Voice: *...ke up.
You feel someone shake you.
Voice: *Wake up.
You feel that you're sitting up against a stone wall, your legs stretched out in front of you. Your body hurts. You feel someone shake you again.
Voice: *I know you're awake, open your eyes.
You open your eyes and see a mirror reflection of you. Well...not so much. Their eyes are red, and they're wearing a green and yellow striped shirt. Currently, they're crouched over your legs, hands resting on knees, chin resting on hands, staring at your face with a bored expression on theirs.
Chara: *...you're weird.
You're taken slightly aback by that proclamation. Your know who this is, they've been haunting your dreams...trying to take control of you through the many saves...and yet, somehow, right now you don't feel frightened of them.
Chara: *How many times are you going to reset, trying to save him?
You: *As long as it takes. He deserves a happy ending the most, out of everyone.
Chara rolls their eyes.
Chara: *Even if it means losing yourself, forever?
You blink slightly.
Chara sighs.
Chara: *Look...we've been together for a long, long time now. I've seen you do many great things, and do many terrible things. At first, it was all a game for me, and a chance to try to get my revenge against humanity again.
Chara reaches down onto the ground and picks up their knife, bringing it up in front of their face, lightly poking the tip of it with their index finger as they stare at it.
Chara: *You're going to destroy yourself trying. How you've lasted this long is amazing on its own.
You:*Whenever I think about him trapped alone, forever, existing in the state he's in, it fills me with DETERMINATION to rescue him.
Chara snorts slightly.
Chara: *You don't even realize it. Haven't you noticed that it hurts now, to use the power of SAVE? Don't you feel...stretched?
You have noticed the last few times that there's an ache deep within you, and you've been more tired each time you restart the timeline.
You: *...
Chara looking into your eyes again.
Chara: *It's slowly eroding your SOUL. That power wasn't meant to be used for so long...especially since you've already gotten the good ending several times already.
You: *The good ending...not the best ending.
Chara puts their knife down, and stares off to the side.
Chara: *Look...I've had time to watch you. You're...different. I hated you, at first, and for a very long time...and to be honest, I still don't like you.
Chara's eyes flick up to you again, and they give you a lopsided smile. It isn't friendly, but it isn't outright hostile either.
Chara: *Most importantly...I've seen how hard you've been trying to save him...a monster, who has done acts more unspeakable than even you in some timelines.
You look down, ashamed of those times when the frustration and bitterness of failure would get to you, throwing you into a fit of rage...letting Chara take control of you.
Chara: *Asriel was right...I wasn't the best person. I hated humans for what they did to me...hated them with every fibre of my being, with my very SOUL. And I used him, and our parents, to try to get revenge.
Chara sighs deeply, closing their eyes.
Chara: *But I did love them. They were...kind. They treated me as one of their own...Asriel was my best friend, my brother in every way but blood...
Chara: *...and watching you try so hard to save him, and give them happiness...I feel regret for how things turned out.
Chara opens their eyes, and a strange, familiar look enters them, one you've seen in the mirror in your own.
Chara: *And I'm getting tired of seeing you fail...and seeing you slowly destroy yourself before you can save him.
Chara gives you that lopsided smile again.
Chara: *So here's the deal. What Asriel is missing...is his SOUL. I'm going to give you mine, so you can give it to him.
You blink a few times, before looking at Chara suspiciously.
Chara rolls their eyes.
Chara: *No, this isn't some trick to possess Asriel. And that's not really how it works, either, dummy.
A surprisingly soft expression forms on Chara's face.
Chara: *You know as well as I do, when you die your SOUL fragments. You don't need all of the fragments to form a working SOUL...if you leave out one of the fragments, it will be a blank slate...because inevitably what gets left out is the personality of the original person.
Chara begins rocking back and forth on their feet, resting their arms across their knees again and their chin on top of their arms.
Chara: *Basically...I want you to take all but one fragment of my SOUL...and give it to Asriel.
You: *But won't that mean...
Chara: *That I'll be...gone? Yes, it will. I'll be forever lost to the void between timelines, never to see anyone again, never to be seen again. But after everything I've done...
Chara smiles, genuinely this time.
Chara: *I think it's my way of repenting. Of giving someone I actually care for a second chance.
Suddenly, the knife is directly in front of your face, the tip an inch from your nose. You almost go cross-eyed trying to look at it.
Chara: *If you screw this up, or if you hurt him in any way, I WILL claw my way back and make your life a living hell...got it?
You swallow a bit and nod.
The knife is lowered again.
Chara: *Good. Now that we're clear...it's time for you to finish returning to the start of the timeline.
Chara stands up, offering their hand and pulling you to your feet when you take it.
You: *How will this work?
Chara: *It's already done. The fragments of my soul are hidden in yours...and when the time is right, you'll know when to use them. Remember...all but one piece. His DETERMINATION will fill the hole with his personality, and will make it whole. It will become his SOUL, instead of mine.
Chara's face grows grim for a moment, before they turn and starts to walk away.
Chara: *Remember, you're on limited time...your SOUL can't take much more of this. I'd say you have three, maybe four more SAVEs before it breaks and fades away...and not even your DETERMINATION will save you then.
Slowly, they get further and further away, fading into the darkness of the void.
Chara: *Remember...you screw this up, and I'll make sure you regret it for eternity.
A bright light slowly fills your vision, the familiar sensation of the SAVE, along with an ache deep inside of you. You feel yourself losing consciousness, and then all is black once more.
Author's notes: I'm horrible for starting and not finishing fanfiction, as a look at my profile will tell you...but this is an idea that has been bouncing around in my head since I finished Undertale. So I'm going to try again to make a multi-chapter fic, rather than the one-shot's I'm actually half-way decent at. Quarter-way? Eh, whatever.
It should be noted, too, that this will be the only chapter written in this style. I'll use a much more normal method for the meat of the story, and actually give Frisk a gender, the one I see them having in my headcanon. That's one of the things I love about Undertale...8-bit, yet the character is still what you make of them ^^ Anyway, until next time! Whenever that will be.
