This chapter takes place about a week after the previous one.
"Now I'm going to go and get more food for us," said Toriel as she gently brushed Riley's hair. "I trust you to behave while I am gone."
"I will, Grandma," said Riley as she felt Toriel put her hair into a ponytail.
'Part of me will miss Riley's old method of speaking,' thought Chara as they watched Riley wave goodbye to Toriel. 'But I am glad Toriel taught her how to speak properly.'
"Mom," said Riley as she turned around.
'On top of that, she made clothes for her, including her favorite red dress,' thought Chara as they said, "can you please stop calling…." The ghost trailed off when they saw Riley begin to tear up. They sighed and asked, "What do you want, Riley?"
"Explore," said Riley before she wandered off.
"It makes sense that someone young like you would be curious," said Chara as they followed Riley around the house. Eventually, they explore nearly every inch of the tiny house. Seeing Riley heading towards the basement stairs, Chara said, "you know Grandma doesn't want us down there."
"But I want to explore," said Riley with a pout.
'I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious,' thought Chara as they looked over their shoulder at the front door. "Okay, but if we get caught, you're taking the blame."
"Okay, Mom," said Riley as she excitedly ran down the stairs. Chara laughed a little before leaping over the railing. Landing on the ground, Chara felt their body shatter. Feeling the black stuff fixing them, Chara stood up to catch Riley, who leaped toward them. They nearly fell, but something stopped them. Placing Riley down, Chara grabbed their head and forcefully twisted it around to look at their back.
'The black stuff?' thought Chara as they saw two black pillars extending from their back. 'How do I get rid of them?' As Chara thought that, the black pillars retreated into their body.
"Come on, Mom," said Riley as she hurried on ahead.
"Could the black stuff do more than just make clothes?" wondered Chara. "If I use it more, will I have to hurt myself more?"
"Mom!" shouted Riley.
'Let's try something small,' thought Chara as they thought about extending their arm to the other end of the hallway. The black stuff exited their hand and pierced the wall as they expected. What they didn't expect was to be suddenly shot toward the wall as the black stuff retracted. 'Well, shi-' thought Chara as their body splattered all over the wall. 'So the black stuff can heal me from even this,' thought Chara as they felt their body reform. Shivering as they finish reforming, Chara said, "That feels weird. I hope I never have to do this again." Running, Chara quickly found Riley in front of a large door.
"Mom, look," said Riley as she pulled Chara toward the door.
"I wonder where this leads," said Chara as they put their hand on the door. "Let's open it." With a grunt, the two pushed open the door. Seeing an extremely long hallway in front of them, they walked forward.
"Oh no," said a familiar voice. Turning around, Chara saw Toriel standing there with fear and concern on her face.
'Is there something dangerous at the end of this hall?' wondered Chara. 'Will you come and get Riley, or will you live up to your nickname?'
"I'm sorry," whispered Toriel guiltily as she turned and walked away.
"Verlassener," said Chara before they rejoined Riley. Finding yet another door, the two pulled the large door open.
Walking out into a snow-covered forest, Riley asked, "What is the white stuff?"
"It's called snow," said Chara as they thought, 'So this is what Mom was afraid of.' Hearing a loud bang, the two cautiously headed into the forest to investigate.
"What's that?" asked Riley as the two found a clearing in the woods.
"A skeleton," said Chara as they studied the monster. The skeleton had two scars on his face. One was above the left eye and the other below the right. Strangely enough, the two cuts seemed to line up with each other despite being on opposite sides of the skeleton's face. 'Why do they look like one single cut instead of two?'
Chara changed their focus to the skeleton's clothes. 'a simple white shirt, black shorts, and pink slippers. The only interesting thing is that coat,' thought Chara as they felt like they should know this monster. 'A blue coat with the hood torn off. Someone seemed to have sewed a piece of white fabric onto the bottom of the coat. Finally, there's that red fabric. The red fabric spirals around the sleeves of the coat. it looked kinda like a scarf' Feeling like something was about to happen, Chara quickly grabbed Riley and covered her with their body. As soon as they did, a strong shockwave blew past them.
"What was that?" asked Riley as she stood up. Chara didn't answer as she was trying to figure out something else.
'How are there two of them?' thought Chara as they watched the two fight. They held onto Riley as more shockwaves blew past them. 'the same clothes, the same scars, and it seems like they have the same powers. I never heard of twin monsters before.'
"Why are they fighting?" asked Riley as she tightly gripped Chara's arm.
'They seem to be having fun,' thought Chara as they looked at the excited expression the skeletons were wearing. "Whatever the reason is, I don't think the skeleton should be beating himself up over it."
The two skeletons stopped attacking each other and stared at each other. To Chara's confusion, they started laughing. 'Did they hear my joke? Maybe they were just training?'
"Are they done?" asked Riley. Chara was about to answer when a bone pierced one of the skeletons turning him to dust. The skeleton turned his head and stared at them.
'This thing can kill me,' thought Chara as their shivering body took a step back. For the first time since their death, Chara was afraid of dying again.