But they refused.
Soon, I was asleep again. A peaceful sleep with dreams full of happiness and memories. Not my memories, though.
"Chara, Asriel, wash up for dinner!" I sat two plates of pie at the table, my snowy white fur surprising me for some reason.
No, not my hands.
Toriel sat down, pulling out a ball of yarn. She blinked, and suddenly everything changed. No longer were the hands those of Toriel, and no longer was there a ball of yarn beside her. O sat on the couch, sewing by hand a red scarf. Papyrus's red scarf. The bony hand of Sans worked quickly, only to grumble as he accidentally sewed his sleeve to it. I watched carefully as he finished the seam and held up his masterpiece. Then the dream changed again.
I was taller. Sans was sitting on the couch behind me. I began looking through the gifts under the tree. One of them caught our eye. A big white box with a red bow.
"WHAT IS IT?" I-Papyrus asked.
"Open it and find out."
Papyrus opened it and happiness filled us as he pulled out a scarf and put it on.
"I LOVE IT BROTHER!"
But the memory changed just before we gave Sans a hug. I was small...young. I felt a soft hand brushing back my hair into a ponytail. I only had one eye
"Undyne," said the man who was putting my hair back. Perhaps he was a guardian? Caretaker? "How was your day?"
"It was fine G-"
The memory was cut short, though. I thought I was waking up, but no. A child sat beside me, their green and yellow sweater telling me exactly who they were.
"Chara, child of Toriel. Sibling to Prince Asriel."
They looked over at me, their bangs hiding eyes I knew were red. We sat in the guest bedroom at Toriel's place. The room was dark and the floor littered with broken toys and dust.
"Yes. And you are?"
"They call e Helvetica, or Helly for short."
"But that isn't your name."
"No."
"It's a pleasure to meet the person who saved my family and friends. My people. Thank you so much."
"Where are we?"
"This is what's left of Frisk's memories."
"But it's so…"
"Warped? Yes. this is how Frisk saw the world. Dark. Dangerous. They couldn't see the difference between their nightmares and the world. A lot like I was, to be honest. I was the same way when I fell, but Asriel was there. He helped me. They all did."
A pang of sadness echoed in my body.
"I'll give you a choice though. You could go back, do it all over. You could save Frisk and my brother, or you stay here with me. Forever."
Chara stood and walked to the door, opening it. There was just darkness beyond our little room. They looked back at me, waving for me to follow so I did. As they closed the door behind us, the room disappeared. An empty, black void was all there was.
"This is where Frisk would go after they died. There are two choices, Reset and return to when you fell, or Continue you journey from you last SAVE point."
"So...I'm dead? But, isn't that a good thing?"
"Depends. I am here because Frisk woke me up, but I don't know about you. You may not be able to leave until- oh, look at this." Chara pointed past me at the visible, yellow buttons. A new one had appeared.
Quit
"THat one will allow you to rest in piece."
"For how long?"
"Until somebody remembers your true name."
"Nobody knows it."
"Then you will never awaken. But, be warned, once you press that button you can't come back. Toriel will have to bury another child and everybody you saved will forever feel like a piece of their souls and selves are missing."
"But I-" I thought on it for a moment. "Is there any way to keep that soul from being destroyed, but for me to...move on?"
"I suppose you could give it to Asriel. Or me. OR both. If we had it, we could live again, only with your soul. We would tell Toriel and everybody what you did for us. Promise."
I smiled sadly at them.
"I'm going to make you a deal. A promise."
I leaned in and whispered into their ear. The next time I was there, I would give Asriel and Chara my soul. That way, everything would be fixed.
And I pressed a button and I woke up. The trampling of leaves below me woke me from a deep slumber. I felt well rested and dropped down in front of the human. Frisk.