Asriel and Chara left New New Home and travelled north toward the mountains. On the way there, they began debating whether or not Esmond could be redeemed.
"I'm sure we can redeem him," Asriel said. "I was a murderous, soulless flower before Frisk came along. If I can be saved, anyone can."
"I don't know, Asriel," Chara replied. "Esmond is a desperate man. He and his people suffered immensely during the war with the dragon god, he was denied entry to Heaven, and now in his current life he knows that his empire fell apart. I understand why he's angry, but I'm not sure if a man who has lost that much and is so consumed with hate can be reasoned with."
"Chara, don't you remember what you said about following Frisk's example?" asked Asriel.
"I do, but maybe Gaster is right. Humans aren't as reasonable as monsters. Frisk is no ordinary human, after all. And if killing Esmond is the only way to save Frisk and the world, then so be it."
"I hope it doesn't come to that," Asriel said. "As a flower, I did enough killing to depopulate the earth. When Frisk saved me, I decided I was done with killing for good."
"I hope you're right," said Chara.
Asriel and Chara went to the square of New New Home and bought as many healing items as they could afford. When they finished, they started walking north. It was a long way to Skull Mountain, and the road was very rocky and steep. The views were very beautiful, but Asriel and Chara became tired quickly.
"My feet are killing me," Chara complained.
"We can stop and rest here for a little while," Asriel said. The siblings sat down on the side of the road.
"I just want to let you know that you, Frisk, and your parents are the only family I have ever had," said Chara. "My parents died in a car accident when I was young and I had to live with my abusive aunt and uncle. They never loved me. They caused me to lose faith in humanity and I ran away from them after I just couldn't take their abuse anymore. That was when I fell underground and met you, mom, and dad. You're the only family I have now."
"That's nice, Chara," said Asriel. "I'm very sad to hear about your human parents, but I'm glad my parents and I mean so much to you."
"You really do," said Chara. "You've shown me more kindness than anyone else ever has. And Frisk's love for all of us has taught me to have faith in humanity again. She taught me that there is goodness in humanity."
"There is goodness, but there is also evil. King Esmond was once a good man, but he has fallen into the trap of violence and revenge," said Asriel. "Still, I believe at least some of his goodness remains in him. Frisk could bring out the goodness in anyone, so why can't we?"
"Because Frisk isn't an ordinary human," replied Chara. "Still, we can try. We'd better keep moving. Frisk is still in trouble, and it's up to us to save her."
"Alright, let's go."
The siblings continued walking until they reached a large mountain with a skull-like rock formation on top of it. Looking down, they saw the remains of a large castle that looked thousands of years old. Looking closer, however, they saw that it was being repaired by Esmond and his wizards, who were able to make great progress quickly because of their magical abilities.
"This must be the place," said Chara. "Let's put on our disguises now. Hopefully, they'll think we're two of them."
They put on their wizards' robes and entered the castles' courtyards. There, they saw many wizards training with their magic, casting spells at targets. They also saw many wizards using their magic to repair the place. One of the wizards used what appeared to be a telekinetic spell to bring the bits of rubble back together and patch up a hole in the wall. Suddenly, one of the wizards approached them.
"So you're the new recruits?" he asked.
Asriel and Chara decided to go along with it for now. "Yes sir!" they replied.
"Alright, maggots! See that obstacle course over there? Get your butts in there and prove yourselves capable of staring down a monster and living to tell about it!"
"Yessir!" Asriel and Chara said in unison. They ran into the obstacle course, which featured platforms to jump across water, swinging axes, moving lasers like the ones in Hotland, and a wooden wall and rope to climb up.
"Go!" shouted the wizard.
Asriel and Chara started the course by running across the platforms. Unfortunately for Asriel and Chara, they weren't as quick on their feet as Frisk was and struggled to keep their balance and jump across. From the side of the course, the wizard continued to push them forward.
"Go! Go! Go! Don't fall in, maggots!"
With great difficulty, Asriel and Chara made it to the other side. Next, they faced the swinging axes. And despite the siblings' hopes to the contrary, these axes appeared to be just as sharp and deadly as regular ones. For an expert dodger like Frisk, this would be a cakewalk. But for Asriel and Chara, who were much less experienced, it was a difficult task. They ran, swerved, ducked and dodged, and they make it to the other side unharmed.
Next, they reached the lasers. Chara had seen Frisk dodge lasers like these in Hotland, and now she had to follow Frisk's example and mimic her dodging skills. "I've seen Frisk handle obstacles like these before," Chara thought to herself. "I just have to remember what she did."
There were many lasers on this part of the course, some of which moved up and down while others moved left and right. Some others remained stationary. Asriel and Chara went about jumping, and dodging, trying hard to remember what Frisk would do in that situation. They were exhausted and dripping in sweat when they reached the other side, but they came out unscathed.
"Good work," said the wizard. "But you're not done yet. Now, it's time for target practice. You see those targets over there?" He pointed toward a set of lined up targets shaped like froggits. Destroy them with all your magical might!"
Asriel and Chara approached the targets. They hated to attack these images of froggits, even though they knew the images weren't real, but they had no choice if they were to maintain their cover. They walked up and prepared to launch fireballs at their respective targets. Asriel launched first, and was easily able to destroy his target with a well-aimed fireball thanks to his innate magical abilities as a monster.
Chara, however, struggled to conjure up the same bit of destructive magic. Because she was a human, magic did not come naturally to her. Then, she remembered what Esmond had said during Frisk's trip to the past, when the human king was good. He had said to envision the fundamental particles that make up the universe, which Gaster had later rediscovered and named FUN particles. Then, he had told her to try to move the particles with her mind. This was thousands of years ago, when Frisk had travelled back to learn how Esmond had defeated the dragon Zeregoth so she could do it in the present and save the world. How the times had changed since then!
Chara envisioned the FUN particles in her hand becoming hotter and hotter and shooting toward the target, engulfing it in fire. She had done it. She had used fire magic successfully.
"Excellent work, recruits," said the wizard. "Come inside the castle. King Esmond is going to give a speech soon. You won't want to miss it."
Asriel and Chara got back together and walked toward the castle. "Now's our chance to save Frisk!" Chara whispered to her brother. "You can slip away during the speech and find our way to the dungeon where Frisk is being held. I'll distract them while you go back and save her."
"Good plan, Chara," Asriel replied. "And good job using fire magic for the first time."
The two siblings entered the castle, which was an enormous building made of stone. They walked into the great hall to find the place with enormous windows all on the sides of a massive stone hallway. At the end of the hall was a throne where King Esmond stood. His followers all stood in huge rows. They were eager to hear his speech.
After a while, the king began to speak. "Welcome, friends," he said. "Today is a glorious day for humanity and its rightful ruler. Thanks to my strength, wisdom, and power, we have captured the great traitor, Frisk Dreemurr. For too long, she has deceived the world with her false promises of peace and equality. But you and I all know that such a thing can never be. Just a few months ago, the monsters, through their arrogance and lust for power, summoned back the great beast, Zeregoth, the Father of all Monsters. This beast, whom I defeated, was set free once again to wreak havoc on our world."
"And our friend Frisk helped turn him good again," Chara whispered to Asriel.
Esmond continued speaking. "And this traitor, Frisk Dreemurr, released the monsters from the prison underground where they belonged because they could not accept their natural position of servitude to humans. And yet Frisk, the one who released these vile creatures, is hailed as the hero who defeated the dragon god once and for all despite not even killing the beast or sealing it away. In her stupidity, she thought the creature had actually turned good, as if such a thing were even possible. She left it possible for the thing to ravage our land once more!"
Everyone in the crowd started yelling in anger.
"But we won't have it. Fate has seen fit to bring me back to this world, where I fight once again to bring safety and prosperity to humanity. We have captured the great traitor, and now we will obtain the two halves of the Staff of Life and use the traitor's power to charge it! And then, with the power over the forces of life itself, we will eradicate the monster scum once and for all! Then, humans will take their rightful place as the rulers of the world!"
Everyone in the hall cheered except for Asriel and Chara. Now was the time for Chara to deploy her distraction so that Asriel could go to the dungeon to save Frisk. Chara spoke up, trying to distract everyone.
"Hey King Esmond!" she shouted.
"Yes?" the king answered.
"This is a great plan and all, but it reminds me of an RPG I played a long time ago. It just seems so horribly generic, and I think you should try some other, more original plan." While she said this, Asriel began to walk toward a hallway to the right of the great hall.
Esmond was simultaneously shocked and amused by Chara's statement. "Yes, it does seem like something you'd find in an RPG, doesn't it?"
"Yes, but like I said before, it's generic," said Chara. "It's got all the hallmarks of a typical RPG. The biggest one is the ancient, immensely powerful artifact that has the power to destroy one or both of the two sentient species inhabiting this planet, if not all life. It just seems kind of unoriginal."
Esmond was starting to get angry. "Well, miss smarty pants, I for one think it's really exciting to be able to live out the story of an RPG. And I think most people here would agree with me."
"Yes, but don't you want to live one that's more original?" Chara replied.
"And what is your idea of an 'original' RPG?"
"Well for starters, I would get rid of the 'artifact of doom' cliche. Then, I would…"
While Chara went on describing her vision of a better RPG, Asriel went on his way to the dungeon. There were guards posted near the entrance, but Asriel had an idea. While supplying for his journey to this castle, he had bought some spider donuts.
"Hey guys," he said to them. "I have these donuts here. If you let me through, give me the keys to the cells, and never ask why, you can have them."
"Okay then," one of the guards said as he took the donut. "We were getting hungry. Go on ahead."
Asriel went into the dungeon. It was a dark, dreary place and there were monsters imprisoned in it. Asriel unlocked their cells and told them to prepare to fight their way out when he said so. He also said to try not to kill the humans if they could help it.
At the end of the dungeon, he saw Frisk sitting in her cell. She appeared to be unharmed, but was visibly scared. "Asriel!" she called out to him. "You came here to save me!"
"It's the least I could do for you after what you did for me," the goat monster replied. "Did they hurt you?"
"No, not yet at least," said the human. "But I'd like to get out of here,"
"We all would," said Asriel. "Let's get out of here!"
Meanwhile, Esmond was at his wit's end with Chara comparing his whole enterprise to an RPG, especially a cliche one. "That's enough!" he shouted angrily. "Seize her!" he said to his guards.
"Aww come on, I was just getting to the good part!" Chara said sheepishly. Just then, Frisk, Asriel, and the monsters from the dungeons burst into the room. The monsters engaged the humans in combat in an effort to escape the castle.
"You!" Esmond shouted as he drew his sword. You will pay for this insolence!" He teleported over to Asriel and slashed at him, but Asriel ducked under it. Frisk used a telekinetic push to blast Esmond back a few feet, but he quickly got back up. Knowing that she couldn't defeat such a powerful wizard even with Asriel's help and that her priority was to escape, she took advantage of the opportunity to run away with Asriel and Chara, the latter of whom had caught up to them. They and the monsters ran out the door of the castle and into the courtyard and continued into the forest from there. None of the humans were able to stop them. Once they reached a safe distance, Frisk stopped to thank her friends.
"You all saved me," she said, smiling. "You risked your lives to rescue me from the clutches of that madman."
"We did it because you've done the same for us," Asriel replied. "Without you, none of us would be standing here."
"But for now, we need to get back to Gaster," said Chara. "He'll help us figure out our next move."
With that, they all headed back to New New Home.
A/N: Sorry for the incredibly slow updates. I'm honestly not sure where to go from here or how to continue this story, and I'm considering putting it on an indefinite hiatus and instead doing a remake of this story's predecessor, Darknesstale. Darknesstale was severely rushed and can be very cringy at times, and I'm not sure what to do next with this story. I've been meaning to eventually do a remake of Darknesstale that will have at least twice the content of the original, though it may take quite some time. Let me know what you'd like me to do in the review section of this fic. But regardless, be ready for extremely slow updates. I apologize in advance.