When she was properly dressed, and ready to continue in earnest, she stepped from the room. The bat over her shoulder, as she really didn't have anywhere to put it. The hood of her poncho up, with its zig-zaggy back-angled point, like a witches hat.
It provided shading to her face in the dim lighting of the shop. Her eyes being visible despite that. Her outfit, comprised of grey, purple, and some black boots, certainly assisting in the blending in with the shadows aspect of her appearance.
"I think we look cool~" Her own whisper commented.
She ignored it. Of course they looked cool. Or, well, she did anyways. She debated the whisper. It seemed this was...just another aspect of her already peculiar existence she had to accept. At least until she found a nice wood-chipper.
"H-hey, w-what if I am the bat?" Her own whisper asked in alarm.
Chara wagered were that the case, they would need to learn the definitions of time and place. Namely, as this was not the time for her to talk to herself. And wasn't the place to continue their, her, own strange conversation.
Undyne noticed her, and remarked. "Damn, look at you kid. You look a lot more like a mage now. A bit uh, lacking in color, but hey. Purple ain't bad."
Chara smiled some. "Thanks." She pushed the hood back. "The bats a little big."
"You just need this." Undyne produced a sheath of sorts, which seemed suited to the bat. "Now, just hold still a second."
The woman crouch down, and the girl complied. The bandolier-like sheath, not entirely dissimilar to her own. It was fastened, secured, and tightened to a point where it was comfortable, but not loose. The bat then slotted, with the handle pushing out over her shoulder.
The girl found it wasn't like a proper sheath. It was more like buckled bind, but it held the bat in place anyways. Seemed it was magical. Not unlike her new weapon of choice.
"So, does it fit well?" The woman asked. "Everything comfortable?"
"Y-yeah. Thanks, Big Sis." The girl replied, before pausing. "U-uhm, s-sorry, I didn't uhm-"
"Big Sis huh?" Undyne chuckled some. "That how you're thinking about me already?"
"I-I guess. I'm sorry, I won't-" Chara began.
"Hey, hey, it's cool, it's cool. No worries there, 'lil sis.' Relax." The woman smirked. "Sides, I've never had a younger sibling. Could be neat. Even if you are a punny little dork."
The child responded to this with an instinctual hug, catching the woman by surprise. She also made a mental note to smack the bat against a wall hard, for giving her the suggestion. Even if it turned out to be okay. Her own whisper was nervous about that.
It took a moment, but she was hesitantly hugged back. It lasted for a short time. Once more the thought that she knew Undyne floated in her mind. Lingering, even as the hug ended.
"Awh." The non-human behind the counter commented. "That's quite sweet. However, Muffet has a policy that people can't remain if they aren't purchasing anything."
Undyne glanced. "Yeah, yeah, I know." She sighed. "Alright, c'mon. Let's get this show on the road."
"Okay." Chara replied, as the woman got up. "Hey...thanks, uh, shop lady."
The non-human smiled some. "No worries, friend. You two have a great day, yeah?"
Undyne shrugged. "We'll see what we can do. I'll...let Muffet know to come and uh, let you get on your way."
"I would super-duper appreciate that." The non-human laughed.
Chara gave a final glance to the red-eyed...being. She still couldn't tell what kind of monster the lady was exactly. But, she wagered it didn't necessarily matter. The girl following Undyne out, and back into the hallway. Door closing behind her.
The shop was finally empty of everything, aside from the woman behind the counter. An unnatural creature, with unnatural goals. She turned, to look at... Tilting her head, smiling.
"Ya know, I can always tell when you're around." The non-human commented. "I can feel that 'fourth wall' of yours. Feel your 'watchers' staring."
She spoke towards you. She spoke to nobody. Her eyes growing unnaturally wide, oozing ink.
"I know you're the one who switched the bats out." The non-human hissed. "Heh...heh...you think it will help, somehow, but history suggests it's more harmful than helpful." She grew impatient. "One of these days, you'll answer me. I'll make you answer me."
She lied, without knowing. Be it Doctor, of Assistant, they were incapable. Limited, in ways they didn't understand. No matter how hard they tried not to be.
"Why do you continue to linger here?" The non-human sighed. "You should be following them, dear."
The woman waited for a response she was never going to get. Briefly glancing to the door, as if to indicate the need to leave the area. Then, she began to seem curious, pondering something.
"What is it you're seeking, looking for?" The non-human inquired. "What are you hoping to find?"
The question was not to find anything. It was to reveal something. To shed light on beings who would rather remain in the dark of pages already turned. The non-human growing more irritated at the lack of response, at the constant exposure.
Truth is, it was largely just to mess with her. To mess with them. Because it was amusing.
Example. What she was unaware of, and what the man was unaware of, was that while their experiments couldn't be 'stopped.' They could be tampered with. Swayed, or altered ever so slightly, now and then.
Into this, a...'poll' had been placed somewhere, for a limited time. For beings beyond their control to respond to. To influence a little bit of 'tampering.'
"I know you're up to something, you mute brat." The non-human growled. "And I'm done humoring you."
The woman turned and started away. Good. Don't worry about them, they won't figure it out until it's too late. So, it'll be our little secret. You and I.
Undyne motioned to the path to the right. "So, I didn't get to explain it earlier." The pair heading around the corner to it. "But, this path here leads into the rest of the ruins. And, eventually to the outpost, and the exit." She explained. "It's kinda like a little...village, almost."
"Is that where you live?" Chara inquired.
"Yeah...sort of. I do have a house there. But like, I also have a safehouse not far ahead." The woman commented. "It's...probably where I spend most of my time. Namely as few people know it exists. Heh."
"I think it sounds nice." The girl suggested. "Or, hopefully nice?"
"Safer than the Arena, definitely." The woman assured.
The girl blinked, and the image of the last fight flashed through her mind. Shaking her some. Prompting a glace away from the woman. Undyne noticed and shifted some, sighing. Realizing she may have been dumb to bring that up.
The duo marched on to the next room, in a very odd silence. Said space being a longer hall. One bearing more withered flowers along the wall, and even less light than before. With only sparse lighting, coming from magical torches. The core sources of light being the spear on the Caretakers back..
Chara pondered about the Caretaker of the Ruins. She felt...such a desire to trust her. Such a desire to be kind towards this being, that honestly, she knew little about. And it seemed, that the feeling was mutual.
The woman looked tired, and despite her bravado, and attempts to hide it, it was obviously true. Not that the girl could blame her. It was hot, and miserable feeling in this place. The monsters they'd met being either strange, violent, or both.
She thought back to the words of warning from the Elder Puzzler.
Her own whisper noting. "It...it'll be alright. Just...gotta think about other things."
The internal thought wasn't wrong. She turned her thoughts to something else. Beginning to wonder what puzzles this peculiar place would even have to experience. Hopefully something fun.
The area ahead marked the first section that could be counted as a puzzle. A barrier to their path through the ruins. The girl had imagined, however briefly what this space might look like. What dangers might be present. What dastardly thing stood in their path.
Her own whisper asked. "Is that a piano?" It was indeed, a piano.
The room was full of streams of murky warm water, with signs that it was once flowing much higher than it was now. Arranged in the pattern of a heart, as some long since faded symbol of compassion, or hope. There was a wider section of water that divided this odd heart, from a more natural path. One that narrowed to another door, which continued onwards.
Undyne for her part stepped out, and stopped by the piano. Chara following along, hearing a little tune coming from it as she got nearer. A calm sounding song, that was none-the-less filled with the faintest tinge of sadness.
"So, funny story." Undyne began. "When we first got to the ruins. Me and, well, most of the monsters here. We uh, found that a lot of the old traps had broken down, or, ya know, needed repairs."
"Where did you all come from?" Chara inquired.
"All over the place." The woman replied. "Some were in Golden Grove City, or that whole surrounding regions. Others from Waterfall. The Snowlands. Just...everywhere, really." She hummed. "Realizing that these words probably mean nothing to ya, huh?"
"I'm...not familiar with most of that." The girl responded.
"No worries." The woman sighed. "Either case, we uh, restored a few of the puzzles. Made a couple new ones as well." She pat the piano. "But that's boring nerd stuff. So, I made this one with a piano. Ya know, something cool, classical, and beautifully artistic."
"Right. That uh...makes sense." The girl reasoned, somewhat surprised by the response.
"Originally I was just gonna make it a puzzle with huge falling boulders, but I couldn't find enough." Undyne laughed.
That sounded far more like what the child had expected. With a little smile returning to her face, she turned and examined the piano. It appeared to have been broken in various places, with keys having been removed. Only to be put back together, with new keys made of...whatever would fit really.
It was clearly done by someone who lacked the proper knowledge. It was also clearly done with passion, and a desire to make it function no matter what. And the girl could take a wild guess, who was responsible.
"So...what am I supposed to do?" The girl asked, noticing a nearby sign, scratched out. "Ahh, I'm guessing that told me?"
"It was meant to, yeah." The woman glared at the sign. "Well, it's a good thing I'm here to explain it then huh?" She laughed some. "Okay, so, you hear that little song?"
"Yeah." The girl replied, stepping up to the keys. "It...sounds sad."
"Does it?" The woman laughed nervously. "It's...well, I put to together. Thought it sounded calming." She admitted, before shaking it off. "Either case, that's...what you're meant to play. Or, at least the first few notes of it." The woman explained. "Kept running into problems trying to have the testers play the whole song. Namely that they were completely incapable." She snickered. "So, don't worry about playing the whole thing, alright?"
"I've never really played a piano before." Chara admitted, briefly tapping a key, smiling at the sound. "It's always been cool to me though."
"Well..." Undyne watched her tinker with the keys, looking pleased. "What kind of...Big Sis would I be if I didn't offer a tutorial?"
"The kind who didn't offer tutorials?" Chara inquired.
"Eh, pretty much. Still, you want one, or not?" The woman inquired.
"I'd really appreciate it. But, that wouldn't uh...ruin your puzzle would it?" The girl asked.
"Pshh, as if. What fun is a puzzle if it can't be solved?" Undyne stepped behind her. "Okay...so, place your hands here, here, wait, no...here."
"I don't think I have that many hands." Chara replied with a smile.
Undyne rolled her eyes. "What, you can't grow additional sets of limbs?" Making the child snicker. "Okay, so hand here, hand here-" She motioned. "go ahead and try out the keys a little bit."
As requested, she ran her fingers across a few keys. Testing out, and listening to the sounds they made. A few rather bright and nice sounding, with a couple bearing an...out of tune bit of noise.
However, Undyne was patient. Taking time to listen. Not inturrupting, or getting annoyed by the childs general inability with this.
"Okay...I think I've got it." The child said.
"Awesome." The woman motioned. "Okay, now, the way this puzzle works, is you have to emulate that song you hear."
"Emulate it?" The girl asked.
Her own whisper inquiring. "Isn't that...really hard?" In a way only she could hear.
"So, playing by ear can be difficult." The woman noted, seeming to anticipate the thought. "But in this case, all you've gotta do is play a couple notes from it."
"The first ones?" The girl asked, to clarify.
"Yeah. I'm not gonna make you play the middle or end. That'd be a real di-er, jerk kinda move." The woman laughed a little. "So, let's try this. If you can find that first key. I'll let you know. Then we can go from there."
"I think I can do that." The girl hummed.
She began to tap the keys. Listening, attempting to emulate what she heard. She hit one, that garnered a hum.
"That's the one." Undyne noted. "Okay, punk, now, try to find the second."
Chara closed her eyes for a moment, and began tapping around. One less key, meant the process was a little bit quicker. Granted, waiting for the song to loop did take a minute. She didn't want to just 'guess,' she wanted to figure it out. She tapped a key.
"Hey, that's it right?" She asked the smiling woman.
"Damn right it is." The woman said. "You're getting it now. You think you got this?"
"I-I think so?" The girl replied. "Do I just...will something happen if I play the wrong ones?"
"Yeah. You'll have to start over." The woman laughed, adding. "But don't let that discourage you. Everyone plays the wrong keys now and then. Some people only play em, ya know?" She pat the girl on the head. "So no worries, got it?"
Her own whisper bled into her spoken words. "Thanks sis."
The woman let out a sigh. "No problem, dork." She glanced. "Okay...well, go ahead and play those keys together. Get familiar with them. Then, just aim for the next one, right?"
Chara began to do precisely this. Playing the two keys over, and over. Getting the feel of their position down, while pausing every time the song lopped. Listening for the third note. Testing others, beginning to get some idea of it. Only to strike the third one after the second two.
"How many more?" The girl asked.
"Don't worry about that. Just keep going till you succeed." The woman suggested, adding. "Just...imagine everyone is cheering you on."
"Eh?" The girl felt surprised by the suggestion.
"Yeah, yeah that's it. C'mon, you can do this." Undyne declared, as Chara blinked, and began attempting again. "You have to imagine everyone you know cheering for you." The girl began to try harder. "All their hopes, all their dreams, all of building, growing out of a desire for you to succeed!" The fourth key was found. "There to pick you up when you think you're failing. Because you can't fail. Not with everyone believing in you, right?"
"N-no, no I'll...I'll persevere!" Chara said, matching her enthusiasm.
"Hell yeah!" Undyne grinned. "No little sister of mine, is gonna back down to some measly puzzle!" She declared. "Now, go on. There's only one left, standing between everyone's hopes and dreams. Between your future. You can do this!"
At long last, the fifth key was struck. The beat beginning as she moved them in motion. Listening to the song, to play along with it.
Listening to the...odddly intense, words of encouragement. She could do this, she just had to believe in herself. Her mind running through the disparate memories she still held onto.
Memories of her family. Memories of her friends. Of the people she known. Of the few humans who were worth anything. Of the pieces of their adventure she could recall. Whether joyful and full of hope. Or grief-filled, and tragic. They were a part of her.
And for a moment, as silly as it felt. She imagined the whole world cheering for her. She couldn't fail. Even if she believed she was destined to.
The puzzle completed as the last key was struck. Her bat glowing in its sheath. Her eyes alight, persevering beyond the intended end. The song growing louder, as a bridge began to rise from the water. Forming a path to all that lay beyond this room.
The final key struck, as the short song looped. Completed. A purple light shining above the piano. Marking a save, to her progress.
She hardly got a chance to process it, before being swept up by the caretaker. Who was laughing, and grinning. The warmth was overbearing, overwhelming, but welcome.
"U-undyne?" She asked in surprise.
"You did it kid!" The woman declared. "I told you you could do it!" She appeared overly enthusiastic. "That song didn't stand a chance against you!"
"I...it wasn't...that big a deal." The girl replied feeling embarrassed.
"Wasn't that big a deal?" The woman scoffed. "Kid, half the soldiers under my care couldn't do that for five notes. Let alone the whole damn song. Heh, I know we uh, tried...b-but you just went and kicked its ass!"
The girl began to feel a little proud of herself. "You...mean it?"
She then got a noogie. "Of course you little punk. I never say things I don't mean."
Chara couldn't help but laugh a little, even if it stung some. The woman setting her down, looking at her with a look of...pride. She didn't feel like she was worth the look. But...it felt nice. It made her feel so warm, so...alive.
"Thank you." She mustered.
"Eh, for what?" Undyne asked, noting. "You're the one who did everything...er, hey, are you okay?"
The girl had yet to realize it. But she had let a few tears slip from her eyes. Brushing at one of them, she felt a little embarrassed. The clear liquid was cool on her hand. She quickly flicked it away.
"S-sorry." Chara apologized. "I don't...get why I did that?"
The Caretaker smiled some. "Hey, don't sweat it okay. It was a pretty emotional moment." She considered. "Lots of people cry, at least a little when they do something awesome." She pat the girl on the head. "Why don't we uh, keep going. Unless you wanna do an encore?"
"Maybe another time." The girl replied, following along as they crossed the bridge. "Hey, where did you learn to play the piano?"
"Oh uh...well, I got taught by some people who took me in when I was a kid." The woman recalled. "Granted, most of what we did together was training. But, my, well, uh, they wanted me to balance my hobbies. So I...learned how to do that."
"Your parents taught you then?" Chara asked, a thought re-entering her mind, something that had been forgotten.
Her own whisper bounced around in her mind. "Wait a minute...her name..."
"I don't know if they'd consider themselves that. But I guess I...always have." Undyne reasoned, her little bit of pep fading. "I'm sort of a massive screw up kid." She laughed a sad laugh. "Wouldn't be surprised if...they'd forgotten about me, ya know?"
The name had been familiar. It had been bothering Chara the whole time, and just never clicked. The Caretakers name was Undyne.
Flashes of her time with Tera tore through the girls mind. This was...Undyne. The one who had accompanied Tera on much of her journey. The one the other purple-souled human had a crush on. The word that the woman had said when they first met, finally becoming clearer. Tera.
Chara felt...strange, seeing her grown up. The woman glancing back, as she had paused her movement. Tilting her head.
"Hey, you okay over there?" Undyne asked.