Hello! To those of you who read my first volume, welcome back. To any new comers, you'll want to read the first volume to understand what's going on in this one. Also, I apologize as this volume is taking much longer than I planned to write, but not to worry as I am determined (no pun intended) to see this series through to the end. That being said, I'm not entirely satisfied with how this chapter turned out, and I'm honestly unsure of what I could do to improve it. Regardless of how I feel about it, I hope you all still enjoy it!


Chara's awareness was returning, slowly at first but quickly gaining speed. She could feel the soft petals of flowers beneath her, could smell their sweet scent. In her left hand she could feel the wooden handle of her knife, on her chest she felt the weight of her locket. Opening her eyelids, she winced as the sunlight streaming in from the the large hole in the cavern ceiling hit her crimson eyes.

After laying still for a few seconds she sat up, but something felt off, she felt heavier for some reason and felt like her clothes didn't fit. She could also feel deep in her SOUL, a burning powerful energy, an urge to cause harm, to destroy anyone that got in her way and the familiar feeling of determination.

Suddenly she heard a voice to her left say, "Chara?"

Startled Chara looked to her left and saw a girl that looked about sixteen. She had slightly messy, brown shoulder length hair. She wore a blue sweater that had two purple stripes, as well as a pair of blue shorts, brown tights and plain brown boots. All of her clothes looked a little too small for her. Another thing Chara noticed was that her eyes were kept shut, and that she had a bandage on her right cheek and was holding a stick in her left hand.

Suddenly the memories came flooding back and Chara knew who she was as she quickly stood up and gripped her knife tighter.

"Frisk, what the hell happened to you?" Chara asked confused as she glared at Frisk.

"Chara is that really you?" Frisk asked as she stood up as well. "What do you mean what happened to me?"

Confused Chara looked down at herself and gasped as she did not recognize the body she was in. Chara stared wide eyed at herself, as she appeared to have aged by five years, making her sixteen as well.

Looking back at Frisk, Chara saw that Frisk was staring down at herself too. After a few moments of silence, Frisk looked back up at Chara.

"Chara, what happened to us?"

"I was going to ask you that." Chara replied.

"I don't know, this has never happened before."

"Well whatever, I suppose it doesn't matter." Chara said as she walked over to Frisk and grabbed the front of her sweater.

"Chara what are you doing?" Frisk said as she gripped Chara's wrist.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm just finishing what I started. I don't know what happened to us or why, but it doesn't matter. After all, because of you, this world is empty and not worth living in. There's no point in anyone living in such a world, so I'm going to put you out of your misery now so you don't have to suffer later."

"Chara, please wait! Everyone who died is alive again! I brought us back to when I fell into the Underground."

Chara paused as she processed what Frisk had said. After a few moments she released Frisk.

"What do you mean you brought us back?" Chara asked as she watched Frisk closely.

"I used my SOUL trait, my Determination, to bring us back in time to when I first fell into the Underground, to before I... before I killed everybody." Frisk said as she looked down at her hands.

"So everyone is alive, and doesn't know what you did in the previous timeline?"

Frisk nodded silently.

"And what do you propose we do now?" Chara asked as she toyed with the point of her knife.

"I know how we can destroy the barrier and free everyone."

"And you think that will just excuse you from everything you did?"

"I... no, I know that what I did was unforgivable, and that simply freeing everyone won't be enough to atone for what I did. But regardless, everybody deserves to be free. You still want to free them, don't you?"

Chara was quiet for a few moments as she thought over what Frisk had said.

Free everyone. she thought. That was the plan that Asriel and I had. That was the whole reason I had eaten those buttercups, so that Asriel could use my SOUL to cross the barrier and get six more SOULS to destroy it.

Deep in her SOUL she could feel the LOVE burning inside her. She felt like she could do anything she wanted and nobody would be able to stop her. But she didn't want anything, she didn't have any sort of goal, no ambition to obtain anything. She had LOVE, and she knew that was all she needed, yet she felt empty.

After thinking it over for several minutes Chara finally said, "Alright fine, if you really can free all of monster kind, then I'll help you. At least it's better than just standing here doing nothing."

"Really?" Frisk said as a small smile appeared on her face. "Thank you Chara, I promise we'll free everybody just like you wanted."

"But just know that if you're lying or fail to pull through, then I'll free them all from this world myself." Chara said as she felt hot determination running down her cheeks and chin.

Frisk felt a slight shiver of fear run down her spine, but quickly shook it off as she stayed determined.

"Chara it's okay, there's no need to hurt anybody now. We can free everyone without killing them."

Chara simply scoffed as she rolled her eyes. Frisk squirmed under Chara's gaze, knowing full well she had no right to say such things.

"Well we should get started, we need to get to New Home." Frisk said as she started towards the entrance of the RUINS. "I promise, we'll free everybody."

Chara sighed before following Frisk through the archway. As they crossed through the archway, on the other side sitting in a small patch of dirt was a familiar golden flower with a face in the middle of his petals.

Noticing them approaching, Flowey smiled and said, "Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the fl-" Flowey suddenly looked terrified as his leaves began to shake.

"I... I..." Flowey tried to speak, but his eyes were glued to Chara. Before he could say more, he lost his nerve and disappeared into the ground.

Confused Frisk looked over at Chara who was simply smiling as she stared at the spot where Flowey had been.

"Well, that was easy." Chara said as she looked over at Frisk while still smiling.

Before Frisk could respond they both heard a gasp. Looking towards the other archway, they saw Toriel standing there with a look of surprise on her face.

Walking up to them she said, "Do not be afraid, my children. I am Toriel, caretaker of the RUINS. I pass through this place everyday to see if anyone has fallen down."

Chara looked at the furry boss monster, the goat lady that she had considered a mother, who had loved her unconditionally when no other human would. She looked at the loving, caring, goat mom and felt nothing.

Toriel looked at Chara before she spoke to Frisk, "I see you've already befriended another monster." She turned towards Chara, smiled gently and said, "Greetings young one, I've never seen you in the Underground before. Might I ask what your name is?"

"My name is Chara."

Toriel gasped as small tears appeared in her eyes before she quickly composed herself and said, "Forgive me, it's just that I used to know someone who went by that name. It has been a long time since I've heard it."

"How long, if you don't mind me asking?" Frisk asked quietly.

After giving it some thought Toriel replied, "I would say about five years. But let's not dwell on the past for now. You both must be quite tired. Come, I will guide you through the catacombs." She then turned around and headed towards the archway.

Chara began to follow her but stopped when she heard Frisk call her name.

"Chara, are you okay?" Frisk asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Chara replied without looking at her.

"Well because she doesn't recognize you, and I know you care about her greatly. Don't you feel a little hurt?"

"Oh Frisk, you of all people should know that those are meaningless emotions." Chara turned to face Frisk with a small but unkind smile on her lips. "After all, this was your LOVE to begin with. You know that those feelings are nothing but a burden, and the only thing we ever really needed is determination."

"Chara I..." Frisk struggled to find the right words but the only thing she could say was, "I'm sorry."

After a few moments of silence, the two of them followed Toriel. She was standing next to the RUINS' door waiting patiently for the girls to follow. At the bottom of the stairs leading up to the door was the familiar sparkling save point. Chara and Frisk both placed their hands on it but when the save file appeared in front of them, the name in the top left corner was flashing between Chara and Frisk's names until, after a few seconds, it settled on Charisk.

"Charisk?" Chara said her eyebrow raised. "What the hell is that?"

"Our name I guess." Frisk replied, looking just as confused.

Sighing, Chara said, "Let's just get moving. We've got a long way to go."

*After finishing the first chapter, you are filled with Determination*