AN:

GiratinaBeelzemonblaster369: What can I say? I like making people sad. :P

Eatenpickelsticks: Oh, the real "oh...shit" is just getting started...

I staggered back to my feet as the walls stopped shaking. Gingerly, I moved my hands away from my ears and took a look around. They'd left. Thank goodness. And, I supposed, thank Alphys, too. I was certain she was the one responsible for that invisible wall.

I closed my eyes. Dammit. I'd almost snapped, back then. I'd nearly killed her. If I had, I'd be dead right now. And I'd have deserved it, too. Hell, maybe I deserved it anyway, just for that overreaction.

A while ago, I'd have probably stopped for a while to dwell on that. But two close brushes with death had reordered my priorities somewhat. I'd have time to dwell later – for now, I needed to act.

I turned back to Gaster, who'd by now risen to his feet. I was pretty certain he still didn't have much magic in him – he couldn't have regenerated it that quickly. Still, with him, there was no such thing as too much caution.

With an intimidating gaze trained on him – I did intimidating gazes well – I clenched my hands into fists. "Tell me why I shouldn't beat you to death right now."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Frisk's face screw up. [Don't worry,] I said before they could shout something at me. [I'm bluffing.]

A wave of relief passed over their face, and they let out a breath. [Oh. Okay,] they said. [Good.]

Gaster stood to face me. If he was at all worried, his face did not betray it. If anything, looking up at that deadly serious gaze made me a bit nervous. For a moment, I started to doubt myself. If he was acting like this, did that mean there was something I wasn't aware of? Did he still have some trump card up his sleeve that he could use to destroy me?

Then I reminded myself it was Gaster I was dealing with. I'd met him many times back in life, and for all his faults, I couldn't deny that the man was impressively stoic. The world could be coming apart around him, and he'd just regard it with a dispassionate expression and calmly analyze how to fix it.

"You won't," he told me, as confidently as if he was stating an obvious fact. His tone left no doubt – in his mind, I really wouldn't. Which, of course, he was right about. Unfortunate.

"Why?" I asked.

"First off," he said, and cocked his head slightly, "you made a promise."

I flinched a bit. Wait, what? He knew about that? That was in Sans' room. Maybe I could see Alphys managing to hide a camera somewhere nearby – to give the devil her due, she really was pretty ingenious. But Gaster? I didn't recall a single time Gaster had been particularly clever. Oh, he was intelligent, and his mind was stunningly logical and analytical – but for all of that, he wasn't particularly shrewd. I could see him perfectly pointing out all the holes in a seemingly foolproof plan – but not making up a foolproof plan himself.

But he knew about the promise one way or another. And yet, he'd just struck a blow against himself – he'd told me that he knew. That meant that now, thanks to his need to demonstrate his superiority, I had a lead. I knew what he was doing. It was just a matter of finding out how.

But that could come later.

"Hm. I suppose I did," I said. "And so what? You can't honestly believe I'm the sort to keep all of my promises. Especially not when you've been as annoying as you have." I was still bluffing, of course. I had absolutely no intention of breaking my promise. But he didn't need to know that.

A small smile appeared on his face. It wasn't a smirk, but it gave the same impression as one anyway. "Really? Go on, then."

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. Damn it. He'd seen through me.

But maybe there was still some hope. Maybe if I could scare him badly enough, I could still pull something good out of this. I settled into a fighting stance. "Maybe I will."

Gaster made a small motion of his head and rolled his eyes. He remained silent.

I stood like that for a few moments, waiting for him to do something. He didn't. I hissed in frustration and stood down. "How did you know?"

He looked sideways at me. "What?"

I sighed. "That I was bluffing."

He turned to the side. "Because I've been watching you. And I know just about everything that's happened since the start of this… this chaos."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yeah. I got that. Doesn't explain how you knew I wouldn't break my promise."

He made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan. "Because unlike you," he said, turning his head back towards me, "I have a modicum of common sense."

Okay. That, at least, we could agree on.

"That's nice," I said. "Get to the point."

He started pacing around the hallway as he spoke. "It was obvious from watching you. The way you've behaved throughout this… run, as you call them. The way you spilled your secrets to just about everyone who came along. And perhaps most tellingly, your last direct interaction with the new Royal Scientist."

He stopped and turned to face me, meeting my eyes. "I don't know what that nightmare you had in Papyrus' house was about," he said, very seriously. "But were I to guess, I would say it was about what you did previously."

I stared at him for a moment. Then, my gaze sidled over to Frisk, floating beside me. They were gazing at him with that same stunned expression I imagined I'd just had.

[Oookay,] they finally said, dragging the word out. [That's creepy.]

[Agreed,] I responded.

"Yeah," I said. "I guess it was. What does that have to do with anything?"

He closed his eyes and adjusted his tie, though if he was aiming to fix some sort of imperfection, I couldn't see it. "It is simple," he said. "It serves as the final evidence of what I have believed for a long while now. You are afraid of what you once were."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "That is not a bad thing, not necessarily," he continued. "In fact, I believe that if not for your fear of turning back into what you were before, you would not have been able to stop yourself from slaying Alphys." I felt a bit offended at that. Really? He thought I was that close to actually killing her?

"And yet," he said, "in certain circumstances, that very fear may be a liability. It is the reason I do not believe you would be able to kill someone, or choose to kill someone, in cold blood. I do not discount the possibility that you may still kill in the heat of battle, or when caught up in emotion – but as long as your thinking remains even somewhat rational, I cannot see you making that choice. Your fear prevents you."

"Oh," I said. "So that was why you weren't worried. You knew I wouldn't kill you simply because you knew I wouldn't do something like that."

"Precisely," Gaster said. "At least you have some shred of intellect remaining."

I rolled my eyes. "Right," I said. "Well, we're alone now, and I still don't think you can seriously harm me in your current state." Gaster narrowed his eyes at me. "So, in the meantime, how about you tell me a few things?"

He looked to the side for a few moments, as if thinking. "That depends on what you want to know."

[Ooh!] Frisk called to get my attention. [Ask him what the knight's name is! Feels weird just calling him the knight.]

I glanced towards them and, barely, suppressed a sigh. But I supposed it could be worth knowing. "Alright," I said to Gaster. "How about this: What's the knight called?"

"His name is Slayer," he replied. "Before you ask, Par came up with it."

Uh.

I turned to Frisk. [Uh. You heard that too, right?]

[Uh-huh,] they nodded.

I glanced back and forth between them and Gaster a few times. [Well then. Looks like Asgore has some competition in the bad-naming department.]

Frisk broke out into a short burst of laughter. [Maybe.]

"…Okay," I said.

I thought about what to ask next for a moment. All I could think of was something like How are you spying on me?, but that didn't seem like something I'd get a straight answer to. But then again… might as well try.

"How are you spying on me?" I asked.

Gaster narrowed his eyes. "Surely you do not expect me to simply tell you that."

"No, not really," I said. "But I figured it was worth a shot."

He sighed and put a hand to his forehead.

"Okay, fine," I said. "Let's try something else. How are you alive?"

He turned his head to the side. "Back when I died," he said, "I did not die as such. Not in the way you think of it.

"As I assume you know – of course, I cannot be certain, but it seems likely that it would be common knowledge – I died by falling into the Core, my own creation. However, the Core's power did more than simply kill me. The raging maelstrom of nigh-endless magical power at its center tore me apart, yes, but it did not simply tear apart my body – magic at that level of power and quantity does not settle for anything so simple.

"Instead, the Core tore apart my soul. It tore apart my soul so quickly and so viciously that it did not even have time to shatter in the usual sense, as monster souls usually do – and so, I did not, technically, die. And so, the tiny shards of my still-living soul scattered throughout the Underground. During that time, I saw everything. Every single thing that happened down here was within my purview. And yet, I was too insubstantial to do anything. I could observe everything – yet change nothing.

"That was, until Par found me. No one else could have – the only way to detect any part of my soul would be to find the traces of residual magic it left behind, and those were too small to be found by any normal monster. But Par's own magic was powerful enough that he could see a trace even as miniscule as mine, and so, eventually, he did. He was hardly a particularly knowledgeable man, and he did not figure out exactly what had happened – but he had figured out enough. And from there, it was simple. The scattered pieces of my soul, on some level, wanted to reattach – but they could not, because there was nothing to bond them. But Par's magic could do just that.

"All he had to do was add enough magic to a single piece of my soul that it could hold it all together. From there, my soul flew together on its own." Gaster paused for a few moments. "And that is how I came to stand here."

I blinked at him a few times. "Uh…" I said. "Hold on."

He glanced curiously at me.

"Sooo…" I started, "you died too quickly to die?"

Gaster sighed. "Yes, I suppose that in a way, one could say that. Of course, what actually happened was rather more complicated – but to tell the truth, I do not understand it very well myself, either. I can hardly give you a proper explanation."

I shrugged. "Alright. Fair enough."

Then I sat down, and just sat there for a few moments. Gaster had just told me a whole lot of things, and I needed a bit of time to process it all. So, basically speaking, the Core tore him into a bunch of little pieces, but it didn't kill him as such. So, he was stuck as nothing more than useless little pieces of a soul, until the bird – Par – put him back together. And then he was fine again.

My eyes went wide for a moment. Wait a moment. Par had put him back together. Par had put him back together using his own magic.

Everything came together.

"Ooooh," I said, under my breath. "So that's why."

Frisk glanced at me curiously. [Hm?]

I looked up at Gaster. "I get it, now," I said.

"Hm?" he said.

"I think I know why you serve the bird," I said. "I think I know why he has that sort of power over you. And if I'm right…"

Gaster tilted his head. "Go on."

"When Par put you back together," I began, my voice slowly gaining more confidence as I went, "he used his own magic. And that magic is still his own, isn't it? He can still manipulate it."

Gaster froze, going every bit as still as a statue. That told me everything I needed to know.

"That's why he can torture you like that," I said. "All he needs to do is lighten his magic's effect for a moment or two, and you get to experience your soul being torn apart. Then, he just puts it back to maximum power, and it's like nothing ever happened – but you remember that pain.

"That's why you serve him. Isn't it?"

Deafening silence hung in the room. Gaster turned his head, the motion so slight it was almost imperceptible, and the little rustle of cloth that came from his suit as he did filled the room.

"What difference does it make?" he finally said, his tone as cold and unyielding as steel.

It made quite a bit of difference, actually.

If I was right, Gaster wasn't a willing ally. He was… effectively a slave, forced against his will to serve the bird. Whatever wrath I wished to cast upon Par, he deserved no part of it. And yet I couldn't just let him be, either. The bird would use him to his fullest extent – and I had no right to make him endure the sort of torment he would be subjected to, were he to try and rebel. And besides, there was every chance that if he went against Par, Par would simply let his magic disperse entirely – and let Gaster's soul shatter once more.

Whatever I did to Par, I'd have to keep Gaster out of it. And yet, I couldn't expect Gaster to disobey Par's orders, either. He would do whatever he was told – and I suspected that, in his position, I'd do the same. Who wouldn't?

I exhaled. Holy hell. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Unless…

I thought back to everything I knew that could help. I thought about what I'd learned of magic, and more importantly, of souls back when I was alive. It was a rather great wealth of knowledge – I was, after all, technically of royal blood (legally, anyways). Of course, none of it dealt with anything resembling this situation – and the fact that my memory of those sorts of things was muddled, at best, did not help matters.

And yet, maybe there was something. Matters of the soul were not, actually, all that complicated – mysterious, yes, not very well understood, yes. But what was known was, overall, fairly simple. All souls had a certain amount of power, human ones much more so than monster ones. This power could, in monsters, be channeled towards magic; what it did in humans was less clear, but in some specific cases, it was known to make utterly extraordinary things happen – like, I supposed, my resets. Monster souls, due to their weakness, were unable to last for long outside of the host's body, but this was not true for human souls. The soul of a human could remain on its own for quite a while, even if no measures to preserve it were taken – and if they were, it could last basically forever. Due to this, monsters could absorb the soul of a human, taking its power and channeling it towards their magic to produce a being greater than either a monster or a human – but the reverse was not true. A human could never absorb a monster's soul. And, for unknown reasons, a human could not take another human's soul, either.

That was basically all there was to it. All that was known, anyway.

I racked my brain frantically, willing it to come up with some answers. Was there anything, anything at all in there that could help? There was almost certainly a way – I wasn't willing to believe something that vile was irreversible. But with what I knew, could I figure it out?

My eyebrows shot up. Actually… maybe.

I'd forgotten one thing, one other thing I knew about souls – they could shatter. I knew that much. Gaster was confirmation enough, of course, but I'd seen it happen myself many times – back during all my previous runs, when I…

I shuddered. Never mind.

But I'd seen it before. The circumstances were ones that I now wished could have never existed, but that didn't change the facts. I'd seen souls shatter. And if Gaster was any indication, the pieces of a soul retained at least something from their old form when they came apart – after all, he spoke as if he'd been aware while he was shattered, and that couldn't have happened if the shards of his soul really were nothing more than useless shards.

So, if souls retained some measure of their self when they came apart, it would make sense if they retained other things too. Like, for instance, power. Of course, the pieces of a soul only had a tiny fraction of what the original had had – but with how powerful human souls were, even that fraction could still be noticeable if it came from the right soul.

According to Gaster, the reason the bird – Par – was the only one able to pull off his enchantment was because of his sheer amount of power. And because it was his magic, he was still able to influence it. But what if something could be done so it wasn't his magic anymore? What if something else could be put there, too – not necessarily holding Gaster's soul together on its own, but at least forcing Par's magic to remain there? It'd need something extraordinarily powerful to do it, and that something would need to be something a monster could absorb – but it could be done.

And there was something that matched that description. A human soul.

But I'd prefer not to die. And besides, I was still quite unsure of the idea of trusting Gaster with a human soul – that sort of thing gave a lot of power, and Gaster had always been a bit of a prick, even before the bird had gotten to him. Yet, there was a solution. All I had to do was use a piece of one. It would, hopefully, have enough power to keep Par's magic in place – and not enough left over for Gaster to get uppity.

Even that, though, left the problem of how I could get a piece of a human soul. I'd seen my own soul shatter many times – it would do so whenever I died in one of my previous runs. But as far as I knew, that still required me to die, and… I didn't want to die. Perhaps I could try to literally chip a shard off of one of the ones Asgore had in his possession, but even that idea had two problems: first, I'd need to figure out a way to get to them, and second… it'd be sabotaging everything Asgore had worked for. True, now that I thought about it, I didn't approve of his plan either, but simply ruining it now would be… just cruel. And it'd result in one more human dying, since I doubted a chipped human soul would work.

(Though, I realized with a start, I'd eventually have to face that problem myself. My soul was the last Asgore needed. That was worrying… but I put the thought aside for now. I had better things to think about.)

There was probably, I figured, a way to get a little shard of my soul without killing myself. After all, if it shattered when I died, that meant it was responsive to physical damage in one way or another. And I knew someone's soul could be torn to pieces while still keeping them alive – the proof was standing right in front of me.

But I didn't know how. Damn it. I had all the steps figured out, but… I just didn't have what I needed to actually do it. I just didn't have the information I needed. I needed help. I needed someone who knew more than me.

A lightbulb went off inside my head, and I had to stop myself from smiling.

Someone who knew more than me. Like, say… the person standing right in front of me right now?

"Okay. Never mind," I said, trying to sound as casual as possible. It was hard, and my voice still came out a little excited. "But while we're talking about souls, I'm curious about something."

"Speak."

"Well… I'm assuming you know about my power, right?" I asked. Judging by what he'd already said, he almost certainly did, but it couldn't hurt to make sure.

"Of course," Gaster said.

"Right. Well, back in my previous runs," I said, "I… died. A lot. I mean, obviously, it didn't stick, but… I died. Many times.

"And, well, whenever I did," I continued, trying not to sound too nervous, "my soul always shattered. And I've been wondering – why? I mean, I know human souls normally remain after death, so…"

"That is not an easy question to answer," Gaster said. "The simple fact is, you are a very unique case. There are no records of anyone else having the same sort of power as you. That means that there is no information on how, exactly, that power works. However, it seems likely that one way or another, that power is responsible for what you speak of.

"The most likely explanation, I think, is this: The reason human souls persist after death at all is due to their determination, due to their will to live. But normally, that will cannot actually return them to life, and so, all it does is force their soul to linger. Yet in your case, it can do just that – and that means that there is no need for it to also try and keep your soul intact. It can do better than that, after all."

"Huh," I said. That was actually pretty interesting. It wasn't what I was looking for, though. "So, if a human just didn't have enough determination, their soul would shatter, too?"

Gaster considered it for a moment. "I suppose," he said. "Though as far as I know, the existence of such a human would be nigh-impossible."

"So, a soul sort of responds to what happens to the body?" I asked. "Like, if a human's physical body dies, the soul would shatter if not for the determination keeping it there?"

"Yes," Gaster said. He seemed somewhat apprehensive, as if he was aware this was leading to something. Which, I supposed, he probably was. I wasn't exactly hiding it all that well.

"Is it only on death?" I asked. "Or could the soul break apart in some other way, too? I mean, I know it can – you're living proof – but, you know… without things like the Core."

Gaster raised an eyebrow. Or, well. His eye twitched in a way that basically suggested the same thing. "It's possible," he said. "In fact, it happens rather often, though – as far as I am aware – only in humans. A severe enough wound in a human can rather easily cause a tiny piece of the soul to break off, especially if it draws blood – in that particular case, a shard of the soul will usually flow out alongside the blood. But regardless, that piece isn't going to be big enough to really matter."

I tried to stop a grin from breaking out on my face. I ended up cracking a small smile anyways.

Gotcha.

"Alright," I said. "So, hey, Gaster… you said Par could control you because his magic's the only thing holding your soul together. Right?"

Gaster's gaze suddenly grew very, very cold. I ignored it. "Well, I've been thinking," I said. "If I just gave you a little piece of my soul – and according to what you just said, I could do that – couldn't it work to keep him from breaking your soul up again? I mean, if part of my soul was infused with his magic, he wouldn't be able to manipulate it anymore. Yeah?"

Gaster stared me in the eye, brow (insofar as he had one) furrowed, an unamused expression on his face. Suddenly, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees, and he glared at me with a piercing gaze. Silence reigned, and I could hear my heart beating in my chest. Still he looked at me, and in his eyes, I could see silent contempt. He looked upon me with all the warmth reserved for a particularly annoying bug.

"It is possible," he finally growled. "However, NO."

That took me aback.

"Wait," I said, "why?"

Still he met my eyes, and somehow, his gaze seemed even colder than before. "You are arrogant. And presumptuous. I will say no more."

"Thanks," I muttered. "How helpful."

Well, damn. That sort of ruined that plan. Did Par have something else, too? Or was Gaster scared of him for some other reason? Or, or, or…

Damn it. There were too many possibilities. I needed something more concrete.

[Well,] I thought at Frisk. [Any ideas?]

[Um… uh…] They sighed. [No.]

I rolled my eyes. [Alright,] I said. [Let's think about this. Why would Gaster not want me to put his soul back together?]

[Maybe he's…] They smiled nervously. [Worried about you? Like, worried about what'll happen to you.]

I – barely – stopped a small smile from spreading across my face. [Pull the other one.]

Frisk sighed. [Alright, alright.]

I ran through the information I had. Given what I knew about Gaster, and what I knew about the bird, and what I knew about souls…

Eureka. Just had to check one thing.

[Hey, Frisk,] I said. [You remember what Gaster said it was like? You know, when he was shattered?]

[He could see everything, but interact with nothing,] they said. [At least, I think. Though I'm not sure how he could even see things like that.]

Again, I had to stop a smile. [Come on, Frisk,] I said. [Think about it. I mean, souls don't really work like physical things do, do they?]

[Uh… I guess not?] Frisk said, a bit confused. [Soo… I guess maybe the little pieces of his soul could, like, each see things on their own?]

This time, I couldn't stop the smile. It was more of a smirk, actually. [Precisely.]

"Oh," I said out loud. "I get it."

Gaster said nothing, but I was pretty sure I was right. "When Par put you back together," I said, "the spell wasn't perfect, was it?"

Suddenly, Gaster went very, very still, and his face set into an expression entirely too calm to be genuine. That confirmed it. "It attracted most of your soul," I continued. "But some pieces of it were still left out there, just floating around, because there wasn't quite enough magic there to hold them, too.

"That's how you spied on me. That's how you knew everything that happened. Those little pieces of your soul… they're your eyes and ears now, aren't they?"

Gaster said "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Hey, Gaster," I smiled. "Let me give you a bit of advice. People who really have no idea what someone's talking about never use that line."

Silence.

"Fine," Gaster said. "You're right. It seems you are smarter than you look."

I spread my arms. "Oh, I know," I said jovially.

And then, I folded my arms, and my tone turned cold. "You know what this means, don't you?

"You stopped me from giving you a bit of my soul because doing that would give the spell that little push it needed to be perfect. I do that, and you lose, at the very least, your ability to see things from a distance – and who knows what else, too. So, you know what that tells me? You don't even care about being enslaved to the bird as long as it gives you power.

"You care more about power than you care about your freedom. Don't you? Because, god, that's stupid. You know, I've always thought those sorts of people were only ever found in storybooks. But no. Apparently, you really ARE that much of a me-"

"SHUT UP!"

The two words stunned me into silence. They were said with such force, such hatred that the atmosphere of the room seemed to change to suit them, and suddenly, the idea of continuing to speak seemed utterly unthinkable.

That had always been a power Gaster possessed. Though, calling it a power was a stretch – it was really just a skill. And yet its effect was so absolute, so indomitable that it might as well have been magic.

I sort of wished I could do that. It'd be neat.

"You think the only reason I serve is for the power?!" he snapped at me. "You think I am nothing more than a slave?! You conceited cur!"

I took a few steps back. "I serve," Gaster spat, "because when all monsterkind had forgotten me, when none had even thought to question my death, Par was the one to help me. I was abandoned, shoved to the side as if I was naught more than another pile of dust. Do you know how horrid it was? Do you have any idea how it feels to see everything, to see all the horrors that ever happen in the Underground, and be powerless to change it?!

"THAT is what Par saved me from! THAT is why I serve! Because unlike you, I understand the concept of loyalty!"

I glanced around nervously. [Unlike me?] I thought at Frisk.

They shrugged. [He's upset. Don't worry too much about what he says.]

[Yeah,] I said. [Fair enough.]

I gathered my courage and looked Gaster in the eyes. It was horrible. Anger twisted his face – but it was a calm, cool anger. There was something in that face that told me he was ready and willing to kill me. I knew that if he had enough magic, he would. I'd looked at faces like that before – but before, it'd never affected me like this. Gaster's expression terrified me. I didn't know why, but something in the back of my mind, something very basic and primal, told me to run, run and never stop running.

I shuddered. Another talent of Gaster's.

But I could hardly turn tail now. I pushed my fear away. It didn't go away – there was no way I could make it do that – but at the very least, I managed to think past it.

"Huh. That's funny," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking too much. "You said you witnessed horrors. You said that was why it was so horrible. And now you cause them yourself?"

"Surely you do not expect me to deny Par my gratitude," he said, coldly. "Besides, the monsters forgot about me. They deserve whatever happens to them."

And in an instant, the fear fled my mind, replaced by burning rage.

I took a few deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.

"Ah," I said. "I see."

And then I snapped.

"I thought you were at least a decent person," I said. "I thought Par was just forcing you to work for him. But no. That's not bloody true, is it?! You're every bit as horrible as he is, you arrogant bastard! Just because they forgot about you?! Just because they had the audacity to assume that someone who seemed dead in every way was actually dead?! Really?! I'm bloody sorry they didn't expect something completely unprecedented to happen! And now that the goddamned bird saved you, you need to serve him? People have DIED because of him, you idiot! But no – just because he did one good thing to you, you need to do whatever he wants you to. And to hell with how it'll hurt everyone else, right?!"

I exhaled. "You know… I ought to thank you, really," I said, my voice suddenly very calm. "I was wondering how I'd get my revenge on the bird without dragging you into it. But I guess I don't have to worry about that now."

I brushed past him and walked down the corridor towards New Home, not glancing back at him as I left.

And then something yanked at my soul, and I was dragged back down the hallway. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gaster step aside just before I flew into him, and then, with a gesture of his hand, the magic on my soul changed and threw me against the wall.

"A word of advice," Gaster said. "When the only thing stopping your enemy from killing you is that he's exhausted at the moment, don't pause to talk."

Oh. Damn it. Right.

I struggled to think of a retort. Nothing came up. The hell of it was, he was right.

Gaster took a deep breath. "However… I suppose I have reason to be grateful to you, as well. You did offer to help me." He paused for a moment, clearly trying to calm himself down. "I will not kill you. And if you leave us alone, right now, I will do my best to stop Par from trying to do so too."

Really, now? He wanted me to leave their band of murderers alone? I spat in his face. "Go to hell."

He narrowed his eyes. "I suspected as much."

Then he lunged forward. I tried to roll away, but he was already too close, and his bony hand gripped my neck. Suddenly, there was a dizzying sensation of change – and then, he stood in the room just before the hallway, the one where Par and Slayer had remained after the cave-in. He released me, and I fell onto the hard floor.

"Then this is my last gift to you," he said. "You are free to return to your friends, for now. When we next cross paths, it will be as enemies once more." And then he simply vanished.

"Yeah," I said, for my own benefit. "I'm perfectly fine with that."

And then, I turned, steaming in my anger, and walked out of the room, back in the direction of Hotland. Well, that entire journey had been a massive failure. I'd nearly died, I'd learned exactly how horrible a monster could be, and I hadn't even gotten to Asgore. I supposed I had gotten quite a bit of information, but it was hard to feel happy about that right now.

[Cheer up, Chara,] a voice from my head said. [It's not so bad.] But Frisk didn't sound all too cheery themselves.

[Shut up,] I told them, tiredly.

They were silent for a moment. […Okay.]

My feet just barely not dragging behind me, I took the few steps towards the elevator that would take me back down. As I did, I stepped in something. I pulled my foot back and looked down.

On the floor, there was a pile of dust. A bright red scarf lay next to it.