1 hour earlier…
Chara, wearing Frisk's appearance, was sitting at the Dreemurrs' house in New Home. Asgore handed his daughter a cup of golden flowers tea, and Chara thanked him. Chara's mind was quite preoccupied since the previous night. Frisk wasn't losing faith, which was quite problematic. Because as long as Frisk had faith, Chara's revenge would never be complete. This is why she had to seduce Papyrus this afternoon. Only that way, she could break Frisk. But despite her current concerns, Chara pretended to be fine. And to avoid any questions about her wellbeing from her family, she asked to Asgore:
"You look a little down, Dad. Is everything alright?"
"I'm… as fine as I can be." - Asgore said with a sigh - "Considering that Chara's still out there somewhere, it's difficult to not worry. Where is she? What is she doing? What is she up to? Those questions run through my head all the time, since her return."
"So, Chara's stuck in your mind?" - Chara asked, internally pleased by the torment she could inflinge to her (former) father - "How do you feel about her return?"
"I already told you before, I'm shocked." - Asgore replied - "But it also pains me to see what she became…"
Chara frowned. What did Asgore mean? "Is he disappointed? He's unhappy that I didn't become the perfect little 'savior' of monsterkind?" - she asked herself with irritation.
"...I wasn't blind, I knew that she mustn't have been very happy before falling in the Underground." - Asgore pursued - "I really hoped her scars would heal and that she'd be happy with us."
Chara was surprised to hear this. Asgore sounded genuine saying this. Did this mean that he cared a little bit? But then, Asriel spoke on his turn. Drinking the last sip of his own tea, he said:
"Chara always spoke badly about humanity, to the point she almost denied her own species. She even told me once she wished to be a monster, like everyone in the Underground."
"It was the time after Gaster acted all racist towards me… that hypocrite." - Chara thought - "He's all loud about his hatred for humanity, yet he's not much different from them. I'm glad he's amnesic now. He doesn't deserve to remember happiness."
"In the end, I guess she succeeded at that." - Asriel then pursued with a sad tone, surprising both Asgore and Chara - "Considering how evil she is now, she certainly became a monster."
Those words made Chara want to punch Asriel in the face right there and then.
"Asriel, you shouldn't say that…" - Asgore said uncomfortably.
"But it's somewhat true, isn't it? Chara always had some issues. I was just too blind to really see it." - Asriel replied with a sad sigh, then looked at "Frisk" with a sad smile - "She was the one to teach me the 'kill or be killed' philosophy. And I'm gratefuly every single day that you made me see the truth. I've said it many times by now, but you're very special, Frisk. I'm glad that you're nothing like Chara."
"It's… very nice to hear, Asriel." - Chara replied, while hating her brother even more in the inside.
Later...
Chara was walking down the street in the direction of Papyrus home, her goal clear in mind. "Today, he'll fully surrender to my charm. Today, Frisk will lose Papyrus forever." - she was telling herself with anticipation. Chara couldn't wait until she'd make Papyrus hers. Once this task done, she would accomplish her revenge. "Frisk stole my family from me. Whatever I do, they'll never really love me. I'll take Papyrus away from her in counterpart. Knowing that her 'true love' surrendered to my charm will shatter her heart in million pieces." Chara's grin grew wide and she felt a strong desire to laugh. She almost didn't care that she was in the middle of a street and that anyone could see her. She was so close to the accomplishement of her revenge and it felt so freaking good! Chara almost did surrender to her impulse, but then she heard familiar children voices.
"Hey Frisk!"
Chara stopped and quickly composed herself and looked at her left, where she could see Sam, Piper, and their dog friend play on the playground. Chara smiled sweetly and entered the area, greeting the three children who walked up to her.
"Hello guys." - she said - "Are you having fun?"
"Yeah, it's nice to be on holidays." - Sam replied.
"And did you have a good time at the Dreemurrs' place?" - Piper asked.
"Yeah, I guess I did." - Chara replied with a casual shrug, even though the mention of the Dreemurrs did tense her up inside.
"How are they doing?" - Sam asked on his turn - "How are they dealing with… you-know-what?"
"They're doing fine." - Chara said, then hurried to change the topic - "And how do you do… Pupamy? How is your family doing?"
Chara hoped that the kids didn't notice the light hesitation on the puppy boy's name. She took care to retain most of the information from the life of the family members, but Pupamy's name just didn't came up as naturally in her mind. "Calm down, I remembered quickly enough." - she told herself - "They didn't notice." Pupamy answered a bit shyly:
"Um, my parents are doing alright. And I'm okay too, I guess…"
"That's wonderful." - Chara smiled sweetly - "Alright, I'm going home now."
"Does that mean we must go home too?" - Piper asked, clearly hoping that she wouldn't have to.
"No, just stay outside for a while!" - Chara said, her voice a bit needier than intended, but she quickly covered it up - "I mean, it's summer holidays! You should take all the time you want to have fun."
"So we can keep playing outside for a bit longer?" - Sam asked.
"Of course! Play as long as you wish."
Chara obviously needed the kids to stay outside for a while, so she could have all the time she needed to "ultimately seduce" Papyrus.
"Oh, okay… But Mom says we shouldn't stay outside for too long... considering what's going on…" - Piper said hesitantly.
"Damn. I guess I'll have to reassure those brats to make them stay outside." - Chara thought. She couldn't allow them enter the house while she'd be doing her thing. She really hated to play the comforting grandma to the twins, but she had no choice. If she wanted to get her revenge, she'd have to play Frisk's role to the end. Chara knelt down to the kids and put her hands over each's shoulder. She smiled at them gently and said with a soft reassuring voice:
"Don't worry, kids. As long as your mommy's not too far around, you two are safe. Chara won't hurt you, I promise."
"For now, at least." - she mentally added.
"You really mean it?" - Sam asked.
"I do." - Chara nodded - "Chara can be scary and powerful. But all together, we're much stronger than her. You know why?"
The kids looked at "Frisk" expectingly.
"Because we're all united by love. Not the Level of Violence, but the good love." - Chara kept going - "Because we all care for each other and we do anything to protect each other from anyone's harm."
"Heh, I guess you have a point." - Sam smiled - "Yeah, Chara can't harm us. 'Cause we're all together, while she's alone."
"W-well said, Sam..." - Chara replied, keeping a gentle face taking a lot of effort.
"We trust your opinion, Frisk." - Piper said on her turn - "And Chara's nothing on you."
"I'm glad that you two believe in me."
Chara then hugged the kids, even though that contact repulsed her. How she hated them, just like all humans. As she was holding the twins in her arms, she only wished she could break their necks right at the moment. When she pulled away, she ruffled the kids hair as she said them bye.
"Bye, Pupamy." - she then did the same to the puppy monster - "Take care."
"G-goodbye, Frisk." - Pupamy replied.
When Chara left the playground to resume her way home, Pupamy looked after her with a frown. The twins quickly noticed their friend's puzzled expression.
"What's wrong, Pupamy?" - Sam asked.
"Your face looks weird." - Piper said.
"I don't know..." - Pupamy replied, still frowning - "It's just that Frisk, she… she doesn't smell normal."
At Grillby's, Sans was sitting at his usual spot, having his lunch. He was so deep in thought that he almost failed to notice Noelle arrive and sit next to him.
"oh, hi kiddo…" - he said with a slightly distracted tone - "how's your magic doing? sill misbehaving?"
"No, it's working fine. But after two hours of training, I'm exhausted." - Noelle replied, before ordering a drink.
Sans knew about her magic issues, since Noelle told him about it after she talked with the Annoying Dog. The issue concerned Sans, but Noelle decided to simply follow the Dog's advice this time. So, she's been training her magic and patterns since then, while emptying her mind. The Dog told her that her doubts affected her magic and that she had to focus on what truly mattered, that is remembering what she was really fighting for. And so, Noelle decided to not think about Chara or her LV while she was training. She was thinking only about the creativity of the patterns of her attacks. And progressively, it made her magic steadier. True, there were small momens when the thought about Chara would cross Noelle's mind and the bones would start to shudder in a threat to dissipate. But when that happened, Noelle would chase Chara away from her mind and replace the thought of her by much nicer things. And thus, the magic bones would turn stable again. Noelle just hoped that her problem would be completely gone soon, because it wasn't always easy to not think about Chara and her threat at all during her trainings. After all, she was still out there, while she and others were oblivious what she was up to.
"And how are you, Sans? You look pensive." - Noelle remarked.
"yeah, well... i was thinking about something pap told me last night." - Sans replied.
"Huh? Is something going on?" - Noelle asked, getting concerned.
"not really, don't worry about it."
"Sans, tell me." - Noelle insisted.
"fine. it looks like your parents are going through some couple problems." - Sans replied - "based on what papyrus told me."
"Couple problems..? That's a first!" - Noelle said with a frown - "My parents' love is strong. What could be going wrong?"
"those are my exact thoughts, noelle." - Sans replied - "since papyrus and frisk got in a relationship, everything's been going well between them. they've been loving, caring, supporting, trusting… so, it was a surprise for me to hear from pap that he was feeling uncomfortable around his wife lately."
"...Uh. Are those his exact words? That he's feeling 'uncomfortable'?"
"maybe not, but that was the idea." - Sans said with a sigh - "papyrus says something feels off about frisk's behaviour around him."
"And... what does he mean by that?" - Noelle asked curiously.
"that frisk is either distant, either too seductive. seductive in a wrong way, he says." - Sans answered - "apparently, things feel wrong when it comes to intimacy, or something."
"Oh. I... see…" - Noelle blushed at the thought - "So, um… what does Dad plan doing about it?"
"he said he'll talk with frisk." - Sans replied before taking a sip of ketchup - "but i dunno, this situation really puzzles me. why would frisk change her behaviour around him so suddenly? pap says the changes occured less than a week ago."
Noelle got thoughtful at this. What her uncle just said puzzled her too now. What could this mean? Noelle really didn't want her parents to have relationship problems, especially that she finally had a stable family after all those long years.
"what about you, noelle?" - Sans then asked her - "maybe you noticed something different about your mother too?"
Noelle thought about it and she quickly recalled a conversation she had with her two days ago. When Frisk said something that Noelle thought being too out of character for her.
"Actually... There is that one time when she-"
She was cut off as Sam, Piper and Pupamy rushed to the counter. The three kids were panting, since they've been running up to the restaurant. Noelle looked at them, asking:
"Hey, what's the matter kids?"
"Mom... Pupamy said something that worried us." - Piper said.
"It's pretty weird, and we thought we should tell you too." - Sam said on his turn.
"Oh? What is it, Pupamy?" - Noelle asked to the puppy boy.
"Noelle, I... I'm not sure why, but… Well, you see we were playing on the playground and Frisk passed by to say 'hi'." - Pupamy started nervously - "And when she was close enough, I noticed something odd. Frisk smells weird."
"What… What do you mean by 'smells weird'?" - Noelle frowned.
"that's not nice, kid. she doesn't stink, ya know." - Sans said - "she bathes more often than i do."
"It's not what I mean..!" - Pupamy replied - "I'm not saying that Frisk smells bad, just that she smells… different. As in... she doesn't smell like herself."
"Wait, as if she smells like a different person?" - Noelle asked.
"...I suppose."
Noelle pondered on the matter. After all, Pupamy was a dog monster, so it only made sense that he could identify people by their personal smell. But now, it made her wonder. If Frisk didn't smell like herself, did that mean that…?
"Sans..." - Noelle gasped as she turned to him and met his serious glance - "If Mom smells different and acts unusually for her, do you think that..?"
"yes, i'm thinking the same thing, noelle." - Sans replied.
"She's been replaced, and I have an idea by who." - Noelle said as she quickly stood up from her chair, then looked down at the three children - "Kids, when did you last see her?"
"I don't know, maybe five minutes ago..?" - Sam replied - "She was heading home."
"oh no... papyrus is home alone." - Sans' eyesockets darkened.
"We must go." - Noelle said.
But she couldn't take the kids along, neither leave them wander around unsupervised. Noelle made a sign to Grillby, who quickly walked up to her.
"Grillby, can you please keep an eye on the kids while we're gone?" - Noelle requested with an urgent tone - "And also not let them exit the restaurant? There's a very urgent business."
"Of course, Noelle." - Grillby said with a nod - "I'll watch over them."
"Thank you, Grillby." - Noelle replied, before she and Sans rushed outside.
Meantime, Papyrus was staring at "Frisk" who, as he understood now, wasn't her at all. It now all made sense to him. The woman in front of him was giving him a questioning look.
"YOU'RE NOT FRISK..." - Papyrus said, his wide eyesockets glowing purple.
Chara was a little startled by the statement coming from him. How could he have guessed?
"What are you saying, Papyrus? Of course that's me!" - Chara kept pretending - "Who else can I be?"
"I HAVE MY GUESS… BUT YOU CERTAINLY ARE NOT FRISK!" - Papyrus replied with confidence.
"Please, stop that. You're kind of hurting my feelings now." - Chara faked a hurt expression.
"STOP PRETENDING, YOU CAN'T CONVINCE ME." - Papyrus said seriously - "I UNDERSTOOD YOU'RE NOT FRISK THE MOMENT YOU KISSED ME. BECAUSE I KNOW HOW KISSING HER FEELS. IT'S ALWAYS FILLED WITH LOVE. AND I KNOW HOW LOVE FEELS LIKE. AND YOUR KISS DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THAT AT ALL."
What Papyrus said was true. He could make the difference between a kiss exchanged with his beloved human and a kiss from another. It probably sounded cliché, but it was just how things were. When he and Frisk kissed, it held a deep meaning, it had that undiscribable and magical sensation that would make his head spin and his SOUL swell. However, despite Chara's attempt to make it as "hot" as she could, the kiss Papyrus had was just empty. It wasn't something that could be described; only one who experienced true love could understand.
"...Fine, I guess the act's pointless now."
Chara then glitched to reveal her true appearance. Papyrus gasped, even though he had guessed who the woman would be.
"CHARA..."
The woman smiled widely and flipped her hair with her hands.
"At least, I can be my gorgeous self again. Gods, it feels so good!" - she exclaimed - "But really, Papyrus. Do you have an idea the effort I put in the pretending? You could've at least enjoyed it!"
"WHERE IS FRISK? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" - Papyrus asked firmly, giving her a hard look.
"Oh don't worry, she's fine, stuck in the destroyed by me timeline." - Chara replied with a wave of her hand.
"SO SHE'S BEEN THERE ALL ALONE FOR DAYS..?" - a look of horror crossed Papyrus' face, before demanding - "BRING HER BACK! BRING FRISK BACK NOW!"
"I'm sorry, but I just don't want to!" - Chara said with a nasty grin, raising her hands - "The whole point was to steal Frisk's life, to make her pay for stealing mine. So even if my plan failed now, I want her to keep suffering and I'm not bringing her back!"
"YOU WILL BRING HER BACK!" - Papyrus' eyesockets glowed red - "DO IT NOW, OR I'LL..."
"You will what? Kill me?" - Chara scoffed - "We both know you can't."
"MAYBE, BUT I SURELY WILL FIGHT FOR FRISK UNTIL THE VERY END!"
Papyrus had never felt so angry towards anyone in his life. His eyes were now displaying multiple emotions at once. His eyes reflected anger, determination, but also his love for Frisk. It was true that deep down, despite his anger, Papyrus didn't have it in him to kill. He also knew that killing Chara wouldn't change anything, since she was the only one who could bring Frisk back. But, he was no less ready to fight. He wouldn't fear fight or hurt Chara, if it meant to eventually save Frisk. If it meant to prevent Chara from causing to Frisk more pain. If Papyrus would fight, it wasn't for revenge or to hurt Chara, but it was to protect his beloved wife.
"So you really want a fight then?" - Chara asked, as she took her knife in her hand - "Alright, then. I've missed this."
Papyrus didn't waste time to make a skeletal blaster appear above his head. The skull opened its mouth in a threatening manner.
"CHARA, WE DON'T HAVE TO COME TO THIS." - Papyrus said calmly - "ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BRING FRISK BACK."
"And cross my plans of revenge? No, thank you. I'm pretty much enjoying myself by seeing her suffer." - Chara replied nastily.
Papyrus' eyesockets glowed red again, hating the thought of Frisk suffering somewhere in that destroyed timeline. Then, without thinking further, before Chara had the chance to do anything, the blaster fired, which expulsed Chara out of the bedroom to the corridor. After a moment, Chara sat up with a huff and said darkly:
"So you really want to play that, huh?"
Papyrus was standing at the doorframe, the blaster floating on his side, his gaze on Chara never flinching. Chara stood up, saying with a wide creepy smile:
"I'd love to see your head fall off your spine again."
Before Papyrus had the time to react, Chara quickly charged at him, the knife in her hand. But before the knife had the time to hit Papyrus, the noise of an opening door got heard, and Chara felt a sudden pressure and weight on her SOUL that prevented her from moving. She looked down at her chest and saw that her SOUL had turned blue. With an irritated sigh, Chara looked at her side and saw Noelle being at the stairs with a furious look on her face. Her right hand was glowing blue, controlling the blue magic over Chara's SOUL.
"If you dare to hurt my father, I'll smash your creepy grin against the floor and ceiling until you lose all your teeth." - Noelle threatened, her voice low and dangerous.
Sans had meantime teleported upstairs, checking on his brother.
"bro, you're alright?" - Sans asked as his left eyesocket glowed purple.
"YES... YES, I'M ALRIGHT, SANS..." - Papyrus replied - "BUT FRISK... CHARA HID HER AWAY IN THE DESTROYED TIMELINE! WE MUST DO SOMETHING..!"
"we know, bro. we will get her out of there." - Sans said reassuringly.
"Good luck with that. I'm curious to see you try." - Chara commented, her evil grin never leaving her face.
"Bring my mother back now. This isn't a request, but an order." - Noelle said, her tone getting darker at each word.
"And what if i don't comply, 'Your Highness'?" - Chara replied with a challenging look.
Noelle didn't reply. Not in words, that is. Instead, with her magic grip on the SOUL, Noelle made Chara fly long the corridor until her back hit the wall. Walking up closer, Noelle then violently lifted Chara up to make her meet the ceiling, before re-applying the natural gravity and making Chara fall down from the second floor to the living room. Papyrus and Sans were gazing at Noelle wide-eyed, but she was oblivious to their stare, not that she cared at the moment. She descended the stairs slowly, waching how Chara was struggling to stand due to the pain she was feeling everywhere in her body. Chara looked up at Noelle when she was standing two steps from her. She gave her a dead glare, as if mentally swearing to make her pay for this. But Noelle was unimpressed.
"Ha... haha... You... So you're following your uncle Sans' steps, uh?" - Chara said with a faint laughter - "Now you're going to give me a 'bad time'?"
"Give you a bad time?" - Noelle asked back, before shaking her head - "Oh no, what I shall give you isn't just a bad time. I'll give you the worst time of your whole existence."
Noelle's eyes glowed pink brightly and she summoned bones around the living room, to prevent any harm caused to Papyrus or Sans. Chara looked at Noelle with her angry red eyes, her determination never faltering. Noelle was staring back at her with equal determination, her anger rising at each moment. Her pink glow quickly turned red and then she hissed dangerously:
"If you don't bring my mother back right now, I swear you'll regret being ever born."
Frisk was sitting in the dark, her eyes closed and her expression peaceful. She was re-living in her head the most precious moment of her and Papyrus' life. She was remembering the day Noelle was born. Frisk remembered the happiness on Papyrus' face, as well as in her own heart, when they held their child for the very first time. She remembered crying happy tears for a while. Frisk remembered Papyrus saying that the baby was beautiful and that she resembled her a lot. She could also remember the weight of her baby in her arms. Every detail of that day was unforgotten, due to the great importance of that memory. It was the first time all the three of them were being a family. That day, it felt almost as though their three SOULs magically connected. "That love that we felt that day was so strong and beautiful." - Frisk thought, then her lips curved into a smile - "I'd give anything now to feel it again, to be reunited with Papyrus and Noelle." And so, another dream generated itself in Frisk's palm. As she looked at it, she saw that this one was slightly different from the others. It was a bit bigger and its shine was twice brighter. Frisk smiled and then ate the dream. It felt so good. The dream eased the ache in her SOUL, as she felt the sweet and sparkling taste in her mouth. She didn't immediately notice that her SOUL started to glow brightly in a multicolored light. When she did, Frisk gasped in surprise. What did this mean? Why was her SOUL doing that?
The fight Sans and Papyrus had to witness was a pretty violent one. The scope of Noelle's power was a little terrifying, actually. Because in that fight, Chara barely had the chance to hurt Noelle (who became a pretty good dodger thanks to Sans), while Noelle was literally beating the crap out of her enemy. Noelle turned out to have a deadly creativity when it came to her attacks. She could made dozens of bones fly at once or following a precise order, while combining with her handling of blue magic. Even without Karmic Retribution, her magic bones could inflict high damage due to the cleverness of the patterns. And Noelle's magic didn't once falter during this fight. Her anger towards Chara was so strong that it made her throw away her doubts and self-questioning. All Noelle knew at that moment was how much she hated Chara. The living room was a mess, and Chara was now spitting blood. Chara wasn't pretty to see, actually. She had wounds and bruises everywhere, a swollen eye, a spot of blood on her green shirt and her hair bangs were soaked in blood due to a cut on her head. Chara was even limping and the hand that was holding the knife was trembling. But she wasn't giving up. Every once in a while, Noelle would demand Chara to bring Frisk back, to which she'd always answer "never". And each time, Noelle would either send a row of bones at Chara, or smash her against the ceiling with blue magic. As determined as Chara was, she soon noticed that it was more and more difficult to hold her knife while suffering from her injuries. Her HP were getting pretty low. "I suppose the wisest thing to do now is flee." - Chara thought. She then gave Noelle her nasty smile, saying:
"You know that I can just glitch away at any moment, right? And that you'd be left without any way to free your mommy?"
"Don't you dare..!" - Noelle shouted.
"Ha ha, see ya later, loser!"
But then... nothing happened. The moment when Chara was supposed to glitch away, she just didn't. Chara frowned, then her face got alarmed. She was literally locked in this big cage of bones. Seeing that Chara was for whatever reason unable to leave, Noelle used blue magic to increase the pressure on the SOUL and make Chara fall on her knees. As Chara brought her hand to her chest by instinct, Noelle walked up to her with dangerously glowing pink eyes. Then, she summoned bones in a circle pattern, that surrounded Chara.
"I need just one second to unleash those." - Noelle said quietly, yet threatingly - "Just bring my mother back, and it won't happen."
"...You see now? I told you that the day you'll want to kill me would come." - Chara said with a sly grin.
"I won't repeat myself."
"I will never release Frisk." - Chara said with a strong tone - "She will suffer in the void I once created. And you will never see her again."
Noelle inhaled and exhaled several times as she was feeling her blood boil in rage. She always thought that forgiving was the solution. This, however, wasn't something she could forgive. She made a move with her hand, making the bones fly closer to Chara.
"NOELLE, DON'T!" - Papyrus yelled.
The bones stopped, while Noelle looked up to see her father and Sans look at her from behind the bone bars. Papyrus spoke again, in order to reason his daughter.
"KILLING HER WON'T SOLVE ANYTHING. NO MATTER HOW HORRENDOUS HER ACTIONS ARE, YOU CAN'T KILL HER."
"I can't believe you're on her side now. Don't you care that she kidnapped your wife?" - Noelle asked.
"IT'S NOT ABOUT CHARA, BUT ABOUT YOU!" - Papyrus replied - "I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE A MURDERER! I DON'T WANT TO SEE THE HEART OF MY DAUGHTER BE TAINTED BY DARKNESS. SO PLEASE, SPARE HER!"
"If I spare her... she'll hurt us again... and again..." - Noelle breathed out, her tone almost dead.
"NOELLE, I UNDERSTAND YOU'RE ANGRY, BUT THAT'S NOT YOU! YOU'RE A GOOD AND FORGIVING PERSON, REMEMBER?" - Papyrus pleaded.
"kid, i'm usually for punishing the sinners, but i'm with pap this time." - Sans spoke on his turn - "killing her now is pointless anyway. so drop it, and we'll find another way to save frisk."
Noelle didn't respond. Her anger was way too strong, she really wanted to let it all go. She really wanted Chara to suffer, just like she had surely made Frisk suffer out there. Chara had to pay.
"Rule number 1: When you fight, do it only to protect others."
Noelle almost gasped as the Dog's words echoed in her mind. She recalled her recent conversation with him. The Dog said that she had to follow her morals and remember why she was fighting for - protecting the ones she cared for. "I'm quite too late to protect Mom now, am I?" - Noelle told herself. So what was the point in fighting just for protection? She already failed at that. Noelle looked straight into Chara's red eyes. It's because of her that she lost her mother again. Chara had no right to do this, she had to pay. Noelle wanted to finish her off. But then, she recalled there was another rule. What was it again?
"Rule number 2: Always trust rule number 1."
Noelle then felt like she was lost. What was she supposed to do? Surrender to her current feelings and put a real end to Chara's evil deeds, or listen to the Dog's wisdom despite everything?
"Always trust rule number 1." - the words echoed in her head again.
"NOELLE... PLEASE, I BEG YOU, DON'T DO IT." - Papyrus said softly, with small tears glimmering in his dark eyesockets - "OR YOU'LL HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE."
Noelle felt herself cool down, just a little. But the bones were still threatingly close to Chara.
"noelle, if you kill chara now, you won't be any better than her." - Sans said on his turn - "but you are better than that, aren't you?"
"Always trust rule number 1."
Noelle shuddered, then made all her magic bones vanish. She released her grip on Chara's SOUL. Chara looked at her curiously, then she grinned. "She was close enough to touch darkness. But she didn't have it in her to go to the end." The red-eyed woman then stood up and… limping, went away through the front door. Nobody did anything to stop her. After a few moments, Noelle fell on her knees and started to sob. Sans and Papyrus walked up to her and put their hands on her shoulders. They didn't need to exchange any words to know why Noelle was crying. It was because she just went almost too far, she almost killed a person. She went against her own morals out of pure anger and desire of vengeance. But Noelle was also frustrated because they had no way to bring Frisk back home.
"What will we do now...?" - Noelle then spoke between her sobs - "...How can we even save Mom..?"
"Don't cry, Noelle! I already took care of that!" - a familiar voice said from behind.
Noelle, Papyrus and Sans turned around to see that there were standing the Annoying Dog and... Frisk. At once, they jumped on their feet, shocked and relieved to see Frisk back home.
"Mom..!" - Noelle exclaimed happily.
"Noelle... Papyrus..." - Frisk breathed out with a happy smile.
She then walked up to Papyrus, who gladly took her in his arms. But the next moment, Frisk lost consciousness.
"FRISK..? HUMAN WIFE?" - Papyrus called for her, getting worried.
"It's okay, it's just a reaction to crossing timelines." - the Annoying Dog reassured the group - "She's not injured in any way. Just let her rest and tomorrow she'll feel well again."
"how did you find her, dog?" - Sans asked.
"I just saw a signal from the timeline she was in. In the black void, there was one bright light emitted by her SOUL. This permitted me to track her and then bring her back here." - the Dog explained with a smile.
Papyrus whispered a "thank you" to the dog, as he was stroking his wife's brown hair. He looked down at Frisk and noted how at peace his SOUL was again, now that she was back home.
Frisk slowly opened her eyes and it took her a few moments to process the essential - she was back home, in her bedroom. She turned her head, to see Papyrus look at her with concern.
"Papyrus..."
"FRISK..! YOU'RE AWAKE! I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU'RE ALRIGHT, AND..." - Papyrus then paused and looked away as in shame - "I AM SO VERY SORRY, FRISK."
"Sorry..? What for?" - Frisk asked weakly.
"FOR NOT REALIZING SOONER THAT YOU WERE GONE." - Papyrus replied, but after a moment he clarified - "I MEAN, I DID NOTICE SOME DIFFERENCES IN YOUR-... I MEAN, CHARA'S BEHAVIOUR. BUT I JUST COULDN'T UNDERSTAND THE REASON OF THE CHANGE. I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY AND IT WAS ONLY TODAY THAT I UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS GOING ON."
"What... What made you understand she was not me?" - Frisk asked.
"I UNDERSTOOD IT AS SOON AS SHE... UM, K-KISSED ME." - Papyrus said, not daring to look into his wife's eyes - "I KNOW, YOU'RE PROBABLY UPSET ABOUT THIS, BUT I SWEAR THAT I DIDN'T KISS HER BACK! AND THAT I DIDN'T ENJOY-..."
He was cut off as Frisk suddenly wrapped her arms around him and burried her face into his red scarf. Papyrus automatically returned the embrace, but then he heard Frisk sniffle.
"FRISK..? ARE YOU CRYING? PLEASE, DON'T BE MAD AT ME. I'M TRULY SORRY FOR WHAT HAPPENED AND JUST TELL ME HOW I CAN MAKE THIS UP FOR YOU…"
"I'm so glad..." - Frisk replied, before looking up at her husband with a smile - "I knew it... I knew you'd see the difference... I just knew."
"OF COURSE I'D SEE THE DIFFERENCE." - Papyrus said as he gently stoke Frisk's cheek - "I'D KNOW YOU AND YOUR KISS ANYWHERE."
Frisk smiled warmly at this and another tear fell down her cheek. Papyrus hurried to wipe it away with his gloved hand and hugged her tightly to his chest again.
"Oh, you're awake!" - Noelle said from the doorframe.
Papyrus and Frisk looked at her, and then Frisk gave a smile to her daughter.
"Noelle... I'm so glad that you're okay. I'm happy to see you."
Noelle smiled back and she walked up to her mother so they could hug.
"I'm happy you're not hurt, Mom… I'm so sorry for what happened to you."
"It's alright, my dear... I'm back home, safe and sound." - Frisk said gently.
Papyrus then wrapped his arms around the two ladies. Frisk smiled again, the reunion making her feel content inside. She was back home with her daughter and Papyrus, and Chara's words turned out to be lies.
"By the way, you must be hungry Mom?" - Noelle then said, pulling away from the hug.
"I guess I am... I ate nothing but dreams those past few days."
"Alright, I shall go downstairs make dinner."
As Noelle exited the room, she noticed with the corner of her eye that Papyrus planted a gentle peck on Frisk's lips. Noelle smiled; she was glad that her parents were always so affectionate with each other. Not many people were lucky to know a love so pure. Noelle then looked around, noting how convenient it was that Dog took care to clean the living room with his magic. (Or were those divine powers? It probably didn't really matter.) As Noelle went to the kitchen, she thought about Chara again. Her look darkened and she mentally swore: "This is the last time you hurt those I love. I will no longer let you. And I won't allow you corrupt me."
A/N: I don't have much to say about this chapter, hehe. ^^ I'll just say that there are only four chapters left before the end! I hope you'll love how things will play out. :D