The human walked into the town, the ghost floating behind, and a little higher. Chara was kneeling on air- the thought amused them, and it was pretty comfortable. They looked down at their companion, as the living human noticed the twinkling golden star and made a beeline for it. Frisk tapped it, and the two options hovered above, with a message.
'Determination.' It reminded Chara of the messages of before, only without a number. Just to the left of the options, it displayed Frisk's name and their LV. Eight. They had earned eight levels. Chara had never increased in LV, but understood the concept. Frisk was already distancing themself from their emotions, and Chara looked away. This was their fault, after all. Chara had pushed them into doing all these terrible things. Frisk tapped the SAVE option with a finger, and the projection was sucked back into the yellow star, and it twinkled brighter.
'Chara, let's check in some of these places. Maybe there's someone still around?' there was almost a hopeful tone in Frisk's voice. It was slightly unnerving, in the eerie-feeling surroundings, but Chara brushed it off quickly.
Okay. We should do this logically, work from edge of town inwards, Chara suggested, looking down the length of the town. It seemed to continue on in a straight line. They shrugged, and followed the human as Frisk headed toward the building closest to the sign. As they drew closer, Chara noted that the board above the door said 'Shop.' The windows were boarded up with branches which seemed to have been hastily shoved in place.
The door was slightly ajar, and creaked slightly when Frisk pushed it open. They shot a look back at Chara, who shrugged and motioned for them to go in. The human looked back at the door and pushed it lightly with their fingertips. It was a small shop, with enough space in between the dark wooden countertop and the door for two people to fit past one another comfortably. Chara took to looking at all the goods on shelves while Frisk went straight to the counter and looked at a piece of paper left on the surface. Peering closer, they read 'please don't hurt my family.' There was no signature, and the handwriting was messy and looked to have been scrawled quickly. Leaning over the counter, they saw a shelf on which there was a pile of G, and some pre-packaged Cinnamon Buns and a pair of Bisicles. Glancing at Chara, who was still looking at the shelves, they reached over the counter and grabbed as much money as they could fit in their child-sized fist. Quickly, they pushed the money in their pocket as their ghostly companion turned and looked at them with an odd expression.
This feels wrong, to be in here, Chara remarked. Frisk looked at them.
'I don't know what you're on about, Chara, but we'll go if you don't like it. Let me grab some Cinnamon Buns- they might come in handy,' they said. The human walked to where Chara floated and grabbed several Buns. There was a bag hanging beside the door, so Frisk grabbed that. It was a sturdy-looking, brown backpack. They knelt down and pulled its contents out. Inside was a pale blue sweater, and they put that on the floor beside the backpack. A pair of orange fingerless gloves laid at the bottom, but they left them in. There was also a beanie hat, with two holes in the top. They didn't really know what to do with that, so they put that on top of the sweater, and put the Buns inside the backpack. As if a second thought, they put the jumper in, quickly taking out the Buns and placing them on top of the sweater. Shutting the bag and slinging it around, they settled it firmly on their shoulders, pulling the tags just hard enough that it wouldn't jump around if Frisk ran. They pulled the sleeves of their blue striped t-shirt flat, so it was unrumpled by the backpack. Smiling at Chara, they stood and left, the ghost following them.
Walking through the white village felt strange. The snow crunched underfoot. They passed a pale house with a circular door. Nobody was outside. Almost directly opposite the house was a fir tree. It was decorated with dimly light red lights and spheres of gold handing from the branches. A star sat on the top, moving side to side with the biting breeze. Frisk walked close up to the tree, and looked at it with a strange expression.
Nothing for us, Chara murmured. Frisk looked at them in what seemed to be confusion, before shrugging and moving on.
They came to a wooden building with a sign saying 'Grillby's'. It looked like a nice homey place, and Frisk walked right in. There were two tables, a few booths and some barstools around the bar. The place was wooden panelled, and felt like it was supposed to be warm and inviting. It didn't feel like that. On the table to their left was a deck of cards, strewn across the table. The table in the back corner had a dog food bowl, the food seemingly untouched. The bar was lit with the weak light from a neon sign on the back wall, which flickered. The sign was the name of the pub. There was a jukebox just in front of it, and it was playing a tune which sounded very off-key. Frisk walked over to it and pulled out the plug, stopping the music altogether, leaving only an empty silence. Chara floated towards the bar, and found plates of half-eaten fries. There was an empty glass sitting on the counter, singe-marks on the cloth next to it. In fact, the closer they looked, the more burns they found along the slab of wood.
Frisk didn't seem interested at all in the deserted place. 'Nothing in here. Let's move on,' they huffed, glancing around the bar one final time. Chara looked to the windows in here as well- they weren't boarded up like the shop was. There was nothing that Frisk could take on their way. Thinking back on it, Chara didn't actually know where Frisk was headed. They assumed it was to the barrier, to leave the underground behind them. Now, they weren't so sure. '-you coming, Chara?' Frisk asked in almost a bored tone, holding the door open, letting a cold draught sweep through the bar. Chara nodded, and Frisk walked out. The ghost took one final look around the pub, trying to imagine it bustling with patrons, before sighing and leaving themself.
They looked around the corner after Grillby's, but nothing seemed of interest to the human, so they continued the walk through the village. The sky was darkening, although Chara didn't really understand how. They supposed there must be some kind of artificial light somewhere in the underground. Frisk didn't seem to be getting tired, and as a ghost, Chara physically couldn't get tired, so it didn't exactly matter. There was a library in the village, with an extra b in the sign. It made Chara smile.
They walked inside, the pair, and found t able with a few books strewn across it and an unfinished book on the counter. What really caught Frisk's interest were the bookshelves at the back- especially the ones detailing about monster SOULs. While they were reading up about them, Chara took the time to check around. The lights were still on, and it was a nice warm place. They floated over to the counter, and found a piece of paper with perfectly joined writing on it.
'We were all evacuated. The two skeletons didn't go though, see if you can ask them what's happening. If you've not been evacuated, we're at the MTT Resort- that's where Dr. Alphys directed us to. It seems to be just a drill, but the doctor was pretty serious. Sorry honey- I'll see you later. Love, Andy.' The note seemed to be from one of the librarians to her spouse.
'-Chara? Are you listening?' Frisk broke them out of their train of thought. The ghost looked over at their companion, who sat with their back propped up against a bookshelf of green books. They had one leg straight out, and one foot flat on the floor so they could stand their book up. Their eyes were open, red irises surrounded by black, both inside and out. 'I'm tired. We should stay here for the night,' they said, yawning. Chara nodded and drifted slowly over to them. Frisk pulled the sweater from the bottom of the bag and wadded it up tightly, getting it to serve as a pillow. 'Can you tell me a story?' the human asked, once their eyes were shut. Chara looked down at them. The child looked tranquil, and happy.
Okay, Frisk. Do you want any specific story? The human shook their head. Chara smiled again, and sat down properly on the floor, letting their incorporeal form fuzz out a little bit. It took energy to keep themself in one perfect shape, and now that energy could be used doing something else. They could see the edges of their form ripple in the air, with every breath Frisk took.
The ghost took a deep breath. There was once a person, the best person that had ever existed. That person made friends with a very bad person. The bad person couldn't understand why the good person wanted to be friends with them, but the only thing the good person would say was 'you are a good person. I refuse to think you could be bad.' The bad person couldn't understand. The bad person used to be very lonely, and then the good person introduced the bad person to their family. The family were all as good as the bad person's friend, and the bad person couldn't understand.
There was another place, where the bad person came from, and they hated the good people. Feared them, even. Killed them. The bad person hated these people. They found out how to love the good person, and their family. The bad person decided to make something change. It was the worst decision they had ever made. The bad person's decision caused the great unhappiness of the good person's family, and they finally understood why they were so good and nice. It was because they learned that you can't go back, no matter how much you wanted to.
Chara had noticed that Frisk had gone to sleep some time ago, but wanted to carry on with the story. Frisk would never hear the end- Chara wouldn't tell that story to them again. It was too much of a risk. Instead, Chara just looked up at the ceiling of the room, and let their eyes shut. They fell asleep to the sound of the human's quiet snores.
Chara woke up before Frisk. They supposed that ghosts needed less time to replenish energy than humans. Looking back down at Frisk, they realised they might not need much more sleep- they'd be waking up soon. The ghost drifted over to the window and looked out. The windows weren't boarded up here at all either. Maybe they hadn't been told about what Frisk had been doing. Maybe the shop-owners knew someone who had fallen to their knife. They let their form shimmer and ripple, absent-mindedly twiddling their fingers. What if they do decide to fight Papyrus? He never posed them any harm, Chara thought. Sans could almost sense me, couldn't he? They recalled the expression on his face when they moved past him.
Out of the corner of their eye, they saw something shift. Move. Their eyes were instinctively drawn to it, and they caught a single glimpse of it. It was a mess of all the monsters they had encountered. It was a white colour, and the monster's eyes didn't seem to have any depth other than just black pits. Black tears streamed from the pits. Then it was gone. Chara let out a half-scream, half-shout, and Frisk awoke with a start, pulling their knife from beneath the sweater and looking in several directions until they looked at Chara. Chara was staring at the spot where the thing had stood, their face still stuck in a grimace of fear. Frisk frowned, and looked at the place. They saw nothing. Shrugging, they sat up. They were too awake to go back to sleep now, and it was light anyway. The human pulled the bag close to them and began packing it again.
'Chara? You okay?' they asked, most of their attention fixed on the task at hand.
They gave a nervous laugh. I think so. You ready to carry on?
'Gimme a minute, then we can go,' Frisk said, as they clipped the bag shut. They swung it around and fixed it firmly onto their shoulders, before getting to their feet. They smiled widely at Chara before walking straight toward the door. Chara followed them out, and they walked along the rest of the village. The big house was locked up tightly, as was the shed next to it. They walked further on, until he path became foggy and the wind became stronger, grasping at Frisk's loose t-shirt.
Frisk? The human glanced up at Chara, who was a tiny bit in front of them, and had resumed their kneeling in the air. They were a little bit taller than Frisk. Are you really thinking of fighting the skeleton?
Frisk didn't answer, only looked straight ahead, and walked a little faster. The fog became thicker, to the point where the human couldn't see an arm's length in front of them. The ghost sped up to keep pace with the speed-walking human, and stayed quiet too. Frisk's silence was all that they needed to answer the question.
A silhouette formed in from of them. It was tall, and towered above the human.
'HUMAN.'
Frisk stopped in their tracks, and looked up at Papyrus with an innocent smile.
'I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOMETHINGS TO SAY TO YOU,' he announced. Frisk just continued to look at him with a smile. Shivers crawled up Chara's back. 'YOU ARE STRANGE. YOU DO NOT LIKE PUZZLES, AND YOU TALK TO YOURSELF. YOU SHAMBLE FROM PLACE TO PLACE, ALWAYS COVERED IN DUSTY POWDER. SANS WARNED ME AGAINST COMING HERE TO FIGHT YOU. HE SAID YOU WERE GOING DOWN A DARK PATH. I THINK YOU MIGHT BE.
'HOWEVER, I SEE GREAT POTENTIAL IN YOU! EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON, IF THEY TRY. EVEN YOU,' Chara swallowed, heart in their throat. A heavy feeling filled them, and they lowered to the ground to try to alleviate it. It felt dark and it pushed everything inside them down with a terrible power. 'I THINK YOU NEED HELP. GUIDANCE, PERHAPS. TO KEEP YOU A GOOD PERSON. I, PAPYRUS, WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR, AND HELP YOU TURN YOUR LIFE RIGHT AROUND.'
Frisk took a few steps forward. Chara couldn't move. 'I SEE YOU APPROACHING, HUMAN. MAYBE A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE?' Chara saw the silhouette get down to one knee- around the approximate height of Frisk. They so badly wanted to croak out a warning to the naïve skeleton, but they knew it would be useless. Nobody would hear them.
'WOWIE! MY LESSONS ARE ALREADY WORKING! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!' the silhouette's arms became meshed with his shadow. Chara supposed he was extending them to the human. They saw the red of Frisk's SOUL rise out of their chest and above them. It glowed a bright red, the colour of fresh blood. It sickened them to the stomach. They shut their eyes- they knew what would happen next. Unfortunate for them, they couldn't shut off their ears, and they heard the sound of the plastic knife shearing across Papyrus' vertebrae. The sound of his body crumbling to dust made Chara's eyes open wide, and involuntarily they lifted themselves through the air to hover just behind Frisk; they saw that Papyrus' body was completely gone. His armour too- just a Papyrus' skull resting on his dark orange-red scarf remained.
'W-WELL. THAT'S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED… BUT! ST-STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU…YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO. I…I PROMISE,' and with that, Frisk lifted a foot. Chara watched in fascinated horror as Frisk planted their foot on Papyrus' long forehead and twisted, pushing down with extreme force, until the skeleton's skull crumbled to dust as well. The white SOUL rose, and Frisk grabbed it in a fist and it dissipated in their hands.
They knelt next to the pile of dust heaped on the scarf and lifted their knife high. It plunged down in an arc and stuck firmly in the frozen ground, anchoring the scarf to the snow. They pulled off their backpack and pulled on the pair of gloves. They were fingerless and had small brass pieces on the knuckles. They fit the human's hands perfectly, and they slung the backpack around their shoulders again. They looked up at Chara, the grin on their face wider than before.
No. I can't let you do this, Chara muttered.
'What's that?' Frisk asked, looking at the ghost who hovered over Papyrus' bone dust.
I can't let you go on like this, Frisk.
'What are you talking about, Chara?'
I won't let you kill my family. The ghost moved around, Frisk turning to track their movements. Chara finally settled in place, standing fully on the ground as they would if they were corporeal, and they kept looking straight down, their fringe covering their eyes. Papyrus wouldn't have hurt you. You kill without MERCY. I see that now. And it is my fault that you're like this. So it's my responsibility to get you out of this.
The ghost looked up. Their eyes sparkled with DETERMINATION. I will not let you continue this path of destruction. If Papyrus couldn't break you out with kindness, maybe it'll take force.
*CHARA DREEMURR BLOCKS THE WAY.