After a bit of contemplation on what Chara said and the history lesson itself, Frisk decided to move on. The only way forward seemed to be a small wooden plank floating on the water. They got on it, then gently paddled their way to the platform on the other side.
"Look Chara, I'm a pirate, like Papyrus talked about! Yarr!" Frisk wanted to cheer up Chara, and decided that overwhelming goofiness was the way to go. Chara seemed to agree, as they snickered and immediately the mood of both of them was boosted. Frisk heard Chara mumble something.
"What?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing." Chara clammed up fast, and seemed nervous all of a sudden.
"C'mon Chara, I'm your friend, you can tell me."
"I said 'avaste.'"
"I'm sorry what?" Frisk coaxed.
Chara sighed. "I said, 'Avaste.'"
"Aye, avaste ye scurvy dogs, Captain Chara says so!" Frisk exclaimed in an exaggerated pirate accent.
They both laughed and felt better, followed by an awkward silence. By then, they had reached the other side. As they walked, they suddenly had that feeling again, the feeling of being watched. They looked around as they continued walking, head on a swivel, when suddenly a familiar looking energy spear lodged in the ground ahead of them.
"RUN!" Frisk wasn't one for instructions, but decided to take them this time. They took off at top speed on the wooden platform, evading clusters of spears. A quick glance to the pillars to the side confirmed that it was Undyne again, their first real confrontation with her. And as things were going, maybe the last. The path had a few bends in it, and while navigating one they stumbled and fell right into the path of one of the spears. It evaporated immediately, but the pain where it struck them stuck around for a bit longer than that. They saw their soul seem to recoil from the pain, and knew that that shot had made them weaker, sapped their life force. Chara was so scared of Undyne, they didn't even offer their usual condolences for pain and ask if they were okay; there was nothing but blind panic about them. Frisk couldn't take much more of those spears, so they redoubled efforts to avoid them. They kept running, and eventually they were able to go past where the platform ended, along with the pathway Undyne was on. She still persevered however, blindly throwing energy spears in their direction, but they were too far away to worry about. Once again, a field of reeds was ahead of them, and they hoped they could be their salvation. Their best chance was to stand off to the side of the field of reeds, not in the center so they could still run, but still in it. As they moved to do this, Chara and Frisk both shrieked as they ran into the Monster Kid once more.
"Oh, hey! Wait shhhh, here she comes!" the Monster Kid ducked down in the center of the field.
"Great, he can be of use to us! When she gets close, use the stick to move the reeds near him! She'll be too distracted to find us and think we kept running!" Frisk was so surprised at how calmly and quickly Chara formed a plan, that they almost forgot to execute as she neared. Frisk did as Chara said, and it worked. As Undyne's shiny helmet surveyed for the slightest hint of noise or movement, the rattling of reeds turned her attention to Monster Kid. For a brief moment, Frisk was terrified as they realized the kid could be mistaken for them, and get hurt, but she just reached out and picked him up. Her anger and intensity instantly fell away, and she gently put him back down, patted him on the head, seemingly as an apology, then left the way she came. Chara breathed a sigh of relief and Frisk rushed forward to check on him. They walked out of the reeds together, and then the child suddenly sprang to life, realizing what had just happened.
"Yo… did you see that!? Undyne just, TOUCHED ME! I'm never washing my face again!"
"I, as well as every dermatologist ever, cannot recommend that."
"Man, are you unlucky. If you were standing just a LITTLE bit to the left!"
"Oh no, that would've been great, hunh, Chara? Chara?" Frisk realized that Chara had fallen silent, and the cloud seemed to be in a pensive stew. This Undyne character was really getting to them. Maybe they should have a talk with them? They'd archive it for now.
"Yo, don't worry! I'm sure we'll see her again!" "Unfortunately, I agree." Monster Kid ran forward and tripped over their own feet again. This time, Frisk didn't bother to check, recognizing that this was a regular occurrence for him. Chara seemed to lighten a bit at the slapstick fall, but still didn't come out.
As they continued, they found a slice of cheese, encased in a magical crystal on a table. While it was certainly an oddity, it didn't affect them, so they moved on. Before they did though, they noticed a mouse hole, and it reminded them of something earlier. Suddenly, they hoped the mouse would find a way to get the cheese, more than anything else, something so small suddenly became so important to them. Sometimes that's how things happen. The small things gain significance, and become much more important than you could ever dream. They realized that getting home was their own piece of cheese, with seemingly impossible obstacles in the way, but it wasn't stopping them, so they hoped the mouse would keep the same determination they had. With that revelation, they felt better, even the pain of the spear seemed to ease a bit. With their goal back in mind, refocused and reenergized, they decided to push forward. They walked on, not really paying attention until Chara snapped them back to reality.
"Frisk! It's him."
Frisk was confused for a moment until they saw a familiar looking squat skeleton. The fear in both of them increased. They tried to just walk past, but he called out to them,
"Hey buddy." Frisk gravitated towards him, almost like they didn't have a choice, like he could force them to move just with his words. Or maybe they were just afraid and their imagination was inflating things.
"I'm thinking about getting into the telescope business. It's normally 50,000G to use this premium telescope."
"That's absurd!" As if hearing Chara, he continued,
"But… since I know you, you can use it for free. Howzabout it?" He asked in his accent that neither child could quite place. It was similar to several surface accents, but also so different. Informal and laid back, but everything still seemed to carry such weight. Frisk went to look, then noticed red paint all over the lens. This was a prank they were all too familiar with, though it had been far from harmless in the past. They looked at Sans with a smirk then shook their head as politely as they could while holding up a hand.
"What's up with the silent treatment?"
"Like I said before, I'm pretty uncomfortable with talking usually. I learned to only speak when I had something important. I never wanted to be noticed where I was."
Frisk was overcome with bad memories that they couldn't escape from. But why? Even in this wonderful place of beauty and magic, their past continued to torment them, and yet, they pushed on to return. Once again, Frisk quickly came to the conclusion that the surface was the only place they belonged, but their conviction wasn't as strong as before. Maybe it was something else. Luckily, Sans had been talking about their denial apparently, and just finished when Frisk broke free of their minds own shackles.
They moved into a room North next before continuing along the path outlined by Chara and Papyrus. They found the tall, slender, blue Nice Cream Guy once again, looking sad, presumably due to weak sales.
"Oh great, it's this genius."
"Well, at least he found a better place."
"Ah yes, a structurally unsound cave in the middle of an underground swamp maze. Truly, prime real estate."
"Y'know, you're a very negative person." Chara took pleasure from it.
"Guilty as charged."
Frisk went up to them.
"I relocated my store, but there are still no customers. Fortunately, I've thought of a solution!" He said as he jumped up with glee and excitement. He whipped out a few small pieces of card stock.
"Punch Cards!"
"Oh, that's a good idea, it boosts sales all the time on the surface."
"Wait a minute, why are there no spots to punch holes in?"
"Every time you buy a Nice Cream, you can take a card from the box. If you have 3 cards, you can trade them in for a free Nice Cream!"
"THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS AT ALL!" Chara fumed. Frisk on the other hand was already buying 3 Nice Creams and stuffing their pockets.
"Frisk, what the hell!?"
"Listen, this guy needs money like everyone else, not to mention the fact that selling these things seems to be the only thing that gives his life purpose and brings him joy. And if we don't buy, who will?"
"Ever the altruist." Chara's cloud softened a bit, before it hardened again, a facade.
"Fine, I suppose you just can't help yourself."
Frisk knew that Chara was a faker, they wanted to act all heartless and cruel, but deep down they wanted to help him too, and were glad Frisk was doing so. After that, Frisk felt a bit heavier in their pockets, but lighter in their heart, and that's what mattered as they pushed on. They stepped out onto a sort of elevated marshland, surrounded on all by sides by beauty. There was no artificial light around, but everything was luminescent, a bright blue, that shimmered off of the water, creating the illusion that the ground had become coal black, and everything a turquoise blue. If only the smell matched the surroundings; they were definitely still in a swamp. While walking, some echo flowers began to speak, catching the conversation of two monsters, talking about the wishes they just gave at the wishing room. One seemed hesitant to share, calling it stupid. Just as it finished, their phone rang. They pulled it out to see Papyrus' number.
"Don't pick up!" Frisk ignored them, and pressed the green answer button.
"HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS!"
"Oh look, I know three backstabbers now." Chara seemed to immediately regret what they said, and seemed to want to take it back. Papyrus jolted them back.
"REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED YOU ABOUT CLOTHES? WELL, THE FRIEND WHO WANTED TO KNOW, HER OPINION OF YOU IS QUITE…" He paused. "MURDERY."
"That's not an opinion, a feeling, or even a real word."
"Papyrus doesn't let things as petty as common sense and the English language limit him."
"A very complicated way of calling him an idiot that doesn't know any better."
"WELL, WORRY NOT DEAR HUMAN! PAPYRUS WOULD NEVER BETRAY YOU!"
"Wait, what?"
"I AM NOT A CRUEL PERSON. I STRIVE TO BE COMFORTING AND PLEASANT."
"And fail at both."
"Oh c'mon, you can drop the act that you hate him."
"But I don't WANNA!" Chara pouted like the child they were. Despite both children's usual maturity, they had their moments.
"SO, BECAUSE OF MY INHERENT GOODNESS, I TOLD HER YOU WERE NOT WEARING A BANDANNA! EVEN THOUGH YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE!"
"Oh, well I guess I'm only down to one betrayer Frisk, you."
Frisk noticed that Chara pretended to not have said what they said before, attempting to retcon their claim of 3. This brought Frisk back to the obvious question of, who was the third? And why did they decide that what they said was unwarranted and make them want to take it back? Chara does not easily go back on what they've said.
"INSTEAD, I MADE SOMETHING UP! I SAID THAT YOU DITCHED THE BANDANNA AND SWAPPED IT FOR SOME GLASSES, BECAUSE YOU ARE A COWARD TRYING TO DISGUISE YOUR IDENTITY! NOW SHE'LL BE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE THAT LOOKS MARGINALLY DIFFERENT FROM YOU!"
Both children sighed, and waited for him to continue.
"IT PAINED ME TO TELL SUCH A BOLDFACED LIE, BUT YOUR SAFETY IS MORE IMPORTANT!"
"Well, at least he's trying."
"I JUST WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE." He then hung up.
As Frisk hung up, they saw something creeping forth out of the corner of their eye and flinched hard, throwing their hands up defensively. After opening their eyes, they saw it was just a pair of Moldsmals wiggling around together. As Frisk walked away, Chara laughed hysterically, and Frisk could feel their cheeks burning and getting redder by the second. Another echo flower continued the conversation from earlier, with the other monster assuring their friend that no wish was stupid and promising not to laugh. As they walked, another historical plaque was found on a wall.
"The power to take their SOULs. This is the power that the humans feared."
"Well I'd say rightly so, I don't want my soul taken."
"I would agree if monsters weren't cuddly, sweet, and in general incapable of defending themselves from a race that's afraid and filled with hate."
Frisk hadn't thought of that and felt down for a moment. They let their soul out once more, and watched it pulse ever so slowly and lightly. They reflected for a moment, thinking about what was in their own soul. What would they be proud of? What would they want hidden, if anything? What was it now, and what could it become?
"Don't think too hard about it Frisk. The sins of the past aren't your fault. But you do have to bear them while you're here. Speaking of, let's move on."
Something gave Frisk the feeling that Chara had something to do with those sins, from how they acted and spoke of the past, but held onto the idea that they shouldn't pry. They walked out into a new section of Waterfall, dismayed to see that all the bioluminescent plant life was gone and they were back to drab black and muddy ground with dark water. As they mulled over this, they noticed a pale yellow tentacle rise from the water.
"Friskfriskfrisk…" Chara kept repeating in their typical panic mode, and Frisk just kept moving at their brisk pace, as more tentacles rose. There was a low rumbling, then a bulbous shape rose up from the water, revealing a kind faced monster with huge eyes and blushing cheeks.
"Hey… there… Noticed you were… here." it spoke softly, as though it could barely form words at audible volumes.
"I'm Onionsan! Onionsan, y'hear!" Even yelling, Onionsan was just barely heard over the sound of the water, they seemed to just be naturally quiet.
"Ugh, I hate quiet people!"
"Hey, I'm usually quiet!"
"Yeah, I know." Frisk paused.
"I think it's time for you to be quiet, or else."
"Or else what? I'm a spirit stuck in your head, there's nothing you can do to me!"
"Yeah? Well I bet I can find something."
"You're welcome to try. Everytime you try and annoy me with something, I admit to having liked it all along, or I get used to it."
"I could stand in front of Undyne for a bit." Frisk said slyly.
Chara stopped cold. "Don't even joke about that, that is not a good thing, promise you won't do that."
"Okay okay, I promise." Frisk had to act fast to assuage their friend.
Just the mention of her name caused a spike in Chara's cloud of emotion. They kept walking, and Onionsan talked about how they wished their friends hadn't left to the aquarium in the capital, because she couldn't join them and the water here was lowering everyday. Frisk wanted to make her feel better, but they couldn't stay. Then, they had an idea, and snapped. They pulled out a Nice Cream from their pocket, they had too many anyway, and gave it to Onionsan, who thanked him graciously. She said she felt better already, and shared hope that Undyne would free them all and she could be free in the ocean, which frightened Chara again, but they calmed down again shortly after. Chara's fear of Undyne wasn't getting any better, and Frisk was getting increasingly worried that she would find them again soon. For now though, there was nothing to do but push on.