Hopes, Dreams, and DETERMINATION

by Dragonsrule18

Frisk grew up in a home with neglectful, drug using parents. With a little sister to take care of, she takes a job getting a rare flower specimen from Mt. Ebott, only to fall into the Underground. With the help of a mysterious ghost girl named Chara only she can see and hear, she tries to get home to her sister, facing danger, but also making new friends along the way. Good!Chara.

20. Confessions And Plans

Confessions And Plans

After a few months, I've finally gotten this monster of a chapter finished! It's kind of heavy, angsty, and filled with dialogue(and probably should be retitled Where There's A Lot Of Sadness And Everyone Cries) so it was hard to write. I hope you guys enjoy!

This chapter will feature the return of a minor OC who showed up in Chapter 10, Marianne, the good natured, middle aged lady who worked at the church food pantry and gave Tina food. Another OC who was mentioned but never shown, Professor Williams, will also debut in this chapter.

((Surface, Professor Williams' Lab))

Marianne hummed softly to herself as she piled two plates with prime rib, potatoes, and broccoli. Her husband, Dan, a police officer, was working late on a drug bust and she had decided to spend the evening with her father and make sure he got a decent meal. Right now, he was happily buried in his research, and when he was like that, he tended to eat nothing but Top Ramen and junk food, if he remembered to eat at all.

Setting the plates down on the table and tucking a lock of curly hair that had escaped its ponytail behind her ear, she headed into her father's lab. "Dad, dinner's ready!" she said cheerfully.

"Just a few more minutes." he mumbled absently as he scribbled down a few more notes in his notepad about the mushrooms he was carefully examining.

"All right, but don't be too long, or your food will get cold. And it's prime rib, your favorite." she told him. "And..." She tacked in the part that she knew would immediately get his attention. "I baked your favorite cherry cobbler for dessert."

She grinned as he immediately perked up, quickly scribbling the last bit of data on the mushrooms, and got up from his chair. "On my way, dear."

She took in the sight of her father as he followed her into the kitchen. His hair seemed more white than gray now, but he still kept it neatly trimmed as well as his short beard. His eyes, blue like hers, looked tired, but still shone with the same intelligence as in her younger days. He moved more stiffly and slowly now, arthritis taking away some of his mobility, but she was glad to see him up and around. He did wince a bit though when he moved his back the wrong way though.

"Are you all right, Dad?" she asked him.

"Don't worry, Mari, I'm fine. Just got a little knot in the old back. I had to move a few boxes of lab supplies and must have turned it the wrong way."

"You need to get someone to help you." she told him.

"I did. There's this little teenage girl who comes in to help me a few times a week that I pay to do odd jobs for me, but she hasn't been in for a week." he admitted. "Which really isn't like her. She's normally so dependable."

"You could have called me. I would have helped you." Marianne told him.

"I didn't want to bother you. I know you're busy." he told her.

"I'm never too busy for you, Dad."

He smiled softly at this. "I know, sweetie, but don't worry so much. I may be an old man now, but I've still got the strength of men half my age." He playfully made a muscle, making her giggle.

They made their way to the dining room and sat down at the table, digging into the meal Marianne had prepared.

"Mmm, delicious as always, Marianne. It's too bad your husband couldn't make it. He's missing out." her father told her.

She sighed. "I know, but he had to stay overtime for a case. He wasn't happy about it, but his bosses insisted."

Professor Williams sighed sympathetically. "A police officer's work is never done."

Just then, the doorbell rang, and then there was a small, timid knock on the door. Father and daughter looked up from their dinners.

"Who could that be? I wasn't expecting anybody today." Professor Williams mused as he got up and headed to answer the door, Marianne following behind him. As her father opened the door, Marianne was shocked to her core to see who stood outside.

It was the little girl from the food pantry, looking even smaller than she had yesterday under the big backpack she was wearing. Her pink dress was worn and tattered, and there was sadness and worry in those big brown eyes that seemed to be much too old for one so young.

"Amy?" Marianne asked in surprise, just as her father spoke as well.

"Oh, hello, Tina! What are you doing here so late?" Professor Williams asked, making Marianne look to him in shock, then at the little girl, who shifted guiltily under her gaze.

"Wait, is your name Amy or Tina?" Marianne blurted out.

"Tina." the little girl said sadly. "I'm sorry, Miss Marianne. Frisk said I shouldn't tell my real name to strangers. I'm sorry I told a lie. I didn't know you knew Mr. Williams."

Marianne's heart melted. "It's all right sweetie."

"Do you want to come in?" Professor Williams asked kindly. Tina nodded shyly and came in. Professor Williams led her to the table where he poured her a glass of milk. "So is everything okay? Where's your big sister, by the way?"

"You haven't seen her?" Tina asked softly, making Marianne worry even more and her father frown in concern.

"Not since last week when she told me she was going to pick up that flower specimen for me." Professor Williams told the little girl.

Marianne saw the child perk up and watch her father, her brown eyes intense like she was trying to figure something out. "Where was she going to get it?"

"Mt. Ebott. There's a special golden flower that's only ever grown up there since the Ebott City Fire sixty years ago."

Tina immediately tensed. "The scary, cursed mountain?" Marianne too was worried.

"It's not cursed, little one. That's all a big myth." Professor Williams explained. "I've been up there in my youth several times, and as you can see, I came back alive." Tina nodded, but Marianne could still tell she was worried.

"Dad, can I speak to you in the kitchen?" Marianne asked, not wanting to worry Tina further.

"Is everything okay?" Tina asked.

"Yes, I just need to speak to my dad for a second." Marianne reassured her. "Why don't you stay here and finish your milk, and I'll heat you up a piece of cherry cobbler? Do you like cherry cobbler?"

"I've never had it before." Tina said shyly.

Marianne gave her a big smile, hiding the worry inside. "Then you're in for a real treat! We'll be right back with it. Just sit here, okay?"

"Okay." the child said softly and Marianne led her father into the kitchen and closed the door.

They didn't see Tina slip out of the chair after a moment and press her ear up against the door to listen.

...

"Dad, why would you send a teenage girl up to Mt. Ebott?" Marianne hissed once the door was closed.

"Marianne, it's not even a big mountain. A child could probably climb it, and Frisk is a very smart girl. She assured me she could do it and recited all the mountain safety rules I told her back to me. And you know the supposed curse isn't real. People have come back from there, including me." her father tried to reassure her.

Marianne clenched her fists. "But there HAVE still been disappearances there! And you said it yourself that you haven't seen her for a week, ever since you asked her to go get that flower specimen, and that it's not like her to not come over here for that long. What if something happened to her up there? What if she fell or got lost in the surrounding woods?"

Her father's eyes widened. "She can't be...her parents would have reported her missing...She has to be okay...I thought that when she didn't come back to the lab that she just got spooked by the curse and didn't go."

Marianne paced the kitchen worriedly. "We need to call their parents. Do you have their number?"

Professor Williams shook his head. "I don't. Frisk never gave me her parents' number. She...She barely even spoke about them. All I know is that their last name is Adams." he said, his voice rising slightly in horrified realization. "She'd usually deflect any questions about them and keep any of our conversations professional. Frisk's always polite, but she's so quiet and distant sometimes... And even though Tina's much more talkative when she's over, she barely ever speaks about her parents except to say that they work a lot. She always talks about fun things she and her big sister do, but never her parents...I-I never realized..."

Marianne felt sick to her stomach. "Tina was at the church food pantry yesterday, and picked up some food. She was all by herself and said her dad was working and her mom wasn't feeling well. I got the feeling that she wasn't telling me the full truth. She was so small and thin and it was going to rain. I offered to take her home, but she ran when my back was turned. Dad...I think we need to call the police and Child Protective Services." she whispered. "This is bad."

"Oh god...it's been a week...What if Frisk's...what if she's...I got her killed..." Professor Williams went white. He looked like he was going to pass out but managed to stay on his feet.

"We...We don't know that yet. Let's contact the police and talk to Tina further." Marianne said. She reached for the phone. "Dad, can you get Tina her cobbler and go check on her? Keep her calm. We don't want her to panic."

Her dad nodded shakily and heated up a portion of cobbler for Tina before scooping some ice cream on it for the little girl. He headed out with it and Marianne was on the phone when she heard the plate crash to the floor. She ran out to check on them."

Her father was standing the dining room, alone, with no sign of little Tina other than the half finished glass of milk. "She's gone."

...

Tina ran towards Mt. Ebott as fast as her little legs could take her, having heard Miss Marianne and Professor Williams talk about calling Child Protective Services. She couldn't let CPS take her away like they had taken her classmate away from his siblings! If they did, she'd never find Frisk!

And Frisk wasn't dead! She knew her big sister was alive. She knew it!

And she wasn't giving up until she found her! Even though Mt. Ebott was scary, she'd climb it and save Frisk, no matter how hard it was.

She would get Frisk back, and she wouldn't let anyone stop her!

...

"...Since Frisk and my souls are bonded or something weird like that, maybe it can trick the barrier into thinking we're a human/monster soul fusion, especially since Frisk has Dr. Gaster's power and that qualifies as magic." Chara suggested as she, Frisk, Papyrus, and Sans took the boat home to Snowdin. "It might work."

Frisk perked up a little as she looked to the skeleton brothers. The Riverperson dropped them off and Frisk repeated Chara's idea for Papyrus since it was hard for him to hear the ghost girl. "Do you think it could work?" she asked both brothers.

"I don't know." Sans admitted. "A human soul with magic wouldn't be the same as a monster soul. It's worth a shot if we can get the king to let us test it out, but I'm really not sure if it would work."

"IT WON'T HURT TO TRY." Papyrus said, then his sockets seemed to light up as he had an idea. "WAIT, FRISK, WHAT IF YOU AND I RUN AT THE BARRIER AND HIT IT AT THE SAME TIME? SINCE YOU'RE A HUMAN AND I'M A MONSTER, IF WE'RE CLOSE TOGETHER ENOUGH, MAYBE IT WILL THINK WE'RE A SOUL FUSION!"

Chara shook her head. "Tried it. Azzy picked me up and we charged the barrier at full speed. Needless to say, it didn't work. Asriel ended up with a bloody nose and I got a bad bump on the head." she told Papyrus with a small laugh. Frisk translated for her.

"Oh." Papyrus looked a little crestfallen, but then spoke more cheerfully again.. "Don't fear though! We'll think of something!"

Chara had another idea. "We could also give my soul to Dad. I know it's not as strong as the others, but maybe it'll be enough."

"Chara, you heard what Mettaton said. Your soul might not be strong enough to even survive being separated from mine, let alone absorption."

"It...It doesn't matter. Frisk, I'm already dead. It's better my soul than yours. If it works..."

"Yes, it DOES matter! I'm not letting you give your life for mine. Look, Chara, I might be a little mad at you for not telling me the truth about all of this, but you're still my friend, and I still care about you, and I'm not letting you destroy yourself!" Frisk argued.

"Frisk..."

"No. That's the final answer. We'll find another way."

"Chara, I don't know what Frisk said to you, though I know it's similar to what I'm going to say." Sans told her. "I'm not letting you risk your life, well, afterlife for something that risky. I just got you back! I'm not losing you again! And your dad wouldn't want that either."

Chara finally nodded, looking even more guilty, which Frisk just figured was about the lie.

Papyrus squinted, trying to see Chara, and saw the look. "Don't worry, human, well ghost human Chara! We'll figure something out that won't get anyone hurt. I...can't think of exactly what right now, but we can ask Undyne! I'm sure she'll have some great advice!"

Frisk felt sick to her stomach. What if Undyne decided to kill her after all to eliminate the risk of her killing Asgore? She immediately shoved the horrifying idea away, feeling guilty. Undyne was her friend now. She wouldn't do that.

Or would she? After all, Frisk herself would want to stop anyone she thought would hurt Tina, and she knew Undyne felt the same way about Asgore.

"Undyne's...not going to be too happy about this, is she?" she asked softly.

"She...probably won't be...but don't fear, Frisk! She won't blame you as this isn't your fault, and she knows you would never hurt Asgore!" Papyrus reassured her.

"Paps is right, kid. Undyne won't be angry at you." Sans told her.

Chara nodded, though there was the faintest trace of hesitation. "Undyne won't blame you for this. She likes you, and she'll know this isn't your fault."

They arrived at the brothers' house and went inside, where Undyne was sitting at the table, sliding a letter into an envelope. She got up when she saw them and grinned. "Hey, guys!" She turned to Papyrus and Frisk. "I saw you two kicking Mettaton's ass on his show! That was so freaking awesome! You two totally ruled...Or three. I'm not sure if Chara was with you or not. I still can't see her despite what Sans's nerd papers said..." She squinted before her eyes lit up as she looked right at Chara. "There you are!" She smiled widely. "It's good to have you back, punk." She bent and gave Chara a hug, then a playful noogie. Like Sans, Undyne seemed to be able to touch her, which made Frisk smile despite her anxiety, glad her ghost friend could finally reunite with her old friends.

"Hey, Undyne. I missed you guys too." Chara said, smiling, though her smile was sad.

Undyne frowned a little. "Okay, I sort of heard that. You keep fading in and out." She then regained her smile. "We'll figure it out though. I bet Alphys can think of something to give you a body or help you get stronger, and the rest of us will help too until you're fully better. But right now, let's get you home! Asgore's going to be overjoyed!"

Frisk's soul dropped and she looked at the ground, her stomach in knots. Chara's eyes filled with tears, and Sans and Papyrus fidgeted.

It was then that Undyne noticed their expressions. "Hey, what's wrong? You guys look like you're heartbroken and Punk Number Two looks like she's about to barf."

"Undyne, there's something I need to talk to you about." Sans said softly, then looked to Frisk. "Kiddo, why don't you rest? You two had a rough day. Paps, stay with her." He turned to Undyne. "Why don't we talk in my room?"

"I'll come too." Chara said.

"Chara's coming too." Sans translated to Undyne.

"Um...all right." Undyne agreed and followed Sans upstairs, Chara floating after them.

Papyrus turned to Frisk. "Don't worry, human. Sans will handle this." He looked at her, worried. Frisk guessed that she looked exactly like Undyne had described. She felt like it as well. "Are you okay?"

Frisk was about to say yes, but knew that Papyrus didn't like being lied to and shook her head. "Is...Is it okay if I have a few minutes alone?" she asked softly, just needing a few minutes where it was quiet to think.

She was worried Papyrus would be upset or hurt, but he nodded with an understanding look and gave her a hug. "Of course." he reassured her. "If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen."

He headed into the kitchen and Frisk started to head for the door, then paused, seeing a notepad on the couch. "Papyrus, can I borrow your notepad? I want to write some ideas on how to break the barrier." she called.

"OF COURSE!" he called back, and she thanked him and took a piece of paper and a pencil from the cup on the coffee table before heading outside and sitting on the porch steps, needing some fresh air, or at least as close as the Underground could get. She breathed in the cold air, calming herself, and started writing everything she could think of that might possibly help.

She had to figure out something. Her sister and friends were counting on her.

...

Chara floated next to Sans nervously as they told Undyne the bad news. Undyne of course looked extremely worried, but didn't yell like Chara had feared she would.

"So the only way to bypass the barrier is the fusion of a human and monster soul?" Undyne asked surprisingly quietly. She paced Sans's room, clearly in thought, though was careful to avoid his trash tornado.

Chara nodded with tears in her eyes. Sans wrapped an arm around her. "We're going to figure out another way. We'll come up with something."

"There's a bit of magic in Frisk's soul, and it's also attached to mine. Maybe it'll be enough to trick the barrier and get Frisk out and back." Chara suggested.

"Or maybe I can make something in the lab, or..." Sans started.

Undyne suddenly stopped pacing. "Wait. I got it!" She grinned. "You dorks are overthinking this. I know exactly what to do." When San and Chara looked at her in curiosity and confusion, Undyne elaborated. "A monster fused with a human soul can get through the barrier. We know that."

"You're not taking Frisk's soul." Chara told her firmly.

Her voice was just strong enough for Undyne to hear her, and the fish woman stared at her in disbelief. "What?! Of course I'm not taking her soul, punk! I know I acted like a major dickhead to her before, but I'm not going to do that again! I like the kid! And you two do realize she's not the only human soul in the Underground, right? I'll just go get one of the other souls, absorb it, and go out and get her sister and the last soul we need. Well, not exactly in that order. Don't want to scare the little squirt. We'll just need to convince Asgore that it's worth the risk, though I think he'd be willing to let me do it to keep Frisk safe. And if I promise I'll be careful..."

Even though Chara didn't technically need to breathe, she could feel her breaths getting shorter as panic overwhelmed her. She could feel Sans's arms wrap around her and heard his and Undyne's voices asking if she was okay. She tried to calm herself and take a deep breath. She looked up at Undyne. "No...You can't...You'll die...That's how Azzy died..." Tears flowed down her cheeks, blurring her vision. "I got him killed...I can't let you get killed too..."

Sans hugged her closer, quietly translating her words to Undyne, who frowned worriedly. "Chara, it's not your fault. You were sick. You could have never anticipated something like that would happen, and neither could Asriel." Sans told her softly.

"Only the bastard humans that killed him are to blame." Undyne told her firmly, bending to her leave. "They're the ones who decided it was okay to kill a kindhearted kid who just wanted to give his sister her last wish. They're the ones who threw Asriel's kindness in his face. It's not anyone's fault but theirs. And...I know you're worried about me. Asgore was worried too when I first suggested doing this after the soul of Patience died and wouldn't let me because he thought he'd lose me too and that the humans would also attack the mountain in retaliation. But I promise I'll be careful, okay? I've been training for this possibility for years. I know how to handle violent people and I will fight if I need to. You won't lose me too."

Chara shook her head. "No...it is my fault. I-I'm the reason Asriel was out there...And...And it was because I had the exact same plan you did..." Undyne and Sans stared at her in confusion and shock, and she looked at the ground. "I...I didn't die of an illness. I killed myself."

Sans's arms dropped limply to his sides, shock turning to horror. Undyne's eyes widened. She opened her mouth but didn't speak.

"Y-You're...You're not serious. You can't be serious." Sans said, voice soft and shaky. Undyne still seemed incapable of speech.

Chara didn't look up. "I'm sorry." she sobbed.

"You're telling the truth." Sans said in a quiet, betrayed voice. No one could speak for a minute until finally Sans spoke again, his eye glowing blue. "Chara! How the hell could you do something like that?!"

Undyne clenched her fists. "What were you fucking thinking?! Why the hell would you kill yourself?! Do you know what your and Asriel's deaths did to the Underground?! To your parents?! To me and Sans?! Do you?! How could you do this?! How could you get your little brother involved in whatever the hell you were planning?" Overcome with anger, she slammed her fist into the wall, making Chara flinch. "Tell me why the fuck you would do something like this!"

Chara's eyes went back down to her shoes. "I wanted to break the barrier." she sobbed. 'I-I just wanted everyone to be free...I had read in an old book that a human could absorb a Boss Monster's soul to get through the barrier and knew from the plaques that a monster could also absorb a human's soul. I thought that if Asriel absorbed mine that he could get through the barrier and sneak into a morgue or hospital to get the rest of the souls needed from already dead humans to free us."

"Well, we would have rather had you and Asriel than be free!" Sans yelled. "Don't you realize how much you meant to all of us? How heartbroken we were without you?" He looked down. "Chara, it destroyed me when you and Asriel died. It destroyed everyone. I know you didn't mean for Asriel to get killed, but how could you do something like that?!"

Undyne looked at her, her voice softening. "Destroying the barrier wasn't worth your lives. What you did was way too reckless, and that's coming from me! You and Asriel should never have been out there."

"I...I know. It was a really stupid thing for me to do." Chara whispered.

"It was beyond stupid, Chara. Taking your own life is beyond stupid. Getting Asriel involved in your plan was beyond stupid. Didn't you realize we all love you? That I love you?" Sans asked, his voice both angry and sad. "Or didn't you care?"

"Of course I care. But...after the letters, and knowing monsters had fallen down because they couldn't see the surface, that they had fallen down because I was alive...I had to do something." Chara whispered. "I was so scared Mom or Dad or Azzy or one of you would fall down, or that other monsters would, and I just wanted to make it right...Everyone deserves to be free of this place and..."

"What letters?" Sans asked, confusion briefly replacing anger. He translated to Undyne who had missed part of what Chara was saying.

"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Undyne asked.

Chara took a deep breath, trying to calm enough to be coherent, and began to tell her story. And as she spoke, she remembered.

...(Flashback Start)...

April 28, 201X

((Two Weeks Before Chara and Asriel's Death))

The beginning of the end started on a day that was supposed to be happy. Asgore's birthday. Chara had been decorating as her mother and brother baked her father's cake, and Asriel had asked her to hang their drawings in Asgore's office to surprise him.

It was just after she hung both drawings on the wall above his desk that she spotted a crumpled up piece of paper that had obviously missed the garbage can. She picked it up, going to throw it in the can, glancing at it quickly as she did, but paused when she saw the word 'human' written on it.

Curiosity overcame her and she unfurled the paper and read the note, paling as she did at the words written to her father.

"How could you betray our kind by taking that creature in? Don't you remember what they did to us?!"

"You should have used its soul to break the barrier. Your softness at keeping that human is preventing us from seeing the sun! Do you want more monsters to fall down because of you?!"

The words seemed to burn with hatred, and even though she should have stopped reading, she couldn't, even through eyes blurred with tears. Monsters had fallen down because of her? Because she was alive?

Even though Chara knew she shouldn't, she searched through the trash can and the pile of papers on the desk, needing to know what was happening. What she was causing. There were more letters of a similar caliber in the trash can, but the one that hurt the most was on the desk.

"My father is dead. He fell down because he knew he would never be able to see the sun, and that's your and that human's fault! I'll never see him again! He'll never see me get married or be able to hold his grandchildren! If you had just taken that soul, he would have had some hope to hang onto. How could you put a human ahead of your own people?! How could you?!"

Her father had written a reply, gently saying he was sorry for the monster's loss, but that it wasn't Chara's fault, that Chara was a good child that he knew would bring peace between humans and monsters. Chara laughed sadly; of course her dad would defend her, even after she had accidentally caused something so horrible. After all, he had forgiven her after she had misread Toriel's mother's butterscotch cinnamon pie recipe and poisoned him, nearly killing him...

Chara snapped back to reality when she faintly heard Asgore's voice down the hall, talking to Asriel and her mom. She quickly put the papers back where they were, then fled the office before she was caught, running to her and Asriel's room and shutting the door.

She sat on the floor, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as tears filled her eyes. That monster's father was dead because of her. Even though it was indirectly, she had caused him to die. Her very existence had driven someone to despair and caused them to fall down.

She was supposed to be the hope of humans and monsters, and the angel of the prophecy that was so hoped for, but how could she be when her just being alive caused them to lose hope?

Chara's nails dug into her arms. She was no angel. She was a demon.

She stayed in her room, quietly crying, for twenty minutes before Asriel came knocking, cheerfully telling her the cake was ready. She put on her long sleeved shirt to hide the self inflicted scratches her nails had made on her arms, gathered Asgore's present, and faked a cheerful smile as she came out. She sat at the table with her family, ate cake, and gave her dad the Mr. Dad Guy sweater she knitted for him, getting a huge smile and big hug in return. She managed to hold that smile the rest of the night, and even make it look sincere.

But inside, she was consumed with guilt.

...

Five days later, Chara couldn't take it any more. She had to talk to her parents about the letters. Maybe they could figure out something she could do to help, to make things right again.

"Mom? Dad?" she called as she stepped into the living room. Asriel was lying on the floor, drawing another adorably dorky picture of himself as the God Of Hyperdeath, but her parents were nowhere in sight.

"I think they went to the garden." Asriel told her, pausing in his drawing. Perceptive as always, he noticed her troubled expression. "Chara, are you okay? What's wrong?"

She managed to smile. "Nothing. I just need to talk to Mom and Dad about something private. I'll be back in a minute." She hurried out just as Asriel was opening her mouth to ask another question.

She didn't find them in the garden, but heard soft whispers coming from the Barrier room. Quietly, she entered the hallway, spotting her mother and father sitting on the floor, cuddled up to each other. They hadn't seen her yet. She was about to speak, but then saw what they were doing.

They were sitting in the sunshine coming through the barrier, looking up at the sky as if in longing. Chara's heart ached and she quickly slipped out before they could see her. She sat in the garden, looking at the buttercups that always grew there.

She knew how her adoptive parents had once lived on the Surface, under the sun and stars. They had spoken of it a few times, telling her and Asriel stories of their life on the surface.

It was clear that they missed that life, that they longed to see the sky again. And looking at them, soaking up the tiny bit of sun they could actually get in this prison, gazing so longingly at what they could see of the sky...

A spike of fear filled Chara's soul. Monsters had literally fallen down and died due to despair at being in this prison, away from the sun and stars.

What if her parents fell down too? And what about Asriel, and Sans, and Undyne? What if she lost them too? What if they died because of her?

She had to do something!

She remembered the old book in the library she used to hide in, how it said that if you ever got trapped beneath the mountain that you could absorb a monster's soul and get free. And she knew from the plaques that a monster could also absorb a human soul.

Her eyes filled with determination. If a monster absorbed her soul, the combined power of the fusion could escape the barrier and get more souls. Enough to break the barrier and free everyone!

For the first time in days, Chara genuinely smiled. She could save everyone!

And all it would cost was her life.

...

For the next week, Chara thought over her plan and what would have to be done. The souls would be easy enough to get. Humans died all the time on the surface. Whoever absorbed her soul could just go to the hospital or morgue and take the souls of dead humans. If ghost stories were real, and it made sense that they would be considering that monsters were, human souls could last a long time after death. So all that needed to be done was to collect them.

She would also have to make her death look like an illness. As much as she feared this part, humans and monsters would have to interact in some way, and she needed to make sure that her suicide didn't look like murder so the humans couldn't accuse her monster family of killing her. Not that most people in her town, besides a few kind teachers and classmates, would care about her death, but she didn't want to give the humans any excuse to attack her family.

The buttercups in the garden would solve that problem. And she deserved dying that way after what her stupidity did to her dad three years ago.

The final piece of the puzzle was who to ask to take her soul. She knew her mom and dad would refuse and stop her. Sans was more stubborn that she was, so he'd likely do the same. Undyne would just yell at her.

But Asriel...Maybe she could get him to listen.

...

The opportunity to talk to Asriel arose later that day when Asriel came into their shared room, holding the video camera and smiling widely. "Howdy, Chara! Smile for the camera!"

Asriel, perceptive as always, had of course caught on that something was upsetting Chara, and had been trying to cheer her up all week; adding more of Chara's favorite milk chocolate caramel bars to her not so secret chocolate stash, leaving cheerful, encouraging notes for her to find, and generally being a goof to try to help her feel better. Chara felt a stab of pain and guilt in her soul, but managed to smile, if only for Asriel.

Asriel laughed. "Ha, this time I got YOU! I left the lens cap on ON PURPOSE! Now you're smiling for noooo reason!"

This earned a small smile and laugh from Chara. "You're such a dork, Ree." Her smile then dropped. "Can...Can I talk to you about something?"

Asriel sat next to her, a concerned look on his face. "Of course. What's wrong?"

Chara took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to bring this up. "I...Do-Do you remember the pie we baked for Dad three years ago?"

"I remember. We were using Grandma's old recipe and she had terrible handwriting and had tried to squeeze the whole recipe onto this tiny index card." Asriel said. "And since she ran out of room on the line, she wrote "butter cups" instead of "cups of butter."

"And I misread it as "buttercups" and thought it was some weird monster thing like spiders in doughnuts, so I picked a whole bunch of buttercups to go in the pie." Chara started laughing hysterically. "I was such an IDIOT. Thankfully I can't cook, and I burned it so badly it weakened the poison."

"It's not your fault, Chara. I thought it said "buttercups" too." Asriel told her, pulling her into a hug. "And it wasn't like either of us knew they were poisonous and would make Dad so sick. It was just an accident. Dad's fine now." He looked at her in worry. "Why are you bringing this up again?"

Chara opened her mouth, then realized the camera was still on. "Turn off the camera."

"Huh? Um, okay?" Asriel picked up the camera and hit the "Off" button.

Chara took another deep breath, and, voice shaking, told him her plan.

...

"Chara, this plan of yours is insane. I'm not doing it. This is wrong." Asriel protested after Chara finished speaking.

"Azzy, we have to do something! You heard what those letters said! Monsters are dying because of me. And look, it'll be easy to get the souls. You won't have to kill anyone. I wouldn't ask you to do that! There's a hospital in my town and a morgue. Humans die all the time on the surface of a lot of things, and the plaques say that human souls will linger after death. All you have to do is go to those places and collect the souls. It's not like the dead humans are using them any more. No one has to get hurt." Chara argued.

"Except for you! If we go through this, you'll die!" Asriel yelled, tears in his eyes.

Chara glanced frantically at the door. Thankfully, no one seemed to hear. "Shh, Mom and Dad will hear you, you crybaby!" she hissed.

Asriel glared at her through his tears. "It's kind of completely normal for someone to be upset that their sister wants to kill herself!" he hissed back, though kept his voice down like she asked.

Chara sighed, feeling terrible. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you a crybaby. But Azzy, we have to do this. I have to do this. Monsters are falling down out of despair because of not being able to see the sun. Mom and Dad miss the surface too. I saw them by the barrier, looking outside longingly. What if they fall down too?" Her voice shook.

"They won't. And Chara, they wouldn't want you to do this." Asriel pleaded.

"I know. I know if I told them, they wouldn't let me do this, but I have to. Monsters have been trapped too long. Mom and Dad have been trapped too long. I'm one person. It's my life versus all of theirs, and I'd rather it be mine."

"I wouldn't! Chara, it'd break my heart if anything happened to you. And Mom and Dad would be devastated! We love you more than we want to see the surface. Think about us! Think about your friends! You don't have to do this!"

"I am." Chara said shakily. "But...I can't lose you guys either, and I can't have the deaths of the monsters in our kingdom on my conscience. This has to be done. And...I'll still be with you, and with our family and friends in soul." She gently touched Asriel's chest where his own soul resided. "You'll have my soul and in that way, I'll always be with all of you."

"It won't be the same, Chara. I won't be able to play with or hug you, and I may not even be able to talk to you. We know so little about what happens when a monster absorbs a human soul." Asriel told her with tears in his eyes. "Please Chara, don't do this. Don't even think this. Live out your life down here with us. If you still want to at the end of your natural life, I'll absorb your soul and we can go collect the others then, but...at least let yourself grow old and have a happy life down here. I...I don't want to lose you."

"You're going to lose me regardless." Chara reminded him. "Even if I live a full life, I'll likely only live seventy or eighty, maybe ninety more years at the most, so I'll die while you're still young. It'll just delay the inevitable." Asriel let out a soft whimper and Chara felt even worse, but pressed on. "And there's still the situation of other monsters dying and losing hope. It may be short for you, Mom, and Dad, but it's still too long for some. Asriel, you're the prince of monsters, and someday, you'll be king. They're your people, and it's my life versus all of theirs. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good of all, and I'm willing to do this." She sat tall, determination in her eyes. "No, I'm going to do this. You can't talk me out of this, Ree."

Asriel sat there for a few minutes, a broken-hearted expression on his face. Finally he sighed. "I still don't like this idea, Chara. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Chara didn't hesitate. "Yes. I want to do this." Asriel let out a stifled sob and Chara hugged him. "Don't cry, Rei." She pulled back a bit and looked into his eyes, smiling. "You should be smiling. You guys are going to be free. And I'll be right here with you all the way, always. My meatsuit may die, but I'll always be with you, with everyone. Longer than I ever could be alive."

Asriel nodded, wiping away his tears. "...You're right."

"We can do this, Asriel. Don't you trust me?"

"I'd never doubt you, Chara. Never." Asriel quickly told her. He managed to smile. "We'll be strong. We'll save everyone. When...When do we have to..."

"Tomorrow night." Chara said softly. She wanted to see Sans one last time before dying. She wished she could tell him how she felt, but with what she was going to do, it would only bring him more pain. And he deserved someone better. Someone who wasn't such a screw-up. Someone who could live out his three hundred plus year lifespan with him.

Asriel nodded. "I'll-I'll get the flowers."

"No. I'll get them when I get back. I don't want you to have to watch." Chara told him softly, knowing it would be brutal.

...

And it was.

The pain was even worse than she could have imagined, like her insides were on fire. She burned with fever on and off, and vomited blood. As the poison invaded her system, she fell in and out of consciousness. She heard her parents' voices, begging her to wake up, her dad telling her she was the hope of humans and monsters. She could hear Asriel crying as she slipped in and out of a painful, restless sleep, and vaguely remembered herself babbling about the flowers in her village and wanting to see them.

She could hear Asriel's voice through the darkness, but her eyelids were too heavy to open. "Psst... Chara...please... Just wake up. I don't like this plan any more. I...I..."

Chara wanted to answer, wanted to reassure him, but couldn't get enough air to speak. It was all she could do to even breathe.

"No...I said I'd never doubt you. Six, right? We just have to get six...and then we can free everyone. And we'll do it together, right?" Asriel asked softly.

Chara wanted to nod, to speak, to say anything to make him feel better, but his voice was drifting away. Her chest was tight and heavy. She gasped, but no air came. She could no longer breathe...Her consciousness was slipping away...

And then there was a voice.

"Chara?"

Chara's eyes flew open. She could breathe again. Strength and power filled her body. "What...?"

Asriel's voice was filled with relief. "Chara, you're here with me! You're okay!"

Chara turned to look for Asriel, though it was hard, like her limbs didn't want to obey. But instead of seeing Asriel, she saw herself, lying cold and lifeless on the bed. Confused and a little frightened, she managed to look down at herself. Her hands raised, out of her control. But they weren't her hands, but Asriel's. "How...?" She mentally backed away a little, releasing control to Asriel.

"It worked. I absorbed your soul and now we're together, like you said." Asriel reassured her. "This must be how soul fusion truly works. Instead of one taking full control, both parts of the fusion share a body. This is weird, but I'm just so glad you're okay and still you. I feel a lot better about this now."

"How are you so okay with me literally invading your body like the demon on the Exorcist?" Chara asked.

"Well, one, you're not a demon unless we're role-playing, two, I trust you, and three, this means I don't lose you. I can live with this, and...we might not have to stay like this forever. After we collect the souls, we can talk to Uncle Gaster. Maybe he can build you a cool robot body like Genos's in One Punch Man!"

Chara snorted. "Azzy, that's an anime. This is real life."

"And? Uncle Gaster literally made living creatures that are manifestations of the user's magic. You really think he can't build a robot body for a soul? Or...maybe with seven souls, as the absolute God Of Hyperdeath, I can recreate your body myself. Gods can create things, right?" Asriel asked.

"Maybe? I'm not sure."

"Well, I bet it's something the amazing God Of Hyperdeath can do!" Asriel boasted playfully to make her feel better.

"Maybe. He IS very awesome even if he is a huge dork." Chara conceded with a laugh, her voice filled with fondness. "But let's focus on getting the souls and breaking the barrier first."

Asriel nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

They started to head out, but then Chara realized something, accidentally taking partial control and nearly causing Asriel to trip over his own feet. "Wait." she said, looking at her own corpse still lying on the bed. "If Mom and Dad find this and you're not here...They might think you fell down! Monsters can literally die from shock and despair! We need to get rid of this, or at least move it someplace else until the barrier's broken and we can break the news to them gently. And...I don't want them to see me like this, Azzy, or remember me like this."

Asriel thought about it and nodded, equally worried about his parents going into shock. He tenderly cleaned any blood off the body's face and lovingly wrapped it in a blanket before lifting it into his arms. They slipped into the hall and, keeping away from everyone, made their way towards the barrier room.

...

It was only after they had successfully escaped the barrier and Asriel was looking at awe at the sun that Chara realized she might have made a huge mistake.

"Damn it, how could I have been so stupid?!" she swore at herself, again forcing her brother to stop in his tracks.

"Chara, what are you talking about?" Asriel asked in confusion.

"What was I thinking?! We can't just walk around with a freaking corpse! What if someone sees?! They might think you murdered me! I gotta get rid of this!" Chara took control of Asriel's body and headed towards the edge of the mountain, intending to throw the corpse somewhere out of view.

Asriel stopped her before she could, forcing his body to freeze. "Chara, stop. First, I'm not going to let you disrespect your body by throwing it off the cliff like it's garbage. Second, if anyone happens to find it, they ARE going to think I murdered you."

Chara took a deep breath and tried to calm down. As the panic subsided, she realized that Asriel was right. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks for stopping me from doing something so foolish. But we still need to figure out what to do with this. I don't want Mom and Dad to find it, but we can't just carry it with us."

Asriel thought for a moment, then Chara could feel him perk up as he got an idea. "Wait. I know exactly what to do. Whenever you were delirious with fever, you asked me if we could go see the flowers." He smiled. "That's exactly what we're going to do." Chara started to protest, but Asriel continued. "Chara, to give our people true freedom, to have true happiness, we need to make peace with the humans. And to do that, they need to see us in the best light possible, to know we have compassion. And what better way to show that than a brother giving his sister her last wish?"

"Asriel, no! They could attack you! We need to be cautious!" Chara protested. "We need to keep hidden until..."

"We can't hide forever, Chara, and if they catch us sneaking around, they're going to be more likely to think we're up to no good. Especially if we try to hide your death from them. They might think we did kill you. It' better to be as open as possible. We can tell them the cover story, that you died of an illness and I brought you to the village to bury you in the flowers you loved. We need to show them that monsters are good and they have nothing to fear from us. We need to make friends with them. Maybe they even have a counter spell that will break the barrier."

"Humans are cruel, Asriel, and they fear what they don't understand. What if they don't even give you the chance to speak before fighting?"

"There may be cruel humans, but there are kind and understanding ones too, like you."Asriel pointed out. "And what about the kind people in your village you told me about? Like the teacher who would always take time to talk to you and help you with your homework, and the classmate who shared her lunch with you? And the neighbor lady who would invite you in for chocolate chip cookies? I know you've seen a lot of bad, but there is good too, and I believe there's way more good people than bad. And I know the good people will help us, and I'm good at diplomacy and calming people down when they're afraid. You know that."

Chara nodded softly.

Asriel smiled. "Everything's going to be okay. Do you trust me?"

"Yes. More than anything." Chara told him. "And...you might be right. Let's do it. We do have enough power to fight back if things go wrong after all."

"We're not going to have to. You need to think less badly of other people." Asriel gently admonished. "It'll be all right. Just keep calm. I know I can handle this."

Chara did trust him, but as they headed into the village, she couldn't help but be scared and tense, expecting an attack to come from anywhere.

"Chara, calm down." Asriel told her, taking back control over his body. "You're making it hard to walk and you constantly making me look around like that is making me look suspicious. I know you're scared, but I'm right here with you, and your friends in the village will help us once they know the story." Chara gave a mental nod and forced herself to settle down and let Asriel have control over his own body as they headed for the village square where the little garden of yellow flowers Chara loved so much, surrounded by decorative stones, rested in the center.

"Wow. I can see why you love these flowers so much. They're beautiful." Asriel said in awe as he knelt, gently lowering Chara's body, swaddled in the blanket with only her face and head uncovered, into the flowers. Chara could feel an ache of sadness from him as he unnecessarily made sure her body was "comfortable."

"Azzy, it's just a body. Just an empty shell. I'm right here." Chara reassured him.

"I know, but it's still part of you. A part you gave up just to save us." he said softly, brushing the hair away from the body's eyes and then picking a golden flower, tucking it behind Chara's ear before beginning the monster funeral rites.

It was then that a teenage boy came wandering down the path and saw Asriel. The boy's eyes widened and he froze. His eyes went from Asriel to Chara's body on the flowers.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm..." Asriel started but was cut off as the boy screamed.

"MONSTER!" the boy yelled, running away from Asriel at full speed and towards the houses in the village.

"This isn't good." Chara said worriedly.

"It's going to be okay. He just got spooked. Someone will have a clear head though, and I'll be able to explain." Asriel reassured her.

But he was wrong.

The next thing Chara and Asriel knew, they were surrounded by angry humans, many wielding weapons.

"Monster!"

"It killed a kid!"

"You get out of our village, you vile freak!" Weapons were aimed at Asriel.

"No! You got it all wrong! She's my..." Asriel started to explain, raising his hands placatingly, but the panicked, angry humans clearly weren't listening. A nervous, trigger happy young man, spooked by Asriel's movement, fired his rifle, and Asriel howled in pain as the bullet tore through his right shoulder.

Chara screamed as well, her howl in anger more than pain. In her rage, she took full control of Asriel's body, wanting to destroy the humans for hurting him. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" she screamed with Asriel's mouth, raising Asriel's arms, and instinctively summoning his flames. The humans in the crowd screamed and flinched back as Chara prepared to fire.

"NO!" Asriel wrenched back control, sending the blast firing harmlessly into the air, scaring the humans more but leaving everyone unharmed. "Chara, don't! You could have killed someone!"

"Good! They shot you! They need to pay! I told you you couldn't trust humans, Asriel!" Chara yelled mentally. The humans were starting to recover and aim again, the armed ones shielding the members of the crowd who weren't, and Chara struggled to reach Asriel's magic to defend them.

"No, Chara, there's families in that crowd! Kids like us! We're not going to kill anyone! We can still talk them down!"

Just then, another bullet whizzed past Asriel, narrowly missing them. Still, Asriel held back.

"Asriel, you idiot, we need to fight back! They're trying to KILL us! If we don't fight, we'll be killed!"

"No! They're still living beings. They're just scared!" Asriel was struck again, this time in the stomach. He yelled in pain, but still didn't fight back, instead grabbing Chara's body. Finally realizing he couldn't reason with these people, he chose to flee. Several bullets struck him in the back, some tearing through his fragile soul.

"Asriel!" Chara's scream was desperate. She could feel his agony.

"It's going to be okay, Chara...Let's just get out of here...let's get you home..." Despite his pain and fatal wounds, Asriel kept running, back up the mountain and through the barrier, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

He collapsed in the garden, struggling to rise again but simply falling on the ground. Chara screamed and cried, begging him to hold on, trying to push her own fading energy into him, but there was nothing she could do. Bolts of agony shot through their shared body and it felt like every molecule was being torn to shreds.

Footsteps were running into the room. She could hear their mom and dad screaming. Their parents rushed to their side, desperately trying to give them healing magic, but it was far too late.

"I...I took Chara's body to the village to see the flowers, but they thought I killed her...I tried to talk them down...but they shot me...I didn't fight back...I'm sorry, Chara...I failed you..." With those last words to Chara and his parents, Chara felt Asriel's consciousness slip away. She tried to grab onto it, to keep him in this world, but she couldn't. The last thing she heard was Asgore and Toriel's grief stricken sobs before falling into blackness.

...((Flashback End))...

As Chara told her story, Sans translated for Undyne, though he was clearly getting more and more upset at each word. His entire body was shaking and he had tears in his sockets. Undyne was unusually quiet, barely even speaking.

Chara looked down. "Now you know everything. I...I'm so sorry. I wish more than anything I could take it all back...that I could bring him back...but I can't. I'm sorry."

Sans sighed softly after translating for Undyne. "Chara, I understand why you felt you had to break the barrier fast, but why would you listen to the opinions of total strangers above your own family and friends? If you had just talked to any of us, or listened to what Asriel was saying, we would have told you your life was worth more than breaking the damn Barrier! Why would you do that when you knew your loss would make us all suffer?! Did you really think you meant that little to us? That we would just forget you?!" His voice cracked at the words. "Now everything's screwed up. These years without you and Asriel have been horrible. I haven't stopped missing either of you for a day. Damn it, I loved you, Chara!"

Chara choked back tears and reached out to touch his shoulder. "Sans..I.."

Sans pulled away. "I need a moment." he choked out and then ran out of the room.

Chara hovered in the middle of the room, feeling like her soul was breaking. She wanted to follow Sans, but knew it would only hurt him more, so she didn't. She looked at Undyne helplessly. Undyne still hadn't spoken. "Undyne, I'm so..."

"I know." Undyne said softly, the softest she had ever heard her friend speak. She wasn't sure if Undyne had actually heard her or just got the gist of what she was trying to say. "Look, I do forgive you, but I need to think. We'll talk about this later, okay? I'm going to go check on Sans and Frisk."

With that, Undyne left the room and Chara was alone. Floating onto Sans's bed, she curled up and cried.

She really was an idiot.

...

Papyrus gave the huge pot of spaghetti a stir and pulled his third tray of garlic bread out of the oven. It was far too much food for four people, but the task of cooking always soothed him.

He paused for a moment to go check on Frisk. She was still on the porch writing in the notepad, and wasn't even wearing her coat. She wasn't crying, but still looked very upset.

He frowned in worry and was about to go to her, but then she picked up her phone and started dialing. Not wanting to interrupt her call, he headed back to the kitchen and grabbed a plate, intending to bring her out a nice hot plate of spaghetti and some garlic bread.

And then Sans's door burst open and his brother came running downstairs and through the kitchen. Papyrus could see tears in his sockets.

"Sans, what's..." he started but his brother had already rushed past him and through the backyard to his lab.

Undyne came downstairs before Papyrus could go after his brother. Papyrus looked to his friend in worry and confusion. "Undyne, what's going on? Why's Sans so upset?"

"I...think it's better if he tells you." she said softly.

Papyrus nodded, even more worried. "I'll go check on him. Can you go check on Frisk?"

"Of course. Where is she?"

"Outside on the front porch. She's pretty upset and trying to figure out a way to break the barrier." Papyrus explained.

"I'll go talk to her."

...

As Sans, Chara, and Undyne talked, Frisk sat outside, working on her list, writing down everything she could think of on ways to break the barrier. It was slow going though, as Frisk knew very little about magic, or the spell that made the barrier do what it did.

And she was also worried about Chara. Several times, she got flashes of strange images or words; disorienting, confusing, and disturbing. Letters and buttercups and fighting and trails of dust. Chara was likely trying to block her out, so she couldn't see it all, but what she did see scared her.

She had the feeling it was about what happened to Asriel. What Chara had been trying to tell her about in the CORE.

Frisk wanted to go to Chara and comfort her, but knew Chara might not feel comfortable with telling her right now, and that Chara might want to talk to Sans and Undyne, who she had known for much longer, about it first.

So the best thing Frisk could do right now was to work on this list and figure out how to get to her sister and bring her back here. Everything else could wait.

After writing down everything she could think of, Frisk stared at her list of every possible idea she had on how the barrier could be broken or how she could at least go through to get her sister.

1.) See if I can just walk out since I have Chara's soul like Chara suggested. If I can, I'll get Tina and see if I can find a counter spell like originally planned.

2.) Ask one of the other human souls for help if I can find them and Asgore lets me.

3.) Figure out a possible way for Asgore to use my soul without killing me.

4.) Ask Alphys or Sans if a machine that would absorb soul energy, magnify it, and release it at the barrier is possible.

5.) If all else fails and no other options are found, give my soul to Asgore in exchange for Tina's safety and a chance for her to have a better life.

The last idea on Frisk's list scared the hell out of her. She didn't want to die, didn't want to leave Tina and all the new friends she had made behind. But she just couldn't kill Asgore. She couldn't do that to Chara and her monster friends. She loved them too much, and they would be destroyed if she murdered Asgore in cold blood to try to get free.

And she had felt for the first time what it was truly like to have friends and a family. She wanted that so badly for Tina too. Tina deserved much better than a cold house with neglectful parents and not enough food or supplies. The monsters would be able to give Tina everything Frisk herself hadn't been able to.

She would try every other option, but if there wasn't any, if there truly was no hope...

Frisk felt sick to her stomach. Tears filled her eyes but she fought not to let them fall. She needed to be strong. She needed to be tough... But she was only fifteen, and she didn't know what to do.

All she wanted was her mom, her true mom, not the woman who had given birth to her.

After too many rejections as a small child, she had never gone to her birth mother for anything, never trusted her with any problem. But Toriel was different. Toriel made her feel wanted and loved. Despite her fear of bothering her goat mom, she still felt like Toriel would make everything okay again.

She reached into her backpack and grabbed her phone, and with shaking hands, she dialed Toriel's number, desperately hoping to hear her mom's loving voice on the other end of the line.

But nobody picked up, and the phone went to voicemail. Frisk's soul sunk.

"Mom...I'm sorry to bother you, but-but I...I found out to get home, I'd have to... I'd have to kill Asgore. And I don't want to. I can't do that to him... but I need to get Tina. I don't know what to do. Mom, I'm scared..." she said softly, her voice shaky as she tried to keep tears from falling, feeling weak for doing so, but also desperately hoping that, like in the storybooks she read to Tina, her mom would answer or show up and make everything better.

There was no response and Frisk hung up, her hands shaking even more. Maybe Toriel was just busy, or away from her phone.

Or maybe Toriel didn't want her any more, had figured out just how much trouble she was.

Her cheeks felt wet.

She was crying.

She angrily told herself to stop it, to quit being weak, but still the tears fell.

And then suddenly there was a thud next to her on the porch, followed by a light clatter by her knee. Something nudged her arm gently, and then there was a friendly bark.

Startled, Frisk looked up to see the white fluffy dog Papyrus always called the Annoying Dog, sitting by her side and wagging its tail. It nuzzled her arm, and she stroked its fur, smiling a little. It then licked her cheek and pointed its paw at something. Frisk looked to see a pie tin with a single slice of butterscotch cinnamon pie resting by her knee.

There was a lump in her throat. It was her mom's pie.

The Annoying Dog then reached beside her and dropped a fork in the pie tin, nudging the tin closer to her and looking at her expectantly.

Frisk couldn't help but smile. "Is this for me?" The Annoying Dog let out an affirmative, happy bark, and cuddled at her side. Frisk hugged the dog in thanks and then picked up the tin like a priceless treasure, grabbing the fork and carefully slicing off a bit of pie, taking a bite.

It was still warm, the butterscotch rich and sweet with the light spice of cinnamon. The magic in it warmed her down to her toes.

It felt like a hug from Toriel.

Frisk took another bite, and then another, savoring the taste and the feeling of the magic. The Annoying Dog was still cuddled against her side, and the physical contact made her feel better as well.

She offered the dog some of the slice, but it shook its head, pointing to the empty part of the pie tin and licking its lips.

Frisk got the message and chuckled. "You ate the rest?" The dog nodded and let out a happy bark. "Well, thank you for saving me a slice. I needed that." She gave the dog another hug which it happily snuggled into.

And then the door opened.

...

Undyne stood at the door, watching Frisk. She had seen and heard as Frisk had spoke to the voicemail of whoever she called Mom, and saw how broken hearted the poor kid was when no one answered.

Looking closer, she also saw the number on the screen, and clenched her fists as she recognized it.

Toriel.

Of course that coward of a queen would abandon yet another person. Toriel had already ran off on Asgore, and her kingdom, blaming Asgore for a death he hadn't even caused, leaving everyone behind when they had so desperately needed her. Asgore, while doing his best to stay strong for his people, had been broken-hearted, and many monsters were lost without their queen. Undyne too had been hurt as Toriel was the closest thing to a real mother she ever had, but she tried to remain strong for everyone and help out Asgore. She had tried to call Toriel many times, but the goat woman refused to pick up her damn phone.

And it looked like she had abandoned Frisk too.

Well, Undyne wouldn't.

Undyne snapped back to reality in time to see the white dog Papyrus was always complaining about drop a slice of what clearly was Toriel's pie in front of the kid and encourage her to eat it.

Damn, the DOG was a better mom than Toriel.

And while Undyne was no mom, she was still Frisk's "bestie" and she would help Frisk feel better too. And she knew exactly what to do to make everything okay again.

She opened the door quietly and went out onto the porch, sitting down next to her friend. "Hey." She placed a hand on Frisk's shoulder in comfort, feeling how bony it was. She made a mental note to get the malnourished girl to Alphys for a checkup.

Frisk turned to her, still snuggling the dog, and smiled a little bit, though Undyne saw a little bit of nervousness in her eyes. "Hey, Undyne." Her smile then fell. "Did Sans and Chara tell you? About what Alphys said?"

Undyne sighed softly. "Yes. But..."

The dog then barked, cutting Undyne off, and picked up a notepad that was sitting next to Frisk in its mouth.

"Hey!" Frisk protested, but the dog ignored her. going over to Undyne and dropping the notepad in her lap before jumping off the porch and darting off.

"Huh? What's this?" Undyne asked aloud and started to read the paper. "List Of Ways To Break The Barrier?" She quickly read down the list, her eye widening in horror when she got to the last one. She then glared at Frisk. "Oh no. Not you fucking too!"

"Undyne...I..." Frisk started, but Undyne cut her off, facing Frisk and grabbing her shoulders. Frisk flinched and Undyne loosened her grip, but still continued.

"Now you listen here, punk! The damn barrier is. NOT. Worth. Your. Life. Got that?" Undyne demanded. "You're not going to die for us. I'm not losing another person I care about!"

"You care about me?" Frisk asked very softly.

Undyne's anger immediately drained into sadness. "You punk, of course I care about you." She had a sick feeling in her stomach as she remembered it had only been twenty four hours or so since her and Frisk's battle, where she had been trying to literally murder the kid for her soul. And not only had she done that, she had said the most cruel things imaginable.

"If you truly cared about everyone, you'd give up your soul right now!"

"The very fact you exist is a crime!"

She had been no better than the monsters whose cruel letters had driven Chara to suicide. In fact, she had been worse. She had literally told a neglected, possibly abused fifteen year old girl to her face that she was better off dead, and then tried to murder her.

What kind of hero did that?

What kind of person with even a shred of decency did that?

Undyne looked down. "Frisk, I'm so, so sorry. I was horrible to you."

"A little, but I understand. You were trying to protect Asgore." Frisk said.

Undyne shook her head violently. "No. Don't make excuses for me, punk. I may have been trying to protect Asgore and break the barrier, but there's no excuse for what I did to you. You're an innocent, sweet kid, and you didn't deserve me trying to rip your soul out. You didn't deserve the cruel things I said. I was so angry at the humans that killed Asriel and what Yellow Soul did that I took it out on you, and that wasn't at all right. You're an amazing person, Frisk. You deserve to live and be happy, okay? So THIS..." Undyne grabbed the list and tore the fifth option out of it, crumpling it up and throwing it into the snow. "Is NOT an option. You or Asgore dying will NEVER be an option."

"I don't want either of us to die either." Frisk told her softly. "But if the other options don't work, I don't know what to..."

Undyne hugged her. Frisk flinched for a second, but then hugged her back. Undyne could feel the girl's body shake with supressed sobs, and she rubbed Frisk's back softly. Once Frisk calmed down a little more, Undyne gave her a smile. "Don't worry, punk. I know you're scared, but I have a solution that won't get either you or Asgore killed. I know exactly what to do. You'll have that little sister of yours back in your arms by tonight." Frisk perked up, looking up at her, and Undyne grinned. "A fusion of a monster soul and a human soul can walk right through the barrier. And what you guys forgot is that you're not the only human soul in the Underground. I'll just absorb one of the others, get the last soul we need, and go to your house and grab your sister. I'll even beat up your parents for you. How's that sound?"

Frisk thought about it for a few minutes. "I don't know. It sounds dangerous." she admitted. "What if you got hurt? While there are some great humans, some of them fear what they don't understand, and when us humans get scared, we get stupid. They might try to attack you. From...From what little I know from Chara and you guys, Asriel was killed by humans. And...And he was a soul fusion, wasn't he? That's the only way a monster can escape the barrier."

Undyne sighed softly. "He was. Chara had the bright idea to commit suicide so Asriel could absorb her souls, get more souls from humans that had already died, and free us. It went wrong. Very wrong. Asriel tried to bring Chara's body to the village to bury her and show that monsters could be kind and make peace with humanity, but they attacked him, and Chara panicked. She fought back trying to protect Asriel, but he stopped her and the humans...they killed him." She quickly wiped tears away.

Frisk looked like she was about to be sick. "That's awful. I'm so, so sorry..." She placed her hand over her friend's.

"It's not your fault, kid. And...while I'm pissed at Chara for killing herself and getting Asriel involved...the idea of taking a soul to get through the barrier and then collecting the rest from a hospital or morgue DOES have merit. I'd be a hypocrite if I got too mad at her as I've considered it more than once myself." Undyne said with a soft sigh. "I...even offered to do it for Asgore before, though he shot it down because he didn't want me to get hurt."

"I...kind of agree with Asgore on this." Frisk admitted softly. "Chara and Asriel were killed trying this. I don't want the same thing to happen to you. What if you got killed too?"

"I'll be all right. I've trained for years, and I'll fight if I need to." Undyne tried to reassure her, but Frisk was still concerned.

"A lot of humans have trained to fight too, and they have strong weapons. You could get hurt or worse, and so could Tina if she's with you. I don't want either of you to get hurt. And...if you fight and someone gets killed, it could start another war, and that's not good for anyone, human or monster. Mettaton was right that the war restarting could destroy both sides. Let's see if we can find a safer option first." Frisk picked up her list. "Do you think it could work if I walked through the barrier with Chara's soul attached to mine? I can still get Tina, then do what we originally planned and try to find a counter spell."

"I don't know. The barrier's pretty strong, and it might either not work or cause damage to your or Chara's soul." Undyne told her with a sigh. "And the other human souls won't be able to help you. Humans can't fuse with humans, plus we need those to get out."

"Is it possible for Asgore to use my soul while I'm still alive?" Frisk asked.

Undyne shook her head. "No, or he already would have done so with all the others. Monsters don't have the power or control to absorb the soul of a living being. It would take an immense amount of power to accomplish something like that."

"An immense amount of power..." Frisk mused, then her eyes lit up. "The plaques say a monster that absorbs a human soul has unimaginable power. A monster that has just one soul can literally walk through an extremely powerful magical barrier." She looked to Undyne. "What happens when a monster absorbs more than one human soul?"

"From what Alphys theorized, the power increases exponentially until the monster reaches seven souls, and then the monster would pretty much become a god."

Frisk grinned, excited. "And at six souls, Asgore would be almost a god! Which means..."

Undyne's eye lit up as she caught on. "He might be able to use your soul without hurting you! Frisk, once again you're a freaking genius!" She cheered and gave Frisk a high five that ended up knocking the poor girl off the step and into the soft snow. She was about to apologize but then Frisk burst out laughing in sheer joy and relief, which made Undyne laugh too as she took Frisk's hand, helping her up.

"How do we figure out for sure if this will work?" Frisk asked once they calmed down.

"We can talk to Alphys. She should be able to run some tests and be able to tell us for sure. Sans should be able to help too. They're considered two of the brightest monsters in the Underground for a reason. Now c'mon! We got a little sister to save and a barrier to break!" Undyne led Frisk back into the house.

...

Meanwhile, Sans sat in his lab chair by his computer desk, his sockets burning with unshed tears. How could Chara have done this, thrown her whole life away to break the barrier? Why did she have to try to be a big hero and come up with that crazy plan and drag Asriel into it?

Why did she have to leave him?

Why hadn't he figured out how depressed and suicidal she was? He had literally seen her the day before she died. She had been all smiles, had treated for Grillby's and bought his favorite ketchup and fries, and laughed when he pretended to pour ketchup in her chocolate milkshake. She had sat next to him in the wishing room gazing up at the crystals as they made up their own constellations and traded star related puns.

He had been so happy. He had wanted so desperately to tell her how he felt, that he loved her. He had even come up with the somewhat dorky idea of them both making a wish and then him telling her that his wish was that he could tell her how much he loved her.

Instead, he had chickened out and asked her about the stars. The damn stars.

When she had told him about how beautiful they were, he had mumbled "Just like you." under his breath, but when she asked him what he said, he had once again lost his nerve and started saying something about how maybe they could see the stars one day and that he could show them to Papyrus.

And that was one of the last things he had ever said to her.

Sans buried his head in his hands. Chara had killed herself because she wanted monsterkind to see the sun and stars. And there he was, her best friend, talking about wanting to see the stars, to go to the Surface. What if he had cemented her idea, made her all the more determined to do it just because she wanted him to be happy? Chara was a Love soul after all, and would do anything for her family and friends.

Thinking back to it, he remembered how her last hug had lingered just a bit. How she had gazed at him just a little bit longer, as if it would be the last time she saw him. He realized she had been saying goodbye.

Why had he talked about the damn stars? Why hadn't he told her how he felt?

If he had told her how much he loved her, would it have made her stop? Made her realize just how much she meant to him? That she meant more to him than the sun and stars?

Would it have saved her and Asriel if he had just spoken up?

Would she and Asriel still be with him today, happy and alive?

Sans fumbled for his desk drawer, opening it, and tears clouding his vision, rooted in there until he found what he was looking for. The gifts he had been planning to give to Chara and Asriel the day he found out they died. He stared at the small items through a film of tears.

A Pokemon game and a tarnished silver charm bracelet with a red heart gem on it.

As he clutched the gifts he had never gotten the chance to give close to his chest, he remembered.

...

Sans hummed as he walked towards the palace with two gift bags in his hand, one for Chara and one for Asriel. Asriel's gift bag was bright yellow, containing a Pokemon game, his absolute favorite video game. Asriel loved catching Pokemon, training them, and giving them ridiculous nicknames, and Sans grinned at how his nerdy goat friend would flip at the idea of being able to have his Pokemon walk beside him.

Chara's gift bag on the other hand, was bright green, her favorite color, and inside was a silver colored charm bracelet he had found in the dump, with a small red heart charm on it. Sans couldn't wait to give it to her. He would tell her he gave her this heart because she had already stolen his.

Okay, he might not want to say something that cheesy, but he would finally tell her how he felt today.

But as he reached the castle, his heart caught in his chest. Black banners were hanging from the once cheery windows, and Undyne was standing at the door, looking very sad.

Sans frowned and walked up to her. "Undyne, what's wrong?"

"Chara and Asriel...they're gone, Sans." she said softly and there were tears in her eyes. Sans had never seen her cry before.

Sans was in shock, not wanting to believe what he was hearing. "What? Where'd they go?"

"They're dead, Sans. They-They passed away yesterday. I-I'm so sorry."

Sans dropped the gifts he was holding. His fists clenched. Tears filled his eyes. "No...No they're not! She's not...Stop it, Undyne! Stop lying to me! This isn't funny!"

She reached out to touch his shoulder. "Sans, I'm not lying. I wish I was. But-But they're gone. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"STOP IT, UNDYNE! STOP LYING! THEY'RE NOT DEAD! SHE'S NOT DEAD! IT CAN'T BE TRUE!" he screamed and lashed out at Undyne with a bone attack.

She jumped out of the way. "Sans..." He kept attacking blindly in his grief and she just let him and dodged until he wore himself out. Finally he did and broke down crying, falling to his knees. She picked him up and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I miss them too..."

...

Sans was brought back to reality by another pair of arms wrapping around him, ones belonging to his brother. Papyrus was looking at him in worry with tears in his own eyes. Instead of trying to tell Papyrus he was fine like he would have only a few days ago, Sans clung to his brother and buried his face in his chest. He was tired of hiding his feelings. Tired of lying.

Papyrus held Sans and stroked his skull until Sans started to calm down. "Can you tell me what's wrong, Sans?" he asked gently.

Sans hesitated for a minute, then, as he used to before Flowey's resets, he confided in his brother. "It's Chara. I...I found out she took her own life so Asriel could get the souls we needed to break the barrier. She...She wanted to free us all, but it just got her and Asriel killed...I should have realized she was feeling this way... And...And the last time I ever talked to her, I talked about the stupid stars. I would have rather had her than them...And she died not knowing that...If I had just let her know how much she meant to me, she might still be alive!"

Papyrus hugged him tighter, crying a little too. "Oh, Sans...it's not your fault. I...don't remember as much about Chara and Asriel as I wish I did, but I know you were a really good friend to her and you never hid how much you cared."

"But I was her best friend...I should have known..."

Papyrus stroked his skull. "Sans, you can't read her mind, and people are very good at hiding things when they want to sometimes. How could you have known?"

Sans shook his head, tears filling his eyes again. Papyrus held him close and cuddled him, letting Sans let out all his grief and pain. He said nothing more, just snuggled Sans close and comforted him with his presence.

And it was enough.

...

"Chara? Sans? Papyrus?" Frisk called as she and Undyne went inside.

"I'm here. Sans and Papyrus are in the lab." Chara said softly, phasing through Sans's door and coming downstairs. Her eyes were red rimmed and it was clear she had been crying.

Undyne patted Chara's shoulder. "I'll go check on them. It's going to be okay." Giving her friend a tiny smile, Undyne headed off.

Frisk tried to hug Chara, but her arms phased through the ghost girl. "Undyne...she told me what happened, about what you were trying to tell me in the CORE. I'm sorry."

"It's my fault. I really messed up, Frisk." Chara said softly. "I hurt everyone I cared about..."

"You made a mistake." Frisk said gently. "You should never have killed yourself, or gotten Asriel involved in something like that. But...I know all you wanted was to save everyone you love. And the people who killed Asriel are to blame for his death, not you."

"But if I hadn't..."Chara started.

"Chara, you can't change what happened. But...you've been given a second chance. We don't have to let the mistakes of our past define our future. We can turn things around for everyone. Undyne and I may have found a way to break the barrier." Frisk explained to Chara about what she and Undyne came up with.

Chara thought about it for a few minutes. "That...might just be crazy enough to work!" She smiled a little. "I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Thanks, Chara."

"And Frisk...I'm sorry. For hiding the truth about the barrier from you. I should never have done that. You deserved the truth from the beginning."

Frisk smiled a little. "I'm still a little annoyed at that, but...I forgive you. Just don't hide anything from me from now on, okay?"

"I won't."

"You'd better not, because I have a mental link and I'll know. And next time I'll keep bugging you until you tell me. So no more lying. Got it?" Frisk said sternly.

"Got it."

"Good. Now let's go kick the barrier's ass!"

Chara laughed. "I think you've been spending a little too much time with Undyne." Frisk stuck her tongue out at Chara and Chara grinned. While she still felt guilty, Chara would make the most of her second chance.

She just wished Asriel could have one too.

...

Flowey hid behind the bush near the skeleton brother's porch, waiting for "Chara" to come back out. His reincarnated, amnesiac sister had definitely been giving him the runaround. After having to change around his whole plan and create a whole new one, he had lost track of "Chara" and her battle with Mettaton had already been finished. He had waited at the path to the castle for her so he could convince her somehow to go to Alphys" but she hadn't shown up.

And then he realized where Amnesia Chara would go when she was frightened and needed a place to feel secure.

Sans and Papyrus's house.

So he had to backtrack all the way to Snowdin, and arrived just in time to see her and Undyne brainstorming on the porch about ways to break the barrier. It surprised him when his sister, who remembered nothing about magic, figured out that a monster fused with six souls would have enough power to take a soul without killing its body.

Though it shouldn't have surprised him though. Chara had always been clever, at least as long as she didn't panic.

Well, at least she was going to the lab on her own though, and he wouldn't have to tell her himself. Knowing Amnesia Chara, she wouldn't believe him and would have probably gone running to Sans and Papyrus(again). This way his plan could proceed without interference.

While she was busy with that, he'd go to the Ruins and make a little visit to Toriel to get her to come to her adoptive daughter's rescue, then head back to the castle to wait. Once Amnesia Chara got to the castle, she'd see her room with her locket, her drawing, and the worn dagger she always used when helping Asgore trim the plants. It should help to jog her memory at least a little.

Come to think of it, when he was on his way back, he probably should turn the castle into a little puzzle so that she would have to go into rooms to get out. While Chara had loved to explore, Amnesia Chara seemed to have little interest in looking around unless it was necessary or important to helping a friend, which made sense since her main objective was to survive and get back to the girl she thought was her little sister. A chain on the stairs and a few hidden keys ought to help change that though.

Flowey grinned. Everything was coming together wonderfully. By tonight, he would be Asriel, Chara would be herself again, and he would have all he ever wanted.

...

I hope you guys liked the story! For those who want to know, the reason I had Asriel be the one to come up with the idea to take Chara's body to the village and make peace with the humans is because I noticed how smart and strategic Flowey could be when you looked past his unbridled psychopathy. He knew exactly how to get everyone to come to the barrier room to help Frisk, and what Frisk would need to do. He's also befriended everyone in the Underground and solved a lot of problems during his good runs. I felt that sharp intelligence and strategic thinking could very well have been part of Asriel's personality too.

I'd also like to thank the awesome J-Farraday for all her help and ideas with this chapter! She helped me a lot with Sans and Papyrus's conversation as well as Chara's and Frisk's, and came up with the headcanon that Chara is "the demon who comes when you call its name" when she roleplays with Asriel. July's a great friend and an amazing writer, and I'd definitely recommend checking out her works. She also has some absolutely gorgeous art on Deviantart under the name MissJulyFarraday.

And now the action is underway and this story is entering its climax! Stay tuned and please review and let me know what you think! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to either ask in your review or PM and I'll answer as quickly as possible.