"W-what have you done?!" Toriel shouted, looking with wide eyes at her child's unconscious (please let it just be unconscious, please let it just be unconscious) body.
The bird – she couldn't remember his name at the moment – stared at them too. His breathing was still quick, and he looked anxious and nervous and frustrated. He said nothing, just panting and gasping as he gazed down at them, seemingly too absorbed in what he'd just done to even notice the outside world.
"What have you DONE?!" she yelled again.
At last, the bird seemed to notice he wasn't alone. His eyes shot the briefest glance towards her, and then he went right back to staring at Chara again. "They're not dead, woman," he muttered. "Calm down." For a moment, he paused. "I… think, at least."
"You think?!" she asked.
He said nothing, so Toriel, fear and anxiety rising up within her, rushed to Chara's body. All the way she dreaded what she would find. All the way she was terrified of getting there and finding nothing but a lifeless corpse. No, she told herself. If they were dead they'd just reset. They can still do that, right?
Her hand clamped around Chara's wrist like a vise, and she felt something pulse in her grip. A sudden wave of relief flooded through her. A heartbeat. Their heart was still beating. They were still alive.
Quickly, she took a look at them. Bruised. Beaten. Battered. Cut up. She didn't want them to be like that. She didn't want her child to keep getting hurt. She just wanted to take them home, to tell them it'd all be OK, to make sure none of these horrible creatures bothered them again.
She couldn't do that. She should've been able to. She was their mother, their protector. It wasn't right that they were the one putting their life on the line. It should've been her. They were just a child. They didn't deserve to die. They were too young to be hurt like this, to fight in these deadly battles.
And yet Toriel knew she couldn't stop them. She'd felt it, that first time they'd refused her offer of protection. They wouldn't back down. If they thought they could help others, if they thought they could save their friends, they'd put anything on the line to do it. That terrified Toriel. But… she was proud, too. So, so proud. And so ashamed that she was just letting them do it all on their own, unable to help in the slightest.
But there were some things she could still do. She reached for her magic – for the sweet, gentle warmth of healing, the mending energy of restoration. With a small effort of will, she let it seep through her child like rainwater washing away the dirt and the grime, healing all their cuts and wounds. With their injuries gone, they looked almost peaceful, sleeping there like that.
"Thank goodness," she finally dared to whisper. It was alright. Chara was alright. It'd all be fine.
She stood up and looked at the bird. He hadn't moved. He still just stared at Chara, a myriad of emotions written on his face, eyes wide.
"You almost killed them," Toriel said.
"S-so what?!" he yelled. "I'll… I'll do the same to you if you don't get out of here! I-I mean, I'll… I'll actually kill you!"
A tinge of concern tinged Toriel's eyes. "Please, Mr…?"
"Par," the bird said absentmindedly.
"Par," Toriel repeated. "Please, could we at least… talk about this?"
His gaze turned to her, and he still breathed quickly, his eyes still wide. His arms trembled. For a moment, Toriel thought he was about to say something, and then he swung his arm in front of himself.
She wasn't prepared, and before she could react, the crescent smashed into her. A slice of her body simply exploded as she was flung backwards, and a mound of dust piled up on the floor as those bits disintegrated, the power of her magic no longer keeping them intact.
Her back slammed into the wall, and she fell to one knee. Somewhat disbelievingly, she looked at herself. There was a chunk of her simply missing, carved away by the power of the crescent. And yet... she was alive.
Not even realizing how much pain she should've been in right now, not even realizing how much the adrenaline dulled the sensation, she tried to get up. But her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.
The world swam in front of her eyes, and she could barely put together a coherent thought. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered something. Healing. Healing magic. She had to use that. She reached for it, but it felt weak, far away, and no strength or power pulsed through her as she tried to mend her wound. There was no way she could do it. Not with this sort of injury.
Par must've sensed what she was trying, because with a flap of his wings, he launched himself to Chara's unconscious body. "Don't try it!" he yelled, shrilly. One taloned hand grabbed them by the collar, and an orb of yellow magic appeared in the other. "I'll… I'll…!"
Toriel's eyes went wide, and she stopped her attempts immediately. It was worth dying if it meant saving her child.
For a few more moments Par held the deadly sphere, hand poised to thrust it into Chara's head, arm trembling. Half-crazed eyes stared down at them.
"Very well," Toriel said, frantically. "I-I won't. Please, don't harm them."
Par took a few more breaths, quick and jagged and uneven breaths, and the orb expanded into a crescent. Again, his arm trembled. And then, the crescent vanished, leaving nothing more than a few sparks of energy behind. He let go of Chara's sweater, and their body slumped against the wall once more.
"Thank you," Toriel whispered.
She couldn't do a thing. If she tried anything else, Par would just kill Chara. She couldn't let that happen. She could never let that happen.
But if she did nothing, they'd still die. Par would kill them one day or another. Not now, perhaps, but she still couldn't let that happen, either.
Quietly, moving as little as possible, desperately praying not to make a sound, she reached into her pocket and took out her phone. As much as she possibly could, she covered up the light with her body, but a little sliver still escaped and shone through the room. Panic shot through her, sudden certainty that Par would notice, that he'd realize what she was doing, that he'd kill her child.
But he was too busy staring down at them, his eyes still wild. He didn't seem to even notice Toriel, much less the light.
Still holding her breath, Toriel fumbled with the phone's buttons. She couldn't just call anyone, of course she couldn't – Par would hear. But there was still something she could do. Quietly thanking Alphys for teaching her how to do this, she sent a text message to the one person who first came to mind – Sans.
It read: "help".
A few moments later, she sent one more. It read: "golden corridor".
Her eyes looked towards Par, her breath still baited. She didn't know what Par would do. She didn't know when Sans would get her message. She didn't know if he'd decide it was worth worrying about. All she could do was pray that he got it soon, and that he took it seriously, and that Par didn't do anything to Chara – or to her – in the meantime.
Several heart-pounding moments later, Sans appeared in the corridor, and Toriel finally let out a breath.
"hey," he said, looking around the corridor. "what's-"
He looked at the bird and his expression changed and he thrust his arm to the side and Par flew at the wall of the corridor.
Par gasped in surprise, flailing uselessly as he was dragged backwards, and slammed into the gilded wall. His eyes still wide, but now in surprise, he looked around the room until he met Sans' eye. He took a few breaths and looked at him.
"heya," Sans said, his voice cold. "you the bird the kid's been telling me about?"
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Par yelled, his magic crackling around him.
"no can do."
"S-Sans…" Toriel muttered, and his gaze shifted to her. His eyes widened just the tiniest bit.
"tori," he said, shocked. "what…?"
"Please," she said, "get Chara to safety."
Sans looked at her for a moment more, concern in his eyes, and then his gaze shifted to Chara. Then he looked back at her again, and then he shrugged, teleported to Chara, put an arm under theirs, and they both vanished. A moment later, Sans reappeared, alone this time.
Toriel sighed in relief. At least her child was safe, for now. At least she could be assured of that much. The rest wasn't as scary.
"now then," Sans said, directing his attention to the bird once more, "where were we?"
Par stared at him with those insane eyes, but they seemed a little less crazed with anger, now – more just surprised and confused.
And then, Toriel felt a stinging in her side. She turned her head, unsure of what she was feeling, and saw the enormous gash still in her body. Ah, yes, she thought, aware even as the thoughts came of how strangely calm they were. With the adrenaline fleeing her now that Chara wasn't in danger, she reasoned she might start feeling the pain soon. That wouldn't be good.
Her thoughts far, far too serene for the situation, she reached for her healing magic again. Perhaps now that she wasn't consumed by worry, she would be able to use it. Unfortunately, her prediction was wrong – with such a grievous wound, it seemed she simply could not use her healing magic. Or, she assumed – she quickly snapped her fingers, trying to create a fireball, to test her theory – any magic at all. She had simply taken too much damage for it.
"One more thing," she said, and Sans turned his head to her. She didn't like it, but she swallowed her pride and said, "Could you please bring Asgore here?"
Sans blinked at her, then shrugged again, shot a passing glance at the bird, moved his hand again to reinforce the spell on him, and vanished. A moment later, he came back, a very confused-looking Asgore in tow.
Toriel's eyes narrowed. She still didn't like him, but he was the only one she knew who could help her. After all, they'd used to practice all the same magic, and assuming Asgore hadn't forgotten it all over the years, that meant he still had some healing magic of his own. It wouldn't be as powerful as Toriel's own – not even close – but at least it could make the wound a slight bit less grievous, and from there, Toriel thought she could take it on her own.
Asgore looked around the room, his eyes wide in surprise. Apparently, Sans hadn't bothered to tell him… anything… before teleporting him. Toriel couldn't deny that it saved time, but…
His eyes fell on Toriel. "T-Tori!" he shouted, rushing over to her. "A-are you…"
"I am fine, Dreemurr," she said. "…but your assistance would be appreciated."
"I… I…" Asgore paused nervously. "I… don't know if I can heal something like that…"
"I don't need you to heal all of it," Toriel told him, impatiently. "Just heal me enough that I can reach my own magic."
"O-oh," Asgore said. "I'll… try…"
He pressed a hand to the wound in her body, and she winced in sudden pain. She felt his healing magic going through her – less gentle, less controlled than her own. It felt more like a blazing heat than a gentle warmth. But it did its job well enough for the circumstances, and the wound shrunk, the pain receding.
Asgore cautiously pulled his hand away. "I'm sorry," he said, regretfully. "That is all I can do."
Toriel sighed. "It'll be enough." She pressed a hand to her own side and reached for her magic once more. It was still dull and faded, and only responded sluggishly to her commands, but that was alright. As she let the magic flow through her and mend her injury, it started moving faster, more confidently. Every bit of the wound she healed away made it easier to heal the rest. Soon the magic was a river rather than a stream, and then a torrent, and soon the wound had disappeared.
Breathing a sigh, Toriel pushed herself to her feet, finally able to actually act again. She paused for a moment. "…Thank you, Asgore," she grudgingly said.
"You're welcome, Tori," he responded, and then his eyes grew wide as he suddenly realized what he'd just called her. Toriel gave him a level look but said nothing. She just swept past him and turned to look at Par, still pinned to the wall. Behind her, he turned around too, an eyebrow raised.
"Par…" she said, a bit hesitantly, and then paused for a moment, unsure of what to say next. "Why are you doing this?"
"What does it matter?" he hissed.
"You almost killed my child," Toriel reminded him, sadness in her voice. "Why would you do that?"
"They got in my way," he replied, as if that explained everything.
"That is no reason to harm them like that," she said, her voice rising. "If I had not been there…"
"I would've-" Par started, and hesitated for a moment. "Killed them."
Toriel looked up at him sadly. "You miserable creature… what happened to make you like this?"
He scoffed. "You betrayed me. You all betrayed me."
"How?" she asked.
Par hissed and didn't answer. Toriel's eyes were still focused on him. She didn't know what had happened to make him like this, but…
"Just… shut up!" he finally said. "Shut up!"
"and let you do as you please?" Sans interjected, and shrugged. "nope."
"You… you…!" Par yelled, and swung an arm. A crescent flew at Sans but he vanished for a split second and reappeared when it was past.
Par growled and pushed himself away from the wall. His wings flapped and he flew forwards jerkily, but then crashed back to the wall. For a few moments he looked confused, and then some spark of realization flared in his brain and he pushed himself to his feet, so that he was standing on the wall now.
"Gravity manipulation," he growled with a note of satisfaction. "Your little tricks can't keep me down." He leapt off the wall and his wings flapped again, but this time, he was upright in respect to how gravity currently affected him. He took off, and was free of the wall.
And then Sans, his usual grin seeming a little more cocky than usual, let the spell go. Par's eyes went wide and he tried to adjust to the sudden change in gravity, but he couldn't, and he fell to the floor.
Toriel stepped in, a fireball coming to life in her hand. She held it above him, close to his body. "Do not move," she warned.
Sans looked concerned. "uh… bad idea, tori," he said.
Her eyes darted to him for a moment. "Why?"
"beca-" Sans started explaining, and then Par thrust an arm upwards, letting his hand collide with the fireball. The fireball burned him but he barely even seemed to notice it, and his palm pressed into Toriel's, smothering the flame.
"that," Sans said. "…though i expected it to go a bit worse."
Par flung out a hand, and before Toriel could react, energy – simple, raw, uncontrolled energy – slammed into her and she was flung backwards. She fell to the ground, and Par stood up. He looked around at the assembled monsters, frustration in his eyes. Toriel got to her feet quickly, trying to be ready for whatever he did, but he didn't do anything. Just looked around desperately like a cornered beast.
A small voice sounded from somewhere far away, elsewhere in the castle. "Uh… hey! Where is everyone?"
Sans' eyes grew the tiniest bit wider. "alphys, stay away from here."
"Why?" she asked.
"there's big things going on," Sans answered.
"H-hey!" she yelled. "I-I can help too, you know!"
"it's dangerous," he said.
"T-that's okay!" she said, nervousness and confidence both dancing through her voice, and the monsters heard the pitter-patter of little scaly feet approach the corridor.
Sans shrugged. Toriel's eyes widened with concern. Asgore still just looked very confused. And Par looked even more flustered than before.
Alphys burst through the doorway. "What's ha-" she started, and looked around.
"U-uh…" she stammered. "Is… is that…"
Par growled. Sans said "yeah. apparently."
"T-the one who tried to kill Chara?" she asked.
"mm-hmm," Sans nodded.
Fear grew in Alphys' eyes, but she still joined the circle that was being formed around Par. "Oh, come on!" he yelled.
"what?" Sans asked.
"This isn't fair!" he shouted.
"and you fighting a kid was?" Sans said.
Par growled. "W-well…. they…" He hesitated. "They knew how to fight, okay?! That was fair! Shut up!"
Sans shrugged. "so i guess that makes you trying to kill them alright?"
"Well… no, but-" He paused. "I mean, yes- well, no, but- shut up! Just… shut the hell up!"
"S-sir..." Toriel ventured.
"SHUT UP!" he yelled, and rushed towards her, his magic already growing in his hand. But Sans moved a hand to the side and he flew at the wall again, screaming in frustration. He tried to reorient himself to land on his feet, but he couldn't do it in time and just ended up falling on the wall awkwardly.
He hissed again and tried to reorient himself on the wall so he'd be on his feet, but as he did, Sans let the spell go, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground. He staggered to his feet again, only the moment he was up, Sans turned his soul blue again, and he went to the wall once more. He roared in anger.
"Oh, to hell with that!" he shouted. "I've got a bloody human soul inside me. I don't ne-" He paused for a moment. "…ed… to…"
Everyone blinked a few times in surprise. "huh," Sans said. "that explains a bit."
Par looked around for a few moments. "Dammit," he finally growled.
He grunted. "Never mind. So what?" he asked. "So you know I've got a human soul. Boo-hoo. What the hell do you plan to do with that?"
Sans shrugged.
"Anyway, point is," Par snarled, "you can't hold me, skeleton." With an effort, he pulled himself down the wall, and set a single foot on the floor. Sans' eyes grew the tiniest bit wider, and Par set himself down. With an effort like he was bound by a heavy weight, he took a single step forward, eyes fixed on Sans.
Once more, Sans swung his arm to the side, and Par grunted and stumbled as if hit by something. But he remained standing.
"Hah," Par laughed mirthlessly. "You can't do a thing to me. None of you can. You're all just insects."
And then something took him off his feet and sent him to the wall once more.
A tall shape stepped through the door, and everyone's head turned to look at the newcomer. All of their eyes widened, but Par's most of all.
"Or you could accept that you've lost," Gaster said, turning towards Par, "master." He put so much venom into the word that no one even thought to try and say anything. Gaster's presence simply commanded them all to wait for him to finish speaking, and the room fell silent.
"For someone with the power of a human soul, you aren't doing too well with these insects, as you called them," Gaster said. "How did you even manage to defeat Chara? Unless you hit them while they were distracted by one of these ones…"
Par's eyes narrowed and a low sound came from his throat. A small, arrogant smile formed on Gaster's skull. "Ah. I'm right, am I not?"
Once again, Par growled, and Gaster said "I see I am."
Par seethed for a moment, and then he spat, "Traitor."
Gaster's face turned serious, and he said "Perhaps."
"You said you would be loyal," Par told him.
"Then call me an oathbreaker," Gaster said. "I am above caring for what titles you heap onto me."
"Bastard," Par hissed.
"Name-calling? Really?" Gaster asked. "Even from someone like you, I would have expected better."
Once more, Par hissed, wordlessly this time. Again, Gaster smirked.
"Either way," Gaster said, "let me introduce my special guest."
Gaster took a single step away from the door, and into the corridor walked a very unhappy-looking Chara.
Toriel blinked. "M-my child?"
They smiled. "Hey, Tori."
"B-but…" Toriel's mind struggled to make sense of this. "Y-you were…"
"You healed their injuries, and since I was already keeping an eye out on Papyrus' room – I had assumed they'd return there after the fight – and that was where Sans had taken them, it didn't take long for me to find them," Gaster said. "From there, the only thing left to do was wake them up. Which I took the liberty of doing."
Chara scowled. "You slapped me over the head."
"I woke you up," Gaster noted.
"You slapped me over the head," they said again, more force behind the words this time.
Gaster waved a hand. "Regardless… you are here now. And that is what matters."
Chara sighed. "We'll talk about this later." They stepped forwards and looked Par in the eye. He looked back at them, anger written on his face.
"Hey there," they said. They looked around. "Gang's all here, huh?"
Par's brow furrowed in anger. "I can still kill you, you know," he said. "This spell doesn't mean I can't use my own magic."
"Yeah," Chara admitted. "Real question is, will you?"
Par said nothing, and Chara gestured at the monsters gathered around him. "I know what you can do. The fact is, you could've killed all of these people – well, maybe not Sans – without many issues," they said. "You didn't, though. So, I'm pretty sure I was right."
He growled. "Shut the hell up. Now."
Chara stepped forward and walked right in front of Par. They raised their gaze to look him straight in the eye, ignoring Toriel's gasp of concern. "Make me," they said.
A blob of magic appeared in Par's hand. "Maybe I will," he said.
"Chara…!" Toriel shouted out, but they just turned and smiled at her.
"I'll be fine," they said. "Just watch."
Par raised his hand and the magic formed into a crescent. Chara turned back towards him and looked into his eyes once more.
A few moments passed, and the bird's arm swung downwards. He was going to do it. He was going to kill them
But as the deadly crescent approached them, Par froze.
Chara smiled and folded their arms. "Point proven."
With a roar, Par swung once more, at their neck. They just smiled at him – that cocky, arrogant smile that Par couldn't stand. It was like they were taunting him. Like they were daring him to hit them, to kill them, safe in their assumption that he wouldn't.
Par's arm froze again. Damn it. What the hell was wrong with him?!
They turned around, that little arrogant smirk never leaving their face, and started walking away. Before they took more than a few steps, they stopped and half-turned towards Par. "By the way," they said, "I'm going to walk away now. You won't be able to see my face. It won't even be personal. You'll just be able to throw the crescent and that'll be it."
They grinned. "You've got your perfect opportunity to kill me. Just throw your attack and watch me fall in half. You'd like to do that, wouldn't you?"
Once more, they turned away and started walking, and with another roar, Par swung his arm. But at the last moment, something made him clutch onto the crescent, something made him refuse to let it fly.
Damn it. Damn it all.
He closed his eyes and flung the crescent at where he knew they'd be at that moment. A thunderous crash came somewhere in front of him, and he opened his eyes the tiniest bit, some part of him dreading, for some stupid reason, that he might've actually hit them. But he only saw a small crater in the ground – at a spot which he KNEW wasn't the one he'd aimed at. Or had he…?
Chara flinched a bit – that was satisfying, at least – but a moment later, they turned to look at him, a cocky smile on their face. Par wanted to bash that face in. But Gaster's – and the other skeleton's – bloody magic prevented him from moving an inch. He didn't know if it was just some quirk of soul magic in general, or there was something special about those two, but for whatever reason, even with the power of a human soul, he could not overcome the power that held him to the wall.
Once more, Par raised his hand into the air, forming a crescent. I'm going to throw this one, he told himself. I'm going to kill them, and then… An image flashed in his mind of the crescent going straight through them, of the look of shock on their face as the two halves of their body fell apart from each other. His hand trembled.
He couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it. The crescent faded.
Finally, Chara stopped and turned all the way towards him again. "Look, Par," they said, "I'm sorry, but… I don't think there's much room for argument anymore."
Par trembled in rage as they started to walk towards him. "You're just… not a killer," they told him, as if he hadn't heard them say it before. "I don't know what happened to make you this way – and I don't intend to try and find out; you're entitled to your secrets – but you were never meant to be like this."
"Shut up," he said again, halfheartedly.
Chara hesitated for a moment. "Do you… actually have anyone you really care about?" they asked, their tone oddly somber.
Par scoffed. "No."
They smiled, sadly, and looked down. "Ah. That explains it." They turned back to him. "You don't know how it feels, do you?"
He blinked. "What?"
"You don't know how it feels to have a real friend," they said. "Right?"
Par didn't say anything.
"It's so much better than you'd think," Chara told him. "I promise."
Suspicion grew in Par's mind. "Why are you telling me this?"
They smiled a little. "Well, honestly, it's because I need you to stop what you're doing or we're all doomed," they said. "But… I guess I see something of myself in you, too."
Par stared at them, confused.
"You remember, right?" they asked.
He knew what they were talking about. They were asking if he remembered what they'd used to do. How they'd used to kill everyone, over and over again. "Yes," he said. He couldn't think of anything else to say.
They nodded. "I was like you, once," they said. "Well… much more successful, but more or less like you.
"And then I discovered what it was like to have someone, someone out there who genuinely cares about you. Who you can genuinely call a friend. I discovered how it felt to understand, to truly understand, that everyone around you has feelings and friends and family and emotions, and that every little thing you do can have an effect that you'd never imagined before. I learned what it was like to live in a world with consequences. In a world where I couldn't just reset away anything I didn't like – a world where I really had to think about what I was doing, a world where I needed allies. More than that – I needed friends. And I was left with no choice but to get some."
Their mouth spread slowly into a smile. "It was the best time of my life," they said. "I know you can't understand this, not as you are now. I know you think it's silly, it's stupid – but that's all the same things I thought before. So please, just trust me. When you have someone who cares for you and for whom you care – hell, when you just have someone you can spend some time with – the world changes. I'm not exaggerating."
Par tried to find some reply, something to shoot back at them. But there was nothing he could say.
They turned to the monsters gathered around. "Sans, Gaster, let him go, please," they said.
At once, he felt Gaster's magic fade from him. Sans took a bit longer, but after a moment, he shrugged and dropped his own spell, too. Par fell to the floor, finally able to just stand again.
Once more, Chara turned back to him. "Please, just… turn away for this."
Par stared at them, blankly.
They sighed and closed their eyes. "At least see what it's like," they said. "Please."
And Par found himself doing the unthinkable. He found himself… thinking about it.
It seemed so easy. To just leave all of this, this goal that had eluded him for so long, and just… rest. Just stop.
But he couldn't turn away from his revenge. He couldn't let the monsters get away with their betrayal, and he couldn't let the humans get away with their own crimes, either.
Yet even as he thought those things, they seemed… dull. Hollow. Things he told himself and didn't really believe.
All of a sudden, even the threat of giving Chara the satisfaction of a victory over him seemed unimportant.
"I…" he said, and paused for a moment. "Fine. I'll give it a try." After all, he thought, trying to justify it to himself, what harm could it do?
Chara smiled, a genuine, warm smile that radiated a gentle happiness. Without even realizing it, Par found himself sharing in it. "Thank you," they said. They turned around. "Tori, take care of him for a while, would you please?"
"Of course," she nodded.
They turned to him once more. For a moment, they hesitated. "There's… something I want to give you. Just… as a reminder of what you chose." They reached up to their neck, removed their locket, and held it out to him.
Par blinked at them. "I thought this was important to you."
"It is," they said. "That's why I'm giving it to you."
Gingerly, he took the locket from their hands. His own hand trembled, and something made him clutch onto it like it was precious beyond words.
…
And that was the beginning of the end.
Chara leaned against the wall of Sans' house, the simple joy of finally being free, finally being safe still radiating through them, even a few hours after the fact. It was over. They didn't have to worry about Par anymore. For once, they could let themselves just… be happy. And relax.
A robed figure passed by, and Chara figured they had a pretty good idea of who it was. "Hey," they said.
The figure stopped, turned towards them. A few moments of hesitation later, it approached. A taloned hand reached up and pushed the hood back a tiny bit.
"Par," they said. "How's it going?"
He glanced to the side. "It's…"
They smiled. "Odd, right?" they asked. "You don't feel like you should be enjoying it. You feel like you should hate her, hate spending time with her. But you can't help yourself."
Par looked at them. There was still a part of him, they knew, that wanted to say no. Some part of him still wanted to stick to his old ways out of sheer defiance. But they felt confident it wouldn't win.
"W-well…" he said. "Toriel… she…"
Chara nodded. "I know how it feels," they assured him. "Just… let your preconceived notions go, for a moment. Just let yourself be happy."
He looked away again, and stayed silent.
"You been taking good care of my locket?" Chara asked him.
"Yeah," he said, absently.
"Thanks," they said. "I wouldn't want it to get damaged."
"It won't," he said.
"Thank you."
For a moment, there was silence. "It's not that long a road, you know," Chara said. "But… it's a hard one. You'll have to question yourself. That's never easy. But… I think you can do it. Especially with Tori by your side."
Par said nothing, just looked away with a solemn look in his eyes. Chara knew he knew they were right.
Silence.
"And one more thing," Chara said. "Word's reached me that you've got a human soul."
He blinked and looked at them, his eyes a bit wide. "Yeah," he said bitterly.
"Good," they said. "What you're going to do is find someone called Asriel – he looks a little like Asgore, only a small kid – and give him that soul."
Par froze in stunned silence, and Chara gave him a sly look.
Frisk had slipped away from Chara a few minutes ago. They didn't like it, but they couldn't tell them. This was something they had to do on their own.
They found Gaster after a while. [Hey,] they said.
Gaster glanced in their general direction, his expression regretful. [I see you've figured it out,] he replied.
[Yeah,] they nodded.
Awkwardly, Frisk waited for him to say something. [Well, go on,] he finally said.
They hesitated. [Taking away Chara's resets… it wasn't the ONLY way, was it? Or at least, you weren't sure it was.]
Gaster said nothing. He just looked out into nothingness.
[You were just looking for an excuse,] they said. [You already wanted Chara's power gone, and you just used the situation to make that happen. You figured that was the first solution we'd come to, after all, didn't you? And since we came up with it ourselves, we couldn't blame you for having an ulterior motive for suggesting it.]
For a moment, Gaster waited. [Interesting theory,] he said.
Frisk blinked. [So you didn't do that?]
[I never said that,] Gaster reminded them.
[So… you did?] Frisk asked.
[I'm afraid you can't prove anything,] Gaster said.
[So you did do it,] they said.
Gaster didn't answer.
[But…] They paused for a moment. [You tricked Chara. That's… that's wrong.]
He shrugged.
[I'll tell them,] Frisk warned.
[And they'll do… what?] Gaster asked.
Frisk blinked, and said nothing.
For a few moments more Gaster hesitated, and when he spoke again, it was in an unusually gentle voice. [In this world, the wicked are not always punished,] he said. [I am sorry this is how you had to find out.]