"You look very nice today. Is that some new makeup?"
"It's a monochrome frog, Frisk. It doesn't wear makeup, and all of them look exactly the same. Stop complimenting them!" You were starting to get fed up with this. Frisk's whole ACT thing was really annoying. You only liked doing that when you wanted to make the monster want to spare you. Before killing them. It brought a little spice to your life.
"The froggit didn't understand what you said, but was flattered anyway."
Frisk dodged another wave of attacks as you stood by to watch. The flies that acted as the frog's attacks fluttered right through you, which was an odd sensation. It didn't make you feel a thing, but you kept expecting them to cause you damage. It was a hard habit to break. But as soon as Frisk let you have your way again, you'd be back to killing everything in your path.
Finally, Frisk spared the monster and the world came back into focus. You groaned at the sight of the endless purple stone walls of the ruins. "How much longer until we reach Toriel?"
"You should know that by now," Frisk replied as they walked, poking stuff with their stick. Why couldn't they at least switch it out for another weapon. The Toy Knife would do for now. It was better than a stick. "We've gone through this a good dozen times." Was that a hint of bitterness seeping into their SOUL? Finally. Maybe Frisk did have a bit of kick to them. "But we can call her if you want."
"Please don't— and you already have the phone out. Great." You went off to sulk as far away from Frisk as possible while they called Toriel and talked about the dumbest things. Like just saying hello and talking about themselves, even though not much about Frisk came out of that. For such a nice kid, they kept a lot to themselves. And then, Frisk started flirting with her. That actually made you flinch with the need to do something violent. What the actual fuck? What kind of person flirts with the person who shares their body's mom?
You froze. You called her Mom again.
The thought brought back a whole host of memories you thought you had long-since buried. Being taken care of when you were sick, Toriel letting you help her cook whenever you wanted, even though the pies always turned out wrong when you made them. It brought forth a twinge of… something, in your chest.
"So, Mom…" You turned around, staring daggers at Frisk. That had that shit-eating grin on their face. But somehow, you got the feeling that they weren't just messing with you. They probably sensed that you thought of Toriel as your mother! So why were they doing it if you hated it?
You heard Toriel's voice over the receiver. "Huh? Did you just… call me Mom?" Her voice was cracking, but you couldn't tell if that was the bad connection or something much sadder. "Would it make you happy to call me 'Mother?' Then call me whatever you like!"
You grimaced. Why was she lying like that? Being devoid of emotion left you a lot more perceptive to others'. And just from that, you could tell she was upset, or maybe even a little happy. But you knew. She could only think of the two children she had lost so long ago. And probably the other six she bonded with before they all left and got killed. How messed up was that?
The minutes dragged for what felt like an eternity. The ruins were always your least favorite part of this game, and it was all a game to you now. If it were a real one, you'd consider this the tutorial. Heh, to-Toriel. Sans would get a kick out of that one. You'd have to get Frisk to mention it to him sometimes.
"Did you just think about doing a nice thing for Sans?" Frisk had a grin on their face. You growled, trying to hide how flustered that made you.
"O-of course not! I fucking hate that guy!"
"Time for another dollar in the swear jar!" They were laughing now. You hated them sometimes.
"We don't have a swear jar! And if you haven't noticed, I'm a ghost!"
"I'll just put it on your tab." Jesus Christ, was Frisk keeping a tab on your swearing? What the hell! If they were, you probably owed at least $1000 dollars (fighting Sans was a long series of anger management, even if you couldn't actually get angry). And the worst part is, you knew they'd find a way to make you pay it.
You felt your sins crawling on your back.
After a bit more yelling at Frisk to do something interesting while they continued to flirt with anything and everything they saw (including the slime thing for whatever reason), you reached the area that housed an enemy you forgot existed.
"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
"Oh God, it's this guy again." On a pile of red leaves lay a ghost, looking just like you'd expect a ghost to. They looked like a transparent bedsheet over a person. Honestly, if you hadn't stuck a hand through them at one point, you would have thought they were just a monster under a sheet.
"This ghost is just saying 'z' repeatedly, pretending to be asleep."
"You know their name."
"No, I don't. I didn't care enough." Okay, maybe that was a lie. But who cared about this sad sack. "Just wake 'em up already so we can move on."
Ignoring your annoyance, Frisk poked the ghost with their stick lightly. Well, as lightly as you can stab a piece of wood through a ghost. At once, they realized that trying to stay asleep was pointless and began the battle.
"Here comes Napstablook." At once, you began what you had been doing to entertain yourself through these boring battles: playing music. You weren't sure how it worked, but if you thought about it hard enough, you could make music appear out of nowhere (even if you didn't have control over what was played) . Well, actually, it felt like it was from a mix of Frisk's SOUL and that of whoever they were fighting, but same difference. What mattered was, you could distract Frisk as much as possible until they got killed so many times they let you have control. Then, things could be interesting.
When it came to Napstablook, a jazzy beat came forth, but it was somehow subdued. Accurate as far as you were concerned.
Immediately, Frisk pressed their palm to the ACT button. At once, they started to try and cheer Napstablook up. With that perpetual depressed look, who wouldn't want to? Even you felt sort of felt bad for them the first time around. And then you tried to kill them, but ghosts can't be killed. They're weird.
That's why you didn't like them.
"You gave Napstablook a patient smile." Frisk smiled warmly at the ghost. It was weird for everyone, but they smiled back slightly. Then the tears started to flow. Napstablook tear-shaped attacks flowed from their eyes haphazardly, practically shooting out like bullets. Frisk flew about, dodging each and every attack with practiced precision. Not that it was hard.
"You could just hit them until they go away," you suggested hopefully. Frisk shook their head, once again pressing the ACT button. "Yeah, I didn't think so."
Frisk snickered. "Hey, why are you so sad? I thought what ghost up, must come down!" They giggled at their own pun. You groaned. Sans was corrupting them. His influence had to be stopped!
"You told Napstablook a little joke."
Napstablook didn't seem to like the joke, but didn't hate it either. "Heh… heh…" Such forced laughter.
All of a sudden, white words appeared in the background of the void. Really not feelin up to it right now. Sorry.
"You and me both, Blook."
With Napstablook's turn over, it was once again time for Frisk. They once again tried to cheer them up, walking over for a hug. Napstablook looked surprised, but didn't stop them. And Frisk immediately fell through their incorporeal body and into the pile of leaves, giggling all the while. What a dork.
"Napstablook wants to show you something."
"Heh. Let me try…" Their expression wasn't any different, but you could sense some sort of happiness coming from Napstablook. It was then that they started crying again. But this time, they flowed upward. They flowed together, eventually forming the shape of a rather dapper top hat.
"Do you like it? I call it Dapper-blook…." Frisk nodded vigarously, the biggest grin on their face. God, you hated these two sometimes. One was just pitiful and the other was like someone out of a bad 50's kids' movie. "Oh… oh geez."
The battle area faded, and you found yourselves back in the ruins. You just wanted to get this over with.
"Start skipping their dialogue already!"
"Neither of us know what that means."
"I don't care, just do it!"
But in the midst of your momentary argument, Napstablook had already disappeared, leaving the way ahead clear. They always said something about coming here to be alone. That ghost was relatable in that sense.
"Wanna go buy some donuts?" Frisk asked.
"I will make you run into every one of Undyne's spears later if you make me eat on of those godforsaken pastries made of eight-legged demons from- "
"Spider Donuts it is!"
"If I could, I would be strangling you right now"
After an eternity, Frisk reached the place Toriel inevitably found the two of you. Just on cue, she walked up next to the probably-dead tree and pulled out her phone to dial the number on the one she gave to you. Frisk had the phone out before the call even came through, not that it mattered.
Toriel's eyes widened in surprise as she heard the phone ringing. She followed the sound and her gaze landed squarely on you. And she went full mom-mode. "Oh! My child!" You frowned. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay in that hall to wait!" There wasn't a hint of anger in her voice, as always. Just concern. "Well, at least you aren't hurt."
Frisk smiled from all of the attention and love. You floated away from it, as far as you could get. This was just annoying. Like really, hurry it up, people.
"Come, I was trying to make a surprise dinner for you, but I suppose now we can really have it warm." Led by the hand, Frisk followed Toriel up to her house in the ruins.
You had to admit, it was really nice. Solid structure, nice color scheme, quality decorating. And, oh yeah, exactly like the one in New Home that you lived in for a year. It was eerie how similar the two houses were, in your experience. They were exactly alike as far as you could tell, aside from where their respective basements led. Now, the question was, which one was built first?
"Ah, I have a surprise for you, child," Toriel announced excitedly. You rolled your eyes. There wasn't much of a surprise in it, considering you'd been here at least a dozen times (honestly, you and Frisk lost count after RESET #6), but Frisk went along with it as always. They matched Toriel's excitement as they followed her down the hall to the kids' room, cleaned up just for us.
And abandoned by six other children, just like us.
"Ta-daa!" She announced. "Your own room." She smiled warmly as she rubbed Frisk's head. Okay, even you had to admit her head rubs were pretty nice. Calming and full of love. You preferred LOVE, but potato tomato.
"That's not the saying," Frisk interjected.
"And this isn't the best way to do things, but look where we are anyway."
Frisk shrugged and ignored you as they walked inside their temporary room. Toriel went to finish up dinner. It was just the two of you now. Frisk went to lay on the bed as you floated nearby. To be honest, you missed taking naps. Just a bit. And that bed was really comfy. Just like your old one.
"This is still the most boring way to go through all of this. At least kill something! Why not Jerry? He's annoying. And everyone ditches him anyway."
"We're not killing Jerry."
You crossed your arms and huffed. "Why do you have to be such a buzzkill?"
"You'll see, Chara. This is the best way to do it."
Salty ghost Chara is honestly the best Chara in my opinion. I'm so glad this has gotten such a positive reception though. I feel so loved. Chara doesn't care though. They just want to stab things because it's fun. But really, I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.
