Chapter Thirteen
"I can't see her." The thin human was standing on the tip of her toes and peeking into the living room where the only sign of movement being the dancing flames in the fireplace next to the massive couch.
"Why don't we just barge in and head for the exit immediately?" A tiresome comment came from the shadowy form of the demon leaning against the wall next to her. Regarding her claws with a posture to proclaim one of utter boredom.
"Because I don't want anything further with that monster," Frisk bounced back down on her heels and took a hold of Chara's hand, while in the other was the red knife of hers. "If she's in there that is."
The demon raised a brow but silently floated after Frisk as she snuck past the door to the window on the right side of the house.
"Nope," repeating the procedure, Frisk paused to make sure she didn't miss any details before being certain. "Can't see her down the hallway or in the antechamber either."
"Then I'll advice we just go in and down the stairs."
Frisk nodded in agreement this time for there were no other ways to see if whether Toriel is home or not, thus again took a hold of Chara's hand before tiptoeing back to the door.
That didn't mean she may be within one of the numerous rooms. The dirty but now fully healed hand already shivering when leaving the comfort of the demon's when reaching for the door handle at the mere possibility of yet another encounter with the goat monster.
Her other hand audibly creaking against the handle when gripping onto it for reassurance.
The set of gleaming red eyes of the demon rolls at the human's over caution and in annoyance grabs a hold of Frisk's hand and force it on the handle then pull it open for her.
Frisk just stared at Chara for a long moment; first afterward the demon's action remembering that the hinges were well-oiled and perfectly silent. Peeking into the house, her heart already pounding but nevertheless daringly took her first step onto the pristine dark wooden floor. The door was silently swung shut before the smaller and physical frame hurriedly tiptoed over to the staircase. While the larger shadowy, semi-corporeal demon composure was a strong contrast when following the stressed person in her own amble pace and the visage underneath the shadowy essence still being one of utter boredom.
When no large paw-feet came rushing towards the antechamber from any directions, with a hand on the railing, Frisk tiptoed down the pristine dark wood staircase and promptly her dirty boots stepped onto the rock floor at the bottom instead. Ahead the poorly illuminated tunnel and the path out of the Ruins.
Frisk doing an already well-practiced gesture for the demon's hand and shortly felt the pale hand grabbing firmly onto hers, as always a huge support by just being there for her. A repeating low echo bouncing around them created from the human's steps which had gained a considerate boost in confidence when walking down the tunnel with her demon floating in tow. The echo even growing louder as the pace increased when feeling that the staircase and the house above it was sufficiently behind them.
That it was going so well wasn't instilling Frisk with any reassurance but the exact opposite.
"Chara," Frisk took them to a stop just as the sharp turn to the left in the tunnel came into vision. "I know your disdain of the Ruins and having it as a topic. But do you happen to know where Toriel may have gone?"
"Well, there is this wild possibility after your most recent encounter." Chara's other hand stroke the chin pensive.
Frisk's brow steadily kept rising for each passing moment, until it downed on her that it was something the demon wouldn't follow up on any further.
The nerve! Frisk cursed silently and tore her eyes from that now infuriating smile of hers. Certain she saw its corners rise even further at her realization and resumed with storming around the corner.
For Frisk's sudden blaze to quickly subside and her posture turn into one of growing caution the longer she peered down the end of the tunnel.
"Seems I was accurate with my suspicion." Chara came up next to Frisk and floated alongside her from now on as the human cautiously walked down the remainder of the tunnel.
When reaching the chamber and stepping into it, Frisk and Chara regarded what once had been the first stone double door that leads out of the Ruins.
"It's has collapsed and turned into nothing but rubble!" Frisk stared at one of the larger chunks at her feet, on its surface a portion of one of the numerous engravings on the double door.
"Let me guess. There are no other paths for us to leave the Ruins with." Frisk voiced her dismay while looking up at the obstruction before them.
It was now she also noticed how some of the stones were blackened with scorch marks.
"That's right," Frisk's spine froze into coldest ice, as the familiar voice of a certain goat-monster continued from behind her." This was the only exit out of here. You must be quite confident in yourself to remain so calm when knowing of my presence." Frisk saw in her peripheral vision Toriel emerging from one of the two pockets of shadows in this room.
"If she only knew how clueless you actually were." Chara merrily turned around alongside a now incredible tense Frisk to look at the goat-monster, whose yellow eyes regarded the human with caution.
Audible the knuckles whiten around the handle to her knife at being cornered against the wall.
"With the exit gone, now the other monsters out there is safe from you." Toriel eyes narrowed down at seeing the gesture and she shifted her posture subtly, revealing how much on guard she actually is.
She destroyed the exit to protect them from ME?! Frisk was almost baffled at how Toriel possibly could've come to such an inane conclusion.
"You did almost eviscerate her." Chara with uncanny precision; which again raise the question whether the demon could read her mind or not, needlessly reminded Frisk of 'that' detail.
From seemingly nowhere a tiny ember emerged. A single ember that was all that remained from the previous rage that has fueled Frisk through inhuman events was now flaring up again! When Toriel's hands were raised, mid movement engulfed in fullest by familiar lethal orange flames. Her own rage and fear filled the young human with ever growing determination to face the goat-monster yet again, who has entered her combat stance and already is preparing a spell.
"A hostile human can cause irreparable damage to monster kind. I will not allow you to strike down the innocent." Toriel's eyes however were different. Unlike last time, where they had been stern but still emotional, now they were cold and carried a singular purpose.
"Toriel is determined to eradicate the threat that is you." Chara was on her 'stomach' in the air and whispering into Frisk's ear, while a shadowy hand caressed the back of the human's trembling hand holding the knife.
"Perhaps it's time to deal with her as you suggested?"
Chara's continuous presence was so close to topple Frisk over into doing a mad dash forward and just hack that cursed goat into pieces and dust.
"…I don't want to fight you." It took all of Frisk's will to resist the fire within her soul and give in to the sudden murderous urge asphyxiating her senses.
Of course her reward for attempting an alternative route was her being sent flying as a fireball exploded right underneath her feet. A too familiar event except this horrendous replay being even more violent than last time as it sent her crashing hard into the pile of rubble and tumbling down from it.
Unlike that time however, Frisk rotated herself so she was able to 'land' on her feet and hands instead. Her bruised fingers still wrapped around the knife's handle, as she raised her dazed head and just barely being able to make out the towering figure in the blurriness.
"Someone such as you can't be trusted." The human could barely make out what was said due to her ears still ringing from the explosion.
Toriel's eyes however widened that the human wasn't only able to withstand such a blow but was now shakily rising up again too!
"I will end this now, human. I'll make it quick." From Toriel's burning hands several orbs of fire floated up until each palm 'carried' a cluster of them.
Frisk however was tired of being on the receiving end, so when the barrage of speeding projectiles came towards her, she did her utmost to dodge every single one of them.
The sheer heat from the fire exploding all around her singed her clothing, hair and skin. The blasts so powerful that stone shrapnel flew everywhere. But when the last fireball had exploded, Toriel's confidence wavered and one of the bandage clad paw-feet even took an uncertain step back when seeing Frisk standing tall and unlike her clothes practically unscathed.
The monster regained her composure and with certainty again raised her hand and aimed the palm at the human, whose boots soles were furiously clacking against the stone floor as Frisk went to the offensive.
"You will fall here!" Toriel shouted and unleashed single projectiles as quickly as she could towards the human rapidly closing the distance.
The human however danced from side to side to avoid the new barrage of fire, getting steadily ever so closer to the monster.
Panicky the goat-monster raised her other hand to prepare for a cone variation of assault instead— till the fire in her hands abruptly snuffed out.
The yellow eyes shock wide, shifted from staring at the human to down her own abdomen instead and eyeing in growing horror the huge diagonal slash across her entire torso. The powdery substance that's a monster essence already falling towards the ground as the wound was rapidly decaying.
Frisk stood her ground and stared up at the monster, taking in every excruciating detail on the goat's face as she helplessly watched herself deteriorate.
…And Frisk absolutely hated every moment of it, in particular when Toriel's own face turned into dust too and her body's deterioration being complete.
"Her soul is different from the other monsters." Frisk pointed out in a matter of fact when callously regarding the upside down cartoonish white heart floating where Toriel had once stood.
Until it too began to deteriorate by cracks forming in the center and rapidly spreading outwards. After a few more seconds it shattered, thus the true destruction of the monster known as Toriel was done.
…And the moment afterwards the soul shattered, Frisk's own strangely felt… tougher?
"You won! By murdering Toriel, you gained enough EXP so that your LV increased!" The demon made her presence known in a… quite characteristic manner on a second thought; as Chara's black narrative befitted that of a murderous and psychotic entity such as herself.
"I was cornered and she didn't want to see reason. I did what I had too." Frisk stared at the coat of dust on her knife. Yet another memory added to the others of seeing it coated with other beings' essence.
It made her wonder how many more that would stain the blade before this all was over…
The demon had already dropped the grim narrative to instead silently float next to Frisk, only once throwing the pile of fresh dust an uncaring glance before focusing on the collapsed tunnel and gesturing towards it.
"The problem persists though. Our exit is still blocked."
"I am aware of it." Frisk kept staring at her knife, her tone matching the cold and sharp metal by cutting straight to the point.
The demon was about to continue but upon further scrutiny instead fell silent and stroke her own chin thoughtful. While Chara's spirit was already high after witnessing one of the most sinful acts a living being can carry out against another. What her delicate protégée was scheming is so fundamental wrong on so many layers that even the demon herself is taken aback by the possibly endless implications.
"You are planning on making this undone, aren't you?" Chara moved so she could hug the human over the shoulders from behind, her voice low and even appearing to be almost breathless from excitement.
"I am." Frisk acknowledged the shadowy form by turning her head to stare into the wide and excited eyes, seemingly unbothered by the proximity.
"You may erase the crime, but the memory is still there." The demon glanced down and Frisk despite already knowing where the demon's eyes were wandering, did the same and now too stared at the pile lying at her feet.
"So what if I do? We still want to get out of the Underground, don't we?" Frisk dismissed that detail and looked up to stare into the wall instead.
The demon remained silent but only because she wanted a moment to revel in how damaged Frisk's delicate mind was from this traumatic experience. The human's entire posture being rigid as the spine of her dust-caked knife while those beautiful red eyes were cold and reflected a soul now besmirched with sin.
"Just uncertain on how it would help. Considering that the… save point we made is already flawed by when we used it. I'll probably return to my damaged state and Toriel has a huge lead to her home and the exit."
"Thus you are trying to figure out how to return to when you woke up after falling down. To redo everything for a third time." Despite the mess Frisk's mind was in, Chara was quite impressed at how this once wrongfully interpreted as meek human wasn't just developing but now efficiently adapting to all of this. Already was trying to figure out creative ways to progress further with the new tools at her disposal.
Excitedly more so being able to kill if necessary!
"Yes, but last time I required your guidance. I suspect that I need your help yet again." Frisk turned to look at Chara.
"Indeed you do," Chara's vividly gleaming eyes met the drained and cold of the human's. "Well, I have already figured out how we should proceed but it requires you to do the work after we call forth the star that represents your determination."
"I will escape this hell." Frisk's words were full of disdain drenched in venom as she voiced her fatigue of the Underground in its entirety.
"Let us proceed then with no further delay." The demon tenderly took a hold of Frisk's hand and guided it to the human's own chest, with the human understanding what she was after. Shortly between them did the cartoonish heart emerge and float above the human's and the demon's palms, showering them in its red gentle brilliance.
"Now let's do this like last time, together." Chara's enthusiasm was infectious and while the human's face remained expressionless, her spirit got a little new life breathed into it.
Frisk's mind got sidetracked completely when first now recalling how intimate this moment had been before— till both the human and the demon were momentarily blinded when that same incredible bright golden shine emerged between them! This time though, Chara dared to stand her ground and both were waiting for its initial radiance to come to an end before resting their eyes on the golden star.
"Well done!" Frisk was looking low to hide how flustered she was at it being that part of the memory that had triggered this.
"Now let's see, last time we focused on creating a so called save point. What if we try to create otheroptions for us to utilize?" Chara was caressing the surface of the star and at times let it submerge into the object itself. A strange serenity washing over the demon's visage whenever doing so.
Frisk in any other state would've taken a long moment to just watch the demon being at such peace, but right now she just wanted to get this over with thus submerged her own hand into the star.
"I'll try." Frisk acknowledged Chara's suggestion and closed her eyes as she began to concentrate on anything but to create the save point again.
"Let me give you a bit of assistance," Chara like last time placed her hand on top of Frisk's, which had immediate effect by raising her downed spirit past her normalized state. "There we go!" Chara with her other hand patted Frisk's shoulder for her attention, which made her open her eyes and now too watch on as a familiar rectangular object was materializing.
Except for some reason it was two signs this time. Both composed of that inky black surface while the letters and the edges carried that same white outline.
"Continue…?" Chara read out loud the left one.
"Reset…?" Frisk read the counterpart.
The human and the demon looked at one and another.
"Can you determine what either does?" Frisk motioned for the demon to investigate like she had done previously with the SAVE button.
The demon was more than happy to comply when eagerly reaching for the continue button first. Like last time the white outline began to shine a soft golden that was pleasant for the eyes the closer she got and culminate upon physical touch.
"It's glowing more the closer you got. Last time our hands were intertwined, but wasn't it specifically tailored for me?" Frisk commented as the demon was moving her hand and red claws across the button's flat surface.
"I am not powerless. Even something so personal such as this isn't beyond my reach." The demon replied before shifting with that same eagerness over to the other button and investigating it too.
She is powerful enough to at least affect something created from my being… Frisk eyed the demon's actions closely. The implications were unnerving to think the least of the demon's true power if able to, although in limited way interact with these buttons at a portion of her strength.
Perhaps if determined enough Chara would be able to take full control over the star and manipulate it?
Frisk's was pulled back to the current events when the demon pointed a claw at the left button.
"The 'Continue' button is deceptively bland. All it does is allowing you to continue forward." Chara hadn't stopped caressing the reset button.
"While this one I strongly suspect that it will indeed bring you back to the point of where you fell down. Before you ask, I believe you acquired this special power of yours the moment you landed here." The demon rested her hand on the upper edge of the button while facing towards Frisk again to declare her current position.
"Thus you are unable to return to any point before you fell down."
"Then I have no choice but to find a way to stop Toriel and escape the Ruins. Then from there I may create a new save point and begin with my progress through Snowdin forest." Frisk however wasn't done yet as a thought occurred by something Chara had mentioned.
"Do you feel how many times I can… well, reset time itself before it may cease to function?"
"My current assumption is that it's your determination that determine if you can do this or not. So long you remain as determined you are now or more, I believe you can do this how often you may want to."
"Then I am essentially unstoppable for I have unlimited time to find a method that may work in my favor." Frisk stepped up to the reset button.
"In theory and certainly a possibility in practical sense, yes. But I feel that you will try to avoid unnecessary injuries on your being." Chara pointed out.
"You… aren't wrong. It hurts so fucking much whenever a monster land a blow on me or worse."
"Not as hell?" Chara raised a brow in a mixture of curiosity but more so amusement under her shadowy visage.
"Now that is something else entirely." Frisk winked and motioned for Chara to grab a hold of her hand.
The demon complied and together they moved in front of the reset sign.
"Remember to not lose your cool when you wake up. Toriel will like last time not remember your past dealings, thus treat your wounds." Chara reminded the human.
"I am aware. But just keep an eye for me, will you?" Frisk stared at Chara, her hand squeezing into hers.
"I will. Now let us proceed with undo history!" Frisk was caught by surprised when Chara pushed their hands onto the reset button.
Everything turned black— then excruciating physical pain raking all over her body threatened to devour her senses. Frisk opened her eyes, to only be met by a familiar ray of sunlight cascading her face.