Chara felt light headed, so they shook their head a little to regain focus. When they looked around, they were quick to notice that they were not at the same location anymore. It was like they had suddenly teleported somewhere else.
They felt their muscles tense. If this happened, then that could only mean...
Before they had the time to go search for anyone, they heard footsteps coming towards them. It appeared that Frisk had decided to come to them first. What a bold decision. Was this bravery or stupidity ?
They approached meekly and waited a few moments before daring to ask. "Chara ? Are you okay ?"
The first fallen human smiled in response. "You think you're so clever, don't you ?"
The younger child stayed silent. While Chara slowly approached them.
"Let me ask you something, Frisk." They tried to maintain a straight face as the distance separating them slowly closed.
"Do you think that you have done the right thing ?" They questioned.
Frisk felt a bit nervous. "Well, everyone was sad or hurt and that was just an accident, wasn't it ? I-i thought everyone would be happier if it didn't happen." They attempted to justify their decision.
Chara closed their eyes and their grin grew larger. "If it didn't happen... Its so easy for you, isn't it ? You just have to wish for something not to have happened and hop !" Chara snapped their fingers. "Now, it hasn't."
Frisk looked to the side. Well. Yes ? It was indeed this easy. But that didn't make it a bad thing, did it ?
"So Frisk, answer me... Do you think you are above consequences ?"
Frisk felt drops of sweat forming around their head. "No ! Its just... I wanted to do what was right for everyone !" They defended themself. They would have added that what they had undone had not been the consequences of their actions in the first place, but chose not to as it might sound to the other child like Frisk was shifting the blame for their LOAD on them, which would most certainly not help.
"Oh, right..." Chara rolled their eyes. "You wanted to save the poor and the orphans." Chara's eyes pinned Frisk down again. "Let me ask you something else, then. What makes you think that you own the right do decide what's 'right for everyone' or not ? What makes you think that you're entitled to choose how to handle everybody's fate simply because you have the power to ?" They pointed their finger towards Frisk in an accusatory manner.
They did succeed in making Frisk feel a bit bad for using their power. That being said, Frisk really did believe this had been for the best. There were only upsides to what they had done, weren't they ? "I just wanted to help everyone." They said. "I just wanted to help you."
Chara sighed and calmed down just a little. "Help me ?"
Frisk hesitantly nodded.
"What made you think i wanted this ?" Chara asked.
"Well, your father was suffering and it was p-partially your f-fault" Frisk stuttered with that second part as they were still afraid of sounding accusatory. "And you didn't seem to be taking it very well ? So i thought-"
"So you thought i would be happier if it hadn't happened ?" Chara completed their sentence, tilting their head. "Let me teach you something, then. I do not want to be above consequences. People must learn to live with what their actions have caused. Maybe i would have preferred if it had not happened at all, but cheating in order to pretend that it has not although it actually has is not any better. You do not have the right to make that choice. And even less to be making that choice for me !" They stated.
"You are not erasing things. You're just making others forget them so you can do what you want instead. That is not being nice. That is being cowardly. You cannot rewrite reality until it turns out the way you like and pretend to be doing it for the greater good." They finished.
"Im... sorry ?" Frisk told them. "I promise i only had good intentions. It's just... everyone looked so sad and the last time i SAVED was the day before at night so-"
"...SAVED ?" Chara interrupted them."What do you mean by 'SAVED' ?"
"Oh !" Frisk smiled, a little embarrassed. "Well, i noticed the way my power works feels a lot like how saving progress works in video games. Those shiny stars are... pretty much like my own SAVE points ?"
Chara gritted their teeth.
"Are you KIDDING ME ? SAVE points ? Is this what this is to you ? A game ?" It seems they had gotten on the first fallen human's nerves. "This not a video game, Frisk ! And you are not the main character. This is the real world. Those are people's lives you're toying with. This is nothing like a game." They lashed out their frustration with how casually Frisk appeared to be taking their ability to reshape the world.
"No ! That's not it at all, it was just... I was trying to find a name for it and that was... the first thing that came to mind ? I don't see it as a game at all, but well, i do have that power and i believed i could use it to do something good, so i did." Frisk explained. "Was that really such a bad thing to do ?" They failed to understand what Chara would have wanted. Would the other human really rather have had to stay that way whilst their father remained in pain ? It seemed that what they hated was the power itself more than what they were using it for, but was trying to use it for a good cause really worse than letting the Dreemurrs suffer because of this incident ?
"Its not about the situation." Chara confirmed their suspicions. "You did objectively make the situation better for them, i cannot deny that. However, the problem is not about them. The problem is about you."
"What should i have done, then ?" Frisk wondered. "Would you have preferred me to just... do nothing ? And let everybody like this ?"
Chara spent a surprisingly long time thinking before answering.
"...Yes"
Frisk didn't know what to think of this. "But why ? I thought you wanted to protect them. I don't under-"
Chara cut them off again. "Maybe things would have been worse, but they would have been fair. What you have done was unfair. I did not want nor deserve a do over. Yet you gave me one by force."
"Was it fair for Asgore ?" The younger human countered.
Chara clenched their first. That was a low blow... Whilst the king did not deserve this, taking away the consequence of their failure so easily was not something that Chara could accept.
Just as they were about to respond, Chara's mouth closed itself again.
This... What had this turned into ?
All of that had started because Chara wanted to their protect their family from Frisk's actions. Yet today, Frisk was the one protecting Asgore from them by LOADING and Chara was arguing that they shouldn't have done so. They were putting their family's safety behind their attachement to consequences and their irrational hatred of humans. They were straying away from their original goal.
This was what this was all about, right ? Protecting the monsters. Whilst Frisk's power itself might be a force of evil, should they really be chastising them for using it this way ? Whilst they did continue to uphold everything they had just said to Frisk, shouldn't those things be considered secondary to the safety of those they cared about ?
Or would that make them willing to ignore the morally wrong aspect of using that power as long as it helped them fulfill their own goals, and would thus hardly make them better than Frisk was ?
The more they thought about it, the less convinced they were of what they were doing. Their morals and ideals kept clashing against each other and it was getting more and more difficult to convince themself of what was the right thing to do. It was all just so... gray.
"I... i..." They started, but were unable to continue.
Chara had kept a very judgmental and very black and white vision of morality for a long time, having their beliefs first challenged by Frisk then by their own second guesses was taking its toll on them. Was the stance they were taking truly moral ? They were doubting their previous reasoning, they had been fighting for what felt right to them, but were they certain not to be neglecting another aspect of things ?
"C-Chara ?" Frisk dared to speak up and approach very slowly. "Are you alright ?" They seemed somewhat concerned about the first human's sudden freeze.1
This... was pretty much what Frisk had been doing. Chara thought. They did what they believed to be right. As much as their actions were morally reprehensible regarding the way they played with time, Chara was forced to admit to themself that Frisk had to have been sincere when they told them that they had done this with good intentions.
As a matter of fact, there was something else that Chara was lying to themself about, but that they were now starting to acknowledge.
Frisk hadn't only not been using their power against them or the monsters in any way despite being certain to succeed if they actually tried, but they were however willing to use that power in order to do what they believed to be helping them. Between this and their words in the last few days or the total absence of anything whatsoever that would display any ill intentions on their part, the truth was that there was truly a very real possibility that Frisk was not waiting for anything at all, but genuinely did not currently have any intent to hurt a monster.
Of course, this would not change that many things from Chara's perspective. Even if they didn't do so right now, it could very well still happen in the future, especially with a power like this at their disposal. How long would it take for someone who could undo anything they did to turn to murder eventually ? For the sake of curiosity if nothing else. Frisk would remain a potential threat to monsterkind no matter what simply from having that ability in the first place.
And yet...
They began to ponder. The "benefit of the doubt", as they had said a few days ago...
Chara looked up at Frisk again.
With this new state of mind, they wondered... Maybe they could consider it ?
Maybe they could consider giving it to them ?
Considering that if Frisk did tell the truth, treating them like garbage would likely only accelerate their downfall until they really did turn bad, as much as Chara hated the idea, there was some merit to think that maybe they should tone it down a little with Frisk at least until they were a bit more confident about what was really going on in their head.
"Im... Im fine. I don't need you to worry about me." Chara finally responded, shooing Frisk away with their right hand. "Just... just go." They told the human without looking at them. Frisk frowned a little but quickly went ahead and did so, leaving Chara along with their thoughts once again.
The human in a blue and magenta striped shirt did not expect Chara would have complained that much about their LOAD, but what was done was done.
When Chara was unhappy with Frisk, it made them feel a little sad. Not so much afraid or intimidated as it had been at first, just sad. For some reason they cared quite a bit about what Chara thought of them recently. Which unfortunately was rarely anything good.
As they had turned back time to shortly before they went to sleep, Frisk guessed that they might as well just go to bed again since their body was now right back to being heavily tired.
The next morning, Toriel opened the door for them immediately when they knocked on it this time around. She looked like her usual self, which inclined Frisk to think that this time around there had been no accident regarding Asgore.
Indeed, when she brought them to the kitchen, they noticed an empty plate. Likely all that remained of a pie. Which, if it had been finished entirely, must not have contained any poisonous ingredient this time.
After being reminded of what could have happened, Frisk decided to go check on Asgore.
"Howdy Frisk, how are you today ?" The king asked them. He looked happy and healthy, it was difficult to imagine that in a previous version of the world, at that same time of day he was gravely sick. Buttercups must be quite the powerful poison if they were able to have such effect on a monster as strong and tall as him.
"Im alright." They answered. Their curiosity got the better of them and they were unable to prevent themself from trying to learn some more about how things had went this time. "What's that empty plate in the kitchen ?" Frisk feigned igorence in order to prompt the boss monster to tell them the story.
"Oh. Well, this morning Asriel and Chara made a butterscotch pie for me." Asgore explained. "On their own." He added, not without a little pride for his children. "It tasted quite good. I proposed them to take a slice too for their efforts but only Asriel did, Chara insisted on leaving theirs to me. It was quite odd, they usually love pies and it never tastes better than when you make it yourself." He brought up.
"Anyhow, is there anything else you want to discuss, Frisk ?" Asgore questioned. He considered mentioning the monthly address to them, but the king guessed it was not the time to bring up something like this so early in the morning. Frisk would have to be made aware of it at some point in the near future though.
"No, i don't think so." Frisk had learned what they wanted already.
As they were about to leave, Asgore suddenly had an idea. "Excuse me Frisk ? Since you were up too late to take breakfast with us this morning, would you like to have a nice cup of tea with me instead ?"
The human child didn't hesitate much before approving of this idea.
Frisk twisted their thumbs while they waited for the water to boil, once it did, Asgore served two cups of sea tea. Fairly eager to try out this beverage they had been curious about earlier, they quickly picked up one of them and took a single sip. It was warm, not burning, but pleasantly hot.
It tasted surprisingly close to what Frisk was expecting. It was quite similar to regular tea, just with a very particular aftertaste which was both sweet and a little bitter. Overall though, it was pretty good. The human took another sip.
They had finished their entire cup by the time Asgore had drank half of his. The king was taking his time to savor the beverage whilst Frisk consumed it at a normal speed. Nevertheless, they patiently waited for the king to finish his own cup, engaging in a bit of small talk in the meantime.
"Thank you for spending your time with me, Frisk. It is very much appreciated. Now if you can excuse me, i have something to attend." The boss monster thanked them before they both returned to their occupations.
"Why do you look so down, Chara ?" Asriel didn't understand. Their sibling did not seem very exited when they made the pie despite previous having been fairly eager when they talked about it. Even when their father took a bite and complimented their cooking, Chara did not seem very enthusiastic.
"Its nothing, Asriel. i am just... thinking about things." A still sitting Chara responded.
"You didn't even try out the pie !" He complained.
"I was not hungry." Chara lied. This was not the real reason.
The prince knew that when Chara was like this, there was not much that he could do aside from waiting for them to get in a better mood again. thus, they decided to leave them alone for a little and go help his mother, who was already starting to prepare lunch.
Chara hated it. They couldn't help but to feel somewhat thankful for what Frisk had done, and they hated that. They shouldn't be feeling this way. It wasn't fair.
Alas, one thing that Chara had unfortunately learned during their short existence was that life was never fair. The difference was that while most others simply tried to make the best of what was given to them, Chara was determined to make things right one way or another. When life bit Chara, they did the best they could to bite it back twice as strong. Sadly, there seemed to be only so much one person could do and Chara seemed to be fighting losing battles.
They were at a crossroads. The way they had been thinking and acting thus far was simply leading nowhere and bore no fruits. They were going to have to make a choice soon. Not regarding Frisk, but regarding themself.