. You can hide nothing from me."

"I'm not lying! I love to see them suffer!" They screamed, still pointing at Frisk, who stood cowering.

"You can say that all you want." Seraph said "But the first person you gotta convince is yourself."

"Shut up...." Chara growled.

"Why?" Seraph said. "Because you're mad at them for what they've done? Because they snapped, but still managed to fix their mistakes?"

"Shut up...." she growled again.

"Is it because you're jealous that you couldn't do the same thing when you messed up?" he asked.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Chara hissed with tears running down their transparent cheeks.

"How could you say they fixed their mistakes?! All they did was activate a stupid reset and treat them all like it never happened and that everything was fine! But me! I never tricked myself into believing that lie!" She spat. Their eyes were fearsome and glowing a hollow red.

"Look around you." he said. "Look at them. It's rather obvious that they forgave Frisk, so why not you?"

"It's not right." Chara said. "Resetting doesn't fix everything! It doesn't fix me! It doesn't fix Asriel!" they started sobbing.

"Yes, that may be, but it's not Frisk's responsibility to fix Asriel." Seraph said, looking at her with a cold stare.

"We'll chat some other time..." he said. "My time's up." Not even a second later, the hair grew short and was completely white again. The skull mask dissipated into violet petals which floated away in the air with the black feathers. Habriel collapsed to the ground and threw up. The skeletal hands released Chara and disappeared as well. After Habriel wiped away his mouth, he sat down and looked over at Chara with a look of sympathy.

"What?" they growled.

"Now I get it." he said. "I was awake the entire time he possessed me. Now, I think I understand."

"Understand what?" Chara hissed.

"You're jealous." Habriel said. "You're jealous that Frisk has control of the timeline and you don't. I don't know everything about you and Asriel. But from the way you spoke to Seraph, I know that you deeply care about him. Something happened between you two and you don't have the power to fix your mistake, unlike Frisk. They made their mistakes, but reset the timeline and fixed them. The fact that you can't do that with Asriel infuriates you to no end. You want to fix your mistakes with Asriel, but can't. You're jealous."

Chara held their head down, after a couple seconds, they looked up. "You-you just had to be the one, didn't you?" they asked. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" they snapped. "ME, CHARA DREEMURR, JEALOUS?" they pointed at Frisk. "OF THAT STUPID HUMAN!?" they curled up into a ball on the ground. "It's humiliating..." they muttered. "To be understood by someone as stupid as you....humiliating..." Tears began to stream down their cheeks and their vision began to blur. They finally started sobbing and hiding their face in their knees, screaming and crying.

Habriel attempted to get closer to them, but they smacked his hand away and slashed and flailed at the air with one arm. They didn't want him to step an inch closer. They wished he wasn't even there- that they weren't having this conversation, that they didn't know who he was. They eventually dropped their arm down again, still crying.

Toriel, Frisk and Marion walked outside and watched the scene before them. "I wasn't lying about what I said earlier...." Habriel said. "I have an idea of how you feel. I know what it's like to not be able to do anything about whatever's happening to someone you care about." His eyes started glistening. "It hurts...."

Chara didn't respond.

"I know its easier to get mad at someone else and take your anger out on them." he continued. "As humans, we mourn, the grief turns to pain and from pain we turn to blame."

"I didn't do what Frisk did. They did something big- HUGE in fact. They killed everyone. And yet," They looked up meekly.
"They're the one that has power over the timeline. They can undo what they've done, but I can't change a thing about what happened to Asriel. Not one thing."

"I'm sure we can figure something out if we all work together." He held out hand. "As for Frisk, I think going back and changing it makes up for it. If they truly didn't regret it, they wouldn't have gone back." He reached out further. Chara looked over and stared at the family.

They shook their head and sighed.
"There's not much we can do now. I'm basically a spirit. What can I do to help someone so far gone as Asriel?"

"It took six human souls and the soul of every monster in the Underground to turn Flowey back into Asriel." Frisk said. "We can either do that again or use a seventh human soul."

"So we already have six." Habriel said. "The seventh soul...." he gasped. "The hooded man's soul! That makes seven! We can still save him!"

"You want to, my child? After all that he's done to you?" Toriel came up behind Habriel.
"Yeah, didn't he try to get the monsters to hate you?" Frisk chimed in, looking at Chara.

"Well, he's kind of dead." Habriel said. "Maybe now, he'll finally be able to do some good in the world." He looked up at Toriel. "You get to have Asriel again, you must be excited."

"Well, sort of, my child..." Toriel blushed. "But I've been used to his absence. And I don't know how he'll react to having you three around," She messed up Frisk's, Marion's, and Habriel's hair playfully. "It'll be strange. I don't know how to feel about it."

"I...that wasn't what I was expecting...." Habriel said. "I wouldn't know what I would do if I lost any of you....I'd have been very excited if I could bring any of you back....."

"She's taught herself not to get too attached." Chara said. "She lost too many children...."

"Yes," She said in a plaintive tone. "I'm deeply sorry, my child. I don't mean to sound so unfeeling. I'm just nervous; I haven't seen him in years, after all. I never thought I'd see him again. I guess I had just gotten used to that fact." She hid her face in her hands. "I must be a horrible mother."

Habriel gently grabbed onto her hands and wipes away her tears. "You're better than my mom." he said. He hugged her. "No, I should correct myself. You ARE my real mom. The woman who gave birth to me is nothing when compared to you. People would kill to have someone like you watch over them."

She hugged him. "Thank you, my child. It's just that... after a while, one can't help but blame themselves on the things that happened in the past. I just hope Asriel can forgive me after all this time."

"There was nothing you could do." Frisk said.

"Yeah, what were you supposed to do?" Chara asked. "Kill those children, yourself?"

Everyone gave Chara a flat glance. They shrugged and rolled their eyes, getting the message.

"As messed up as it is." Habriel said. "She does have a point. There was nothing you could do. I'm sure Asriel will understand."

"Alright." She sighed. "But before we do anything else, we all really need some time to rest and think. Including Chara." Chara nodded grimly.

Habriel got up to check on Kaizer. The skeleton grunted in pain as he got up. "How're you feeling?" Habriel asked.

"Exhausted and like I was hit by a train. What happened after I blacked out?" Kaizer took the boy's hand and sat up, grunting once more. "Hopefully nothing too crazy."

"Let's talk about it during breakfast." Habriel said. "Wait a minute, you don't already know?"

"Know what?" He asked.

"I guess it has a different affect on monsters...." Habriel muttered. "Anyway, let's go."

Toriel gathered her children and beckoned to Kaizer, waving, but they stopped for a moment.
"What am I gonna do?" Chara huffed, watching them start to leave her. "Should I stay here?"

"I mean, do you wanna come with?" Frisk asked. "Wait! I know! I can call Napstablook! We can all have breakfast together! You would share whatever he brings."

"You're returning to the hotel, or back to Toriel's house?" Chara mumbled quietly.

"We haven't had breakfast yet." Frisk said. "We're all pretty tired and hungry. So, the resort for now..."

"Yes, you children must eat. Why don't we go to the resort's restaurant and then go home?" Toriel suggested.
"I think it will do us some good. You may join us when you wish, Chara."

Frisk pulled out their cellphone and dialed Napstablook's number. The ghost put the phone on speaker as Mettaton was with him.

"Hello?" The ghost muttered.

"Hey, Napstablook! It's Frisk!" Frisk greeted happily. Mettaton heard their voice over the line and his eyes lit up. He tried to grab the phone from his shy cousin.
"Oh, is that Frisk? Hellooo darling!" He called over the speaker, making them laugh.

"We were wondering if you'd come and have breakfast with us." Frisk said. "And do you mind bringing some ghost food?"

"Of course!" Mettaton exclaimed. "Anything for you, darling. Where are you?"

"MTT Resort." They said.

Mettaton chuckled and blushed. "Glad you've come to my resort, darling! And yes, that would be lovely! We'll be right over! See you~!" He said and hung up.
"Okay, so Mettaton and Napstablook are coming over," Frisk said to the others.

"One big breakfast." Habriel commented. "I'm just glad I get to sit down and relax for once."

"Someone's getting excited..." Marion giggled.

"Well of course..." Habriel said as he turned to her. He had the same piercing hypnotic gaze he gave her on their date. It made her blush. "And I'll be sure to save room for dessert..." he brushed his hair with a single stroked of his hand. For whatever reason, Marion felt like she was gonna explode from both excitement and embarrassment. Habriel's flirting shouldn't be getting to her, but it did.

Chara rolled their eyes and trudged beside the family as they walked to the first floor of the building. Soon, the familiar, timid ghost and fabulous robot followed them inside for breakfast.