Summary: Frisk reflects back on their power to RESET and the first time they met Chara. Frisk remembers all the times Chara caused them grief and sorrow, but also the times of happiness and understanding. How did Frisk turn the child who hated humanity into the child who hates humanity, if only, a little less? At least they like you, right?
Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Undertale or any of its characters. That would be Toby Fox. But hey, I've got my mind and this story, right?
A/N: Hello again! Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. The update schedule will have to pause for a bit, I have finals this week, actually. Just getting this last chapter out before I take a break. Also, to the two guest reviews I got:
Guest 1 (from ch.2): I'm sorry that my Chara doesn't seem to fit the Chara you see as canon. I do hope that you will continue to read and hopefully my adaptation will be just as good.
Guest 2 (from ch.3): Thanks for the awesome review! Glad you like the story so far. I do like the idea of Chara having a normal(ish) life before entering the Underground. I had also noticed my development of Chara's character might be too fast. I'll try to review that more closely.
Woah, sorry for the long A/N… welp, without any further delay, here's chapter 4! Word count: 1,957
Meeting Toriel again was fun. She makes the best pies. I always love how much she cares and seems to hover over me, as if I'll disappear if I left her sight.
Eventually, as with every run, I had to leave the Ruins. I didn't have to tell mom, but I felt like I owed it to her. To let her know I was leaving, rather than have her discover I was no longer there.
All in all, it worked out fairly well, although during my battle to prove myself to Toriel, Chara acted up.
You can't trust her! You can't show her mercy! She'll turn on you as soon as you turn your back. Chara had tried to convince me to not take any chances and kill mom.
"No. Do you realize what you are saying? This is why we RESET! I know that you are scared, but just give me a chance. Let me show you another way." I had attempted to soothe her.
I could feel Chara's conflicted emotions on whether to trust me or let her fears take over.
In the end, fear won.
Once Chara succumbed to her fears, she tried to push me aside. It became increasingly harder to keep Chara at bay while fighting off Toriel.
During the struggle, one of mom's fireballs hit me in the chest. "Hnn… Ch-Chara, please… listen to me. Just take a moment and look at mom. Can't you see that, even now, she doesn't want to fight?"
Chara trembled as she peered out using our shared eyes. Toriel gazed back with sad eyes. She looked hurt, even though she didn't have a single scratch.
The fear began to wane, but still clung onto Chara's soul and mind.
Slowly, cautiously, Chara removed herself from my soul. Feeling her relinquish her hold, I relaxed.
"Thank you… Now, just watch me. I'll show you. Just, trust in me, okay?" I sighed as I turned my attention back to Toriel. "Mom, please, just let me leave. I don't want to fight anymore. I know you don't want to either."
After a few moments of thoughtful silence and pleading, Toriel finally relented. She believed in me.
"See, Chara?" I asked as I hugged Toriel. I was quiet enough so that mom didn't hear me. "I told you there was a better way."
Whatever. My way would've been faster.
"Yes, but it would also resulted in you hurting or even killing mom. Aren't the emotions you feel now better than the fear and sadness that plagued you earlier?"
Chara didn't respond, but I felt her soul give off an aura of warmth and bubbliness.
Outside the Ruins was always an interesting experience. Other than the talking skeletons and dogs obsessed with petting, it was breathtaking.
Right outside the doors was a winter wonderland. The snow gleamed off everything it clung to. I always enjoyed the trip from the Ruins to the town of Snowdin, especially since I got to participate in Papyrus's puzzles.
I wonder how Chara will react to the skeleton brother's antics.
As I walked down the path, avoiding a long branch that had long since fallen, Chara was sending me an unbelievable amount of nervous waves at my soul. Any attempts to calm her weren't working.
A gruff voice from behind me broke the silence.
"human. don't you know how to greet a new pal? turn around and shake my hand."
Inwardly smiling, I turned around and extended my hand out to the figure. As soon as it grasped my hand, a loud farting noise resonated in the echo-y forest clearing.
I couldn't help myself as I burst into laughter while the figure let out a deep chuckle. Even Chara, who claimed to hate jokes, couldn't keep in a snort.
The figure spoke once more. "ah, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny." I nodded in agreement. "i'm sans, by the way. sans the skeleton."
"Name's Frisk." I decided not to tell him about Chara, at least not until she was more stable and a little less… murderous?
Sans then ushered me through the gates that Papyrus had made too wide. I had to hide behind a very conveniently shaped lamp to avoid detection from Papyrus. While hiding, I checked on Chara, entering my mindscape.
"Chara? You okay? I haven't heard from you since the battle with mom." I called out, a bit worried.
Wandering about, I found Chara sitting cross-legged on the black floor. Calling out to Chara once more, I approached her.
"Chara?"
She sat motionless, not making a sound. Upon a closer inspection, I saw she was slightly shaking.
"Chara, answer me. Are you okay?" I asked once more, worry building.
I heard a sniffle. "Do you ever wonder why you're alive? What your purpose is in life?" Chara had spoken in a, surprisingly, steady voice.
Unsure of what Chara wanted, I tried my best to answer truthfully. "Well of course I do. Not to say that I've figured it all out yet, but I've got an idea. Currently I have two purposes; one is to help the monsters break free of this stone prison and the second is… to help you."
"Why?" Chara had said with a watery voice. "I realized during the fight with Toriel, I still acted the same. I couldn't help it, as soon as Tori started sending attacks our way, the fear gripped me. My memories resurfaced. I don't know what to do. I want to believe that there is more to my life than to spend every waking moment in fear of more betrayal. How am I going to change that when that's all I've been allowed to think about the world for the last how every many years of my life…?"
Taken aback by the emotions I could feel in not only her words and gestures, but also the pure, raw emotion seeping out of her soul, I hesitantly spoke up. "You want to know what your purpose in life is? While that's not something I can't know for sure, I believe that, right now, you should focus on trying to learn how to trust others. Start small, like me. If I can earn your trust, I can help you even more. While I think you would believe otherwise, this isn't like a game of chess. You don't have to play, trying to know what your opponent's next move is. Just play it by ear. Relish in the fact that you are having fun by just playing the game. If you constantly think about it like a complicated mind game, you'll end up being bested by those who don't exactly follow all the rules you are used to." As I finished I had slowly walked closer to Chara.
While she was still facing her back towards me, I quickly ran up and planted a kiss right on her cheek. Giggling at her, first stunned reaction then sprinting away as she grew angry at being caught off guard. Laughing hysterically, I ran away while Chara chased.
"Hey! Get back here you little Worm! I won't stand for this!" Chara had hollered angrily, but I could tell she was only trying to cover up her happiness as I felt her true emotions radiating off her soul.
Chara had caught up to me and I was tackled to the ground. To avoid getting pummeled into oblivion, I quickly left my mindscape.
Realizing this, as I started to fade away, Chara grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.
"I'll get you back for this. You just be wary next time you decide to visit…" She warned.
Once outside my mindscape, I blinked my eyes as I looked up, right into a pair of worried looking white irises.
"you okay there, kid? been trying to call you back to the world of the living for quite some time. tibia honest, I thought you forgot about me." He ended with a wink.
Not realizing how much time I had spent in my own head, I blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry 'bout that. I guess I just… spaced out?"
Sans didn't seem to believe me, even I thought my explanation was a bit frail. "well whatever you were thinking about must've been pretty humerus, considering you were smiling the whole time."
"N-no, well, maybe something like that." I stuttered. "Can we just forget about this? Sorry for, y'know, spacing out, but I'm getting cold by just standing out here."
Sans, thankfully, let the matter drop. As I began to leave he stopped me to ask if I could humor his brother by playing along with his puzzles. Of which, I readily agreed.
I bid him farewell as I went further into the snowy woods.
After a short while I came to a small clearing where I saw Sans and Papyrus conversing.
"SO AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE" I heard the taller of the two speak loudly.
Upon my arrival, I had accidently stepped on an old branch, creating a small snap sound. Both skeletons looked my way. They both, then, began to alternate between looking at me and then each other at increasingly faster speeds, until they were but a blur.
"Uhh, can I help you?" I had tried to speak, but the brothers had turned around.
I could barely hear their whispering. Something about a rock?
"HUMAN! YOU SHALL GO NO FURTHER. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU. I WILL CAPTURE YOU AND BRING YOU TO THE CAPITAL, THEN… THEN I'LL… I'm not actually sure what happens next. SO, CONTINUE, ONLY IF YOU DARE, HUMAN! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" He laughed as he hurried away.
"well, that went better than expected. thanks for playing along, kid. don't worry about it. i'll keep an eyesocket out for ya." The stout skeleton spoke, as he winked.
"No problem." I waved as he left.
After all that silence Chara had finally decided to speak up. Oh. My. Gosh. How can you stand those- those things? He was so loud and the other with those annoying puns… Hey! Are you laughing at me?
I tried to stifle my laughing, just enough to speak. "Heh, no. I was just thinking about how worked up you are over those two. For someone who claims to not care about others, it sure does seem like you care a whole lot. Not that it's a bad thing, in fact, it's great! Before you know it, you'll be craving my hugs and kisses. We might even make you another friend!" I was overcome by my joy.
Wha- What?! You can't be serious… a skeleton as one of my friends? Do you not say these things out loud first? Also, skeletons aside, but you really like to think that I'm just going to sit here while you waltz around making friends? I need some fresh air too, y'know! Scoot over, it's my turn! Chara had said.
Too caught up in my giddiness, it was rather easy for Chara to shove me over for her to take control. Not like I cared, Chara was in such a fragile state at this point that it wouldn't be too hard to take control back, even if I needed to do it by force.
So, I simply kicked back and watched as Chara kicked the snow as she walked, a hand trailing along the low hanging leaves of the nearby trees.
Chara was a good kid, just like me. If given enough coaxing, she was as bright as a star. I only wondered, if she could be so fun and caring, just what happened in her past that would cause her to periodically recoil, afraid of anyone around her?
A/N: Heh, I can just imagine Frisk and Chara fighting over who gets to control their shared body like little toddlers. :D but wow that took a lot outta me. I just finished typing this up tonight, trying to get this last chapter out before taking a small hiatus. I hope you guys all have a good rest of the week! I've gotta go study. Until next chapter :P
