Chara
... and the world was no more. Time and space crumbled around her, every star and galaxy rent asunder, every distant alien race obliterated, and Chara found herself being forced out, out through a direction not in any of the spacial dimensions, into the space between universes. Her crimson eyes reformed from their hollow pits.
She hummed and looked around. There was no light, not even a single photon, in this void space. But regardless of that, Chara's demonic vision could make out everything clearly. Colossal orbs of universes floated around her. She could see their size, a number, a concept, a feeling. Diameters of a quadrillion light years, forty six trillion, fifty five googolplex, and so many more. And yet, to her unholy sight, they all seemed to be the same size, drifting silently. They were so large that Chara couldn't even see their curvature, just a smooth wall. At the same time Chara did see their curvatures, colossal black marbles drifting in infinity, with herself as an infinitesimally large speck between them. She could sense a battle between futuristic humans and insectoid aliens. She could sense a warrior slaughtering hellish demons. She could sense scholars working to raise their scores, athletes to improve their times. It was all around her. It was her. It was... glorious.
No. Focus.
Chara inspected her knife, and the flowing crimson on it washed away to show only steel. She put it in her pants' right pocket.
Something in her being shivered. With a concerned hum, she held her hands out and together, then spread them. Where she did, Frisk's soul manifested itself, drifting before her silently. The ruby light it gave out was swallowed and eradicated by the abyss. 'Chara?' she heard him ask, at the same time as she felt panic and fear flood his essence. 'Chara what happened, what did he do?! Are you okay?!'
She reached out a finger and stroked down the flat surface of his soul. "Shh, Frisk. Everything is fine," she replied with a beatific smile, though she knew Frisk wouldn't be able to see. "Everything is going according to plan. I'll take it from here. I promise you, I'll set things right."
'But...'
"Shh," she urged, willing his soul to quiet and soothe itself. "Frisk, go to sleep. This may take a while, and I don't want you to have to see this. I promise you, when you wake up, everything will be as it should be."
'Chara, I'm...' he whispered.
"Shh," she insisted. "Your trials are over, Frisk. Rest." With another stroke of her fingers she felt Frisk go dormant, fast asleep. She dismissed his soul, allowing the heart to fade from view. It was still there, lurking deep inside her indestructible abstract, safe and sound. With him set, Chara's smile froze like stone and she turned to the gaping wound in existence that used to be her world. Its boundaries shimmered and faded in and out of focus. She gave herself a flick of will, and warped deep within.
She checked how many people were inside the null-space and found, to her surprise, the number was three. She'd expected only two, counting herself. Though space and time had been erased by her hand, Chara still warped 'to' the first of the others.
It was the dog, floating in circles. When Chara appeared, he stopped floating and turned to her, whimpering. "You knew I would do this, did you not?" Chara asked. With puppy-dog eyes and drooping ears, the canine nodded. She hesitated with her next question, the words clogging her throat. "Are you... upset with me?" The dog shook his head 'no'. Then he drifted closer and, without warning, licked Chara's face.
"Blah!" she complained, floating away and wiping her face even though she was already dry. "Very well, I understand." She drifted towards the furry thing and stroked her hand up and down his back. "I promise you, I shall make you proud. I'll set everything right."
The dog nodded, and his black lips turned up in a smile. Then he vanished, and she sensed there were only two people left in the void. Herself, and...
She warped to Asriel. He looked just like Chara remembered, young and naive but with a newfound malice roiling within him, and an unspeakably high Level of Violence that he must have accrued over centuries of playing with the world like a yo-yo. He thrashed about, spinning uncontrollably and throwing rainbow streams of magic out into the abyss. They were erased before they went far.
" - did you do?! I know you can hear me, Chara! Answer me!"
"Very well," she said. Asriel froze and wheeled to face her voice, but Chara doubted he could see her they way she could see him. Then again, maybe he could. He was a god, after all. "In your anger, you had Frisk perform genocide upon our people, whom we were sworn to protect. You tortured him. You played with us all. But in your foolishness, you granted me this power." His eyes steadily widened as she continued to speak. "Yes, I see you are grasping the situation. You are no longer the one in control, brother."
He sneered. "What are you playing at? What's the point of this? What did you even do?"
"I have destroyed the universe," she said simply. "Erased all of existence. But, that is but the bare minimum of my newfound abilities. I can bring it back. You however... cannot. You destructive potential is, in terms of numbers, greater than mine. I admit this. But my powers are infinitely more flexible than your infinite strength." She narrowed her eyes, and her rigid smile slipped into a scowl. "I want us to have our happy ending. I want us to go back to Mother and Father and live the life we should have had. I want to go and shatter the Barrier, and with both Frisk's guidance and our power, make peace with humanity. And I want you to stop playing with the timeline, to give up your reset powers forever. Until you agree to these terms, dear brother, the world shall remain in this state. I am now holding the universe hostage."
Asriel nodded slowly, smirking. "R-i-i-ight. Chara, you idiot. Did you forget that I can - " He closed his eyes and focused.
LOAD FAILED
The boss monster's eyes widened in shock, his mouth falling open to expose his nubby fangs. "What's wrong, Asriel?" she asked sweetly, grinning widely. "Did you forget it is impossible to reset spacetime when there is no spacetime to reset? Agree to my terms, brother mine. It shall make it easier on us all."
"Forget it! You're trapped here with me," Asriel spat, pointing a finger at her. "I have the determination. Eventually you'll be sick of this void, and you'll bring our world back whether or not I agree to give up my powers! All I need to do is wait you out! And I have all the time in the world!"
She chuckled lowly. "Oh, and that is where you are wrong. You see, you are bound to this world. This universe. This tale. I however, am not. There are many worlds out there, ones I have not erased, where I can venture to to wait out your exile. Unless you agree to surrender now? Give up your powers and allow our people their joy, and in exchange I shall restore this world?"
"Never," he snarled bestially.
Chara shrugged. Honestly, she'd expected as much. "Then stay here for all eternity," she intoned in a black voice. Then, before Asriel could respond, she warped back out into the space between universes. Then, she allowed herself to sigh in resignation. Oh, Asriel. She hated doing this to him. She still remembered what he once was, and his tale of what had happened since her death cut her deeply. He had suffered, alone with nothing but his powers, not even a soul, for centuries. Because of her. Could she piece him back together at all, or was he simply too far gone, the Asriel of her childhood washed out by the ravages of time?
It mattered not. He would relent. She could feel Frisk's determination flowing through her. She had to occupy herself. That was her main advantage in this battle of wills. Asriel was trapped, solitary and impotent, in an empty world where even magical conjuration would not last long. She could venture to other worlds, see their alien peoples, interact with them.
She approached the closest universe to her, and warped inside. She sensed countless stars and galaxies spread around her. Like always, the gentle hum of infinite different numbers increasing tickled in the back of her mind. She narrowed her focus, and found a cluster of numbers related to one specific intelligent species on one specific world in the dimension she currently resided in.
A moment later, Chara pinpointed where the world was and warped to it. Her vision changed to show a watery moon, orbiting a colossal, pale orange gas giant. A yellow star glared in the corner of her vision. Hovering in space with her arms crossed, Chara stared down at this world and contemplated.
Was this to be her life now? Jumping from world to world, from alien species to alien species, leaving the conflict of humans and monsters infinitely far behind? It did not sound immediately appealing. She liked her people, the monsters. The thought of outliving them did not rest well with her.
At any rate, here she was, here and now. Turning herself invisible and intangible with but a thought, but descended into the ocean world. Metaphorical nerves tingled under her immaterial skin as she sunk through the water. Part of Chara was tempted to hold her breath, but she instead breathed freely and evenly. She couldn't get hurt. Nothing would ever hurt her again. She would never be the victim, the damsel, ever again thanks to Frisk.
The aliens of this specific planet - well, moon if she wanted to be technical - resembled crabs. But their shells were iridescent and could shine many rainbow colors, their eyes were on stalks protruding from their backs, and their mouths were located on their underbellies instead of their heads. They were big too, the adults being ten feet tall. Chara turned her gaze on their world, their culture. Tribal, carrion scavengers, stone age. Of course, it'd be difficult to invent fire when you lived underwater... and most peculiarly, they had no magic.
What sort of hellhole...?
Well, she was here... on a completely new world with random aliens she'd likely never meet again, of no significance, while her brother languished in the void. Ignoring the latter, what would she do to them?
"What would Frisk do?" she found herself asking.
Frisk would help them. Frisk would go and use the vast power of growing numbers to effortlessly solve their problems. While a deity showing up out of nowhere and fixing one's life made for poor literature, she could imagine Frisk arguing that 'If you have the power to easily solve someone's problems without conflict, isn't it your duty to do just that?'.
Chara frowned, and conjured Frisk's soul. She gazed at the ruby heart, smiling as it pulsed, then dismissed it. Very well. Time to help the aliens.
She found a small clan that made homes out of oversized shells the way hermit crabs on her world once did. They were impressive things. Blues and oranges and rainbow colors, half buried in the sand of the ocean floor. The crabs scurried about, towering above Chara's invisible form. They spoke with each other in garbled, warbling tones that Chara understood because, of course, power was the universal language.
"... but Matriarch, are you sure we'll have enough?"
The other crab made a garbled noise that Chara understood as a sigh. "No, Clk'clk. There's just so little food rain in these times, and we cannot fight off invaders with what little we have. We may have to beggar ourselves."
Chara continued to listen. Apparently this 'clan' of crabs was undergoing a famine, and feared being conquered by neighboring groups. Well, that was something she could fix. Chara allowed herself to turn material and visible. "Perhaps I can help," she offered.
The crabs leaped into the water, then slowly sank to the ocean floor. The one she identified as Clk'clk raised his pincers and turned his shell red, ready to charge her. "Who - what manner of creature are you?!" he demanded. "Matriarch, run, I'll - "
She held up a hand. "Peace," she urged. "I happened to be in the area, and I heard about your little troubles. Small number of food, small number of defensive capabilities. I can help with both."
The other crab hesitated, walking towards her while turning her shell pink. "... explain, if you may. How would you be able to help?"
Chara smiled. "Have you ever had a goal? I'm sure you have. A certain amount of weight you want to be able to lift. A certain amount of trust by those you lead. A certain amount of food to distribute. You set this goal, this number, and work towards it. You ask for help from knowledgeable individuals. You acquire materials and items that aid you. You settle into a grind, slowly working to increase your desired number, over and over. That feeling, when numbers grow, when power increases..." She chuckled. "That's me. Or at least, it is now."
Matriarch and Clk'clk eyed her warily, their eyestalks swiveling around. "What would your 'help' look like?" Matriarch asked nervously.
"We shall strike a deal. I will increase the amount of food that showers your home, and summon a large quantity weapons and armor your kind can use. I will do this..." She wished to be able to make a simpler deal, and technically she could've, but she didn't know how. "... every time you and yours kill something of appreciable mass. Small animals will do. Do we have a deal?"
The two crab aliens looked at each other, and eventually the leader turned to her. "Deal, creature."
"I am Chara. And..." She marked the Matriarch's clan with her power, invisible and undetectable to all but herself. "... it is done."
A week passed. The clan of Matriarch Vr'mkx was prospering well under her blessing. They sent out hunters to kill various fauna, even ones they couldn't use otherwise. And she held true to her promise. She didn't directly conjure anything. She simply reached to the numbers she promised to tweak and increased them. Rate of food falling to their territory, how many spears the primitive aliens had, those things. While she soon had to change the terms of the deal to not 'increase' but 'reset to the current value' in order to not bury them in food and spears, they were doing well. Quite well. She was helping people. She was making them strong. Happy. Safe. Would Frisk congratulate her on her charity, were he awake? She liked to think he would.
Chara filled her time by wandering across reality. She orbited neutron stars. Dove through stellar cores. Drifted through quasar jets. Swam in the strange states of matter within gas giants.
Eventully she decided to pay her brother a visit. She returned to the void of her world and warped to Asriel. The boss monster snorted awake, and glared at her. "Well?" she asked. "Have you given it any thought?"
He sneered. "Forget it. You're asking me to give up everything, in return for nothing! Get out, and don't come back until you're ready to bring it back," he spat.
She shrugged. "That's your decision, then. You can rot here as long as it takes," she spat. As quick as she'd come, Chara left him again. He couldn't keep refusing forever.
Alright, so she'd helped the crab aliens. Was still helping them, technically, but no reason she couldn't keep finding other worlds.
Chara drifted further from the gaping darkness of her world, dodging between various other universes. As she flew on and on, she soon saw something that prompted her to stop. Two colossal universes drifting together, closer and closer. Their rippling edges met, and where they did phenomenal energy burst forth. They continued to join together, the seam glowing brighter and brighter in her demonic eyes, until -
With a catastrophic burst, a new universe was born. Chara saw it slow motion. The processes occurring before a Planck Time elapsed. The matter-antimatter annihilation. The formation of the fundamental forces, the emergence of magic, the inflation. The two parent universes blew away from each other, leaving the broiling hot, new reality to expand between them.
She smiled. One more universe. A lot more matter and energy.
Chara went searching for another world. Soon, she found one. A quick warp around the planet said it was, at least technologically, like the humans of her era. What Frisk had called 'medieval' times. Castles, roads, kings. To her relief though, they weren't humans. Rather, they were enormous centipedes with dark blue exoskeletons, and pincer-like arms. There were many other species too, but none of them stood out.
After a moment she found an armored centipede alien wandering through a desolate mountain range. She shadowed the alien for a few days - more than that, she supposed, since days on this planet were 46 hours and 27.478 minutes long - to gather information. He seemed to be a knight, sent on some mission by his queen. There was magic in this world, and he was sent to kill an evil wizard. It made sense; she could see the magic resistance in his armor and it was quite admirable.
She followed a while longer; the busywork was good for keeping her mind off things. Chara rooted around the vast arsenal of powers she had, and settled for something appropriate. She'd already practiced one aspect, with Matriarch Vr'mkx. Now for another one.
One night as the centipede creature settled down to sleep, curling his long body around a firepit with his gear close at hand - pincers? hundreds-of-feet? - she let herself become tangible.
"Greetings, sir," she chimed.
The alien screeched and leaped to his feet, uncurling and brandishing the scything blades on his arms menacingly. For a long moment he didn't speak, but then he did. Unlike the crab aliens, his voice clicked and clacked instead of warbled. "Who are you? What are you? State your business!"
"My name is Chara," she explained, placing a hand to her chest. "I could not help but notice your quest, and followed along. You see I'm..." Her smile tightened. "... having some issues of my own, and am seeking to keep my mind off them. So, in honor of my good friend, I am wandering from plane to plane, performing good deeds while waiting for the issue to resolve itself."
He threw his head back and laughed. It wasn't a human or monster laugh. It sounded like crickets chirping. "A likely story! You're some creation of Markarix, are you not? You seek to lead me off my sacred duty, but - "
"Your armor could be better," she explained. She held her left hand out to where it laid in a pile, and then it floated to her. She rotated the dark blue pieces around, wreathing them in a bright red glow that cast eerie shadows on the alien. "An exchange, sir. I will grant you far superior armor and weapons, and in return - "
"Forget it!" he said, tensing to lunge. "Your words are poison, and I will not hear - "
She hollowed out her eyes. "You did not even listen to what I wish," she growled, deadening the air and shutting him up. She relaxed, dropped his armor, and reformed her eyes. "I simply wish for your advice on what to do with my own troubles."
The alien relaxed. "That is... reasonable." He lowered his arms. "I am Sir Gavrilek. What is your name, being?"
"I am Chara," she said. "So we have a deal?" He nodded, and she returned the gesture. "Excellent." With a telekinetic shove she pushed the armor away, and began to conjure a new set of armor for the alien. Her fingers shone bright red as she created the matter out of nothing. Well... matter wasn't entirely right. Chara crafted her armor out of a material that was not mass nor energy, one she could give any traits she so desired. She made it dark blue like the alien's carapace, and molded it into exactly the same shapes as his armor. Heat resistance, acid and base resistances, incredibly high defense, magical deflection, everything she could think of. Once that was done she also crafted a replica of his weapons, with similarly vast powers bestowed upon them.
Once she was done she allowed the gear to fall with a clatter. Gavrilek scurried over to it and weighed one of the armor pieces. "It is... light! It flexes. This is not armor, but hide!"
"No no," she said. "Strike it." He did so, and his scythe arm bounced off as though he'd struck a mountain. He turned to her, mouthpieces gaping wide. "I have given this armor properties far superior to your own armor. Same with the weapon. Use them well."
"I shall!" He released the armor and scurried back to the firepit, curling his body into a ball. "Now, I believe you said you had an... issue to deal with?"
Chara glanced down. Oh, yes. That. She warped over to his side, already sitting. To his credit, the alien knight didn't flinch. "So, I told you I'm from another plane. I... I have a brother. When we were born, we had no real powers. But our nation had its own worries and I, in my foolishness, devised a plan to fix it. But all it did was get myself and him killed," she spat. "A while later, my brother returned to life and acquired the powers of a god. Among them the ability to turn back time, with some limits. He grew cold and cruel, Sir Knight. A while later I myself revived, with power going far beyond what you have seen."
"Ah, so family troubles?" he asked.
She nodded. "My brother, for a long time, did nothing but toy with the world, resetting whenever he saw fit. Murder someone, then befriend them, then murder them again, you understand. I'm trying to make him stop. So... I destroyed our entire plane of existence."
"What?!" he shouted, rounding on her.
"Let me finish! He remains in that void. I can leave it, but he cannot. My plan is to simply leave him in isolation until he agrees to abandon his cruel ways, surrender his power. Once he so swears, I'll recreate our universe. But..." She glanced down. "But he's changed so much. And he's determined, too. It is what gives him his power over time. His counter plan is to simply wait me out. That I shall grow to miss our world. Miss our parents. And then I'll recreate it whether he stands down or not. I... I fear he may be right. I miss my world. I miss my parents. I miss my friend."
Gavrilek's head lowered. "Oh," he said simply. "Child, that sounds quite terrible. I do not truly know what you can do. Is there nobody else from your world?"
She sighed. "Well there is... one. He's the one who brought me back to life in the first place. I've his soul with me. But... he's already suffered so horribly at the hands of my brother!" she complained, turning to him. His alien visage wasn't unsettling. In fact, it was even monster-esque. That she could handle. "After destroying our world I put him to sleep. I swore to him that when he next awoke, everything would be made right. I cannot break that promise to him; it wouldn't be right."
The knight clicked his mandibles. "This... other. Is he kind?"
"Very much so. He would have saved my nation had my brother not ruined the attempt with his time powers."
"And do you care for him?"
"Of course!" she shouted, her irises glowing for a moment. "I admit I'm not fond of his kind, but he's different. And he was patient enough to put up with me, even after it was my folly that hardened my brother's heart, that got him tortured horribly."
"And... does he care for you?"
Chara felt for Frisk's soul, and traced the echoes of emotion within it. She smiled, touched by a warmth that the firepit could never give her. "He does. I do not know why, but he does."
"I see." Gavrilek was silent for a long time. Chara let him think, and instead stared into the flickering flames. "Two children, granted incredible cosmic powers by fate. One fallen to evil from them, the other sworn to oppose him. Chara, my hearts go out to you. All I can say is... try to find something to do. Some semblance of... normalcy. While traveling from plane to plane and offering your powers to set wrongs right may occupy you, it will not truly help." He poked her gently with an arm's blade. "You are new to your vast might, no? Do not let it consume you, do not let it define you, like it has your brother. Find a plane out there where you can blend in, and simply... do as the inhabitants do. And I strongly suggest speaking with your friend. He will not mind."
"But I promised - "
He cut her off. "I believe he would be far more pleased to speak with you and aid you, rather than be brought back to his world only to find your brother victorious, no?"
She nodded sadly. "Right. You are right." Chara stood. "Thank you, Sir Gavrilek. I will be off. I wish you the best of luck with your quest." She tilted her head to the side. "I'll try to check in now and again."
He chuckled again. "And I wish you luck with your own quest, child."
If he said anything else, Chara didn't hear it. She warped away.
A world where she could blend in. A world where she could live a normal life until Asriel relented. How in the world was she going to find something like that?!
She searched and searched, high and low. Far too many worlds, far too many universes, were dead and lifeless. Some of them may have once had life, but age and entropy had reduced them to empty husks. She erased those ones entirely.
Eventually, Chara did find something. A universe where, in one galaxy, a great number of alien races had joined together in a government. There were so many species, nobody would bat an eye at a human-shaped demon. She located a massive station in space, shaped like a sphere with spokes going to the inside, akin to a three-dimensional wheel. She discretely warped onto it.
Chara moved among the crowds, blending in perfectly. She found an apartment complex. Using her powers she 'gave' herself a tremendous amount of their money even though she wasn't in their electronic system. With that money she rented a room, then warped to it. Nobody gave her any looks; personal teleportation devices weren't uncommon for them, even if they couldn't hope to match her range.
The room was certainly luxurious. Only to be expected from the 'far future' races of this universe. Her apartment was as large as the entirety of Mom and Dad's house. The walls were gray, but she found a holographic dial and set them to golden flower yellow. She took a few minutes to investigate the luxuries. Chairs and beds and all other sorts of furniture that folded out of the walls, molding themselves into whatever she needed by way of advanced magic and technology. Pantries stocked with food. None of the alien foods appealed to her, though. There was something that seemed to be the future version of the television sets she'd seen when she last lived in the Underground. But it was holographic instead.
The rooms were all empty, free for her to mold them into what she needed. First things first though, Chara wanted a shower.
She stepped into the room - since the entire room was the shower - and turned the water on, as hot as could be. She didn't bother taking her clothes off, given they were technically part of her too. She laid on the floor and let the scalding water pour over her, leaving her completely unharmed. The pitter-patter of the drops was more than enough white noise for her to close her eyes and try to rest.
But sleep never came.
Well... that was to be expected. She wasn't human anymore, thank goodness. She should have expected this having gone for over a week with no rest, but she'd hoped that she could at least sleep when she wanted to. It'd be so easy to break Asriel down if she simply could sleep away her part of the waiting away. This was proving to be harder and harder by the day.
With a growl, Chara shut off the water and stood up. She was still bone dry because of course she was. What was she even complaining about?! She was a nigh-omnipotent demon with a wide set of incredibly flexible powers. She could go anywhere and do anything. She could destroy universes with a single, casual blow. She was in a futuristic apartment complex that might as well have been a mansion compared to her life before falling into Mt. Ebott. She had someone who loved her, cared for her. She was powerful enough to - when Asriel surrendered - shatter the Barrier and let her people be free. Hell, she was alive! Her brother was alive! Certainly compared to Frisk, her contribution to saving the world was practically a vacation. So what was she complaining about?!
She warped back to the living room and summoned a massive bed from the floor, with fluffy pillows, warm cushions, and a soft mattress. She flopped onto it, pulled the cushions up to her chin, and sighed. When was the last time she'd laid in a bed?
... well, eleven hundred years if Frisk was to be believed.
Chara flipped through the channels. Scarcely any mattered to her. Politics about people and nations she cared nothing for. Crimes she could only grunt at. A few fictional shows here and there, but most of them were useless. A couple comedy shows caught her interest, though. A few of them even revolved around puns.
Perfect.
She spent a few weeks in that reality, busying herself. Given she could artificially increase how much of any currency she had, she didn't need to get a job. Chara checked out the tourist attractions, and always had a place to come back to. Though she started wondering if maybe she could make a place for herself. It wouldn't even be that hard. Just make a tiny universe, take floorboards and such from the worlds that had them, put it together. Maybe later.
Chara decided now was as good a time as ever to check her brother again. She found the gaping void of her world and warped into it.
She reappeared next to Asriel. "Well, brother?" she asked. He'd been drifting silently and miserably, but started when she appeared. "Given it any thought?"
He'd definitely seen better days. His eyes were haggard and he grit his fangs. Then he sighed. "Fine. I'll give up my powers. Just bring the world back, Chara."
Chara nodded slowly. "That is good to hear." Her eyes hollowed. "Too bad you don't mean it," she spat. "Do you take me for a fool, Asriel? Even if I had fallen for your ruse, it would matter not. I am immune to your resets. With Frisk's soul beside me, he is immune. The instant you tried to reset the world, I'd just cast it into the abyss and we'd be right back here again. There is no way out of this, brother. Surrender, or stay here forever."
"Never," he insisted.
She threw her hands over her head, reforming her eyes. "Why are you even being so stubborn?! We have everything we could want! You are alive. I am alive. Either one of us has the power to shatter the Barrier. Literally all I'm asking you is to go live a wonderful life with me and our family on the surface."
"No, you're not!" he retorted. "You are asking me to die! Without my resets I'm going to die eventually and there'll be no coming back! And I don't have my soul! So what happens when I...?" Chara frowned. She knew the answer. It wasn't a pretty one. He seemed to understand, and sneered. "Exactly! You want me to go back to useless feels-feelings Asriel. You want me to die, to be erased!"
"We can get you a soul," she protested, her 'stomach' tying itself in knots. "And I do not know if you've realized, but I don't have my soul either!"
"You can't get me a soul!" he countered, balling up his fists. "You can't just make new souls, Chara! Or do you want to prove me wrong?" She didn't respond, instead choosing to just tremble. "Right, I didn't think so. So forget it! This is how the world is now! With me as its god."
She narrowed her crimson eyes. "What world?" she growled, leaving both the void and Asriel behind.
Chara couldn't speak to anyone. Couldn't... connect with anyone. Sure her neighbors came by and knocked on her door, but she snubbed them all. She didn't care about all these aliens walking around the space station. She didn't care for the station. She didn't care for their civilization. She didn't care for their universe! She wanted her universe. She wanted her people. She wanted Mother and Father and Gerson and Asriel and that old monster who kept complaining about the state of puzzles and she wanted Frisk.
Well... she could have one of those.
But she couldn't! Whatever the centipede-like alien Gavrilek had said, she couldn't just wake Frisk back up. She'd made a promise! She'd promised that when he woke up, everything would be fine. Surely she could just go to the crab aliens, or check on Sir Gavrilek's quest. The humming of their numbers was still ever-present in the back of her mind, after all.
But it all weighed on her so much. She couldn't put Asriel out of her mind. She couldn't put her plan out of her mind, no matter how many cosmic distractions she binged on. With a heavy sigh she flopped onto her bed and held her hands up and together. She spread them, forming Frisk's soul. Chara gave the crimson heart a gentle push, sending it drifting into the middle of the room. With a flick of her wrist, Frisk woke up.
'Uggghhh, mm?' he groaned.
'Frisk, I'm sorry,' she apologized. 'I know I said I'd awaken you when everything was fine, I know I told you I'd handle everything but it's just so hard and I need your help - '
'Hey, hey,' he said. 'Chara, it's fine. Everyone needs help now and then. I know I couldn't have done this without you. So what's going on? And uh... why can't I see?'
See? Oh right, she'd erased his body back when she'd destroyed the universe. Chara exercised her power over Frisk's soul and let him see the room around him. The soul shivered, then twisted in place. 'Whoa,' he said. 'This is fancy!'
'I suppose,' she grunted. 'It's as good a place as any to wait out my brother.'
'Wait him... wait, didn't Gaster say you need to fight him?'
'That wasn't going to work,' she replied. 'The dog and I can hurt him, but he can also hurt me. If we fought, I would've given in first. So I just erased the universe and trapped him in it until he relents. Once he does, I'll bring it back.'
'Oh. But...' She felt unease, confusion, ripple through his soul. 'Wouldn't they just be copies of everyone?'
Chara shook her head, sending her strands of auburn hair flying. 'No, no. It's complicated, but they'd be the originals. Time details, you understand.'
'Okay. So... what did you need help with?'
'It's... I'm trying to wait him out, but he's doing the same. I'm so bored out here, Frisk. I have nobody to talk to. Nobody to love. And it's stupid! Why am I so sad? I'm omnipotent! All of reality is at my fingertips and here I am moaning about it!' She turned over on her stomach and planted her face into her pillow. 'What is wrong with me?' she wondered. 'Am I really that ungrateful? That weak willed?'
She felt Frisk's soul float closer to her, bathing her in his warmth. 'There's nothing wrong with you,' he insisted. 'I know you may feel I had it rough, but you're the one who had to watch all of your people die, and who was forced to like it. You're so impatient because we're at the finish line but it's still taking so long. There's nothing wrong with you for wanting your home back sooner than later, Chara.' There was no response coming to her. Frisk continued speaking. 'Look, any time you want to talk, I'll be there for you, okay?'
'... Frisk?'
'Yes?' he asked, drifting closer.
'Would you like to watch a comedy show with me?' she asked, turning onto her back. 'These aliens have some really good ones.' She'd need to translate for him, though.
She felt him smile. 'I'd love to, Chara.'
Chara spent a few more weeks with Frisk in the futuristic universe before she decided to check on Asriel again.
When she warped back into the void, his back was to her. He was...
LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED
"Enjoying yourself?" she asked sweetly.
He whirled around and growled at her like a beast. He opened his hands and summoned his Chaos Slicer swords into them. He didn't change to his dorky God of Hyperdeath look, though. "Let! Me! GO!" he roared, charging at her through the abyss. She flinched as he grew closer and raised his left sword to strike, but Chara calmly raised her right arm.
The cold metal came clashing down with tremendous force - she could see the exact number of joules behind it, and it was staggering - but it merely bounced off her arm without leaving so much as a scratch. But agonizing flame burst from her arm downward, lighting up her being with pain that had her gritting her teeth and hollowing her eyes in shock.
His other sword came at her, so Chara fought through the pain and drew her knife. She deflected his sword and, while Asriel was preparing to strike again, let crimson energy flow across her weapon and morphed it into a gun like the one Frisk had found in the Underground. She aimed at her brother and pulled the trigger, striking him dead center with a nine-shaped bullet of energy.
Asriel tumbled back, swords crumbling into the darkness. "Enough of this, Asriel," she insisted, reforming her knife but keeping it glowing. "You cannot 'stab' or 'blast' an abstract concept like me. You can't fight your way out of this. There is no power you hold over me. Relent."
The boss monster panted, then shouted wordlessly. Chara watched as he raged impotently, before relaxing. "You can't win this way," he growled. "I will never let go of my powers! I will never die!"
"Did you even try to get your soul back?" she asked, eyes still empty. "After all, you told Frisk you are better off without one, no? But if we could just find a way... you are a boss monster! You'll live a long time. Plenty of time for us to find a way."
Asriel glanced down. "I tried, back when I was a flower. In the early resets. But there was nothing Alphys could do, nothing Toriel or Asgore could do, nothing anyone could do. Don't you get it, Chara? Even if I wanted to, there's no going back for me! This is all that's left," he bemoaned, gesturing at himself. "And why do you want me to go back?!" he shouted, closing in on her. "I failed you! I got wimpy and sappy. Oh I don't want to kill the humans. Can't we just be friends? I ruined your perfect plan! I got us both like this! Your sacrifice was for NOTHING because of me!"
Chara reformed her eyes and her expression softened. "Is... that how you think of it?" she asked, drifting closer. She sheathed her knife and held out her hands, gripping Asriel's. He didn't move, and continued staring at his feet. "My plan is the one that ruined everything. I got you killed, and I'm sorry! I'd known you for years, but I still thought you'd be able to somehow murder six people. If I'd kept my stupid mouth shut, everything would be fine. We'd still have souls. We'd have our childhoods. I'm sorry, Asriel. But please! You never tried to get a soul while you have this much power. Trust in us! We can find a way!"
He shook, and took a gasping breath. "No... no, I can't," he muttered, tears beading from his eyes before dissolving into the void. "You can say what you want, but your plan would've worked! I was the weak link. I got us both like this."
"You got us into the far future where, if Frisk is right, humans are kind!" she countered. "You got us all powerful! You gave us the power to shatter the Barrier! I know it's not all perfect. I know the kingdom suffered so in our absence, but people make mistakes! We both did. Please, Asriel. I don't want to keep punishing you," she pleaded. "I just want to put this behind us. I just want my brother back," she managed, her voice wavering. Oh God, why was her chest so tight?
Asriel shook his head. "Just go," he muttered. "I'm never giving up this power. It's all I have."
Chara sighed. She was so sure she'd gotten through to him. "I'm not giving up on you," she insisted.
"You should!" he shouted, wrenching his hands from her and glaring. "I'm not the stupid little brother you grew up with!" His body began to twist and morph, growing and stretching. Body parts fused, morphed, or in some cases vanished entirely. In seconds Asriel had changed to a colossal angelic being, with wings of shimmering rainbow circuits, a twisting triangle for legs, and more. His horns grew up from nothing into wide arches that went to the side, and his shoulders grew into black expanses up around him. His inverted, slit eyes smoldered with hate. "THIS is who I am! I'm the god of our world! I've spent so much time in it! Seven hundred years, Chara! Sure it's not as much as Asgore or Toriel, but given how bundled it is? I can never go back because this is who I am! Even if you somehow gave me a soul, I can never be their son again! And I can never be your brother again!" he boomed, his voice deep and thrumming.
She glared at him. "Be that way, then," she spat, leaving the ruined world behind.
Chara reappeared inside her apartment, then warped out to a random universe. She found one that was uninhabited, and teleported to a rocky planet. "God DAMN it!" she shouted, slicing the planet with her knife and smashing it to rubble. She found another planet and obliterated the one too. Then she destroyed a star. Then a galaxy. And then she destroyed the universe, then the next one, and the next and the next, shouting and screaming obscenities all the while.
'Didn't work?' Frisk asked.
She froze in the middle of the space between realities, and put away her knife. 'Did I wake you?' she asked, trembling and with a sick twisting stress in her 'stomach'.
'It's fine,' he insisted. 'Are you okay?'
'It's just... I really thought I'd gotten through to him! He was crying! He was... and then...' She sighed. 'He must've started feeling emotions again, and suppressed them. If I can just make him keep feeling, then I know I can make him surrender!'
'I wish I could do more to help,' Frisk said sadly from within her.
She sighed. 'It's fine. I mean, technically you're dead. But he's right about something. He spent so much time in his resets. I don't know him anymore. He's done so many things and seen so many things and I... I just spent all that time asleep. I can't connect with him. Maybe he's right.' She closed her eyes. 'Maybe there is no way back for him.'
'Don't say that,' he insisted. 'Even if you can't give him a soul again, isn't it enough to live a boss monster's life? Hasn't he seen enough already?'
'He doesn't think so,' she groused. 'And he's the one I have to convince. Forget it, I'll try again later.' She warped back to her apartment. 'Anyway, I think Midarian Nest is up again soon. Don't want to miss it.'
Another three months came and went. She checked in on the alien knight Gavrilek; he'd killed his evil wizard with no effort at all, thanks to her conjured armor, and returned to his kingdom as a hero. She checked on the primitive tribe of crab aliens; with the prosperous food and weapons she'd given them, they were flourishing into a major power, a center for the arts and sciences. To her chagrin, they'd even erected a few statues of herself. As if she was someone to worship.
But none of them were helping with getting through to Asriel.
She warped back into her world, but stayed far away from Asriel. Maybe... maybe just resummon Mother? Or Father? No, it wouldn't work so long as they were in the void. They'd suffocate. Maybe make a room for them. But no, that didn't work either. Her powers couldn't do anything on that small a scale. The nuance meant she'd either have to recreate the entire universe, or none of it. Maybe just a bit? Sure Asriel would have it back for a while but then she'd blow it right back up and... and...
Chara slapped herself across the face. Get a hold of yourself, she told herself, frantically teleporting away from her universe. No, no, she was slipping! Maybe go exploring again. There was this ice moon she'd found a while ago, and she wanted to go spelunking through the glacier caves.
When she went to confront Asriel again, he was still in his monstrous angelic form, towering above her with fingers the size of her entire body.
"Ready to give in?" she asked coldly.
He glared down at her, the heart-shaped hole within his chest orb pulsing angrily. "Forget it. These powers are all that I am."
"They're all they are because they're all you let yourself be!" she cried. "How aren't you realizing it? You never even tried to use them to make yourself whole! Do you feel nothing for us? Nothing for me? I know you do!"
He recoiled. "Maybe sometimes, but I know what it is now! I can keep those feelings down," he insisted. "And so what if I never tried? Why would I?" He sneered, his all-too wide mouth filled with shark teeth going wide. "You're one to talk, anyway! Look at yourself, Chara! You don't exactly have a soul either." She recoiled in shock, drifting back through the void. "You can shatter and recreate planes of existence! Walk through countless worlds nobody else will ever see! You're better than you ever were, I'm better than I ever was. And we both share the same thing; we're both soulless. So why would you ever want to go back?"
"I have a soul! Frisk's soul, that he gave to me!" she insisted. "I still care for you, Asriel," she cried. "But look at yourself! How can you say you're better off than you were before? Really LOOK at yourself, Asriel!" she shouted. He glanced down, raising his deformed hands to his eyes. Chara's voice softened and it felt like her throat was caught in a vice. "I can barely even recognize you," she told the horrific angel. Then she warped away.
Maybe next time.
Why did she even waste her time on Asriel?! Clearly he didn't want her help. He obviously just wanted to rot in the gaping void that used to be their world, so why shouldn't she oblige him?!
She spent the next week going between angry muttering, pacing, whimpering into her pillow, and watching shows in an attempt to distract herself. But always, her wayward brother lingered in the back of her mind. Maybe he was right. Maybe there was no way back for him, and he was a lost cause.
Maybe this was all that was left for them.
Sure, she knew it was quitter talk but... he gave a good argument. He had no soul. Even if he did allow himself to feel emotions again, without a soul of his own he'd know only oblivion when he eventually died. If he kept his reset powers then that would defeat the whole point; there'd be no going forward for the universe.
Chara briefly entertained the idea of letting Asriel keep his infinite power, keep his control over time, but have him only use it responsibly. Only reset when he died, and only to recently. Would he agree to that sort of compromise? Surely he would. It was better than her alternative of 'give up everything and just hope we can maybe find a way to help'.
Was she being the selfish one, wanting to be the only one of them with phenomenal powers?
No, no that was silly. Asriel'd been given all the power in the world and he'd squandered it. He had to face the consequences. But what about her? She'd tried to kill millions of humans. She'd caused his death, she'd caused all this misery. Did she deserve her powers?
... no. If anything, Frisk was the one who should've ascended, not her. But there was nothing to be done for it. She couldn't just 'give up' her vast cosmic abilities. It just... couldn't be done.
Did Asriel have to face the consequences? He'd already suffered so dearly. First at his own hand, trapping himself in a timeloop where the world lost any surprise, lost any spark. Then at her hand, trapped in the abyss for over a year now.
Hadn't she already hurt her brother enough?
No. No, she had to remember what she was doing this for. She was doing this for Mom and Dad. For everyone in the Underground. For Frisk. They would never be free so long as Asriel kept his resets. She could trust Frisk not to abuse them, but her brother had long ago lost the right to rewind time. He had to lose the ability to save and load. That was non-negotiable.
She returned to the world. Since her last visit, a few weeks ago, Asriel had returned to his normal form, so there was that. He hovered in place, facing her but with his head bowed so that she could barely see the nubs of his horns, just barely poking out from his skin. "I was thinking," she began. "That perhaps, we can reach a compromise. You see, it is only your reset powers I take issue with, Asriel."
He narrowed his eyes and looked up at her. "Go on..."
"So here is my offer. Keep your souls. They make you invincible, do they not? But release your hold on time. Abandon your ways, and let yourself feel love again. Do it, and I will bring this world back."
"No!" he shouted. "Haven't I told you?! This is all that I am!"
"Then you're nothing!" she countered. "You don't feel joy. You don't feel love. You don't have any surprise or shock or awe in your life. You have nobody but yourself! These powers have ruined you! You said it yourself; they're not people as long as you can play with them like that!" She softened her voice. "Please, Asriel. I'm so tired of fighting with you. I'm so tired of you hating me. Please, just let it go."
"... I don't hate you," he whispered, not willing to meet her eyes. "I... I..." His eyes widened, and his fists clenched.
Chara thought faster. She warped to him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against one of his shoulders. "Shh," she shushed. "No, don't push it down. Let it happen. What do you feel?"
He trembled against her. "It hurts, Chara..." he whimpered. "I don't want to... it hurts..."
"I know, I know," she whispered, rubbing her hands across his back. "I suspect that is the guilt. Shh, Asriel. What else?"
He trembled harder. "I feel warm... I don't... remember. They're all so quiet. They're all so dead, Chara."
She nodded gently, closing her eyes tight. "I know they are," she muttered against his floppy ears. "How does this warmth feel? Describe it to me," she urged.
Asriel hiccuped a sob. "My stomach hurts. My heart's... oh golly it's so fast. I... I feel... hah, hah." Then he let out a quiet sob. "Chara..." he croaked.
She opened her eyes and glanced at the back of his head. He was still shaking. "I'm here, Asriel. I'm here," she promised. "Please, just let this end. I'm so tired of this."
"I'm scared," he sobbed. "I don't want to have only one try. I don't want to mess things up anymore. I've made so many mistakes. Don't want them to last."
"I know, I know, nobody does," she reassured. "But it's been hurting you so badly, don't you feel it? Just let this end. Mom misses us. Dad misses us."
He shook again. "... I'm so tired, Chara."
She nodded, forcing back her own tears of black ichor. Despite her efforts, they trailed down her cheeks and from her mouth. "I'm tired too."
"I'm so old, Chara..." he managed between cries.
"I know you are, I know you are. Mom and Dad are too, they can help you. We can help you. Just let us help, Rei. You don't have to be alone."
Asriel gripped her harder, hard enough to shatter galaxies. He buried his snout into her and sobbed again, his tears and snot staining her shirt. "It hurts so much, Chara..."
"It'll pass, I promise," she assured, continuing to hold him. "I'm here, I'm here."
"I feel... oh God," he gasped, retching quietly. "They all... I feel... I couldn't have..."
"It's alright, it's alright," she repeated soothingly. "You weren't yourself. You weren't yourself. Anyone else would've done the same thing. Anyone else would've been so much worse."
He remained silent for a few minutes, save for his ongoing sobs. "You were right," he managed at last. "I'm sorry. I just want this to end. I'm so bored and tired and alone and I'm just so gosh-darned old..." She figured Asriel tried to say something more, but he just started crying again.
That was fine. Chara smiled and held him tighter. "Asriel... Rei. Thank you. I'm sorry too, for everything I did. I'm so happy to hear you say that." She didn't release him, but did begin to reach into the past.
It began to unfurl, energy and space and time coming back into being. It swept over her like a tidal wave, and she couldn't help but recreate every fundamental particle exactly as it'd been through every instant of space and time. She saw stars and planets come into being. Galaxies spun like tops. Chara saw their planet return, and roll underneath their feet. With a grimace she saw... herself and Asriel in the past. Playing together. Laughing together. Dying together. But she couldn't stop. She couldn't reach out and pluck the past-Asriel's soul and give it back to him.
There was nothing she could do for him.
But there was something she could do for someone else. She found the remnants of Gaster and swept them up even as her power continued to recreate the hundreds of years after her death. She gathered his pieces and, as they came up on the present, prepared to rotate him and his four followers back into reality.
She could recreate the universe as it was any moment she had seen as a demon. So recreating it as it was when she was alive was out. The earliest she could do was the instant Frisk fell and revived her. Chara, still holding Asriel, came up on that moment. Flowers came together, cavern walls erected themselves, a distant world's atmosphere came into being, particles of light appeared in the middle of the chambers. And Frisk's body reappeared, on his back. She pushed Gaster and his fellows back into being.
Then, Chara reigned in her power.
The air coasted over her nose. The soil pressed beneath her feet. Frisk lay stunned from his 'recent' fall.
Finally, she said, "Thank you, Rei."
Please do leave a review, let me know what you think.