Chara was hiding in the woods beneath the Mount Ebott to recover from being beaten up by Noelle. The latter undenyingly was very powerful at magic, especially when driven by a strong emotion such as anger. Chara sat down beneath a tree with a wince of pain experienced at the level of her ribs (she probably had a broken one, but she couldn't tell for sure). She looked up at the darkening sky, before closing her eyes in a poor attempt to relax and forget the pain. "I was so close… so damn close..!" - Chara was mentally yelling - "I wonder how Noelle figured out about my plan, though? ...Ugh, I guess it doesn't matter. My plan failed and that's it…" Chara then took an apple she managed to steal from the garden of a monster. Being monster food, it would heal some of her injuries. As she bit into the fruit, the woman could sense some of her pain ease. She kept eating while thinking about her defeat: "And Papyrus… he just wouldn't let me do it… Just because he 'loves Frisk truly'... How disgusting and pathetic…" When Chara finished the apple, she threw the waste away, then took another one from her pocket. She needed to heal most of her injuries right then, to recover better in her sleep. "I don't get why my gained powers vanished, though? Are those limited?" - Chara then wondered - "Without those powers, I lose some of my advantage against Noelle and her family." Chara was surprised that the powers she gained after the erasure of the world turned out to not be unfinite. Considering where she got those powers from, she had always assumed that it would know no limits. But she'd been proved wrong near the end of her battle against Noelle. Now, she no longer could glitch away. Not only she'd be bound to common physical limitations, but she no longer could go back to her erased timeline. Chara had thus nowhere to hide. She was stuck there, in this happy timeline. "Alright, think now… if I could get those powers in my timeline, I can do the same here..! That's it! All I have to do is repeat what I did years ago! I must erase the world again." But Chara was a bit disappointed with the solution she just came with. Her plan was to make her family suffer, not just end everything. Chara wanted the Dreemurrs to regret their actions before she "fell down". She wanted everyone know that she wasn't one to mess with. That she was the one in control. She wanted to be feared. But if she'd have to destroy the world, it would just be the end of everything, another void. The woman knew she'd have to make a choice. Chara then closed her red eyes and thought that she'd decide after a night of sleep.
The next day, Noelle and her family had the surprise to get a visit from the Annoying Dog. He just randomly appeared in the middle of the living room, making Noelle almost drop the cup of calming tea made for Frisk (she really needed it after her recent experience) that she's been carrying from the kitchen to the living room. The Dog looked a little amused by how startled Noelle was. But the others did jump and gasp by his sudden apparition too.
"Dog..! I almost spilled the tea everywhere!" - Noelle scolded him - "Warn us next time..!"
"What should I have done instead? Knock the door? I can't do that with my dog paws!" - the Dog replied.
"anyway, what are ya doing here?" - Sans asked him - "it's rare for you to be so… present."
"I'm here because I have bad news, guys." - the animal replied, getting everyone's attention - "Now that Chara's plan failed, I think I know what she'll do next. And it's not good at all."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHAT WORSE CAN SHE DO WHAT SHE ALREADY DID?" - Papyrus asked as he gently squeezed Frisk's shoulder in a protective manner.
"I'm afraid she's probably planning to destroy the world… again." - the Annoying Dog replied seriously.
"What..?" - Noelle's eyes widened and briefly glowed purple.
"But I thought what she truly wanted is to make us suffer." - Frisk said quietly, clutching her cup of tea - "Make me suffer…"
"That's still what she wants. But she's losing her powers. And power is what she craves for the most." - the white dog explained - "Thus, the only way for her to get her powers back is to do what she did the last time - destroy the world."
"how can she want for more power?" - Sans muttered uder his breath - "that chick already has a LV of 20. what else does she want?"
"More importantly: how would she do to… destroy our world?" - Noelle asked - "It's normally not something a person can do single-handedly."
"It depends how you do that." - the Dog replied - "You do remember about the Legendary Artefact, right?"
"Yeah, it's the… 'Heart' of our world."
"You could even assimilate it to its SOUL." - the Dog replied with a nod - "But like you already got to see this, the Legendary Artefact is much more than a simple piece of glass. It's a vessel containing the biggest amount of magic; a magic that keeps this world together. If one comes to smash the artefact, the world-"
"The world gets destroyed." - Noelle understood.
A heavy silence followed those words. What a revelation! After a moment, Frisk asked:
"But... but if the Legendary Artefact's the most magical thing, how does it come one person can simply… smash it?"
"I said it's more than just glass, but it's glass nonetheless. And glass breaks."
"elementary logic!" - Sans commented with a hint of sarcasm.
"SO, IF I UNDERSTAND RIGHT, WE MUST STOP CHARA BY PROTECTING THE LEGENDARY ARTEFACT?" - Papyrus said.
"That's right, Papyrus!" - the Dog said, wagging his tail a little - "All we have to do is to prevent the Legendary Artefact to get in her hands, before hiding it elsewhere."
"Elsewhere..? But where is it even hidden now?" - Noelle asked.
"Oh, didn't I already tell you? In every timeline, the Legendary Artefact is kept safe in the throne room, beneath the king's throne!" - the creator of the world replied easily - "I hid it there after realizing that Waterfall was too accessible."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" - Noelle said with a determined tone.
"There's no time to waste." - Frisk added as she stood up from the couch.
"FRISK, ARE YOU SURE IT'S A GOOD IDEA FOR YOU TO GO..?" - Papyrus said a bit nervously - "WOULDN'T IT BE SAFER FOR YOU TO STAY IN HERE?"
"Dad's right. You went through a lot." - Noelle agreed, equally concerned for her mother.
"No. The more we are, the better we can protect the Legendary Artefact." - Frisk replied - "I understand your concern, Papyrus, Noelle. It's true that I still must recover from… what happened. But the best way for me to do so is to stay active. Hiding from Chara won't help me."
"BUT FRISK, SHE MIGHT HURT YOU AGAIN."
"She won't. Asriel and my parents will be there. They're Boss Monsters, their magic's very powerful. And Noelle's coming too. Besides… you know I'm not that much a damsel in distress." - Frisk said the last part with a little smile.
"NO, OF COURSE NOT. I KNOW HOW STRONG YOU ARE." - Papyrus replied, then laid his hands over his wife's shoulders - "BUT IF YOU'RE GOING, I'M GOING TOO. I DON'T WANT US TO BE FAR APART, AS LONG AS CHARA'S A THREAT. I'LL KEEP MY BOTH EYESOCKETS ON YOU TO MAKE SURE NOTHING BAD HAPPENS TO YOU."
"Alright, you can come with me." - Frisk smiled at him, then she turned to Sans - "Sans, can we rely on you to supervise the children?"
"sure, no problem." - Sans replied - "i doubt chara'll show up here, but in any case, i won't let her touch a single hair on their heads."
"Good... So, shall we go now?" - Noelle asked.
"Yeah, let's go." - the Dog said, then paused - "But uh… Papyrus, Frisk, you go to New Home. Noelle and I have some business, so she'll join you later."
"Oh..? What kind of business?" - Noelle asked surprised.
"Not here, alright? It's a more private conversation." - the white dog replied.
"Okay..."
At that moment, Sam and Piper showed up from Noelle's bedroom. Seeing that the adults were about to go somewhere, they grew curious about the situation.
"Hey, where are you guys going?" - Sam asked.
"We're going to New Home." - Frisk replied - "There's something we must take care of there, to prevent Chara from doing more harm."
"I guess that means we can't go with you?" - Piper asked with a light disappointement.
"NO, THIS IS WAY TOO DANGEROUS FOR YOU." - Papyrus replied, shaking his head - "YOU'RE STAYING HERE WITH SANS."
"Mind Sans, little ones." - Noelle instructed the kids - "Don't go outside until our return. And Sans, please don't fall asleep. You know how kids are, they'd grab such an opportunity to sneak out."
Sam and Piper gave their mother a glare, but it wasn't really an offended one. Because they knew that she actually had a point.
"don't worry. i'll keep my eyesocket on them 'till you come back." - Sans replied.
Noelle nodded gratefully in response. Papyrus and Frisk then left the house. Noelle, to the Dog's request, knelt down to touch him, before the two disappeared from the living room. The canine creator of the world teleported them away elsewhere.
Meanwhile in the Monster Hospital, Gaster was sitting in the common living room with Patty. Once again, they were playing checkers (not that they had anything much better to do). Patty really wanted to win at least once against Gaster, and prove him her point that they weren't that much different. In fact, she already almost won twice recently. Patty took that as a sign that her chances were increasing. But that daily ritual was actually an occasion for her to just chat with Gaster. She loved to expose her point of view to him, even though he often responded by an unimpressed expression. But sometimes… Patty could swear that she saw a hint of interest in Gaster's eyesocket. And never once he had interrupted during her babbling. This surely meant that a part of him did care to hear her vision of things. The former scientist was definitely paying to Patty and her insanity more interest than he should, even though he barely realized it. This time, Patty was talking about people's tendency to "wear masks".
"Isn't it obvious? Everybody wears a mask most of the time!" - she was saying - "Especially the medical staff. They wear it all the time, not wanting us to see their real face. But even though I can't see their faces, I can clearly see their little game. They can't fool me."
"So, is this why you're not wearing any mask?" - Gaster asked curiously - "Because you think we should see each other's faces properly?"
"Yes, you got it!" - Patty exclaimed with beaming eyes - "I hide nothing, I show my face freely! The others however, prefer to keep their faces hidden. Sadly, you're not an exception."
"Me..? Are you saying I hide my true face?" - Gaster asked, getting a nod in response, then he shook his head - "I don't see what you're talking about. I'm like an open book."
"You aren't. Your mask is what I see the most from you. But I have more interest in the real face hidden behind it." - Patty said, making a circular motion in the air with her finger, as if tracing the outline of Gaster's face - "I bet it's a handsome one."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but what you're seeing now is the real me." - Gaster replied, with his usual unimpressed face - "You don't know me long enough to make any guesses."
"Well I believe I know you long enough to say that you actually like your children." - Patty said, crossing her arms and raising her chin - "But you claim you don't care, just because it makes things easier for you."
"And what makes you say that, hmm?" - Gaster narrowed his good eyesocket at the cat woman - "You barely saw us interact!"
"Because I noticed in your room an item that wasn't there before. A plushie of a goat. May I assume it's a gift from the kids?" - Patty asked rhetorically - "Did you not care, you'd have tossed it under the bed or something. However, your plushie's sitting properly near your pillow. This makes me think you keep it near you while you sleep. Oh, maybe you even hug it? I can imagine how cute it looks..!"
"I do not hug the toy." - Gaster replied, yet averting his gaze.
"You definitely do hug it." - Patty said, her smile taking a cat-like shape - "Which means I'm right about you and the kids."
"Uhh... Alright, let's imagine that I do hug the toy." - Gaster started, making Patty giggle a little, but he frowned more - "I said - imagine. Anyway, even if I do, it proves nothing regarding my opinion about the kids. There's no direct connection between the one and the other."
"There is a connection." - Patty protested - "If you really despised them for being humans as much as you claim, you wouldn't even keep their gift in your room. You'd try everything to get rid of that thing. But you didn't and kept it near you instead. I say it's the proof of love!"
"Love? No. Never happening." - Gaster scoffed, crossing his arms - "I can admit that the kids turned out not nearly as bad as the rest of humanity and that I'm intrigued, but I do not feel for them anything close to that feeling called 'love'."
"You can say whatever you like, I don't believe you." - Patty said with a stubborn tone, underlying her words with a big smile.
"...Think whatever you want, Patty. I really don't care." - Gaster replied with a sigh - "Anyway, where were we? Whose turn is it?"
"I believe it's mine..."
And so, Patty looked at the checkers board. After a few moments, her face beamed and her already big cat eyes rounded even more. Gaster looked at the board on his turn and he understood.
"No..." - he breathed out in disbelief, realizing the same thing.
"Yes!" - Patty replied, her grin intensifying, displaying the white points of her canines.
It took just two moves for Patty to win the game, just like that. When she did, the cat monster let out a loud "yahoo!", raising her fists in the air, while Gaster's gaze was constantly switching from Patty to the checkboard. The former scientist had an incredulous look on his face. How was it possible? Patty actually won against him?
"No way... That just can't be..!" - he said, his left eyesocket open wide.
"Yes, yes, yes, it can!" - Patty singsonged in response, as she sat closer to him - "So admit it now, Gaster!"
"Admit what, exactly?"
"You know what! That you and I aren't very different. I could beat you at checkers!" - Patty said, her golden eyes shining in joy - "My mind can equal yours!"
"How many tries did it take you to beat me?" - Gaster took a sarcastic tone.
"Come on, you have to admit I was right." - Patty insisted, the large grin never leaving her face.
"Pff, no." - Gaster scoffed, crossing his arms - "You cheated. You purposely distracted me with your nonsensical babbling."
"Oooh, look who's a sore loser!" - Patty said, letting out a light giggle, then added with a quieter tone - "You're kinda funny."
"I am not-" - Gaster started to protest.
But then, all of sudden, Patty leaned closer and planted a light kiss on Gaster's cheek.
"...funny." - the skeleton finished with a trailing tone.
The expression on the skeleton's face was difficult to describe. It was a mix of surprise and confusion. His good eye was open wide. After a moment of processing Patty's unexpected gesture, he asked:
"Why... Why did you just..?"
"Well, I guess because-"
But Patty didn't have the time to finish her sentence, as a nurse walked up to her and informed her:
"You have your meeting with the psychiatrist now."
"Nuuuh, can't this wait..?" - Patty asked to the nurse, clearly not pleased.
"No, it can't. He's waiting for you in his office now." - the nurse insisted - "I shall escort you there."
"Fine... I guess I must go now. See you tomorrow, Gaster?" - Patty said to the skeleton as she stood up from her chair.
"Yes... See you tomorrow..." - Gaster replied quietly.
He watched Patty leave the hall with that same confusion. Patty really took him by surprise with her kiss. Gaster was barely realizing it as he brought his hand to the spot where Patty's lips touched his cheekbone. "Why did she do that..? Why would she even want to do that?" - he asked himself, clearly puzzled - "It was so random, unasked for, and…" Gaster stopped that train of thought, moving to another one. "Did she actually want to kiss me… or is she entering another schyzophrenia phase..? The second option seems more likely. Yes, Patty surely didn't fully realize what she was doing." With that satisfying conclusion, Gaster stood up from his chair and went away, back to his bedroom.
Meanwhile, the Annoying Dog brought Noelle to what seemed to be "his room". Noelle looked around to study the place. The room looked pretty ordinary, tainted in blue tones. There was a desk with a cumputer and additional equipement of high level. It looked pretty much like a gamer's working space, actually. Disks were lying around here and there a bit messily. A knitted shawl was hanging on the chair, but it was unfinished. There was also a soft puffy pet bed. Even if Noelle wasn't a dog, she couldn't help but mentally remark how comfortable it looked. After a moment, she finally spoke up:
"I'm... not sure what I expected when I tried to picture the Creator's home…"
"Too ordinary?" - the Dog guessed.
"Yeah, I guess." - Noelle replied with a nod - "Wait, is that some clone of you out there? I can see it's a fake dog, but it looks so realistic!"
"Ah, yeah I once made this copy of myself for fun. I made it out of my own dog residue." - Dog said proudly, but as he saw Noelle scowl a little at his words, he added - "It's... not as gross as it may sound."
"Anyway... Why did you bring me here?" - Noelle asked.
"I brought you here because we must talk about what happened yesterday, between you and Chara." - the Dog said seriously.
"Oh, yeah that um..." - Noelle at once grew embarrassed.
She really wasn't proud of herself, when the heat and anger of the moment had passed and she was thinking straight again. Well, Noelle was still agnry at Chara for what she did - kidnapping her mother to take her place went beyond all limits - but she knew that she had reacted inappropriately to her own morals. Noelle swore that she would never kill anyone,a promise she made herself after she made the decision to go through her teenage pregnancy and give birth to the twins, instead of having an abortion. Thus, of course she was ashamed of herself.
"I... I know I almost crossed the limit. And there's no justification to my behaviour..." - Noelle started - "But I swear that next time, I'll have a better control of myself and that I-"
"Yes, you almost made an irredeemable mistake." - the Dog agreed, then he smiled - "But you didn't. And I'm proud of you."
"W-what..? How can you say that? I almost killed a person!" - Noelle protested with surprise.
"That's the point. You almost killed a person. You were very close to do so, but you didn't bring yourself to actually do it. This is a proof of your strength, Noelle."
"My strength? How does it make me strong?"
"Yes, the strength to resist to darkness. You were very tempted, but you didn't surrender to that dark temptation." - the Dog explained - "Even in the worst situation, when it costed you everything, you were able to make the right choice."
Noelle didn't reply immediately, processing the Dog's words. She didn't really think of herself as being strong from this persective. Since Chara's arrival, she was telling herself that she could never beat her because Chara's LV was much higher than hers. True, Chara was stronger than her in that aspect, having the power gained from the kill, but now Noelle could see that she was in a way weak. Because ruining lives was the only thing Chara was truly capable of, the only solution she'd always come up with. Power was the only thing that would make Chara truly feel like being someone. Noelle, however, would rather seek for an alternative. Helping others would bring her closer to her self-accomplishement. Was it what made her "the Savior"? Noelle wasn't sure. But what she certainly knew was that she wouldn't reduce herself to Chara's level. She'd try to be the best person she could to the end, no matter how difficult the path was. After all, how can one expect to give the best to others without knowing the sacrifice? Noelle smiled and said:
"You know, it were your words that made me stop. I remembered your two rules, and you were right - those are indeed two very distinct rules. The second rule is actually the one that brought me back to my senses. As ridiculous as it sounds when you first hear it, I realize now that it's not the easiest to follow."
"I'm glad you understood the wisdom." - the Dog said approvingly - "And this is why I think you're now ready to receive my present."
"A present... Oh, but I don't need anything." - Noelle said with modesty, while still taken aback.
"You do. It's not some pointless gift like those you get on holidays. But it's something very useful, that's meant only for the worthy."
The dog then went into his small closet and went out of it holding a sword in his mouth. Noelle blinked a few times in surprise, before kneeling down to have a better look on the object. It was long, (presumingly) sharp and had a shiny blade. She noted that the metal had a slightly pink shade, which was an interesting detail. She was about to reach the sword with her hand, but then she hesitated:
"Are you sure you want to give me a sword? I mean... you just said that my strength is mercy."
"If you want to have a fair fight with Chara, having a human weapon would be a good idea." - the Dog replied - "Besides, it's not an ordinary sword, it's actually magic. You can turn it into a shield and back into a sword as you wish. I'm giving it to you because I think you're worthy of this magical blade. When the time comes, I trust you to make the right choice."
"Alright, I'll take it if you think I should..." - Noelle said as she took the sword in her hand - "But I promise that I'll give it back to you, when everything's over."
"It's up to you, really." - the Dog smiled back at her.
Noelle then stepped away and made a few swift, almost perfect, movements with her new sword. The Annoying Dog said, wagging his tail:
"Heh, you're a natural! No wonder you were born a Savior."
But then, Noelle accidently dropped it on the floor. With a sigh, Noelle looked at the white dog, and said with an awkward expression:
"Sorry... It's a bit heavy."
"You'll get used to it. You should perhaps ask Undyne to teach you how to handle it." - the Dog replied with a chuckle, but then his expression turned serious - "Hm, I have a feeling we should go join your family now."
"You're right. Let's go, Dog." - Noelle replied.
In a matter of seconds, the Dog brought Noelle in the throne room, but he was nowhere to be seen. "I guess it's up to me now." - Noelle thought. The royal couple and Papyrus were standing there.
"My child!" - Toriel exclaimed, seeing her arrive - "You came right on time."
"Asriel and Frisk are guarding the exit, to see when Chara arrives." - Asgore said - "When they see her, they'll warn us."
"SO, WHAT DID THAT CANINE WANT YOU FOR?" - Papyrus asked on his turn.
"Oh, he just wanted to talk about some things with me…" - Noelle replied, then showed her new weapon to her relatives - "And he also gave me this, to help me in battles."
"A sword?" - Toriel said.
"I can also magically turn it into a shield. Like this." - Noelle said as she demonstrated.
"AMAZING! IT'S DEFINITELY A GOOD GIFT!" - Papyrus approved, then asked with a frown - "BUT WHERE IS THE DOG ANYWAY?"
"Well, honestly I'm not sure. I thought he'd be here too." - Noelle replied.
Before the matter could be discussed further, Asriel and Frisk entered the room with serious and worried expressions.
"Chara's coming." - Asriel said.
"Alright, Asgore and I shall stay here and defend the artefact, while you others move to the corridor." - Toriel instructed.
"Mom, but what if..?" - Frisk started.
"It's going to be alright, my dear." - her mother reassured her - "If anything goes wrong, Noelle will cover us."
"And I won't fail this time." - Noelle added, confident.
"Now, go." - Asgore instructed to the others.
Noelle, Frisk, Papyrus and Asriel moved out of the throne room, but they stood near the door, from where they could see how the fight was going. Asgore and Toriel positioned themselves in the center of the room, in front of the thrones. It didn't take long before Chara showed up. As soon as she saw her former adoptive parents, she made a face. One could tell it wasn't a pleasant surprise.
"Ugh, you again..." - she groaned.
"Chara, we know why you're here." - Asgore stated with a low and serious tone - "And we know exactly what you're planning to do."
"I'm afraid we can't allow you do this." - Toriel said on her turn, then she spoke with a softer tone - "Chara... Please, it doesn't have to be this way. You can still stop and leave all your hatred behind."
"And then what? You'll welcome me back to your family with open arms?" - Chara sneered - "You and I know this just can't happen. Now, if you could just get out of my way? You'll ease my job and make things less painful."
"I'm sorry, Chara... I wish we didn't come to this." - Asgore said with a sad sigh.
Then, he made his red trident appear, while Toriel materialized fireballs in her palms. Chara groaned in annoyance and anger, her red eyes emitting a dangerous glow. On her turn, she pulled out her knife and said with a low, and almost creepy, voice:
"You want to fight? Fine, this is exactly what you'll get."
And so, a battle started between a blood lusting woman and the two monsters who've once been her parents. This time, Asgore and Toriel weren't as hesitant to use their magic against Chara (even though a certain reluctance was still there), who wasn't a bad dodger. It was a bit more tricky when it came to the trident though, as Chara couldn't always predict well if Asgore would manisfest cyan or orange magic. The flames flying around didn't permit her to have a good look on the king's eyes to do so. Several times, Chara was close to hit the royals with her knife, but Asgore would block her attack with his trident. During the whole fight, heartbreak could be read in the goat-parents eyes. After all, they were fighting against the person they've once called their child.
"Chara... If I've been that much of a bad father, I'm sorry." - Asgore said, obviously wanting to try reason her one last time - "It's true that I've been carried away by the idea of seeing the Surface again. But there were many good moments too… Try to remember them, Chara. I refuse to believe they didn't mean anything to you."
"Shut up!" - Chara yelled, then at once regained her calm - "If you think that you can make me backup now, you're very very wrong."
The last part was said with a very deep voice. Chara barely sounded like herself. And her eyes… not only her irises were redder as ever, but the white of her eyes was now black, and a black liquid was leaking from them down her cheeks. It meant nothing good. Chara then jumped high and raised her knife high above her head, with a creepy smile on her face. In no time, the knife would meet Asgore's chest. The king and queen's eyes widened and prepared themselves for the stab to come… but it never did. A loud "kling" was heard, as if two pieces of metal collided. Chara's eyes were open wide in surprise. It was Noelle, who interfered and protected Asgore with her new sword.
"If you want a real fight, then fight me." - Noelle said with a strong and determined tone - "But leave my family alone."
"Fight you? So you can use your over-cheated powers on me? You were close to kill me last time. Want to achieve what you started now?"
"No. I don't want to kill you. There will be no magic this time. Just a battle between two humans."
"Oh, so you admit that you're nothing but a despictable human, who doesn't belong among monsters?" - Chara asked with a nasty grin.
"I'm not admitting anything. Today I'm a human, but other times I might identify myself as a monster. You can tell I'm speciesfluid." - Noelle said with an easy shrug.
If the situation wasn't grave, Noelle would've chuckled at her own little joke. She positioned herself, pointing her sword in front of her. She then looked back at the unsure Asgore and Toriel, and said:
"Step away. It's just me and her now."
"But Noelle, what if..." - Asgore started.
"Don't worry about me." - Noelle reassured him with a smile - "I know a fateful fight's bound to happen between Chara and I. But it's not happening today."
"Noelle, please let us help you." - Frsik said as she came out through the door.
"YOU CAN NEVER BE SURE WHAT THE FUTURE HAS IN STORE." - Papyrus added, following his wife - "AND YOUR MOTHER'S RIGHT, YOU CAN'T FIGHT ALONE."
"If we want to save the world, we all should participate." - Asriel said on his turn.
"...What..? You've been here all along?" - Chara asked in shock, then turned to Frisk - "And aren't you supposed to be in the void?"
"I found my way out of it." - Frisk replied, as though it was the most obvious thing.
"It's impossible!" - Chara yelled in frustration - "Why? Just why does it always have to be this way?!"
Chara seemed to have lost it, as she was now venting with an almost erratic tone.
"Why do you, Frisk, always have to get everything, but not me?! It's unfair!"
"Chara, I understand that you're mad at the alternate me for leaning you to the kill..! But you can't blow your anger at me, because that other Frisk was not me!" - Frisk replied to the angry Chara.
"So, you really think that's what it's all about?" - Chara said with a slightly clamer tone.
"Is it not..?" - Frisk asked, getting confused.
"I don't care about what path you chose. Pacifism or genocide... it's all irrelevant. The thing is Frisk, is that you now have everything that was supposed to be mine! Our parents' care and love, Asriel's admiration, the status of monsterkind's liberator… everything! You even got to marry this… overly innocent yet undeniably charismatic skeleton, and gave birth to a human with magic powers! And what did I get? Just a grave under the golden flowers…"
Chara's face wasn't looking that psychotic anymore. A little hint of something else, of hurt feelings, could be noticed. Everyone was looking at her with surprise. So, was it what it's always been about?
"Chara... You're... jealous of Frisk..?" - Asriel dared to ask.
"You said we'd be best friends... but you lied to me." - Chara said, gazing strainght into her brother's eyes - "You shamelessly replaced me, claiming loudly that Frisk was a much better person than me. You're a liar and a traitor, Asriel. I will never forgive you for this."
Her look and tone were dark again. Her grasp on the knife tightened.
"I know I'll never get what I wanted. But since I can't be happy, I won't let you either. Farewell."
With those words, Chara rushed behind her to the throne. All she needed was to slide swiftly under the royal chair and open the unstable floor tile to quickly strike the Legendary Artefact. It would take no longer than a few seconds. Chara's hands were already below the throne as she felt a sudden painful weight fall on her back. She let out a yelp, and a sword planted itself between her arms and right before her face. Chara slowly turned her head to look at the person who blocked her.
"You must've missed that I'd fight to protect this world from you." - Noelle said with a serious, yet someway badass tone.
"Ha... haha... How curious. How you'll do that since you're losing?"
Then Chara managed to turn her body enough to make Noelle lose her balance, which permitted Chara to move her hand that held the knife. Before Noelle knew it, she lost the hold of the sword, and Chara was already on the top, the knife threatingly close to her neck.
"NO, DON'T!" - Papyrus screamed, reaching his hand to his helpless daughter.
"Noelle!" - Frisk, Toriel and Asgore shouted.
"Chara, stop this madness!" - Asriel yelled at his former sister.
Chara wasn't listening to anyone. She pressed the knife to the skin, and proceeded to slowly draw a line from Noelle's temple and across her cheek. The cut wasn't deep, but it still hurt. Noelle let out a whine of pain.
"Don't you understand, Noelle? You have no power over me. You're too weak, face to my demoniac LV." - her torturer was hissing darkly - "I am the one in control."
But the torture ended very soon, as Chara's SOUL suddenly turned blue and she got lifted up in the air. Papyrus intervened to save his daughter. From above, Chara could see Frisk and Toriel run up to Noelle. Toriel proceeded to heal her granddaughter's cheek. While being healed, Noelle saw the Annoying Dog sitting in a corner of the room, who gave her a wink. It didn't take her long to understand the silent message.
"It's over now, Chara." - Noelle breathed out - "Stop it, your fight's pointless..."
"It's not pointless as long as I have determination." - Chara replied - "I will destroy this world whether you want it or not."
"You don't get it..." - Noelle shook her head, then stood up as Toriel finished healing her - "How can you destroy the world when its SOUL is nowhere around?"
Chara's eyes widened, saying a barely audible "what?". She was put down on the ground and everyone stepped aside, allowing her to come closer to the throne if she wanted to. Chara didn't waste time to remove the tile. She was greeted by a surprise: there was nothing beneath.
"Impossible... Impossible! Where's the artefact? Where's the Legendary Artefact?!" - Chara shouted.
"Aw, it looks like it's hidden somewhere else now... You'll have to search long and wide the whole land if you wanna find it."
It was the Annoying Dog. He was sitting on the throne, wagging his tail, looking down at Chara with amusement. The woman glared at him and shouted:
"You'll pay for this!"
She attempted to stab the Dog, but it did absolutely nothing. No damage, no blood, nothing. Chara frowned, then tried to stab him again, but to her frustration, nothing was happening. It seemed like she simply couldn't fight the Dog. Unfased and somewhat amused, the Dog jumped off the throne and ran off the room. Her mind clouded by anger, Chara stood up and ran after the animal, forgetting about everything else. Everyone had incredilous looks on their faces and after a long moment of silence, Noelle said tiredly:
"The Dog will keep her away for a while now..."
Her family members nodded in response. Those have been very stressful few minutes of their lives. Now that Chara was busy chasing the Dog out of frustration, this left some time for the family to rest and get ready before her next move.
In the evening, Gaster was sitting on his bed with his journal in his hand. He couldn't bring himself to write anything on the yet blank page. But after a moment, he slowly, a little hesitantly even, wrote down a few words.
Entry n°6
I am very confused right now. There's nothing more that I can say.
With a sigh, Gaster put his journal down. He wasn't sure why, but writing down about Patty's peck felt... awkward? Gaster got pulled out of his thoughts when he heard yelling from the neighbour's room. It was Patty's room. Gaster could also hear other voices, that were those of the doctors. Curious, Gaster walked up closer to the door to hear better what was going on.
"How could you? How could you? The pills..!" - he could hear Patty yell with a broken voice - "You put them in my food! You have no right! How could you?"
Gaster immediately understood what happened. The dinner was brought in the rooms a few minutes ago. The medical staff seemed to have realized that Patty wasn't taking her pills for a while, and thus tricked her into eating them anyway by mixing them with the food. Patty must've realized due to a weird taste the pills provided. She certainly felt betrayed by the sly move. Gaster then heard the nurse and doctor say that it was only for her own good, but this wasn't helping much. The doctor then ordered to inject some tranquilizer to calm her down. Patty was protesting and it sounded almost as if she was… crying. Gaster heard one last fainter "please" from her, and then there was an unpleasant feeling in his SOUL. Without thinking, he stepped out of his room. He stood in the corridor until the doctors came out of Patty's room. As the doctor saw Gaster stare straight at him with a hard look, he asked:
"Um... is something wrong, Gaster?"
"How could you... treat her like that?" - Gaster asked - "You betrayed and hurt her. You destroyed her beautiful inner world."
"I know how it looks like. But you must know that we're merely doing our job. We're trying to treat her. If she was taking her pills willingly, we wouldn't come to this." - the doctor explained.
"And did it ever occur to you that Patty's maybe not taking her pills because her wild imagination's the only thing she has left in this place you're keeping her in for God knows how long?" - Gaster asked, sounding aslmost as if he was getting irritated.
"Like I said, it's mostly up to her. The sooner she cooperates, the sooner she'll be allowed out."
"But why are you keeping her in here in the first place? She's not even dangerous, damn it! She wouldn't hurt a fly!" - Gaster protested.
"It's not the others we're protecting by keeping her here. We're protecting her from herself." - the doctor clarified - "Do you know how she ended up here? She was first brought to the emergency after an accident. Patty was riding on her bike and got overthrew by a car at a crossroad. It happened because she "didn't see" the traffic lights. Patty was in her own world then. After she recovered physically, she's been transferred here. We only want to make sure that when Patty goes out, such incidents don't happen again and she doesn't get hurt from her own insanity."
Gaster understood better now. It also now made sense why Patty was nervous when he had asked her how she ended up in here. Nobody'd like to remember such a terrible accident. He cooled down, but for some odd reason, he didn't really feel better. Gaster's mind was now with Patty. A few minutes later, he dared to enter in her room. When he saw her face, his first thought was that Patty didn't resemble herself. Instead of the usual sunny and smiling face, Gaster saw a sad, heartbroken and tear-stained one. Her golden eyes lost some of it spark. Gaster didn't like to see her that way. Patty was curled in a foetal position, wrapped in her blanket. Her fingers were clutching the fabric tightly. Patty barely reacted to his presence, which was surely due to the injected tranquilizers. Did she even know that Gaster was here?
"Patty..? Patty, do you hear me?" - Gaster asked gently.
After a moment, Patty responded by a faint nod. Gaster knelt down to be at her eye-level and after a moment, asked:
"Do you... still know who I am?"
"Yes... Wing Dings Gaster... my neighbour..." - Patty replied in a whisper.
"Yes, good." - Gaster said with a faint smile.
For some reason, it pleased him that she didn't forget him after taking the pills. He then thought that he should perhaps leave her alone, but then he heard her say:
"Don't go..."
With a nod, Gaster sat down on the edge of her bed. And he left the room only after being sure that Patty was deeply asleep.
A/N: Only three chapters left...
So yeah, now you have the real reason of Chara's will to destroy those she once loved. Basically, she's very jealous of Frisk. Chara sees her as someone who got what was supposed to be hers, notably all the love from the Dreemurrs and becoming the savior of monsterkind. But the most importantly, Frisk got a happy ending, while Chara didn't. And she never does, no matter what timeline she's in. She's doomed to be nothing but a dead child. Frisk, on the other hand, has a very big loving family, admiration by both monster AND humans. Even Gaster respects her, while he's been rather negative towards the first human.
And the magic sword that can turn into a shield, it's obviously a reference to "Deltarune". ^^
(On a side note. This fic was finished months ago. Now that I look back at it, specifically at this chapter and the previous one, I'm so feaking amazed by how I had indirectly predicted some key events of Star Wars 9! :o)