Chapter 8: CORE

Chara rolled back and forth on their feet, hands nervously grasping the slim windowsill in front of them. This was going to be okay. Actually, it was going to be stupid. Capitol people were stupid. So there really was no reason to be anxious about anything. No reason at all.

Frisk stood beside them, even though their closed eyes couldn't see the trees whizzing by beyond the glass plate in front of their face. Maybe they were just as tired to sit around as Chara was.

"How long till we reach the capitol?" Chara asked almost mechanically.

Their escort released a small sigh. "You'll be able to see it any second. It's just past this park. Like the last hundred times you've asked me."

"Ok."

Chara's ears picked up on the soft clicking sound of Linda's long nails connecting with the screen of the device in her hands. Soft snores drifted from Sans' direction. The train filled the silence with an eerie hum, by far quieter than any machine's sounds at home.

"What do you even need a park for?"

The clicking stopped. "It's for relaxing, obviously."

"We have a place like that at home."

Chara could feel the escort's eyes on the back of their head, clearly surprised by the new topic. "Oh?"

"It's called Waterfall. It's beautiful. Giant waterfalls rush through the caves. Flowers sing. We played there a lot; me and my brother."

"That, indeed, sounds like a beautiful place."

Chara smiled at the window, a bitter lump forming in their throat. "Yeah, it is. Last year, the capitol began dumping something onto the surface of our district. You wanna know how the adults found out?" Their fingers tightened around the sill. "Everything started to die. The water got murky and everyone who drank from it just got sick. That's how they knew."

There was a pause, the sound of Linda licking her lips. "I'm sure there was a greater reason for that. The emperor is a gracious man. He wouldn't harm you without a greater benefit. As dangerous as some of you are, all are given a chance to prove their right to live."

Chara scoffed. "Then why not be gracious and dump it into that park out there? It seems to me like you've got enough room for it."

The escort gave a titter of a laugh. "It's for leisure. You don't dump waste into that. What would people be thinking?"

"Well, guess what we were thinking-oh. Whoa." The child forgot their train of thought, as suddenly the last trees slid by, allowing the view on a broad lake that glimmered like a thousand tiny diamonds in the bright sunlight. And beyond that, mountains stretched towards the sky, topped with snow that created a stark contrast to the dark rock below.

"That's it" their escort announced proudly. "The capitol."

Chara looked closer, noticing that what they had assumed to be thin rock columns in the middle of the mountains glinted strangely in the sunlight. "Are those houses?"

"Skyscrapers" Linda corrected.

"whatcha so surprised about, kid?"

"Gah!" They hadn't even noticed Sans waking up. And they definitely didn't hear him walking up behind the two children. "Greetings, Sans. Do you always have to sneak up?!"

"eh, sorry for scaring you right out of your skin. but you've seen plenty of skyscrapers in new home, haven't ya?"

Chara looked at the giant structures that were rapidly approaching. "Of course I have. But it's different with a sky above and all of that." And not having them halfway crumbled to pieces.

"It's magnificent, isn't it?" The child didn't pay Linda even a glance.

"How does it look?" Chara turned their head to Frisk, who had their attention directed at them.

The first child took another glance outside. If looked at closely, the skyscrapers reminded Chara of river stones found in the clear waters of Snowdin. The lake connected to it only emphasized the similarity with the dark treetops scattered in the distance. Realizing that Frisk was still waiting for an answer, Chara tore their gaze away. "It doesn't look like much, honestly. It's a bunch of over the top buildings and some water around it; typical capitol stuff. I bet they don't even have as awesome winters as Snowdin does."

Frisk nodded, apparently satisfied.

Chara scratched absently at their collar as they drove closer and closer to the city beyond the glass. As pretty as it was, it still was their hell for the next few days. Another prison that they were delivered to. And each bit that they got closer reminded Chara of how close they were to that fateful day when they would enter the arena. 24 would enter. One would come out still breathing. And the child dreaded who that one person would be.

Even though Chara could have waited a thousand years and a day for the day of the arena to come, they wished that maybe, just maybe, they could skip past some parts in the middle. One of them being annoying capitol people.

"I hate them."

"Be nice."

"They tried to touch my sweater."

"They were exited and you'll have to get out of that old thing in a moment anyways."

The child gifted Linda with a glare, hugging themselves and their clothing protectively. After what felt like forever, they had managed to make their way out of the train and onto a shiny car that would deliver them to an even shinier building. The only problem were the hundreds of people trying to fit all at once into the train station in between. Even with Peacekeepers guarding a path between the two points, the living mass of feathers, hats and what probably was supposed to be clothing tried to push closer. Every human in the capitol seemed to want to get a look at their newest entertainment source, ready for slaughter.

Chara pulled at the woven threads beneath their fingers. It was strange seeing the ones responsible for their enslavement, for bringing so much suffering to Chara's family and friends, blabbering and laughing with excitement at the sight of their new tributes. Didn't they realize that Chara hated them? That they wanted nothing more than to rip their fricking throats out?

The picture of a body lying in a sea of red briefly flashed in their mind.

No, of course they didn't think that. Even though they were humans, they weren't like Chara. They had never felt real pain. They would never know what losing everything felt like.

The glossy elevator walls around them glimmered with pure glass opposite to the closed doors. Through them, they could see the ground rushing away from them at a gentle speed. It was so much like the elevators at home, the ones built throughout Hotland. Yet again they hummed too quietly and just weren't quite right. A burning feeling tucked at Chara's heart, but they tried to ignore it.

No familiar elevators or loving faces. No butterscotch cinnamon pie, no love, no laughter. Chara took a deep breath. They were on their own now.

A faint ding signaled the end of their ride.

It didn't matter if their family was there. Maybe it was for the best. Monsters weren't built for this. The games were made by humans and it would take a human to beat them. Chara's lips split into a smile.

The elevator's doors split open, revealing a giant, bright room.

They could do this.

"Oh, finally, what is it with you darlings never being too early."

They couldn't do this. Chara instantly took a step back into the elevator as something soared towards them, yellow tape in hand. But it was to no avail, as the creature successfully cornered them, coming uncomfortably close and well beyond any personal space boundaries that Chara had retained after years with a sibling.

"Hmm, average height for your age, a bit skinny, but that's to be expected." And the creature could talk.

"i like to think of it as bony" Sans provided from the other side of the elevator.

The creature didn't spare him a glance. "I don't talk to people in slippers. Come back when you've found a sense of taste. Now let's see, that's a rather pale shade…" The words drifted off into mumbling, as the creature stretched the tape over different parts of Chara's body. As shock slowly faded from Chara's mind, the child began to recognize the thing whirling around them to be a woman. Maybe. The dark, straight bob around her head shifted every now and then, revealing a round face that was scrunched up in concentration. Chara could see their own, bewildered eyes reflecting in the woman's chunky glasses, as she moved to put the yellow tape around Chara's head. The child tried to shift away, but was stopped by the elevator's walls.

Finally, the strange woman took a step back, allowing Chara some much needed space to breathe. A piercing gaze swept over the tribute. Finally, the woman nodded to herself. "The section around the shoulders will have to be adjusted, but that won't be a problem. Yes, that will do." And with that, she swept away to assault Frisk, who had already tried to find cover behind Sans; to no avail.

Sans shared a sympathetic glance with Chara, who tried to adjust their sweater and regain their dignity. "may i introduce to you: edna, your design-ated stylist. she'll be there to fabricate a new outfit for both of you every time people around here feel like gluing their eyeballs to a screen."

The child made a face, eyeing the small adult. Linda was bad enough, but now a stylist? "why can't we just go like this?" Their sweater was perfectly fine. It was the nicest thing they had. And mom had made it.

The small creature whirled around, huffing at them like a disgruntled rat. "Darling, this is not the kind of event for that." She flicked a finger in the direction of Chara's clothing, as if she was touching a particularly nasty piece of trash. "We're not going for pity here. Trust me, that won't get you far. People need someone to root for. A hero, or an antihero at least! Something with quality, not like that terrible brand merchandise that TV annoyance sells. They need gloss, glamor, something shiny with lots of glitter. They're like magpies, honestly. Now get in here, we don't have time!"

Chara reluctantly moved out of the elevator, more to get away from the lady than anything. The tall room in front of them rose high till it carved into a glossy ceiling with expensive lights. The interior was currently covered in endless rows of racks filled with fabric that looked far too similar to the feathery glory that covered Linda's body. The child took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than expected.