Chapter 1

The Nightmare's Just Begun

"Asriel… Asriel… wakey-wakey."

Asriel's eyes slowly opened as he found himself, laying quietly on a familiar flowery field. He held his hand, expecting to be able to feel nothing as a flower, but was surprised to feel the familiar feeling of his hand on his head.

He looked at his hand and gave a surprised gasp. He thought that he was supposed to be awakened once again as Flowey, the golden flower that had absolutely no capacity to feel love or any positive emotion. However, he was surprised, both pleasantly and somewhat scarily, that he had awakened in his real form.

He looked up and stared at the hole that was far above him, shining light down from the sun that shone above the surface onto the Underground through that one hole. "…I… I don't understand." he said as he slowly got up.

As he got his body moving, he began to register the feeling of his body. It was ravaged by hunger and thirst, as his normal body hadn't gotten very much nutrition through all the time he was stuck as a flower. His stomach hurt from starvation, and his throat was dry and burning from dehydration. His body was very faint, and felt like it could collapse at any minute, but by some sort of strange twisted miracle, he stayed conscious, and his body remained in one piece.

"I… need… to get…" he groaned as he began to walk slowly. He didn't understand. His body didn't do this when he got back into his body when he absorbed the souls of all the monsters in the Underworld, so why exactly was this happening to him right now? It didn't make any sense, but for the moment, he couldn't think of that. He had to get some food and water quick; he couldn't stand the pain.

He knew that most, if not all of the monsters had left the Underground and moved up to the surface, and he knew that Asgore and Toriel, his parents, were among those that left. If he could somehow force his body through the puzzles that led to Toriel's house, he might be able to find some food and water there. He didn't mind that he wouldn't see Asgore or Toriel there, as he wasn't at all ready to face those that he hurt as Flowey, and he was sure he probably never would be.

The puzzles themselves weren't really hard at all for him, as he had gone through them hundreds of time with his adopted brother back when the both of them were still alive. It was, however, made more difficult by the fact that his body was so tired, and it had been quite a while since he had naturally walked like this.

He almost wanted to fall over from the pain from time to time when he was going through the puzzles, and there were a couple moments where he tripped and stumbled, almost making him take a wrong step and falling down. However, he was able to force himself throughout the puzzle and was able to make his way to the building that used to be the home of Toriel. He groaned as he got to the door and took ahold of the knob on the door, silently giving a prayer that the door would be unlocked. With that prayer in his mind, he turned the knob and pushed on the door.

Thankfully for him, the door was unlocked, and it opened for him. He stumbled his way in and looked around. The house was completely empty of people, and just about all of the possessions that belonged to Toriel were moved out, which showed that there's a good chance she wasn't going to be coming back.

He made his way to the bathroom and immediately got to the sink, turning on the cold water, which still ran for him and watched it flow down the faucet. He cupped his hands and brought it under the water, which was nice and cold, and as soon as his hands were full, he brought the water to his mouth and began to drink it. Normally he wouldn't have really liked the thought of having to drink the water from the sink, especially when it was the same water that he used to wash dirt and filth off his hands, but with how thirsty he was, he didn't care where the water came from.

He put his hands under the faucet every time he emptied his hands from the water and refilled them, to bring them back to his mouth and take another drink of it. He was so grateful to be able to have something to drink at that point in time, his dry and burning throat tingling from the feeling of the cold refreshing water flowing down it, and beginning to not hurt anymore as he continued to drink.

He drank as many handfuls as his body could possibly take and turned the faucet off. He panted a bit before he just sat down for a little bit. He panted and just relaxed as his body was taking in the feeling of the cold water now inside his belly. He was still very hungry, but he doubted he would be able to find any food in that building. His best bet would have to be seeing if there were any other monsters that hadn't gone to the surface yet, and see if they would be able to help him out. He didn't want to face anybody after what he had done, but at the same time, he was absolutely desperate to get something in his belly; this hunger was driving him insane.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but he knew that his attention was drawn when he heard what sounded like the door of the house closing. He froze up when he heard this. He began to hope that it was just the wind, but it didn't appear to be his luck as he heard footsteps walking in the house. They sounded too light to be the footsteps of Toriel or Asgore, but that didn't make him feel too much better.

He remained quiet as the footsteps drew closer and closer and stopped right in front of the door of the bathroom. He had to cover his mouth in the hopes that his escalated breathing wouldn't be heard. He didn't want any monster to see him. He didn't want to be seen by anyone, and now there was someone at the door, waiting for him to come out.

In a matter of seconds, he heard a quiet sigh from the outside of the door and more footsteps, getting farther from the door. He got on his belly and crawled to the door, looking down in the little gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. Seemed like whoever was there had walked away from the bathroom.

He gave a little sigh as he opened the bathroom door and stepped out. He looked to the door that lead outside, and saw that it had been closed. He looked around for the person that had just walked by, but didn't see anybody.

He knew that he should have gotten out of there as quick as he could, if someone else had decided to make residence in this house in the absence of his mother and father, but his childhood curiosity got the best of him. He began walking around, looking to see if he could find anything.

He walked into the empty kitchen, which was just like the rest of the house, barren of anything except for one thing, and he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it. It was a plate with a fork by it, having on it a piece of Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie, one of his favorite foods. He remembered the days where Toriel would bake that pie for some special event, with Asgore happily telling him and his adopted brother the tails of his job as king.

If there was a piece of that pie there, and his mother was the only person that she actually knew that made that, then there was a chance that Toriel may have actually been there after all. If that was the case, he should have started to get out of there at that very instant.

However, his stomach growling and the pain it brought him reminded him of the hunger that he was suffering, and he couldn't contain himself. In an instant, he walked to the pie and grabbed the fork, and began to slowly and carefully eat it.

The pie was just like he remembered it when he had it a long time ago. The taste of warm freshly baked pie crust, toped with a sweet butterscotch filling and topped with cinnamon hit his tongue. It tasted even better now, after having not tasted it for so long. He couldn't help but almost tear up as the sweet taste of the pie brought back so many fond memories of his past.

He gave a sigh and took another slow bite, savoring every last bit of it. He no longer cared whether or not he was going to be caught and hated. The sweet pie seemed to take away all his fears and all of his worries away. He swallowed the pie in his mouth before taking the fork and getting ready to eat some more of the pie.

"Even after starving and having nobody else around, you still find the time to remember your table manners." came a voice with a little chuckle.

Hearing the voice, Asriel gave a shocked gasp and froze up. It was a bit of a familiar voice, though older than the voice that he remembered. He was in such shock that his hand trembled and he dropped his fork on the floor.

"Don't be afraid, my brother." said the voice as the owner of the voice knelt down beside him. It was a boy that looked about the age of eleven or twelve, his hair somewhat long and brown, his skin pale, save for his cheeks, which were a strange rose blush color. "Please… do eat… you must be starving."

Ariel looked fearfully to his side and saw the smiling face that was, yet again, older that what he remembered, but all too familiar. No other guy had those kinds of rose colored cheeks like him, and those eyes had some sort of strange fire in them. They seemed to deeply care for Ariel, but at the same time they were cold and merciless.

"Ch… Chara…" he said in a faint whisper as he could feel his heart racing.

Chara gave a small giggle. "Yes… it's me." he said. "I knew that you would remember me, no matter what form I took when I met you…"

Asriel didn't know what to say. He put the plate with the pie down, his arm shaking. He was still very hungry, but at the moment, it was overridden by shock and fear. This was the brother of his that possessed him and caused his death.

"Hmhmhm… oh, my brother." Chara said as he knelt down and wrapped his arms gently around Asriel in a 'loving', brotherly embrace. "I've missed you so much."

Asriel remained silent. He didn't at all know what to say. He didn't know how he should feel about this all together. This was the brother that he had grown up with for quite some time… the one that possessed him that day and was indirectly the cause of his death… and yet here he was, in his embrace again.

Chara continued to hug Asriel like there wasn't a problem in the world, changing into a younger form of around Frisk and Asriel's age. "…Why aren't you returning my embrace?" he asked, his voice sounding a bit genuinely hurt, now having that complete familiarity. "…Aren't you happy to see me?"

"You… you possessed me that day." Asriel said as he slowly couldn't help but hug him back. "…You got me killed…"

"Oh dear brother, I'm so sorry." Chara said in the hug. "I did that because I wanted to stay with you… I wanted to stay with you… you were the only one that understood me."

"I… was trapped as that flower." Asriel said. "I… couldn't feel love… for so long…"

"I never meant for that to happen, Asriel… I wanted to be with you without having any limitations… I wanted you and I to be together… as brothers and best friends…" Chara gave a little bit of a sad sigh as he went on. "…I was going to bring your soul back with me so we could be together… but somehow, without a soul, you had already come to life in the form of that golden flower… and I couldn't find you any where."

Chara gave a little quiver and hugged Asriel closer. "I was so worried when I couldn't find you anywhere… I thought that I had messed up somewhere… I thought you were gone for good… but luckily I was able to find you as Flowey during your final battle with Friska… I was so surprised that it was you… I… was… just so relieved you were ok."

Asriel looked up at him. He wanted to say something, but his attention was brought back to his body when he heard his stomach growl again and his stomach hurting again. "…Chara… I…"

"It's ok." Chara said as he picked up the pie and the fork. "Please… allow me. It's the least I can do from all the pain I've caused you." He gave Asriel the pie, and Asriel began to eat it again. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

Asriel shook his head. "Nothing that I can think of." he said as he finished up the piece of pie and gave it back to Chara, who held the plate and had it disappear, while putting the fork in his pocket. "Th… thanks." Asriel said with a nod. He was starting to feel more comfortable being around Chara again.

Chara nodded. "Anything for you, Asriel." he said as he stood against the wall with that smile of his.

Asriel smiled. He was still pretty hungry, but that pie certainly did make him feel quite a ways better. He stood and looked at Chara. "So… there aren't many people in the Underworld yet… we might be the only ones here."

Chara gave a nod and looked up a bit. "Yep. It would appear that way." he said.

Asriel gave a happy giggle. "So, that means that we have almost the whole Underground all to ourselves." he said. "What do you want to do? We could go play hide and seek in the Ruins, or have a snowball fight in Snowdin Forest."

"Those sound nice… but… there's something else that I want to do." Chara said with a little sigh.

"Oh? And what is it? What do you want to do?"

Chara gave a little bit of hesitation, almost as if he really didn't want to tell Asriel. Nevertheless, he looked back to Asriel, his eyes meeting with his, and showing that familiar fire of vengeance. "…I want you to help me finish what you and I started." he said.

Asriel went quiet when he heard that, the smile on his face had now faded, and the fear began to slowly creep back into his heart. "Wh… what do you mean?" he questioned. He wanted to play dumb, like he had no idea what Chara was talking about, but he knew exactly what he meant.

"I mean that I want to finish what you and I started." he said, changing back into that older form of his. "I wanted to destroy all of the humans, you wanted to teach both humans and monsters your motto of kill or be killed. We were both stopped… me, technically by you, and you by Frisk and her friends… think about it, Asriel. We worked so hard and sacrificed so much to complete those objectives, and suddenly, they were taken from us… we shouldn't let all of our hard work go to waste… let's finish what we started… let's kill them all… and make a new world… where WE are the Gods… where we rule over all."

"But… I…" Asriel said as he looked down. He didn't want Chara to be like this. Sure, he wasn't really the best person out there, having a strong hatred for the humans for some unknown reason, and having no remorse when they 'accidentally' poisoned Asgore when they put buttercups in the pie, when they were supposed to put cups of butter in, but he was still Asriel's brother, and he was still the best friend he had ever had.

"No… I… I can't do it." he said shaking his head. "I just can't… I don't want to hurt anybody… I just want our mom, our dad, Frisk… I want everyone to live happily… away from someone like me…"

Chara remained quiet, though crossed his arms as Asriel continued speaking. "…When I was brought back as a flower… I had no soul… no capacity to feel love or any positive emotion… I only had this stupid, twisted perception that it was always kill or be killed… I could never make up for what I've done… but to the very least… I can promise that I'd never hurt anyone ever again…"

Chara gave an irritated sigh. "…How pitiful." he said, his voice somewhat changed from what he had spoken to originally. His voice now sounded almost void of any feelings, and sharp as a knife. He turned around to face the wall. "…Perhaps you didn't quite understand me…"

He turned around back to face Asriel again, and the said monster gave a terrified yelp at what he saw. Chara's face had suddenly become horrifying. His eyes had disappeared, and were now just empty black sockets, and his mouth had a horrifying open smile among in. "WHEN DID YOU THINK YOU EVER HAD A CHOICE?"

Suddenly, the entire room began to flash red and black rapidly, as Chara was slowly approaching Asriel, giving some distorted, horrifying laughter with a horrible noise falling among the background. Asriel was scared out of his wits. He gave a terrified scream and ran to the door, which was closed, presumable by Chara. He began to desperately pull at the door to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Chara had him completely trapped.

Asriel screamed in horror as he looked back and saw that Chara was standing right there, just inches away from him. Asriel fell from his standing and sat against the door, his knees knocking against each other as his legs shook and trembled in pure terror. His breathing and his heart rate were fast and hard, and tears of fear were streaming out of his eyes and down his cheeks. "Chara! No!" he pleaded as Chara stood there, still with that twisted laugh while the room continued to flash red and black. "P-please Chara! Please don't kill me!"

"KILL YOU?" Chara questioned with another laugh, his speaking voice practically demonic. "OH, NO MY DEAR BROTHER. I'M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU. I HAVE… OTHER USES FOR YOU."

"No! Chara! Please!" Asriel screamed as Chara reached his hand for Asriel's face.

Frisk shot up from the bed that she laid on in her room, screaming bloody murder in the night. Her eyes were wide awake and her heart heated fast and hard, just like her breathing was hard and loud.

She looked around and saw herself in her room. She began to cry and sob as she hugged her knees close to her and curled herself up.

In a matter of seconds, Toriel came running in. "What is it, child?" she questioned, scared out of her wits. "What happened?"

"M-Mommy!" Frisk cried. She started calling Toriel as her mother now that the adventure was over and she was staying with her. "I didn't want to! It's just… Sans, and the fight, to Asgore, and-"

"Ssh… it's ok, my child." she said as she patted her back. "It was just a bad dream."

This wasn't just a one time thing. It had happened constantly after the barrier had gone and the monsters had moved to the surface. Frisk was having these nightmares of apparent events were she was a much darker person and killed every monster in her way. It wasn't so bad at first, and Toriel really didn't notice much, but it steadily became worse as the days went on. Frisk was apparently starting to do really bad at school, as she's not paying attention in class and seems to barely be able to stay awake. She becomes afraid every night to go to sleep, and now, for the past couple of days, she had woken up in the dead of night, screaming like she had just witnessed someone get killed.

Toriel gave a sigh and looked at the door, where a little dream catcher hung. She had got it in the hopes of being able to help Frisk sleep without these constant nightmares appearing, but it obviously wasn't working well at all. "Come child… go back to sleep, and you'll feel better in the morning."

"B-but Mommy…" Frisk said in a little quivering whisper. "…S-Sans… he's… he's-"

"Sans is alright, my child. Nothing bad happened to him… in fact, here…" She handed Frisk her phone. "Why don't you call him right now?"

Frist hesitated for a minute but took the phone and dialed Sans's number. She put the phone to her ear and waited quietly. One ring… two rings… three… four… five…

"'Ello?" came Sans's voice on the other end, sounding tired and a bit irritated. "Who's there?"

"S-S-Sans?" Frisk questioned quivering. "I-is that you?"

"Yes, it's me." he said with a little yawn. "Ugh… what do you want, kid? It's three in the morning, and I'm trying to sleep here."

"I… sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." Frisk said. "I… just…"

"I'll take it from here, child." Toriel said as she took the phone from Frisk and put it to her ear. "I told her to call you, Sans. She had a nightmare, and I told her to call you to make sure you were ok."

"Kid's dreaming about me, huh?" Sans said with a tired yawn. "Well… I'm alright. I ain't dead or anything… so, could you not bother me in the night time? Some people have to work in the day."

"Oh please." Toriel said with a roll of her eyes. "When have you ever worked for anything?"

"I'll have you know that I'm working two separate jobs." Sans said. "Would a lazy person have two jobs to work?"

"You only have two jobs because you legally get two breaks through it. Besides, I don't think running an illegal hot dog stand qualifies."

"'Ey… I'd love to argue with you but… you know. Gotta rest well for work tomorrow. See ya later." Sans hung up after that.

Toriel gave a roll of her eyes and put the phone down and looked at Frisk. "There. Sans is alright. In fact, he's just being his old lazy bones self."

Frisk gave a nod and hugged close to Toriel. "Sorry for bothering you, Mommy…"

Toriel hugged Frisk close. "Frisk… I know that you don't mean to have these nightmares… but this has been going on for too long. You're barely sleeping at night, you can barely focus, and your performance at school has dropped horribly." She gave a sigh and had Frisk look at her. "…What exactly did you dream about this time?"

"I… I dreamt that I had fought Sans…" she said. "…I killed him… and then I went and killed Asgore… I…" She looked up at Toriel. "Mommy… am… am I a bad person for having these dreams?"

"Of course not, dear." Toriel said as she gently petted her head. "You're not a bad person… and don't you ever think otherwise."

Frisk gave a nod and let go of Toriel as she stood up. "Try to get some sleep, dear." she said as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Frisk gave a little quiver and laid her head back down on the pillow.