Chapter 5: Premonition

The first thing they saw was light. Were they dead? No, death was dark. Chara knew that one for certain. Guess they still lived and breathed. How bothersome. This kind of light felt nice though. Chara had nearly forgotten the slight warmth and prickling of their skin, as it bathed for the first time in years in real sunlight. It was almost too bright. Their eyes strained to adjust to the sudden multitude of colors as Chara tried to blink away the pain. What came into focus were four splotches of color, three orange ones and one deep blue one. Strangely enough, they drew stark edges against the blurry background in the shape of four hearts hovering quite a bit above.

Chara had only a moment to comprehend this oddity, to feel the sun and breeze whisking through their hair, as one of the orange shapes moved and something cold closed around Chara's neck. They tensed as the metal touched their old, charred scar. One moment later, shock was replaced by pain. The child gasped as they tried to repress an agonized scream.

And in one instant, all color vanished from the world, throwing it into black and white.

The child raised a hand to touch the tightly closed metal device around their neck. It was smaller than they remembered. They had been younger back then. Back when color didn't exist; before they met Azzie and mom and dad. They didn't even know what they missed. Now they knew. Now they saw the sudden void. And it hurt more than the numbing pain coursing out of the device through their body.

"Don't do anything funny." Chara gazed up at the muffled, feminine voice. An armored figure stood over them, the one responsible for the dumb electric charge running through their body. The figure was flanked by two others, who wore the same, painfully white full body armor. It wasn't like Undyne's or anything one would see on the royal guard. This one lacked any ornaments and the powerful glistering of raw metal. Instead it was white, smooth and absolutely featureless. One could only guess the expressions behind those visors. Judging by how four taser guns were directed at the residents from the underground, the peacekeepers probably weren't out to make friends.

"Stand up, both of you. Hands where we can see them." The peacekeeper to the right seemed just as thrilled as Chara was to be here, if his tone of voice was anything to go by. The child suppressed a snarl at the thought of having anything in common with a peacekeeper.

Next to them, Frisk took a few, tentative steps, hands wrapped around the device at their throat. What was it called again? It had been so long. With that thing on, the other human looked uncannily like how they were when Asriel and Chara found them just a few months ago.

"heya, fellas! long time no see. i hope you weren't feeling bonely without me."

"You too, monster. Hands were we can see them!"

Sans took his time extracting his hands from the pockets of his hoodie. "no need to raise your voice, buddy. gotta say, you've lost quite some weight there, larry."

"…I'm new."

Chara droned out the chatter almost immediately, which was second nature at this point after having the misfortune of coming across the skeleton brothers every so often. They tore their gaze away from the guns for a moment to cast a weary glance behind them. The barrier looked just like it did from the inside, only now at war with the bright daylight trying to break through it, making shiny particles of energy float above its surface. That was the one thing that separated Chara from home. And they'd probably never see the inside again.

A tight feeling enveloped their windpipe, making every breath hurt. Chara liked to imagine that it was only the metal device doing its work.

"Targets secured," one of the peacekeepers muttered sharply into their helmet, probably towards some microphone. "Two new repressed. Awaiting signal confirmation." The human turned towards Chara's curios gaze. Chara had to force themselves to not shrink away beneath the cold attention of the featureless visor. The helmet turned a bit, as if listening. "Roger that. We'll hurry and proceed to our target destination." With that, the peacekeeper nodded at his colleagues and set himself in motion, towards a narrow path along the woods and farther and farther away from what Chara called home. Three figures with guns motivated the other three to follow. Chara reluctantly followed along with the others, their thought drifting by with the scenery.

The breeze on the surface was weird. Of course, there was wind in the underground too, both drifting in through the barrier, as well as being generated in early regions of hotland and some deeper parts of waterfall. Those were different, filled with the strong scent of minerals and whatever else happened to float in the murky waters. It was the kind of breeze that made you want to lay down on the mushy swamp grass or hot stone floors and wait it out till the breeze either lessened or you were swept away with it.

Chara shook their head. Getting off track. Their head still felt like a jumbled mess, as if they were stuck in a paralyzing nightmare where their thoughts just couldn't keep up with the world around them.

The breeze on the surface, though? It was light and thin and not at all familiar. Even though Chara spent a good part of their life here, the world above ground felt alien to them.

There was that gathering of trees to their right as they walked by. Chara thought they remembered them. Maybe. The child recalled chopping at some trees for firewood, not really doing any damage to the bark, but firmly attempting to do so. Maybe it had been those trees? Chara didn't know the answer to that, no matter how hard they tried to remember.

Recalling their previous life wasn't easy. It was probably for the best.

"i bet you don't know this one yet: what did the skeleton order at the restaurant?"

It seemed like Sans was still busy annoying the peacekeepers, who did their very best to ignore him, marching forward without any reaction. Chara tried to ignore the feeling of the steel collar weighing down onto their shoulders, pressing the chain of their amulet into their shoulder.

"come on. nobody?"

They raised their hands, fiddling around with it till Chara had wretched the chain free of the painful spot and positioned it loosely around the device. It felt strange not having the jewelry's chain touch their neck. Chara tried to suppress the resentment that rose up within them with the sudden loss of the familiar feeling.

"they ordered spare-ribs!" ba dum tss.

No one laughed. There was just the oppressing feeling of impending doom looming over them.

"tough crowd today."

Chara's feet sunk deep into the earth below with every step, reminding them of the ruins. They spotted a few, lone cabins a bit into the woods to the left of their path. One was already a crumbled mess with the others not looking much better. They looked a lot like the ones of Chara's childhood. Did their village even still exist now? Did the old cabins made of jumbled, badly combined wood survive all those winters? At least that beautiful patch of golden flowers was still there. Those flowers survived anything. A small smile spread on their face. That's why they loved them. No matter how hard you stomped on them, how many you plucked from their roots, they would still come back strong in no time. They survived, contrary to humans; contrary to monsters.

Which led to an odd question forming in Chara's head. Were where all the humans? In Chara's experience, at least some fools tended to stick out their curious heads. District 12's surface wasn't exactly the most exciting place. At least it wasn't seven years ago.

Chara stole a timid glance at Frisk, who walked with their head firmly facing forward, never even bothering to look around. They could ask the other human child. Frisk had to know at least something about how the surface was doing. Chara pulled at the hem of their sweater uncomfortably. No, things were already awkward enough with the whole killing the other in another timeline thingy. How would they even start? They couldn't just act like that never happened. Well, technically, it never did, but Frisk still seemed to remember and they kinda knew that Chara remembered too. So that left them with just a few, pretty humiliating options which Chara did not feel like facing right now. Besides, they didn't even care about those stupid humans anyways.

Frisk must have felt their gaze, as they moved their head in Chara's direction.

Panicking, Chara moved to avoid their gaze, stumbling in their haste over their own feet. Thankfully, reflex kicked in as their arms shot out to stop their fall. The soft dirt was forgiving, only muddling their already stained clothes and hands. Relieve flooded through Chara seconds before every muscle in their body convulsed and spasmed. Their body collapsed. Limbs flailed uselessly as everything burned and their senses grew fuzzy. It only lasted a few seconds, but it left Chara panting. They were not sure if their eyes were open. Dark spots blurred and slowly vanished. The child tried to focus on a single patch of grass a few paces in front of them. Their limbs calmed one by one, only leaving a slight tingle at their neck.

The grass swayed a bit, before a pair of black military boots blocked it from Chara's sight.

"Do not make me repeat myself." A cold voice spoke from above. "Try anything funny and you'll feel the consequences. We are already behind schedule. Now get up!"

The child gritted their teeth, shaking palms pushing down into the earth to lift them up. They wanted to punch the voice, the peacekeeper above. Chara wanted to make them hurt the way they hurt them. But the child couldn't. Even if they tried, the peacekeepers would be faster. They heaved themselves to their feet. Chara was utterly powerless.

The peacekeeper's fingers still rested above the pad on their forearm, ready to push the button connected to the device on Chara's neck again.

At last, Chara managed to stand, pulling themselves upright with some effort. Their spiteful glare only met an emotionless visor.

Reluctantly, they began to walk again. This would be a long nightmare.

"Oh for the love of god, what took you so long?!"

Chara honestly didn't know what was freaking them out more. On one hand, there was the giant train made of gleaming metal, formed in elegant curves, before them. It loomed as one massive giant high above, buzzing softly as its engine worked. Like a steel beast waiting to devour them. This was it. This was the transport that would once and for all rip them away from their home. And there was little chance they would come back in one piece.

On the other, there was that lady in the doorway of the train, with a giant feather stuck in her unnaturally curled hair. Bright polka dots offended Chara's eyes as they gleamed from a tight waist, wide cut dress. They didn't even want to think about how that woman walked on those shoes. It was all so incredibly impractical.

Sans moved to speak first, as his eye sockets dimmed, annoyance deep in his voice. "hello, linda. great to see you too."

"What did you do now, Sans? Did you take a nap on the way here?!"

"heh, only with my eyes open. and ty to lower your voice, would ya? we'll have to leave late, feather you like it or not."

Linda only hmphed. Her eyes locked on the two children amidst the peacekeepers. "So you two are the new tributes, aren't you?"

Frisk nodded while Chara narrowed their eyes. Over the top clothing and a high and mighty personality: That woman was from the capitol.

So Chara proceeded to level their glare at the new person towering above.

The woman sighed, nodding to the peacekeepers before stepping back into the depth of the train. "Well then, come on in. We have a long journey ahead of us."

With one last, cautious look at the peacekeepers, the children strode forward. Sans led them with his slouched brand of calmness. The peacekeepers followed behind them.

Linda greeted the children with a thin smile, which, surprisingly, reached her eyes, as they approached. "I am Linda, your escort, by the way. I will accompany you from here on out till your final moments before the games and teach you the proper etiquette for this event. So you two must be…?"

"Thrilled." Chara murmured a bit too loudly, dampening the over exaggerated joy on the escort's face.

"Frisk." The second child responded in their usual monotone.

The first child took a few seconds, before grumbling a reluctant "Chara."

They followed Frisk as they stepped into the oval mouth at the side of the train. The world changed from sunbeams to soft, bright light and velvet covers. Chara barely managed to avoid stopping completely and having a peacekeeper walk into them. That would have been so incredibly bad.

Instead, they managed to slowly make their way into the surprisingly big train compartment. There they were greeted by a large seating corner with a table, as well as a comfy looking couch farther in. And in the middle, cluttered with platters and decorative flowers, was a table that send wave over wave of delicious scents their way. Pastries, pies and sandwiches, along with many other delicious meals covered the space. Despite themselves, Chara's mouth began to water. And was that behind the brownies over there… chocolate?

Linda folded her hands in front of her. "Make yourselves at home. Enjoy yourselves. Just don't destroy any of the interior. Oh, and feel free to enjoy our food and drinks."

Her next words banished any gleeful anticipation that had built up inside Chara.

"After all, you need to be well fed for the parade tomorrow. So dig in!"

-o-

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Greetings!

Sorry for the wait, everybody. This chapter was kind of a beast to edit, but I think I wrestled it down. More or less, at least.

Anyways, we've now officially left the Underground and started into the outside world. Yay! Picking a suitable escort has been hard. Then I remembered those PTA comics that floated around the Undertale community a few years ago. If you haven't read them already, I highly recommend you check those out. It's basically Sans dealing with your usual PTA crowd. One of those mothers had the fitting name Linda. So there you have it. In a world of deadly reality TV shows, an annoying PTA mother seemed to be the perfect fit for an escort, at least in my mind.

The next chapter should be up a little earlier since the wait for this one has been longer.

See you soon!