The next room, the one with the staircases. She looked it over, taking note of the chipped step she had tripped on last time. Looking to the other steps, and electing to head towards them. The door at the top, leading to where she'd encountered Toriel was still wide open.
The lone torch, lighting up the space beside it. The only illumination for this dark place. Stopping at the bottom of the staircase, she glanced to the withering golden flowers along the wall. And then to her own necklace, sighing some.
Flowey sprouted from the ground in front of the staircase. "Chara, uhm, I know you want to see Toriel...but she definitely isn't the person you remember." He suggested. "She's uhm...different. Erratic, dangerous." She glared at him. "I-I just mean, be careful, okay?"
Her aggression relented a little. She wagered she must have been friends with the flower, and just didn't remember it. His concern, after all, appeared quite genuine. And her expression eased.
"Don't worry. I've got a plan." She assured him, while stepping up the first steps, before stopping. "Uhm...Flowey?"
"Yeah?" He asked.
"What...what's wrong, with her?" Chara inquired, as the flower glanced away. "I mean, she seems...upset, angry even. I don't-" She searched her fragmented memory. "think I'd seen her like that before."
"People can be...cruel." Flowey replied cautiously. "Tormenting her, uhm, causing...problems. Listen, Chara, it's...complicated." The Flower assured her. "But just...be careful."
Knowing what lay beyond the door. And the desire not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Chara was filled with the will to persevere. She had an idea for what to do next, she just hoped it would work. If not, well, at least she could just try again, right?
As she entered the next room, she found the woman there, draped in robes, with a hood up. The space was dark, and it made her look like...well, unpleasant. Chara let out a breath, as the movements of her former guardian came to a halt. The goat-ladies ear twitching, at the sound of it.
"Toriel?" Chara called out. "Can you...hear me?"
"Chara?" The word spoken as a question, coming from a voice she now remembered.
A turn of the head, a shifting of feet. A hand reaching for the edge of the hood, pushing it back enough that the goat-lady could see her, with her good eye. The other one scarred and blind. The pause felt like eternity, as Chara could hear her breathing, sense the way her mother's heart was starting to pound. See the crease in her brow.
"B-before you cut me off, it's me." Chara motioned. "I'm not-"
"You think this is amusing, to keep taunting me like this!?" The woman demanded, her voice shaking, her lips curled into a mad grin, fire enveloping her hands.
"I'm not, it's me!" The girl declared while starting forward. "Mom, please just-"
"SHUT UP!" Toriel wailed, angrily. "I...am not...amused!"
The world flashed, growing darker. A sensation, pulled through the Childs body The outline of a heart, dim, dark, but glowing purple floating before her. That wasn't...the right way to handle it, she realized. But still...she decided to CONTINUE and try.
A set of commands appeared before her, illuminated by her soul. Visible, perhaps, only to her. Floating there between them, as time slowed to a crawl.
|Fight| - | Act | - |Item| - |Mercy|
Chara used |ITEM| - Flower Necklace
"Remember-" She tugged on the necklace. "you and I like to make these together, right?"
Toriel looked conflicted and hesitated for a moment. Her attack dropped. "How dare you." Toriel said, as the flames burst into the air around her.
Following as she swiped with a hand. The flames parted from it, sparking, flying off to the sides. Chara stepped back, avoiding a wave of them. Seeing an opening as she dove to the side, while the flames passed by. Bursting against the walls of the ruins. One scorching the side of the staircase. A second motion creating dozens of smaller fireballs, circling around the room.
The girl narrowly avoiding the ring as it was forming. Moving back into the center to avoid it. Before the spinning circle of fire began pushing nearer to her. She side-stepped, and nearly fell. Catching part of her arm on one of the flames. Causing her to wince, as the fire died.
|Fight| - |Act| - |Item| - |Mercy|
Chara used |ACT| - Plead
"I-it's me, I'm real!" Chara pleaded. "Stop, please."
"I don't want to hear that anymore." Toriel shook her head and seemed to grow angrier. "Stop, stop, stop!" Her attack rose.
It wasn't working, it wasn't working, and she didn't know what to do. The girl thinking back, as Toriel began to conjure more fire. Maybe...Toriel hesitated when she saw her getting hurt...maybe.
The goat-lady creating a great ball of flame, lobbing it out. Chara saw it, and nearly moved to dodge. Instead gritting her teeth, digging in her heels, and covering her face with her arms. The force from it bursting against her. Burning, causing a cry of pain. The child knocked from the top of the stairs, stumbling and falling off the side.
Hitting the ground prompted a loss of breath, and a groan. Her eye opening and closing some. Watching the darkness, and strict red fade. Her soul pressing back into her body. Hidden away, at the end of the fight. As she noticed Toriel looking down at her. Her one good eye, scanning her with a degree of horror about it.
"C-chara!" Toriel cried out, while jumping down, with a thud. Staggering as she stepped, pausing, as the girl got up. "I-I...you can't be...I don't understand?" She remarked, looking distressed. "But it...hit, you didn't...change?"
It was very clear that her former guardian was still in a less than stable place. The girls eyes watering, from the burn marks, the pain of it running through her. She knew what she had to do.
Without another thought, Chara hurried forward. Causing Toriel to let out a breath of alarm. Her arms wrapped around the monster-lady, as the girl held on as tight as she could.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, prompting a shiver down the woman's spine. "D-did I do something wrong?"
Toriel blinked, and knelt down, hugging her quickly. "No, no, no, I-I'm sorry, you didn't do anything wrong." She assured quickly, with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Chara hugged her tighter, the feeling, the sensation, confusing the woman further. "I-I just, you can't-" she trailed off, before hugging her tighter. "I don't understand?"
"I want to go home," Chara told her quietly, her eyes faintly glowing, hidden from view. "Mom...please, I'm sorry about whatever I did wrong."
The strength left her guardian, who all but crumbled into the embrace. Keeping the girl tight, and not letting go. The feeling of Charas heartbeat brought a great unease to her. It was so soft...so infrequent. That it felt dead.