Disclaimer: Undertale and its characters are all the creations of Toby Fox, and those who aided in their creation. Any OCs that you see at this point will be unimportant, but even so, any similarities to anybody real is purely coincidental.

Savestate: A Demon's Pain

Chapter 1: An Image of Today

It had been three years since that day.

Three whole years since I defeated Chara, and since the monsters had been freed.

I lived with my family now, in Ebboton, a city near the mountain where this began. Mom teaches English at the nearby elementary school. From what I hear, she's rather well-liked by the students. Dad's away a lot of the time due to his duties as king, but he loves spending time with us all the same.

Now, three years later, I'm almost fifteen.

So, too, is Asriel.

It was an ordeal figuring out how to save him. In fact, it took Alphys and several human scientists almost a year to work it out completely. But they did, and that's what counts.

"An artificial soul?"

A huge smile graced Alphys' face. "T-that's right Frisk! I've b-been working on it for uh, almost a month now!"

A glowing upside-down heart hovered inside the glass tube. It pulsed with magic and Determination.

I turned and looked at Flowey, trying to gauge his reaction. He stared at it with his mouth hanging open, dumbfounded. I turned back to Alphys. "Are you sure that this will work?"

"Yes," she replied, adjusting her glasses. "I've taken all the n-necessary precautions, and I've run all the diagnostics th-that I can think of. U-Um, there's just one thing you should know."

She started to fumble with her hands.

"There isn't any way to measure the full capabilities of this soul. We don't know how to measure how much Determination it could hold." Sweat started to bead on her forehead. "Um! That is to say! Not that it'll be dangerous! I, uh, I mean that-"

I grabbed her shoulders. "It's alright Alphys. Just tell me what you need to."

She stopped shivering and calmed down. She raised her eyes back up to mine. "The only thing we know for sure n-now is that it'll work. We don't yet know its full capabilities. It c-could be able to hold a massive amount of Determination. Maybe... Maybe even more than yours."

I let the words sink in. A question formed in my mind. "Couldn't he melt from too much Determination?"

"No. Monsters do that because their souls are too weak to hold it much Determination. Theoretically, with a stronger soul, Prince Asriel would be safe."

I nodded, and turned to look at Flowey, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout all this. He was still staring at the soul in its container.

"So what do you think?" I asked him.

He turned, slowly. There was a huge grin on his face, and a tear forming in his eye. "Yeah." he said. "I think I'm ready."

It feels like yesterday.

And yet it feels like a lifetime ago.

Since I fulfilled my promise to Asriel and finally saved him.

I'm finally able to stop moving and just rest at last. And that what we've all been doing. Me, my family, and all of monster-kind.

Mankind had been, for the most part, accepting of them. Though understandably sceptical at first, the government slowly opened up to us, giving us homes, education, and everything that we were in need of. The monsters had settled down, free from their prison at last. But of course, there are always a few naysayers.

Governor Will Johnson was the head of the so-called 'Anti-Monster Movement,' an organisation that wants nothing but to see us imprisoned again. But honestly, they aren't really a big issue anymore. The monsters are here to stay. And we've made quite certain of that.

But none of that mattered right now. This was the last day, after all.

School is ending.

Everyone loves the last day of school. When you sit in your chair and just decide to watch the others, you can practically feel the electricity in the air. The students all sit and steal glances at the clock on the wall, hearing the seconds tick slowly by. The teachers sit at their desks, a huge grin on their face, ready to go to their own homes and sleep without having to worry about watching thirty kids a day.

A bead of sweat hits the floor.

And then the bell rings.

Complete chaos is what follows; an ocean of half-crazed students flowing through the halls and out the doors, breaking from the crowd only to cry out in joy. The smart students linger a moment.

I turn to my brother, the prince of all monsters, and him to me.

We grin at each other as we stand up to leave.

We lay under the old oak tree at the top of a hill near our home.

"Frisk?"

"Yeah Azzy?"

He turned to me, an expression of slight concern on his face. "I've had a question I've been holding in for a while."

I sit up. "What's Up?"

"It's about... Chara."

My eyes go wide.

Chara.

The Fallen Human.

The Angel of Death.

The demon that comes when you call its name.

I tensed up."What's bothering you?

The question came out sharper than I meant it to.

"Well... I was wondering if... if they were still up in your head? Like, can you still hear them?"

"No." I pause. "I stopped hearing Chara a long time ago."

It was true. Chara hadn't exactly been very active since we left the Underground. Inactive, Sans said. Chara shouldn't be able to do a thing unless I wake them up. The only thing that I can do that might wake them at this point is a Reset. And I promised Sans, never again.

Chara could stay sleeping. They couldn't hurt anybody that way.

"hey, kids."

We looked in the direction of the voice.

"Hey, Sans!"Asriel got to his feet.

Sans had been doing a lot better. He'd recently gotten through a massive depression. He was sleeping better, now that he'd stopped having nightmares. He lived with his brother, in the house next door to us. He'd recently become something of an urban legend in our neighbourhood, challenging people to street races and never losing.

He rides a tricycle.

And then there's the puns.

Sans didn't have a job, didn't really need one. Papyrus provided more than enough for the both of them.

"just got news from Toriel. she wants the two of you home in ten minutes. she's making dinner, and there's a butterscotch-cinnamon pie for dessert."

I was already moving before he finished.

There are only a few more days until my fifteenth birthday.

At school, I've seen Asriel whispering to Monster Kid when I'm not looking. One needn't be a genius to realise what they're probably planning. I'll probably still act surprised by whatever type of birthday party they throw at me.

Now laying in bed, I can't help but think back to my conversation with Asriel. I wonder how long he'd been holding that question back? He probably thought we could find a way to save Chara like we saved him. Maybe we could try. I know that Asriel misses Chara more than he lets on, just as I know that there is still good in Chara.

That moment of hesitation let me regain control of my body, and the Reset I did drained the Love from my soul. Chara was left too weak to regain a hold on me. And then I had to explain everything to Sans.

That was anything but a fun conversation. That skeleton can really hold a grudge.

If Chara could be saved, then it was Alphys that could save them. I'd talk to her the first chance I got.

I closed my eyes and let sleep claim me.

Little did I know that as I slept, something massive was about to change. In a nexus of realities, a being watched carefully.

"This is the one."

Extending its power, it reached out to our reality, and perhaps more specifically, to me. As its power permeated my mind, body and soul, it searched for one thing in particular. Finding this, the being transferred just enough of its own power to alter the course of events, changing the timeline beyond recognition. And something awoke, there, in the darkness.

As the being reigned in his power, a voice from my own mind thanked it. This was their second chance.

Chara had returned.

And this time, they would not fail.

...

Sans awoke in a cold sweat.

Under Mt. Ebbot, between Snowdin and the Ruins, lay an old cave with a small hut at the end.

Ever so slowly, the door creaked open and a small form walked out.

The door swung shut, the small creature walked out of the cave, tail wagging.

And the only sign that anything had changed was a few tiny paw prints on the ground.