Two girls stood, watching the sunrise from the mouth of a cave, high on Mt. Ebott, side by side. The smaller one's friends had been told she needed a moment to herself. A moment to take all that had happened.
Well, one was watching the sunrise; the slightly taller one in a green and yellow striped sweater. Her blood red eyes, however, flicked over to look at the girl in the blue and magenta striped sweater beside her. They always did have similar tastes.
Frisk had her eyes shut, as usual. After all, there was no point in opening them if she couldn't see anything anyway. "How does it look, Chara?" She asked in that ever-so-gentle voice of hers.
"It's... It's beautiful, Frisk... It's the best sunrise I've ever seen..." She said quietly, trying not to notice Frisk's latest attempt to hold her hand.
Can't hold a ghost's hand, after all.
Frisk opened one eye a bit, the milky iris focusing on Chara. Blind she may be, but Frisk had a way of seeing people. She simply saw their souls instead of their bodies, is all. Though considering all Chara was at this point was the residue and determination of a soul, she could make out her ghost buddy just fine. This made Chara's guidance much clearer.
When they had first met, Chara had been so confused, so angry. She had wanted to murder and destroy her way through the underground.
But Frisk, while still relying on Chara as a ghostly guide, provided her own guidance to the lost soul. She taught Chara about mercy. That not all humans were bad. That everyone could be a good person, if they just tried. This little girl, a blind orphan, abandoned by her parents, and who had every right to hate humanity just as much as Chara did, simply... didn't. She loved everyone with an unwavering passion, always striving to be friends instead of enemies. To be loved.
And Chara, after seeing her best friend one more time, as well as retrieving an odd memory of an old warning from a time she couldn't quite remember, finally knew what that all meant. She was finally, finally at peace. Unfortunately, that had more than just a mental effect on her.
She could feel her Determination, her will to be in this world, waning. All she was at this point was Determination. She was going to disappear.
Already Chara could feel her body starting to fade, getting gradually more ethereal. "Frisk... I need to tell you something. Something important." She said, floating in front of Frisk. "Frisk, I... I can't stay with you. I can't stay in this world much longer."
Frisk cocked her head to the side, her gentle smile overcome by a confused frown. "What do you mean, Chara? Aren't you… bound to my soul?" Her voice was quiet. Frisk did have a small voice, usually only ever raised when she lost herself in the moment. All the same, this was quieter than Frisk usually was. More nervous, even though no one was around besides them. And Chara could detect one last thing, buried deep. Fear. Frisk was afraid, afraid of what this could mean.
"I am, Frisk. Or, well, I was." Chara sighed, shutting her blood-red eyes. "Frisk… All I am anymore is Determination. But now… Now I've done, or you've done, everything I wanted to do. I'm just… Not determined anymore, I guess." She said softly, the light tone unusual for the normally confident girl.
"I'm sorry, Frisk, but I have to go."
Chara wasn't sure what she expected to hear from her partner, but a quiet sniffle certainly wasn't what she had in mind. Her red eyes opened to show Frisk, eyes open just a bit, and focused right on her, tears running down the blind girl's cheeks. "Frisk…" Chara started, taken aback by the seemingly extreme reaction.
The living girl gave a little hiccup. "Ch-Chara… Chara please don't go!" She sobbed, looking up at Chara and appearing to the specter that she was going to break down right then and there. And it was yet another time Chara wished she could be corporeal, just to comfort the crying pacifist.
"Please don't…" She whimpered softly, unseeing eyes on her partner. Despite her eyes being functionally useless, they still conveyed emotion perfectly. Chara was staggered, looking deep into those eyes that brimmed with sorrow and fear. Fear of losing her closest friend. She had been alone, back in the orphanage. Her parents wanted nothing to do with her, and most kids didn't want to play with 'the weird blind girl.'
All of that changed when a man, a man she now recognized as what had to be a monster somehow, had visited her. His voice was raspy and distorted, but understandable and clear in Frisk's memory. "Go to the mountain, child. You can do great things." He told her waving a hand she could somehow see clearly in the direction of Mt. Ebott. A hand with a hole through the palm.
That had started her on her journey, and when she had fell, she had become acquainted with her first friend. Her ghost buddy. Her best friend. And despite all the wonderful friends she made on her adventure, Chara was still her best friend. Her best friend that was now leaving her alone. One of her worst fears.
Chara didn't know what to say. In her life she had so few people that cared so deeply for her. The only person that she could feel came close to this level was Asriel. And that shocked her. All the same, she did know something about Frisk that justified her reaction: Frisk was absolutely terrified of being abandoned.
This wasn't something Frisk had told her, but rather something learned from all the time they had spent together, through all their conversations. It was certainly a deep-seeded fear of hers, and she usually hid it quite well, but now…
Now, Frisk was crying her eyes out and effectively begging Chara to stay with her.
Unfortunately, Chara couldn't oblige to her partner's pleas. However, she had realized that she couldn't leave Frisk like this. She had been Frisk's guide and partner, helping the blind girl through the underground the whole way. She couldn't just leave Frisk helpless like that. Sure she had her friends, but they couldn't do what she did.
She floated closer to the pacifist, eyes set as a bit more determination coursed through her, old magic lessons given by… Someone she couldn't remember coming to mind. This was definitely going to severely shorten the time she had left, but she didn't care. It probably would've broken her ties to this world even if she was still determined. And yet she didn't care about that. Chara even smiled.
"Frisk." She said, getting the bawling girl's attention, the pacifist hiccuping again and looking up at her best friend. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go…" Frisk's heart sank, though what Chara said next at least got her curious. "But I want to give you something before I go."
"Wh-what is it, Chara?" She asked softly, tripping over her words through her tears. Chara's response shocked her to her core, even more than feeling Chara bring red and green magic to bear.
"I want to give you your eyes, Frisk."
Frisk stared, uncomprehending, as the magic swirled into her eyes, before she suddenly had to shut her eyes quickly. There was something bright.
Bright…
Frisk's eyes snapped open, and she gasped. She could see. She could see the cliff, she could see the sunrise. She could see Chara, now in much more detail and color.
Chara smiled wider as those now honey brown eyes focused on her, the same color of her own eyes when she was still alive. "I hope you like them, Frisk." She said with a weak smile.
The tears that had stopped from shock had started to flow again. "Chara… Thank you so much…" She practically whispered, eyes finally able to focus on the phantom of the girl, even through the tears.
"Hey now, don't cry. You won't be able to see the sunrise if you cry." Chara said with a quiet little giggle, her form fading much faster now. "Chara… Chara please… Don't leave me alone…" Frisk choked out, hands clasped over the heart locket
Chara simply sighed, looking down. "I'm sorry Frisk, I really am, but I have to go… But you won't be alone." Chara gave her partner a wide smile. "You have so many wonderful friends now, Frisk. They'll be there for you. To take care of you."
"But I want you there too!" Frisk cried out. She wanted all her friends out there with her, especially Chara. "You're my best friend, Chara!"
At that, Chara hesitated, but gave a small chuckle. "Come on, Frisk. You're the savior of all monsters. Don't be such a crybaby." She said, her phantasmal body already half gone. "You're gonna do so much for this world, I just know it. So hold your head up."
Frisk sniffled, looking up at Chara through a haze of tears. "Chara…"
"Promise me you won't give up Frisk. That you'll keep pushing forwards, no matter what." Chara said, leaning in a bit, with that slightly melancholy smile on her face.
"I… I promise, Chara. I promise." Came the response, Frisk now standing up tall as she could, trying to be strong for her friend. Because she was asked to.
"Good. Well… I guess this is goodbye, Frisk…" Chara said slowly, that fading climbing to her shoulders. "Heh… Just… Give Mom a big hug for me, okay? I never did that enough…" She asked, letting out a wistful sigh and casting a last glance at the sunrise as she faded away fully.
And Frisk cried for her, tears staining the rock. She cried until she heard someone coming up the haphazard path, and quickly wiped her eyes, adjusting to doing so with sight now.
"My child? What happened?" A motherly, if concerned voice came to Frisk, the human girl turning to see Toriel coming up to check on her, eyes wide as she took her newly adopted child in.
Frisk sniffled, wiping her eyes again with the sleeve of a sweater and taking in the full sight of the boss monster. "I-it's okay, Mom. Just… Said goodbye to someone." Frisk said with a little nod as Toriel knelt down before her to look her over. And then the goat woman gasped. "My child, your eyes…"
Frisk smiled up at her, and for a moment, Toriel was convinced her long-dead daughter Chara was the one before her. They were already so similar, but now it was uncanny. Frisk's eyes were nearly identical to Chara's. "I can see, Mom." Frisk said, happy despite the tear tracks on her cheeks.
"But, Frisk… How?" The boss monster asked, incredulous. Frisk giggled a bit, smiling a bit wider despite the fresh tears pricking at her eyes. "It was a gift. A gift from a friend." She said, before surprising Toriel with a large, tight hug. The goat woman only hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around her child.
"Let's go home, Mom."