The space Chara had stepped into, was...nothingness. A seemingly endless space devoid of color or presence. Muted greys, and slashing blacks stirred together for as far as she could see. An immediate sensation, like she was being watched washed over her.

The child taking a step, feeling the ground shift as she did so. It was stable, but it was almost like a solid liquid. Like concrete water. Still rippling but keep her atop it regardless.

A sound like a door slamming shut causing her attention to shift. Moving, meeting a being across the void from her. A pair of eyes staring back at her, looking as surprised as she was.

Convergence detected...monitoring.

The initial moment of hesitation bleeding into curiosity. Curiosity bleeding into action. Each step echoing, like splashing through a puddle. The two growing closer, and closer, before a mutual pause. A hand reaching out, to make contact with the other doing the same. It wasn't glass like she'd anticipated. Instead, the sensation was skin.

Chara came to face...another Chara? The base features of this new being were identical in many respects. The same hair, the same facial features. The same look of confusion. But, before noticing any other differences, the eyes drew attention. They were different.

One had brilliant orange eyes, while the other had fantastic purple ones. The hands falling to their respective sides. One had to speak first...could the other speak? The Chara with purple eyes, Chara-P in this sense, mustered the will to try. However, the one with orange eyes, Chara-O in this sense, beat her to it.

"What...are you?" The other child asked.

The voice was similar to her own. But the inflection was different. The way it was carried.

"I'm Chara." The girl replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Chara." The boy responded.

There was a longer than normal pause. The two beings looking one another over. Their minds alight with countless questions, and growing confusion.

"Are we...dreaming again?" He asked.

"No...it feels too real." She noted with concern.

While the two had many similarities on a base level, their outfits were quite distinct. The boy was wearing an orange bandana, tied around his neck. The front of it adorned with the Deltarune. He also had an orange jacket tied around his hips. His shirt bearing an orange stripe across it. Finally, his hands were bare, a toy knife in his belt loop.

The girl was wearing a purple poncho overtop of her basic clothing, complete with a zig-zaggy hood like a mages hat. She had purple laces on her boots, while he was wearing shoes. The Deltarune emblazoned on the back of her poncho. Her shirt bearing a purple stripe across it. Finally, her hands had a pair of dark padded gloves on them.

"Cool poncho." He said after a moment.

"Thanks." She examined him. "Cool bandana."

"Thanks." He replied, looking around. "Where are we?"

"I...have no idea." She admitted, smiling some. "I'm-"

"De-void of answers?" He punned, chuckling, as she did the same.

"Wow, stole my joke. Tsk, how could you?" She snickered.

"What can I say-" He smiled some. "I'm a punny guy."

"Nerd." She commented.

"Pfft, you're a nerd." He replied.

After a moment, the girl asked. "So, did you..."

"Follow that weird kid?" He laughed nervously. "Yeah...guessin you did too?"

"Yeah." She smiled nervously. "Feelin like a door-k, about it though."

"That joke, how, door-ish." He chuckled.

"That was awful." She snickered. "What, are your good puns, door-mant?"

"Oh gosh, you're a total dweeb!" He laughed, pacing some. "I've got one, hang on."

Chara-P leaned forward some. "Do you need prep time, for puns?"

"What, no way." Chara-O scoffed. "I just wanted to pon-door my options."

He made finger guns, prompted her to cover her mouth, laughing at him. The duo sharing a laugh, as some of the tension of the situation slipped away. Their respective feelings of dread abating, if only slightly.

When the little moment had passed, the duo was left once more with the strange feeling. Neither entirely sure what to do now. What to say, or, rather, what the point was.

"Are we...meant to talk, or something?" The girl asked.

"Maybe?" He pondered. "What would we even talk about though?" He noted. "Well, I mean-"

"Besides you being a boy." She noted.

"You being a girl, but sure." He smirked.

"What's wrong with being a girl?" Chara-P asked.

"Nothin. Just odd to me." Chara-O replied. "Never thought of myself as one."

"Never thought of myself as a boy, so..." She shrugged. "Not that it's bad, or anything."

"Course not." He smiled some. "We uh-"

"Got off track." She noted. "We should-"

"Focus right?" He asked.

"We're probably in danger." She suggested.

"Oh absolutely." He agreed. "But that's like-"

"An all the time thing." She laughed nervously.

"Yeah...sadly." He agreed, doing the same.

With newfound resolve, and a desire to understand their situation. The pair began to wander around the void, for a time. They checked for edges, and in a sense, located some. Each coming up against what seemed to be invisible walls, running around the space they were in. Which itself, just seemed to be one big circle...and nothing else.

They waited in awkward silence for a few minutes. The doors didn't appear to be coming back. The pair sneaking looks at one another. So many more questions, curiosities. Was this real? It felt real at least. Why another copy of themselves? They wandered back to the center of the room.

"So-" They spoke in unison. "oh, sorry you..uhm..." they got quiet. "okay, well...oh I don't like that."

Mutually, in their minds, they began to determine who was going to speak first. So that they didn't do...that again. Originally debating themselves for the role, that was pushed aside. Forming a mutual decision on who would go. Looking at each other, hoping the other had the same idea.

The boy spoke. "So, about your eyes?"

The girl sighed contently. "Yeah...I was just gonna ask the same thing."

"Let's try and not do that again, please." He requested.

"Oh no, that was creepy, I was...not a fan." She admitted.

"Gonna hafta agree. Okay uhm, right. So-" He gestured to her. "does it uhm..."

"Does, what?" She asked back.

"You know." He stated.

The duo stood across from each other for a moment. The same question was on their mind. Unfortunately, they were both sad, awkward little beings. Struggling to ask what should have been a simple enough question.

So instead of using their words, they both slugged each other in the arm. Only Chara-P winced however, as their souls shined before them. As anticipated, they were different. The boy had a dim, but brilliant orange soul. The girl had a dim, but fantastic purple soul. Matching their respective eye colors.

She smiled some. "So...Determination isn't a thing for you either, huh?"

"No. I don't know what happened." He sighed, taking a seat. "I just woke up and-"

"It was different?" She asked, taking a seat next to him.

"Yeah. Mom didn't really seem to notice. Similar colors, I guess." He admitted. "But Flowey sure did. Had all kinds of questions." He admitted, adding "Didn't...really have any answers for him though."

"So, you hesitated?" She asked, hugging her leg. "Kept him in the dark, I'm guessing?"

"No. I stayed brave, and tried to explain everything I could." He tilted his head. "You didn't?"

She shook her head. "No, it...I was worried he'd think less of me. Figured it was better to just persevere, and move on, ya know?"

"Did it go well?" He asked.

"No." She frowned. "We had a stupid fight...I think?" She thought back. "But left me in the snow, and...he hasn't come back."

"That's...cold." He managed to make her smile some. "He uh...bailed on me too. But that was after the thing with the giant wolf guy who hid in the snow."

"I guess it didn't matter, did it?" Chara-P felt colder. "He was never going to stick by us." She said. "Are we...really that awful?"

"I guess..maybe?" Chara-O felt colder, before shaking it off. "But, we can't be afraid. Right?" He managed a smile. "C'mon, we have other friends don't we?"

"You mean all the ones who died out before we woke up?" Her tone chilly. "The only one I have is...maybe Papyrus?"

"You're friends with Papyrus?" Chara-O asked.

"Are you not?" Chara-P asked back. "He's easily the coolest person in Snowdinn."

"Na, na, no way." He scoffed. "Sans is the coolest." He noted. "Papyrus is, well okay, he's kinda neat too."

"What?" She huffed. "You can't trust Sans. He's a bad guy!"

"Pshhh, not even. He's dumb, sure, and maybe he tried to kill me, but so has...most everyone at this point." The boy suggested. "It doesn't really make it great...but, he apologized later, and he's even been helping me."

The girl struggled with that. "You know he's the one hunting mom, right?"

"Why, cuz that weirdo on the phone said so?" He asked, suggesting. "I don't think he was talking about Sans."

"He tried to drag me into the pit, to kill me." She noted. "After he threw me into it, like...twice."

"Really?" He scratched the back of his hair. "That doesn't sound right."

"He tried to kill you." She reminded him. "Like, the same way I'll bet."

"That was a misunderstanding." He noted.

"Really?" Chara-P huffed. "He claimed that Mom was back in the ruins. Used that...stupid blue thing on me."

Chara-O laughed nervously. "I think he's just trying to get us to go home, so we don't get hurt looking for her."

"I don't trust him." The girl huffed.

"That's okay." The boy replied. "I don't really trust his brother, but you clearly do."

"You don't trust Papyrus!?" She exclaimed in surprise.

"He's so very clearly evil." He laughed some. "Like, comically."

"He's not really evil. He's like a dark knight." She noted, adding. "Mysterious, complex, and not evil at all."

"Maybe our worlds are different?" He offered. "Cuz, he seems evil to me."

"Pshh, maybe you're just weird." She suggested.

"You know what's weird?" He asked.

"What?" She asked back.

"That one bird guy and his jokes." Chara-O commented.

"I know right?" She laughed some. "They were..."

"Really bad." He noted. "Like, that one about orphans?"

"Yeah." She flopped onto her back. "Maybe it just hit home a little?"

"Or lack of one." He commented, thinking. "Do you...ever think about, the surface?"

The girl glanced at him. "You and I both know, we don't wanna talk about this."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." He muttered.

"We don't owe them anything." She noted. "We waited what...three days, and nobody showed up?"

"Two and a half." He commented, before asking. "Hey, wanna hear a joke?"

"Sure?" She glanced over.

"What would you call an ice sword?" He asked.

"Excali-burr." She answered, as he snickered. "What do you call a fire sword?"

"Hot." He replied knowingly, prompting her to laugh. "Ya know, I really love the word earth." He told her. "It means the world to me."

The duo stared at each other for a moment, before beginning to laugh. The whole conversation, and the entire experience was a little insane. And the fact they were literally arguing with themselves, or versions of themselves, wasn't lost on them. The duo gradually coming to calm down once more.

"Hey, uh, girl-me?" Chara-O asked. "I have a question."

"Okay boy-me, what's the question?" Charao-P replied.

"Do you...remember everything?" He asked. "Or, is it all-"

"Fuzzy?" She asked.

"Yes, that, exactly." He nodded. "For me...a lot of its fuzzy."

"Honestly, I've had a problem remembering anything." She admitted, sitting up. "It usually comes in memories from the time with the other humans."

"The other humans?" He asked. "What's that mean?"

"Ya know, the things you remember when you die?" The girl asked, prompting him to nervously laugh.

"I uh...I don't come back, well, that's...hmm." He struggled to put it into words. "I can...if I'm not afraid, I can get back up, when I get hurt." He explained. "Like...it doesn't last forever, but I can."

She gave him a confused look. "I don't...understand."

He sat up and sighed. "So, if I die in a fight...I won't...usually die." He explained. "According to Flowey, I could get up a couple times before it was, legitimately fatal."

"So you...I don't-" She asked. "Wait, no, hang on, what do you mean according to Flowey?"

"Okay, so...I have died. But I don't...remember it." He tried to explain. "Flowey told me uhm...about those. I didn't really believe him at first, but he started to predicted things I would do to prove it. Things that...would have gotten me killed, that sort of thing."

"So you don't remember, or.." She hesitated. "Is he just saving and loading for you?"

"Yeah, well, loading, mostly. Though, when he left, he was having trouble using it." Chara-O explained. "Said he couldn't seem to load after I'd gotten really hurt. We had to use a lot of items, but I got better." He looked hesitant. "I...well, I...really hope he comes back. I don't..." He took a breath. "It's okay, I can't be afraid."

"Other me, it's okay to be afraid sometimes." Chara-P told him. "You just have to be able to overcome it." She smiled. "That's what Bravery is right?"

"Wait, you know what my soul means?" He asked.

"Yeah. Alex, a kid we accompanied when we were...ghosts, had a soul like that." She explained. "Another named Tera had one like mine, actually." She shook her head. "Not the point, yours is Bravery. The drive to be fearless, in the face of...impossible danger."

"Okay then, what's yours?" He asked. "It apparently works like determination in the whole, you don't die thing?" He quickly added. "Which is, like, cheating, by the way."

"I think...it's called Perseverance." She hummed. "I guess it is a little similar to Determination, but it hasn't really...worked the same."

"Can you not save and load?" He asked.

"N-no, once I thought I saw something that said...restart, but I haven't seen it since." She admitted. "When I die, I see nothing...and then it shines, and I get the choice to...Continue."

"From like, when you died?" He inquired.

"W-well no. It's usually a little before that." She noted. "But uhm, I don't know how the save points work for it."

"You know, you can be awfully vague sometimes, right?" He smiled some.

"Pshh, shut up." She snickered some. "Listen, they just-"

"Listening." He smirked.

"I'll throw something at you." She replied, as he chuckled. "As I was saying...they just seem to show up randomly. Little purple lights, that note I have saved, but I didn't really choose to." She explained. "They do it automatically."

"I mean, it's still pretty useful." He smiled some. "Sort of like you have an Auto-Save."

"I guess?" She hummed. "Flowey said his ability to load wasn't working after I showed up. But he can still save. It's weird, but, if I die, as long as he saved after my auto-save, he remembers everything up to that point." She explained. "But anything beyond it gets lost." She noticed him raising a brow. "T-that uh...probably doesn't make a lot of sense, huh?" She rubbed her arm. "Sorry..."

"That sounds a little complicated." Chara-O laughed nervously. "But survivability is pretty great to have right?"

"Heh, yeah. Sorry." Chara-P apologized.

"Eh?" The boy rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt you were responsible for me having an orange soul, you nerd." He smiled a little. "Besides. As long as I'm careful, and I don't give up, I'll be okay right?"

The girl felt a little conflicted about that. "Yeah, I guess so. I just...you do need to be careful, like, legitimately, ya know?"

"I know." He replied.

"Don't just say you know. I know us. We uh...can be a little reckless." She stated.

He hummed and shrugged. "I'll be okay, other me. No reason to be afraid." He pondered, while standing up. "Okay, hey, you remember how we did that test with Asriel, about pain, right?"

"Test about pain?" She raised a brow.

"We punched each other. And found that like, when we had Determination, it hurt a little less for us than it did for him." He explained, smiling. "Well, I feel even less pain than that. I mean, it still hurts, but...it's like muted pain."

"Well, that's both cool and concerning." She noted. "I don't really have that...in fact. I uh...I feel things all the more now."

"Like...things hurt more?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's...a lot of pain." Her eyes closed. "So...much pain."

The boy glanced to the side. "I'm uh...I'm sorry it's...that uhm, well, ya know." He laughed nervously. "Well, I feel like an ass now."

"H-huh, oh, no hey-" She got to her feet. "It's okay." She sighed. "It's, not that big a deal. I just uh, use my magic to avoid hits when possible."

"Magic?" He asked, adding. "Uhm...what do you mean?"

Chara-P smiled some and pulled up her hood. "I'm a witch."

"Pfft. No way." Chara-O replied, before noticing her expression. "Wait, really?"

"Yup." She replied warmly.

A splash echoed in the void.

"That' so cool!" He said back. "How does...does.."

A splash echoed once more.

"What is that?" She asked.

Their conversation was brought to an abrupt end by the sound of rushing water. The invisible barriers of the room suddenly growing darker. A sloshing, writhing sound, accompanied by choking noises became audible.

The two moving side to side, looking around to determine the source. Things likes hands pressing against the inky wall that surrounded them. Stretching from it, as distant drowning screams could be heard, muffled by the void.

"Isn't that cute." A familiar voice to the duo commented. "To see you two getting along so well. I just wanna squeeze you both, until your bones break."

The pair quickly moved from the center. The form of the Goner Kid rising from the dark. The space around him glitching and tearing unnaturally for a moment. The strange monochrome monster smiling an odd smile at them.

"You?" Chara-O asked. "What's going on?"

"A convergence. Strands of corrupted code intertwining." The Goner replied. "But you don't need to worry about all that." The floor seemed to breath. "All you need to know, is that you two weren't meant to see the door."

"B-but, that's..." Chara-P spoke, feeling an odd sense of deja vu. "You're the one who showed it to us!"

"It's important to run tests, when you notice anomalies." He noted. "But it doesn't matter now. Neither of you will leave here." The monsters mouth seemed to melt, eyes spiraling, while strange hands forming from the dark, moving to his side. "You'll die, and you'll die, and you'll die...until I'm bored of you." He laughed maniacally. "And then...I'll delete you." Unease spread through them. "Don't give me those looks. It's not like either of you mattered in the first place."

The Boy readied his weapon, while pulling up his bandana. A brave expression in his eyes. The Girl tugged at her hood, tightening her gloves. Persevering despite a terrible feeling of deja vu settling in. The Goner Kid blinked once, speaking.

"This is going to be so much fun."