Keepertale: Saving Chara

To save someone who had no soul was a lot of effort. Frisk had heard the name Chara around from time to time, but it only really became important after meeting Asriel in the Ruins. Clearly, this Chara meant a lot to the young prince, and Frisk couldn't really go about without thinking about how to save the last person still trapped in the underground. Frisk couldn't bear to think of Asriel's friend going unsaved while the other monsters went free. Frisk could still hear Flowey warning them about the True Reset. Everyone would be ripped from their homes on the surface and brought back down underground, like nothing ever happened. It broke Frisk's heart to think about what they would do to their friends, but Frisk couldn't live peacefully know there was still someone who needed their help. With a deep breath, Frisk moved their hand slowly over the "reset" button, and pressed it.

Name The Fallen Human:

Chara.

The white faded in as Frisk awoke on the bed of flowers they had fallen on the first time. The young human got to their feet and walked to the next room, where Flowey was. Frisk kept their promise to the flower, and wiped his memory as well. "In this world, it's kill or be killed," Flowey told Frisk. Maybe that was the hint to bringing Chara to Frisk. Did Frisk have to abide by the rule of Kill or be Killed to bring Chara around, so they could be saved? Frisk shuddered at the thought. They didn't want to kill the monsters who were once his friends. Toriel interrupts Frisk's and Flowey's fight, leading Frisk to the ruins. Frisk swallowed as they approached the dummy Toriel had instructed Frisk to talk to. Better to start small when doing this… Frisk slowly moved over the fight button. They couldn't believe they were about to do this. But, with the power to reset, Frisk could just bring back the monsters, couldn't they? It was only one reset, the others would be worth saving Chara. But…was killing all of the monsters in the underground really worth one person. It was only one run…Frisk hit the fight button.

The rest of the time through the Ruins went as easily as that. The monsters slowly began to die out, leaving a dusty trail behind Frisk. It was only one run. Frisk slowly began to grow in Level of Violence. An irksome presence crawled up their spine every time they gained LOVE. Toriel was an easy finish, and it broke Frisk's heart as she faded. "Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here….not you, but them…" were her last words. Frisk couldn't even look at Sans properly, and there was no point in going behind the lamp Sans had instructed Frisk to go behind. Sans gave Frisk a bit of a glare. "You know, it might make my brother happy to see a human. Do me a favour and keep pretending to be one," the skeleton grumbled. It almost made Frisk cry to slice down Papyrus even though the taller skeleton was sparing them. The irksome feeling returned again. It was just one run.

Monster Kid tried to stop Frisk from harming more people, but something told her that the kid was nothing more than some free Execution Points. Undyne stood in the way of Frisk's attack. Except, Undyne didn't die that easily. Frisk met the first of the two major challenges this run was going to have. The way Undyne the Undying had hope, even in the last moments, gave Frisk hope that this would all go well after they reset the timeline again. Mettaton Neo was a breeze, and Frisk didn't understand why the robot remained in its normal form. It had 999 DEF like that, anyways. LOVE 19…. Frisk was one LV away from completing this run, though they didn't feel as in control of themselves any more. Was the now more dominating presence…Chara? Frisk was filled with determination as they continued to approach the castle. Frisk's now blank demeanour even scared Flowey, but there was no going back. Frisk had to do this. The judgement hall was just ahead. They were so close!

Then, Sans cut in front of Frisk. Since the shorter skeleton disappeared, Frisk had nearly forgotten about them. "Heya….You've been busy, huh?" Sans asked almost playfully, but the anger and sadness in his voice wasn't well hidden. "So…I've got a question for ya. Do you think even the worst person can change? That everybody can be a good person, if they just try?" Sans asked, closing his eyes. Memories of what Papyrus had said before his untimely demise at Frisk's hands flashed in their eyes. But they stepped forward anyways. Sans chuckled darkly. "Ok, here's a better question…Do you wanna have a bad time? Because if you take another step forwards, you are really not going to like what happens next…." Frisk stepped forwards. "Welp…Sorry, old lady. This is why I never make promises," Sans mumbled, as the fight began.

"It's a beautiful day outside.

Birds are singing, flowers are blooming…

On days like these, kids like you…"

SHOULD
BE
BURNING
IN
HELL

Sans slammed Frisk on the ground, and tried to impale them with bones, the see of bones came for a while, until a range of dragon-skull looking weapons fired at Frisk, wounding them badly. They were in for a tough fight, especially because of Sans' Karmic Retribution ability, that took away recovery frames and left a dwindling poison-like effect. It was the hardest challenge Frisk ever faced in the run, and not even Undyne could compare to the brutal punishment Sans was dishing with a side of hotdogs. Except there were no hotdogs. It tore at Frisk, the anger and depression on Sans' face was tearing at Frisk's heart, but they had to keep going. It was only one run.

"Survive this… And I'll show you my special attack," Sans panted, pulling a full force attack on Frisk. And they survived. The special attack was nothing special, considering it was literally nothing. Sans began to ramble a bit, but the line that caught Frisk the hardest was this. "And because you 'can'…you 'have to'…" Sans huffed. Frisk felt a pang in their soul. Sans was right. And it made it all the more terrible ripping the poor skeleton open. Sans looked at his wound. "Huh…guess that's it, then. Just…don't say I didn't warn ya…" Sans moaned, standing up and limping off. "Welp…I'm going to Grillby's," He stated, and after a moment of silence, Sans spoke one last time.

"Papyrus….do you want anything?" Sans moaned, before turning to dust where he stood.

It was simple from there on. Asgore and Flowey were nothing compared to Sans, and Frisk met Chara, the first fallen human. Frisk actually managed to negotiate a deal with Chara. The fallen human tilted their head. "Alright then…I'll consider it…if you can find the fragments of my soul…my DETERMINATION'" Chara bargained, and almost impossible quest, considering the soul of this human was in pieces across the underground. But, Frisk began to have an idea of where to look when they reset again. There was one thong Frisk could pinpoint as having determination, or at least, giving it. The save points…

Could the save points be the remaining fragments of Chara's soul?

Only one way to find out. Frisk set off to find all the save points in the underground, and hope that they make up Chara's soul. It would be risky, no save points would mean Frisk would have to restart at the beginning every time they died. It would be tedious, it would be long and it would take a lot of resets, but… Frisk approaches the first save point… saving the last person in the underground fills Frisk with determination.

It definitely was a long and tedious road. But it proved to be fruitful. Each save point…each soul fragment brought Frisk closer to their goal. To save Chara. They would also need more than a soul. And with every fresh start, Frisk continued to grow closer to Chara as a friend. Get to know the real person, the Chara that was before they died. And, Asriel was right to be friends with such a kind and determined soul...

All of the pieces were in place, Frisk approached new home, their knowledge on Chara expanded, all of the save points collected formed a human soul, a red soul. Frisk put the soul in the heart locket, and headed into Chara's room…there was already someone sitting on the bed…