Chara spotted a save point and another box sitting in front of the welcoming store and the cozy-looking inn next door.
After she and Frisk placed their hands on the sparkling save point Frisk turned to Chara. "We should get some supplies from the shop, especially food to heal the cut on your arm. Then we can rest at the inn."
"Fine, let's just make this quick." Chara replied dryly as she looked at her wound. The bleeding had stopped but it still radiated pain up and down her arm.
The girls walked into the store and were greeted by the friendly rabbit-like monster. The store was warm and lit with several candles, their flickering orange glow casting shadows on the walls. All of the selves were filled with merchandise from blankets to books, as well as picture fames and a few bottles filled with an unknown liquid.
Using the gold they had received as thanks from all the monsters they had spared, Frisk bought a manly bandana, and four bisicles. Chara simply bought a cinnamon bun, which she promptly ate as soon as she paid for it. After swallowing the sweet bread, her cut quickly healed and the pain in her arm faded just as fast.
As she turned to leave Frisk said, "Chara is that all you're going to get?"
Without looking at her Chara replied, "I'll be fine, I don't plan on taking another hit." Before walking out of the store.
Chara stood next to the save point waiting for Frisk to finishing getting her supplies. While she waited she looked down at herself and once again saw that the body she was in was hers and yet not hers. Her green and yellow sweater, which had been very baggy on her, was now the perfect size. Her light brown shorts and tights however, were not, and fit a little too snuggly on her legs and hips. Before, her shorts reached just past her knees but were now mid-thigh. Her boots were a bit cramped for her feet as well.
I should have switched these out for new ones from the box of shoes at Home. Chara thought as she pulled on her boots trying to make them even slightly more comfortable. Oh well, doesn't matter now.
After a couple more minutes, Frisk finally rejoined her and they made their way into the inn. The inside was just as warm as the shop, on the right against the wall was a couch for waiting customers. Towards the back was a counter That had another bunny monster standing behind it, a friendly smile on her face. As they neared the counter, Chara noticed a small bunny monster child peeking over the counter at them.
"Welcome to Snowed Inn! Snowdin's premier hotel!" The innkeeper said warmly.
"Hello, we'd like a room please." Frisk replied.
"Of course, one night is 80 Gold."
Frisk counted out the money and handed it to the innkeeper after which the young rabbitgirl handed over their room key saying, "Here's your room key. Make sure to bundle up!"
"Thank you."
Chara followed Frisk up the stairs to the left of the counter. When they reached the top they were at the end of a hallway, with two doors on the right. Frisk walked to the last door at the end, unlocked the door and held it open for Chara.
Chara stepped through without a word, looked around and immediately noticed a problem. The room was simple, it had a tall lamp in the far right corner and a table against the right wall. There was a single bed with a nightstand next to it.
"Frisk there's a problem." Chara said flatly.
"Is there something wrong Chara?"
Chara motioned to the single bed and Frisk quickly took the hint.
"Oh no, I forgot there was only one bed. I'll go downstairs and see if we can get another room." With that Frisk disappeared down the hallway, leaving Chara to wait for her in the room. Chara sat down on the edge of the bed sighing with a mixture of exhaustion and slight frustration. After a few minutes Frisk returned with a frown on her face.
"I'm sorry, I tried to get another room but she said there weren't any available."
Chara pinched the bridge of her nose and said with another sigh, "So what do you propose?"
"I guess we'll just have to sleep together." Frisk said, her cheeks noticeably turning a bright pink.
Chara wanted to argue, but her exhaustion was making it difficult to stay awake. She wanted to ask a couple of things first however.
"Fine, but before we do, I want to ask you something." Chara said standing up and walking over to stand in front of Frisk. "Why do you think we got older after you RESET everything?"
"I'm sorry, Chara, I really don't know." Frisk looked lost in thought for a few moments before answering again. "But, I know someone who might be able to figure it out. We'll have to talk with Dr. Alphys in Hotland."
"Who's Dr. Alphys?'
"Oh, she's the royal scientist and the smartest monster in the Underground."
That's odd, I thought the royal scientist was D̸̜͉͛͜r̸̞̩͈̣̅͘.̴͉̭̍̃̏͑ ̵͇̬͉̘̂͗̈́̕͝G̷̭͉͖̫͓͠ä̵̛̞̔̊̒s̶̨̛̊̍͘͝ṫ̶̛̙̾e̵̱̻͇̲͇͛̈́ṛ̵̛̗̎͌. Chara thought before shrugging it off and moving on to her next question.
"So, about your eyes..." Chara said.
"Oh" Frisk said her face falling as she looked down at her boots. "I guess you want to know about them."
Chara nodded as she watched Frisk walk over and sit on the edge of the bed. "Your eyes are red like mine, and you keep them closed all the time, why?"
Frisk smiled bitterly. "Well of course they're red silly, I was born with them." Her frown quickly reasserted itself. "As for why I keep they shut, well that's a long story, and even though it's not the first time you've asked me, I'm not surprised you want to know."
"What do you mean this isn't the first time I've asked?"
"Remember what I said after you... killed King Asgore and Flowey." Frisk replied, her voice breaking slightly. "Every time I've RESET and gone back to when I first fell into the Underground, everyone loses their memory and forgets what happened after I fell. Your memory was no exception. There were other times where you had seen my eyes and asked me about them, and you've always asked me the same things."
Chara walked over to the table and leaned on it while facing Frisk before motioning for her to continue.
"Okay, well, my first few memories were being in an orphanage. I think I was about eight at the time, but all of the other kids, would make fun of me for my eyes. I was the only one there whose eyes were red. The caretakers never really tried to stop any of it though. It... wasn't the best place." Frisk folded her hands in her lap before continuing. "After about a year, it got worse, they started calling me names like 'Demonchild' and would throw rocks and other things at me. They said that I would bring nothing but bad luck.
Chara sat at the edge of the table listening intently as Frisk told her tale.
"Eventually even the caretakers began to treat me differently as well. They would tell me that I was nothing but a nuisance and a waste of space. Before long they started to punish me whenever something bad happened. Like if the ceiling began to leak or the food in storage went bad, or the garden would get ruined by bad weather. The other kids would start to blame me for everything and I would be punished even if when there was no proof that I had done anything. The punishments were always harsh, I... I was always beaten with a belt and would have to clean for hours afterwards."
Chara could not believe what she was hearing. She could not believe that the humans had gotten away with any of this.
"So I started to keep my eyes shut all the time, leaving only enough space between my eyelids to see where I was going and what I was doing. I had hoped that any new kids that arrived wouldn't be able to see my eyes and we could be friends. But it didn't matter, the new ones would see how the other kids and caretakers would treat me and would ask them why. It didn't take long for them to treat me the same way."
Chara was surprised to find hot anger boiling in the pit of her stomach as her fists clenched. She crossed her arms and waited for Frisk to finish her story.
"A couple of days after I turned eleven, the other kids were in a bad mood because it had been months since anyone had been adopted. They blamed me for it and they all cornered me in the garden. They were throwing rocks and mud at me, while calling me Demon and witch." Tears began to squeeze out of Frisk's closed eyelids. "Then one of them said that if it wasn't for me they would all have families by now and that I should climb Mt. Ebott and let the monster eat me."
At this point tears were freely streaming down Frisk's face. Chara averted her gaze not wanting to look at her tear streaked face, but she couldn't escape Frisk's sniffling and soon began to feel some pity for her. Chara let a breath out through her nose before she walked over and sat next to Frisk on the bed. Frisk had not seemed to notice so Chara placed her hand on Frisk's shoulder. When Frisk looked up, her eyes were open and the whites of her eyes were start to get bloodshot. Looking into them Chara saw that somehow Frisk's tears made her eyes sparkle even more than when she saw them the first time.
After taking a deep breath Frisk finished her story. "So that's how I ended up in the Underground and why always try to keep my eyes shut. I had started to believe that I really was causing everyone misfortune and that the only way to make everyone happy was to disappear. As for my eyes, I just got into the habit of keeping them shut almost all the time and haven't been able to break it since."
After several minutes of silence between them Chara finally spoke. "Frisk I'm... sorry for what they did to you.."
Frisk looked her in the eye. "Thank you Chara, you've always been kind to me every time I've told you this." Frisk wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "We should probably get to sleep, the monsters aren't going to free themselves." Frisk gave a small smile.
"Yeah..." Chara nodded before taking her boots off and getting under the covers. She moved over to make room for Frisk while facing the wall. After a few seconds she could feel Frisk getting under the covers and the bed sinking under her weight.
"Goodnight Chara." Frisk said behind her.
After a moment of hesitation Chara responded, "Yeah, goodnight Frisk.
She just wanted some friends. Chara thought as she listened to Frisk's breathing begin to slow. And yet the humans treated her like a monster. After a pause she said quietly to herself, "How familiar." She quickly fell asleep listening to Frisk's slow steady breathing.
*Chara and Frisk are getting some well deserved rest. This fills you with Determination.*
