Chapter 9
Chara and Undyne talked and talked. Little bit of real talk, little bit of girl talk. It was the first real girl talk Chara had ever had. Other than her mom, which didn't really count in Chara's mind.
"So Undyne…do you have anyone special in your life?" Chara asked sipping her second cup of tea.
"Well…" Undyne said looking away. Her cheeks slightly turning red. "There is this one girl I kinda like.."
"Really? Who?" Chara asked almost knowing who.
"There's this cute sciencey dinosaur girl who lives in Hotland. Her name's Alphys. She's so cool and she doesn't even know it!"
"Well she sounds like a real catch!" Chara said remembering that in one timeline, Frisk met Alphys and Undyne but never got them together.
"Yeah...So punk..who's your crush?"
"Oh...um..I don't really have one…"
"FALSE!" Undyne yelled very loudly scaring Chara. "You, my friend, are lying!"
Chara felt honored that Undyne thought of Chara as a friend, but she wasn't lying. She didn't really have a crush. She only knew her mom, Papyrus, and Sans…
"See! I knew you were lying!" Undyne said with a laugh.
Chara didn't understand. Undyne pointed to her cheeks being red and Chara realized SHE was blushing. But why?
"So...who's the lucky contestant?" Undyne asked wanting to know everything.
"I..I don't know…" Chara said truthfully.
"Well who was the last person you were thinking about?"
Chara thought for a second. Oh. Sans...
"Well Miss Tomato head?" Undyne asked as part joke
"Sans..." Chara said a bit shyly
"Really? That bonehead?" Undyne asked questionably while thinking about something.
"Wait..why? Is something wrong?" Chara wasn't sure why Undyne would say that.
"Now I get why he said those things.."
"Who?" Chara asked
"Sans. On the phone told me not to harm you in a very protective tone. No doubt he likes you too."
Chara froze. Was that true? Does Sans really like me?
"Dang. Guess I should start making ship names now!"
"Wh-" Chara was about to rebut when there was a knock at Undyne's door.
Undyne got up went to opened it only to be surprised by Papyrus.
"Oh! Papyrus! Your cooking lesson! I almost forgot! Come in!"
"HELLO UNDYNE!" Papyrus walked in and noticed Chara sitting at the table. "HELLO CHARA!"
"Hello Papyrus."
"Hey, Chara? We'll continue later. I need to teach Paps how to cook a mean spaghetti."
"YES CHARA! YOU MUST COME BACK AND TRY SOME!"
"Okay! Well I best be off then!"
Chara got up and walked towards the door. She waved goodbye to her friends as she walked out and into the fork in the road.
Waterfall has tons of places. Where to go first? There's Gerson's shop, Napstablook's place and snail farm…
Then, she got her idea.
The statue!
Chara loved the statue. She'd sometimes sneak off with Asriel late at night to 'stargaze' and listen to the singing statue. She'd miss those days. A memory came flooding back…
"Chara!" Asriel whispered to his new sister who was trying to sleep.
"Chara!" he said again shaking her trying to get her to open her eyes.
"What is it Asriel?" Chara said in a sleepy voice.
"I wanna show you something!"
"Okay...what is it?"
"No! You have to get up!"
Asriel was in his green pj's with green and white striped pants and Chara were in hers. They were Asriel's but they fit. Back then, the two were the same size. She had on a yellow top and bottoms with white stripes and a grey rim.
"Ugh...okay…" Chara slugged out of bed and Asriel took her hand.
Chara stood at the base of the statue. She had an umbrella with her to protect her from the rain. She placed the umbrella on the statue and it started playing it's song.
"Okay! Open your eyes!" Asriel said to Chara who's hands were covering her face.
Chara took her hand off her face and saw the statue.
"A statue?" Chara asked puzzled why she was staring at an old statue.
"Yeah! And watch this!" Asriel had his umbrella and placed it on the statue so it looked like it was holding the umbrella.
The stature started playing it's tune. Chara gasped in happiness and joy that the statue could do that.
"How does it do that?"
"Magic!"
Chara walked back to the big room with all the echo flowers. She laid down in her favourite spot. Next to a flower in the corner. She looked up at the star like stones on the ceiling. She knew they weren't real, but she'd always pretend.
"Aren't they pretty Chara?" Asriel said laying down on his back next to Chara looking up at the blue starlike lights.
"Yea."
"Are they...just like the real ones?" He asked in a tone saddened when he asked the question.
"Kinda. Though, on the surface, we had shooting stars that would zoom across the sky. They'd leave trails of stardust. And I'd pretend to collect it with my hands."
Chara gestured with her hands what she was describing. She looked over at Asriel who was staring at her.
"Do you...miss the surface, Chara?"
"Sometimes...not all of it was pretty but, it has its redeeming qualities."
That memory always hurt Chara. Redeeming qualities? What was I thinking? Chara closed her eyes and imagined Asriel laying next to her 'stargazing'. She smiled from her happy daydream. Though the daydream quickly became a nightmare. Asriel's eyes started to ooze black liquid and his voice became demented.
"What's wrong Chara? You're still upset you didn't do anything to save me?"
Chara's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly.
How can I blame myself for what happened? It wasn't my fault! Right?
Chara took her knees and sat up hugging them, placing her head on top. She felt like was about to cry until she thought she heard her name being called from a distance. Her head shot up and looked around, but no one was there. She listened and heard it again.
"Chara?"
It's the echo flowers. They're echoing my name. But why?
"Chara?" it called again.
"Is someone there?"
Chara called out. She heard the echo of her voice being carried by the flowers.
"C-chara?" the voice called back.
Chara couldn't tell who it was, but obviously the person was glad to know she was there.
"Yes, who's there?"
"I-it's me...your best friend…"
Asriel?