(Chara's POV)
I opened my eyes, feeling a lot more rested now, and felt Frisk's hot breath tickle my ear...
...Wait, I can feel his breath now?
Sighing, I felt a small smile creep it's way onto my face as I watched my sleeping partner's steady breathing. I'm glad Frisk finally opened up to me about his past earlier. It got me thinking.
That story about "The Demon Who Comes When You Call It's Name"...
It almost felt familiar somehow. It also reminded of how much I hate humanity...
...of how much we hate humanity.
Denying a child's existence just because of some stupid story was just ridiculous and unreasonably cruel...and it reminded me of the differences between monsters and humans.
Because of the humans of his village, Frisk was denied a normal childhood, friends, and family.
If it wasn't for that damn story, maybe he could've came out differently. Maybe he could've had a family, friends.
Maybe he wouldn't have had a reason to climb Mt. Ebbot in the first place.
Although...if he never fell, then he would've never met me...
I gave a small involuntary shudder at the thought.
Frisk has become such an important part of my life that I couldn't imagine him not being a part of it. Sure, we haven't know each other for a very long time, but the time we spent together felt like we've been together for eternity.
I want to stay by his side forever. I want to make sure he'll never be alone ever again.
Smiling fondly, I placed a hand on Frisk's cheek, listening to his steady breathing and rest against my forehead onto his. I felt the heat rush into my face as I find myself staring at his lips. I felt a warm feeling well up in my chest and I swallowed hard.
...What is this feeling?
I felt myself slowly lean closer to Frisk's face as my heart hammered in my chest.
...Could this be...love?
xxx
"Frisk, what are looking for in that closet? Toriel's going to have a fit when she sees the mess you've made." I grumbled as I watched my companion dig around the closet in our room with a cocked brow.
It's been about a week since we first arrived at Toriel's house.
"I've worn this freaking sweater for so long, I think some dust from the other timelines is still clinging on. I wanna see if there's at least another shirt or sweater in here." Frisk explained, still in the closet. "Oh hey, I found one! There's a sweater in here that's just like yours, Chara." He said a few seconds later.
Just like mine? "Bring it out, I wanna see it." I requested, my curiosity piqued.
Frisk stepped out of the closet holding a green sweater with a yellow stripe in the center, just like mine. "Why would Toriel have a sweater that looks like mine?" I asked mostly to myself out loud.
My partner narrowed his brow in though. "Let's ask her then. Maybe she'll tell us." He suggested, looking at the sweater thoughtfully.
A mental image of a teary eyed Toriel looking down at me with an expression flashed in my mind as I thought of Toriel's response.
"Chara, can you hear me? We want you to wake up..."
I shuddered a bit and shook my head. "Just put it on, Frisk. It's about time we continued on. I know you're enjoying the domestic life, but remember our promise, Partner." I reminded him, starting to grow restless.
We need to save everyone, and staying here in the Ruins won't fix anything.
Frisk seemed a bit reluctant, but relented with a heavy sigh. "Yeah, you're right, Chara. I guess this is something to look forward to at the end of our journey. Now look away, I'm changing." He declared, causing me jump and quickly turn away with a blush.
I felt myself sneak a few peaks and trying to hide my blushing smile as he removed his sweater.
xxx
"Never knew your clothes fit me so well, Chara." Frisk remarked, inspecting his new sweater and we put Frisk's old blue and purple sweater in our inventory.
"Didn't know you looked pretty good in my clothes, Frisk." I let out a giggle, eying Frisk's new clothes with an approving nod.
"Time to talk to Toriel. Let's go, Partner." Frisk finally said, taking my hand into his.
"Yeah, and we can finally live with her after saving everyone!" I agreed and we walked out of the room and walked over to Toriel, who sat in her chair reading a book.
"Wait, Frisk!" I suddenly spoke up before he could speak to Toriel. "Before you talk to Toriel, could you...um, grab the bar of chocolate in the fridge?" I muttered softly, eying the fridge and what contained inside.
He always forgot to grab the chocolate during our last runs...
"Yeah sure, no problem, Chara." He said, walking to the kitchen and grabbing the bar of chocolate, putting it in our inventory and continued to approach Toriel.
xxx
(Frisk's POV)
"Why hello there, innocent one. Did you have a nice nap?" Toriel asked with a pleasant smile, then saw what I was wearing and recognition flashed in her eyes. "Um, wh-where did you find that sweater, my child?" Her voice shook a little, but she regained composure.
"I found it in the closet in my room. Seeing that it fits and that my old sweater was pretty dirty, I decided to try this one on." I admitted, scratching our cheek nervously.
Suddenly, this felt so hard to do. I didn't want to leave this behind, but I made a promise to Chara.
Sighing, determination began coursing through our veins. This was something that we had to do.
"Mom...Toriel, w-I'm sorry, but we-err, I need to leave the Ruins." I stammered nervously, but Chara's and my shared determination kept me going.
"You can do this, Partner." Chara placed an encouraging hand on my shoulder and gave me a firm nod.
"L-leave the Ruins? Why on Earth would you-?!" Toriel gave us a look of disbelief with wide eyes.
"I've been reading some of the history books on monsters and I decided, I want to break down the Barrier and free everyone. I'll save everyone." I declared, determination burning in our eyes.
"I...have to do something...stay here." She hesitantly shook her head and got up, rushing toward the basement.
"Quick partner, after her!" Chara declared and we followed after her.
xxx
When we climbed down the stairs, Toriel looked at us with a hard glare.
"So you wish to save everyone, do you not?" She questioned coldly, all emotion gone from her tone.
"I do..." I replied, still determined.
"Ahead of us lies the exit of the Ruins, a one-way exit to the rest of the Underground..." She continued, then looked forward. "I am going to destroy it. No one will be able to leave ever again." Toriel declared. "Now be a good a good child and go back to your room." She ordered before continuing forward.
Casting aside all doubts and fears, we followed after Toriel.
"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate." She said, a hint of sadness in her tone. "I have seen it again, and again."
"They come..."
"They leave..."
"They die..." The goat monster drew a shuddering breath.
"I won't, Toriel. I'll be different. I know I can save all monsters." I repeated our promise, Chara by my side, fueling my determination.
Toriel gave a sad, empty laugh. "You naive child..if you leave the Ruins..."
"They...
"ASGORE..."
"...will kill you..."
There was a spiteful tone in her voice as she said the King's name. "I'm only protecting you, do you understand? Do not try to stop me." It sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than me. "This is your final warning."
Still, we walked after Toriel. This was something we HAD to do.
Soon, we came to the door leading to the end of the Ruins. Toriel stood in our path.
"You want to leave so badly? Hmph, you're just like the others." That stung, being compared to the other humans that fell before us.
"There is only one solution to this." Toriel took a deep breath and turned to us with a cold look, and sighed. "Prove yourself...prove to me that you're strong enough to survive!"
"...Toriel blocks the way." Chara narrated softly, as if this was hard for her too.
I really don't blame her.
As Toriel's hand flickered with magical fire, we stood our ground, looking her in the eye.
I won't fight her, not this time.
"...What are you doing?" She asked as she began to lose her composure, throwing bolts of fire at us.
I won't hurt her ever again.
"Attack or run away!" She declared as we dodged fireball after fireball, Chara and I gritting our teeth as a few grazed us.
"No...I don't want to Fight. I refuse!" I declared to Toriel.
"What are you trying to prove?" She asked as we shielded ourselves from her attack.
"I'm going to prove to you that I can survive without fighting, Mom!" I answered, our eyes blazing with determination.
"You foolish child...fight me or leave!" She shook her head, her aloof mask beginning to crack. "Stop it!"
"No, I refuse to hurt you, Mom!" She's the closest thing that I've ever had to a mother. Shaking my head, I gave her a kind smile.
"Stop looking at me like that!" Her emotionless face quivered slightly and her eyes avoided mine. "Go away!"
An image flashed in our mind, our knife coming down and cutting through Toriel's body like butter.
Shaking the images out of our mind, I returned my gaze to Toriel.
No...we can change, Comedian, we'll prove that to you.
That won't happen again...
Suddenly, Toriel's attacks began to avoid us as she looked away from us and takes a deep breath.
"I know you want to save everyone..but.." She trailed off, frowning. "But please, go upstairs now." Toriel pleaded, her eyes downcast.
...Mom's eyes then looked to us, a hopeful expression on her face. "I can take good care of you." She gave us a smile. "I know we don't have much but...we can have a good life here.." I felt our eyes growing wet and Chara squeezed our hand.
Sighing, I shook our head.
Mom looked back down and frowned again. "Why are you making this so difficult? Please...go upstairs."
"...Ha...ha..." She gave an empty laugh. "Pathetic, is it not? I cannot even save the life of a single child."
"...No, I understand. You would be unhappy growing up in a place like this. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. My expectations...my loneliness...my fears..." Mom sighed and shook her head and gave us a warm smile. "For you, my child, I will put them aside." She chuckled and the fire in her hands died out.
"If you truly wish to leave the Ruins, I will not stop you." She said, facing us and wiped a tear running down our cheek. "However, when you leave...please do not come back. I hope you understand."
Nodding, I smiled to Mom and ran to her, throwing ourselves to her and embraced her.
Once we let go, Toriel stood up and sighed. "Goodbye, my child." She said and began walking away.
"This isn't goodbye, Mom." I spoke up, shaking my head. "We'll be a family again when everyone goes to the surface, I know we will." I said, turning to her with a warm smile. "This is hello...Hello, Mom, it's wonderful to meet you." I said and she chuckled with a soft smile before walking away.
"Well, if that's the case, hello, my child." She giggled to us before leaving down the hall.
Sighing, we turn towards the large purple double doors and pushed through.
It's time to save everyone.
A/N: And so, we're finally done with the Ruins. Next chapter is the beginning of Snowdin Forest and meeting the Skelebros.
Now Frisk is wearing a sweater just like Chara's. To be honest, I didn't really plan that.
So how are you guys liking the story? I always welcome reviews and feedback from my readers.
By the way, thanks so much for the 5000+ views on this story.
I'll see you all next chapter.
~Kit out
