Here we are. I knew it would come to this. You and me, fighting to the death over a SOUL.
Chara ran. Frisk knew he wouldn't get far. She'd stabbed him so many times, and all she had to do was follow his bloody trail.
Frisk muttered to herself as she tracked:
"I need you, Chara. I need you alive. If you die, the SOUL will split and shatter, and I won't be able to reclaim it. You know what I want. You feel it, in your stolen SOUL. You'll run until you collapse. With all your strength. Because you know: there's nobody more dangerous than I am."
Frisk advanced, slowly but steadily.
A knife in her hand.
Step after step in blood-spattered boots.
Frisk could hear Chara's ragged breathing.
She must be close.
You are right to be afraid. I am coming for you. The one responsible for all those deaths, Chara? It wasn't you. It was all me…
There was Chara, who had fallen face-down. He was struggling to his knees, but he had lost so much blood. He was too weak.
Frisk's eyes widened. "Oh? You didn't get far at all.. I thought you were stronger than that, Chara."
Then, Chara lifted his head to look up at her. His face twisted with pain and despair. He'd died before. Pain and death held no terror for him.
What he feared was something much worse. Humans abhorred the monsters' power to take SOULs. Of all people, Chara understood how terrible it was.
He shrank away from Frisk in horror, and she knew her appearance must be truly monstrous.
She closed the distance between them in a few strides.
Frisk rolled him over onto his back, and straddled him to pin him to the ground. He struggled uselessly. Blood was bubbling from his chest wounds with every breath he drew. She'd pierced his lung.
His heart was beating desperately. It was making his whole ribcage shake, and feeling it beneath her, Frisk's appetite was whetted.
Calmly, Frisk took a handful of Chara's sweater and wiped the knife clean, then pressed it point-down into the soft ground, just out of his reach, and let it stand there.
"You have something I need. Give it to me." she said softly.
Chara reached out one of his ruined hands, trembling and bloody, the broken fingers bent at awkward angles, and touched Frisk on her heart. He looked deep into her eyes and gave his final appeal:
"…please, Frisk… please… don't take my SOUL from me.. If there is any gentleness or mercy left in you…" he paused to cough, "let me die.. whole…"
Chara was fighting for each breath, and it caused him agony. Frisk could hear his chest wound sucking and rattling. She felt a fleck of his bloody spittle on her cheek.
There was a strange sensation, where Chara was touching her: his SOUL was calling out for compassion, into that dark, hungry void within her breast. Beyond all reason, he was hoping, praying, that something would resonate.
But Chara's plea vanished into the darkness, with not even an echo in reply.
Frisk regarded him coldly while she considered his plight. Then she said, "That SOUL isn't yours in the first place. It's mine and I need it. So I'll have it back."
She wrestled both of his arms and pinned them above his head with one hand. Her other hand went to his chest. She called out to her SOUL, inside Chara's body, and felt it pulling towards her fingertips. Chara whimpered – he knew what was coming.
Yet even in this desperate state, he resisted her. With every fiber of his being, he clung to that SOUL.
His breathing was becoming more labored. He twisted and struggled beneath her.
Slowly, irresistibly, the SOUL was dragged from deep inside Chara's chest, upwards.. until it came into contact with Frisk's hand…
..and finally, she had something to grip..
Chara's heart was beating frantically against her palm.
Faster and faster-
Weaker.. and weaker..
Frisk pulled with all her might.
Something within Chara broke, and he screamed, in spite of his ruptured lung.
After that, the SOUL started to come more easily. Frisk smiled. She had won. She tugged steadily at the SOUL, tearing it free slowly, bit by bit, while Chara gasped and sobbed and cried.
Chara's hold on the SOUL was diminishing. The last bit was very easy. Frisk plucked the SOUL from Chara's chest.
Frisk held the SOUL close, just beneath her left collarbone, and let it sink into her skin. Then, she hissed with pain – it hurt more than she expected. It felt almost like a wound, although the skin was unbroken. Deeper and deeper, it sank. She clenched her teeth and controlled her breathing until the SOUL came to settle in the left side of her chest. Despite the pain, it felt good. She sighed with contentment.
"That's better. Now that I've got my SOUL back, I suppose I could give you some mercy", said Frisk, reaching for the knife. "You asked me very nicely before.. so let me hear you.."
Chara turned his head to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"..kill me.."
"Didn't your mother ever teach you 'Please' and 'Thank you'?"
Chara's voice was barely audible.
"…please… it hurts so much… so… please… mercy…"
It was sweet, to hear him beg, to hold his fragile life in her hands.
Frisk held the knife close to Chara's throat. She pricked him with the point, just under his chin. Then, she paused.
"You know what, Chara? I… I don't think I can do it. I like having you around. You're really quite charming, when you're in pain, you know? The thought of killing you.. it makes me feel sad."
She climbed off him – he'd stopped fighting entirely – and crouched beside him.
Suddenly, the SOUL within her started to ache deeply.
The thought of being the only human in this world was unbearable.
She wanted to keep him there, forever, in her power. But he was slipping away, losing consciousness. She gave him another poke with the tip of the knife, but Chara didn't react at all. It took all the fun out of the game.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Frisk. Her hand went to Chara's neck to feel his pulse. His heart was beating so fast, and so faintly, and now the rhythm was erratic.
"When you said 'We'll be together forever, won't we?' did you even mean it? Secretly, I was hoping there was some way we could.."
Chara said nothing. His raspy breathing was becoming more and more shallow. His eyes were closed and his eyelashes fluttered.
"Well, right now.. I don't think you're up to it, really", said Frisk, bitterly disappointed.
She stroked his cheek with one finger.
"But perhaps we can stay together for just a little while longer…"
She shook him and put her face close to his.
"Hey, don't go yet.. I'm not done talking to you. You know, Chara, I used to think you were the sick one. Manipulative, abusive, oh – and your morbid sense of humor. But compared to me… well…"
Frisk used the tip of the knife to scrape the blood from underneath her nails. "I guess I owe you an apology for that. Chara… are you even listening?"
Her SOUL hurt horribly. She wanted Chara back, to beg or threaten or bargain with her, anything at all! He was her favorite. She loved the reactions she got from him – so unlike the kind, dumb monsters.
She lay down beside him and leaned her head on his chest. Now, it was completely still. No breathing, no heartbeat.
"Heh. You always had to have things your own way. Goodnight, Chara… I'll be seeing you, wherever SOULless humans go…"
Writer's note:
If you came here from my other story Nightfall: this one-shot is adapted from a deleted scene (end of Chapter 10 'We'll be together forever, won't we?"). I had to cut it because it was just too gruesome. But a few of my beloved readers still asked to see it, and they gave me confidence.
I've had quite a lot of help editing it into something I could post, from some very competent writers. I won't name you here, but you know who you are. Thanks, guys!