A/N: First off, I would like to say I am a 4th year college student that is juggling final papers, projects, and job search. Do not expect scheduled updates.

That being said, this is my first serious attempt at creative writing for multi-chapter fiction, so reviews and critiques are appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Undertale, its plot, nor any of its characters. I only own the rights to my own character and portions of the plot that do not stem from the game.

* Chara Dreemurr speaking *(Pronounced as Kara)

*CHARA THE DEMON (Pronounced Char + a)

Thoughts/Dreams

"Speech/Thoughts in Dreams"

An exhausted but DETERMINED Frisk stands before Asriel, the God of Absolute Hyperdeath in the endless rainbow colored expanse. They have reached out to souls residing within the monster, forcing the souls to remember and save them from the despair within Asriel's soul. Yet, as the souls of their friends resonate in Asriel, Frisk feels as if there is still someone left that needs to be saved.

Suddenly, images begin to form in Frisk's mind. A young human child laying on the ground, apparently having fallen from a great height. A monster child…No, a concerned Asriel approaches the fallen child, as said child slowly picks themselves off the ground. The images switch to the two kids traversing the underground, with Asriel supporting the injured child on the journey. The duo eventual reach Home, where a worried Toriel spots her son and the injured human, rushing over to help them. The images shift once more, forming a photo of the royal family, with an obviously cheerful, grinning Asriel and the human child, their face hidden behind a bouquet of flowers.

'These… memories…'Frisk thinks to themselves before being embraced from behind. Turning their head slightly, they could see the transparent figure of a young girl in a green and yellow striped shirt. '…Chara, are these your memories…? Your memories of Asriel and you… He seems to have been such a sweet child.'

"Huh," the multi-toned voiced of the God boomed with a note of confusion, "What are you doing …?!" *1

'*Please… help me save him.*'The voice, so fragile compared to its usually steely edge, echoed in Frisk's mind. '*Call him… call him by his name… Make him remember who he truly is… Make him remember that he is …*'

"ASRIEL!" Frisk cries looking straight at him. The souls inside Asriel responding to the cry, resonating with positive emotions, forcing the being to clutch the orb that is his chest in confusion.

"Wh… What did you do…? Asriel whispers, eyes closed in bewilderment. "What's this feeling…? What's happening to me?" Having spent the many years as a soulless flower, Asriel is having trouble identifying the foreign, fuzzy feeling deep in his souls.

His eyes snap open in a fierce glare at the child before him. "No," he snarls, "NO! I don't need ANYONE!" With this declaration, the God of Absolute Hyperdeath launches a volley of prismatic projectiles at the child, forcing Frisk to dodge haphazardly, getting clipped a couple times and reducing their health bar down to 10 HP.

"Asriel," Frisk cries again, slowly approaching him.

"STOP IT," the God replies with a scream, his body flinching as the foreign emotion grows larger within his soul. "Get away from me. Do you hear me?! I'll ... I'll tear you apart!" He launches another volley of prismatic bullets, by they all pass over Frisk's head.

Once more, Frisk calls out to Asriel, telling him that there is no need to fight anymore.

"…,"Asriel hesitates, watching the human child stumble close to him. "…Chara," he replies in a low voice, the anger on his face draining away to a somber sadness, "Do you know why I'm doing this …? Why I'm fighting to keep you around…?"

Slowly, little goblets fire beginning to drift down from above. Thinking it is another attack, Frisk is surprised to see the fire purposely drift away from them. This is at odds with Asriel's fierce glare.

"I'm doing this… Because you're special, Chara. You're the only one that understands me. You're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore."

The streams of fire get heavier, but continue to drift away from Frisk. Looking back and forth between the raining fire and Asriel's now sorrowful face, Frisk realizes that the fire really isn't an attack… their Asriel's tears. Frisk presses onwards to Asriel, fully believing that they can break through to him.

"…No… That's not JUST it," sobs Asriel, "I… I… I'm doing this because I care about you, Chara. I care about you more than anybody else!"

Fire intensifies, but Frisk is no longer concerned. They recognize a soul in need and knowing that they can help fills them with DETERMINATION and the energy to continue moving forward.

"I'm not ready for this to end. I'm not ready for you to leave. I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again…"

'*…Trust me Azzy… Frisk is nothing like me*.' Chara's bitter reply resounds only in the back of Frisk's mind. 'Chara… now is NOT the time for…"

"So, please!" Asriel's sudden outburst cuts off Frisk's internal rebuke. "STOP doing this…" He raise both hands and begins charging an attack. "AND JUST LET ME WIN!"

As the last words come out of Asriel's mouth, he released his hyperbeam attack, hitting Frisk dead on. Dropping from 10 HP to 1 HP, Frisk barely remains on their feet while the rainbow colored energy whips around them. Despite the searing pain of the attack, they walk forward, moving against the blast, determined to reach Asriel. 100 feet. 90 feet.

"STOP IT!" the pleading command directed towards the unstoppable child.

80 feet. 70 feet. 60 feet.

"STOP IT NOW!"

50 feet. 40 feet. At 30 feet, Frisk drops to their knees, but continues to crawl towards Asriel.

At 10 feet, Asriel dismisses the blast. Watching the human child still crawl towards him with what little strength they had left, being kept alive only through sheer DETERMINATION… Asriel approaches them.

"…Chara…" Asriel whispers, watching as Frisk grabs ahold of one his large claws to pull themselves off the ground. "I'm so alone Chara… I'm so afraid…"

Frisk now standing up, if a slight unsteady, tries to comfort Asriel.

"I… I…"

SLASH SLASH

Asriel scream in pain and confusion as part of his hand is sawn off. Frisk falls back onto the ground, staring horror as the severed claw in his grasp slowly crumbles to dust.

"DAMMIT,"a hollow voice echoes all around the pair. "I was AIMING for the BRAT. "

'No! Not now! /No! Not now!' both Chara and Frisk scream internally.

"Still,"an evil chuckle fills the air as a figure materializes between the God and child, "ITS not every day I get to STRIKE the God of Absolute HYPERDEATH in his moment of weakness."

Asriel moves to strike down the new figure, but halts once the figure fully comes into view. "…Ch… Chara…?" stutters Asriel, staring at the familiar figure in bewilderment. "You're back…You… You lo...look different. Older."

Dusty fingers lazily twirl a worn, bloody knife in one hand, while the other hand rests on a chin, thumb picking at one of the blackened blood streaks traveling down the face. "I should…,"the teen replies, turning to address the hesitant monster. "After all, DYING doesn't mean I stopped AGING... stopped HATING!" The green and yellow striped shirt, worn and frayed from what appears to be the result of numerous fights, compliments the tattered brown pants.

" But, you… YOU haven't CHANGED at all since I last SAW you… Still a big CRYBABY… attempting make FRIENDS with HUMANS!"Red eyes light up with malice as they gaze over the child on ground, narrowing slightly as they flicker to some unseen thing beyond the child's shoulder. Frisk shudders under the gaze, the 15 year old teen looking far more sinister than any of the monsters they met during their travels in the underground. The eyes turn to Asriel in a harsh glare. "That's what got US into this MESS in the first place. REFUSING TO KILL HUMANS!"

"B..B…But Chara," Asriel stammers, tears welling up in his eyes, while globes of fire begin to form above the trio.

*sigh*…"I can't stay MAD at you Azzy," the harsh tone being replaced with a misplaced cheeriness. The fire globes wink out as Asriel calms down. "After all, it has been a few CENTURIES since we could actually talk with each other… COME here and give your BROTHER a hug."

The bloodied teen extends both arms in invitation, mouth breaking into a grin. Asriel hesitantly approaches, a weak smile forming on his face, before quickly shifting into a puzzled frown. "…Brother? … But aren't you a girl?" The teen's smile cracks.

"…shit… "

SLASH SLASH

Asriel stumbles back, roaring in pain as the knife slashes somehow bypass his defence.

"A girl?! A GIRL!" the teen begins ranting, visibly upset" OF COURSE IT WOULD BE A GIRL. They are the ones more likely to STICK with a PACIFIST ROUTE. Sure the ones that go GENOCIDE, are some of the most vicious, but they are also able to FEEL more easily, "Heturns to face Frisk, who is struggling to open up the SAVE menu to reach the RESET button. "Able to feel GUILT, and REMORSE, and love. Guiding their fallen child to a peaceful ending. Or stopping GENOCIDE before the LOVE is too much to control. And RESETING to avoid the lovely consequences."The teen stands over Frisk, knife raised to strike.

"Well, not THIS time. I will be TAKING your SOULS and make sure this UNIVERSE goes GENOCIDE."

Frisk, too weak to reach the RESET button, can only scream as the knife comes down.

Sheets fly off the bed as Frisk sits up, still screaming from the nightmare. The scream tapers off to a whimper as Frisk looks about the room. The familiar furniture to their right, stuffed dolls on the side of the bed, and a slice of pie on the floor reminds them where they currently are.

'Home… I'm at Home…'

Across the room, the door slams open as dull orange light fills the room.

"My child!? Are you ok?"

In the doorway is one of the most relieving sights Frisk has seen since falling down into the Underground. Wearing a simple nightgown and wielding magical flames in hand, Toriel stands ready to strike down anything that might be scaring the poor child. Seeing no immediate threat in the room, Toriel dismisses the fire and approaches the trembling child, sitting down on the bed to hug them.

Frisk can feel the motherly presence exuding from Toriel chasing away the last dregs of the nightmare. They tell Toriel that they are alright, just had a nightmare.

"Must have been a terrible one, child," Toriel replies, her voice soft and soothing. "Do you wish to tell me what it was about?"

The image of a flashing knife dances across Frisk's mind, sending a shiver of fear down their spine. They shake their head no, telling Toriel the nightmare wasn't about anything important.

"Are you sure dear?" Toriel's voice now tinged with concern. "Your screams said otherwise. I feared you were being attacked with how frightened you sounded."

Frisk relents a little and mentions the nightmare had to do with events that happened earlier in the day.

"Earlier today… Of course! That flower," Toriel's voice growing sharp, "Attacking you with no provocation. If I see that talking weed again, I may end up making an exception to my do not fight rule." Calming down slightly, she continues to comfort Frisk. "I'm so sorry I did not find you earlier, my sweet child."

They tell Toriel that it's ok, silently worrying that they may have convinced Mom to kill her son by accident. After a few more minutes of hugs and comforting words, Frisk finally convinces Toriel that they will be ok for the rest of the night and to head back to her room. Giving once last glance back at Frisk, Toriel slowly closes the door.

As the sound of footsteps move into the next door room, Frisk lets out a small sigh of relief, glad to not have to actually tell Mom about the nightmare.

"*I am bit jealous of you right now" a sullen voice whispers next Frisk's ear, causing the poor kid to release a startled gasp. A light giggle could be heard as a second person slowly faded into view.

"Chara!" Frisk angrily hisses to the girl currently floating right by their head, a partial red heart in her chest. "How many times have I asked you not to sneak up on me?"

"*157 times now," replied the red-eyed child. "*And it is still as funny as the last 156 times. Besides, these harmless scares are how I calm myself down. You weren't the only one reliving those last few minutes of our previous loop."

"…oh…"

"*Yeah, oh." She lets out a small sigh before floating down to 'sit' on the bed beside Frisk. "And unlike you, I do not have the luxury of Mom hugging the memories away." As if to emphasize the point she lays back and lets her head go right through the pillow.

Frisk attempts to comfort her, but falters when Chara tries hugging herself like a scared child would, knowing full well that she can't feel her own ghostly body. The two of them lay there in silence, one watching the other, helpless to ease her pain... To ease anyone's pain. The silence is broken by muffled sobs.

"*Frisk," Chara asks tiredly, raising their head out of the pillow to look at the crying child, "*Why are you crying now? You're starting to turn into a bigger crybaby than Asriel."

"…I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Frisk whispers trying to stop the tears. "It's…I don't think I can do this anymore."

"*What?*"Chara asks, sitting up in alarm at the defeatist tone coming out of the child.

"I don't want go through with this journey again Chara. Not when all our hard work is meaningless, all our friends and family are going to be killed. That creature… he's forced us to reset so many times, killing our friends over and over. I thought we moved too fast for him to act last time, but he was waiting for us at the end… if you hadn't pressed the reset button before that knife came down…" The tears began to fall again.

A ghostly hand passes through Frisk's head, startling them as Chara finishes her attempted slap.

"* Enough with the tears, Frisk. You know I don't handle tears well.*" Chara says, a little put out she has to deal with her friend going through an emotional breakdown. "*Look, I think you are handling this problem the wrong way. You should not be feeling sad, but rather anger. Anger at that doppelganger messing with our plans. I know I'm angry.*"

*sniff* "But… you're always angry Chara."

"*Well, yes… but I am especially angry at him. He claims to be me but he goes about killing our Mom and then purposely hurt my brother Asriel. He deserves my anger and, if I still had a physical body, a knife to the face.*"

The macabre image of Chara stabbing her male counterpart actually forced a chuckle out of Frisk from their sheer strangeness of the scene.

"* Ah! I got you to laugh.*" Chara says with a small grin, one of her non-creepy grins. "*Feeling better?*"

"…A little," Frisk whispers, before sighing, "I still think our situation is hopeless."

"* That hasn't stopped you before,*" Chara reminds them. "*We've been at this for what… a little over 50 loops?"

"54, I think."

"* Right, 54. And only once have we given up… and that was probably the best decision to make at the time. So what if we have homicidal maniac running around. You still have control over the timelines, and that means nothing he does will be permanent. But that's only as long as you…*"

"…Stay DETERMINED," Frisk finishes for her. "Yeah, DETERMINED… Well, if I'm going to stay DETERMINED, then I should probably go back to sleep. We have to fight, Mom, tomorrow. Goodnight Chara." Frisk mumbles as exhaustion finally begins to claim them.

"*Goodnight Frisk*" Chara whispers, slowly fading out of view as she too succumbs to the siren call of slumber.

Both the kid and the ghost now sleep, worries of the future cast aside for the night. Tomorrow will contain a surprise for them and the Underground, as something new will be introduced.

For reality has taken notice. And that is never a good thing. For reality is a dick and does not like having to take notice of universes with problems. When does take notice, it will usually send help, but it will be the worst possible help it can find.