It largely wasn't as intimidating as the last couple rooms she had been in. It was mostly a fairly simply hallway at the start. She noted how much people seemed to like those. This thought, being made sarcastically, and largely to herself.
The space ahead was dim-lit with torches. A big change from the last room, which itself was lit with dimly lit torches. She felt oddly upset at this. Wondering why, as a flicker of some vague memory rattled around in her brain.
She recalled being brought to a nice man, when she was younger. He a friendly sort, whose features she couldn't remember anymore. But he had a very fancy coat. The kind people had when they worked at labs, or secret government facilities. So, she assumed he was a scientist, or a doctor.
He was horrifically eloquent, as an individual, and worked to help her expand her grammatical capabilities. But she didn't enjoy speaking as fancily as he did. It tended to confuse Asriel, and then he'd throw a fit. The memory of her brother doing so, making her smile a little.
It cycled back to the point it had begun. How she was brought to speak to him. And how he talked to her about how she was feeling. How to cope with her emotions, that sort of thing.
She wagered were he here now, he might say some dribble about how harmful it was for her to continue to run from her problems. Or, how her anger was merely a projection of deeper insecurities, or pain caused by her unhealthy habit of suppressing problems as a coping mechanism. Then he'd offer her a piece of candy, and talk about how she needed to converse with others, and convey her feelings of hurt, or fear. In order to coordinate methods of healthier resolution.
The girl stopping at it, glancing between the two branching path ahead of her. As per the norm with these things. One was heading left, another heading right. Both the paths seeming to head downwards. She grumbled to herself about this, and her thoughts.
The girl felt a little annoyed at all the up and down that this place did. It made her feel a bit tired. She imagined it was a great chore for the monsters who lived there too. At least it was harder for them to exhaust than humans. It clicked then, the whole place was so awful, because it was meant to make humans tired.
A neat defensive measure normally. Also one that was incredibly annoying to her right now. She sighed, and examined the markings on the walls, and noted many seemed to be newer than not. Various attempts to create art, defaced by some other individual. Leaving them broken messes. It was sad to her, and also didn't provide any clues to resolve this.
Left with this thought, and the ones before it, she let out a sigh.
"Whisper?" She asked.
"Yeah?" Whisper replied.
"I wanted to...convey that I am...presently in a state where one might consider themselves filled with the phantasms of terror, unease, and disproportionate dismay to a dismal degree." Chara said quietly.
"I uhm...yeah." Whisper replied, sounding hesitant. "Well, that's-"
"Since I woke up I have been murdered, murdered, been stalked, and threatened with relative consistently." The girl said. "And then I get a moment of reprieve, to collect my thoughts, and try to cope with them in healthy methods. Or do fun things, that don't hurt, or scare me, and then something awful happens after."
"Well, it hasn't been too many times?" Whisper half-asked. "Right, I-"
"I feel like it's so much more, and I don't know why." The girl exclaimed in dismay. "I feel like...I don't know, I don't...I-" She huffed. "I just want people to be nice. And I don't want to hurt anyone, but then, I guess, I like hurting them?" She felt confused. "I don't understand, I-I can't understand that."
"It's all a lot." Whisper noted. "And it does feel overwhelming. But, we can overcome it."
"I want to help Undyne, because she'd clearly sad, tired, and hurting too." Chara declared, feeling hateful. "And she was nice, and I screwed that up, and she believes in me for some reason?" She sounded confused. "And that reminds me of home, and I just...wanna go home."
A silence set in between the two. The girl knew she was wasting precious time. And she hated herself all the more for doing so. She felt like she should be pushing forward, instead of moping around, feeling sad for herself. But it was a lot, and it felt like a lot.
"Chara-" Whisper began.
"I don't get why I want to help her." Chara noted quietly. "I just...I feel like...somehow helping her, and sparing those monsters I...I have some stupid hope it's gonna help me somehow. I-I don't know why."
She heard a shuffling noise. Looking directly up, she found a pipe that flowed down to her. But wasn't producing heat. A form pushed out of it, hanging down, with a little grin. The familiar cat-dog, Temmie.
Temmie let out a tsk. "You are one sad, pathetic little thing, you know that right?" It asked, snickering. "Wahhhh, I killed someone. Wahhh, I got eaten alive~" The creature grinned, as she glared. "Wahh, I'm being stalked by someone who probably brought me back from the dead, and wants to keep me as a pet, minus the arms and legs~"
The girl glared. "You're an...evil creature."
"Scathing." Temmie replied. "Listen up Princess. You wanna get home. Go down the path to the right. And don't just stand around like a blubbering idiot crying." The creature commented. "Whiny brat."
The girl winced, and began to suppress her feelings again. Unable to feel like the words levied against her were cruel. Rather, she felt them as a ringing endorsement of her own self-loathing. Silently agreeing, and quieting down.
"What's down the left one?" The child asked.
"It's a trap. Drops you into a pit. Best you don't do that." Temmie noted. "Or you'll have something else to cry about~" The girl winced agian, as the creature began scurrying back up the pipe. "Now get a move on. Unless you wanna get caught."
The girl replied quietly, with a. "Thanks."
Quietly, she began forward, feeling miserably cold. The cycle of emotional turmoil playing out, as the girl chastised herself for feeling awful. In turn only making herself feel more awful. And so on, until it all became numb. Reminding herself that this was what happened when she stopped shoving the emotions back. When she started to think about them. People got mad at her.
She repeated the words of her...human 'family.' That she should just smile more. That nobody liked it when she whined. And so, her resting expression turned from the miserable frown. To an ever so slightly unhinged smile.
After a moment of walking, she heard. "It's not our fault." From Whisper. "It's been...a tough day."
"Shut up." She muttered, heading down the staircase.
"It's not out fault that Temmie turned hostile immediately." Whisper continued. "That's on her."
The girl was continuing down the slope that wound to the right. Magical lanterns flickering as she went by. She was trying to ignore the retort.
"It doens't mat-" She began.
"Then, that nasty dog lady is the one to blame for the arena." Whisper noted. "Not our fault everyone there were jerks. And before you deflect. Even Bis Sis knew it, right?"
She considered this, and it wasn't an...unfair point. Undyne had even intervened, chastised the whole lot of them. Protecting her, and taking her away from the arena after they got so bloodthirsty.
"I guess...just..I dunno." The girl sighed. "Is it...bad if it's in self-defense?"
She asked, referencing killing the Elder Puzzler.
"No." Whisper replied. "I don't think so. We weren't left with much of a choice."
"Yeah." She hesitantly agreed. "I guess so?"
"Don't let that impure thing get to you." Whisper demanded. "All she wants to do, is hurt us. She's no different then those 'humans' right?"
Chara paused briefly.
"I-" The girl began.
"Now, we should focus on trying to find a friend." Whisper suggested. "Preferably, someone strong like Big Sis."
"Someone that looks like they won't get one-shot, by the creepy lady." She chimed in.
"Exactly. But hey, that shouldn't be too hard, we're pretty likeable." Whisper said warmly.
"No I'm not." The girl replied. "Honestly I don't...get why people even care sometimes."
"Well, they must care for a reason." Whisper suggested. "Maybe it's our winning sense of humor?"
"Probably." Chara reasoned, feeling somewhat warmer, as she remembered something. "Asriel said that people like funny people."
"And we're pretty funny. So, we just gotta persevere~" Whisper nearly sang. "It'll work. Right?"
The girl was left to consider this train of thought, as she drew near to the halfway point. Her focus falling on a doorway a ways ahead of her. It branched off the long staircase, and stood out pretty handily. She examined the path she was meant to follow, before glancing at the door again.
Wondering if someone was there she could ask for help, she stepped over and checked the handle. It was unlocked, so she gave it a push open. The interior was what appeared to be a house, or an apartment. Not of an entirely different design than Undynes hideout. Only less, hidden. Also less full of anime and the sort.
Heading inside, she glanced around. The space consisted of a living room area. A kitchen, and two doors near the back. She wagered they were bedrooms, or closets. The interior had a variety of powers put up. And a fake window. It had seemingly been installed against the brick, with a drawing on the other side of it. That appeared to be a sky.
"Hello?" She called out, but nobody answered. "Is this one of the safe-houses?"
The girl got no response. She started to look around. The 'living room' area wasn't altogether impressive. Though, it had a number of books, resting beside a chair. A reader then. She examined one of them. 'Underfell.' She picked up the book, and looked it over. It felt familiar.
Setting it down on a coffee table, she moved into the kitchen. There, she found some drawings on the fridge. Two different artists had been there. The first, appeared to draw what seemed to be Undyne, with a spider monster. The latter was much smaller. Childrens drawings.
There were a couple by this creator. Seeming to grow in experience over time. On the side of the fridge was one that was less dusty. More recent in nature. It depicted the same scene, only less amiable. Lots of storm cloud imagery, scratching drawings. That sort of thing. It seemed the two monsters had had some sort of falling out, maybe?
The other artist, however, had only one drawing. And when she got a good look at it, it sent a shiver down her spine. It was of a grey non-human figure, and herself. It appeared to depict the two as friends. Only her image was shackled, and had red smeared in the purple of her eyes.
Whisper noted. "That's...creepy."
"She was here." Chara realized.
Almost on queue, she heard a distant hum. Letting out a sound of surprise, she glanced between the two doors. Hurrying over to one, she opened it. It seemed to be a cupboard closet. Huffing, she opened the other. It was a closet, closet. With a bunch of old coats, and clothes. The humming got louder.
She pushed herself inside, and closed the door. Quickly burying herself beneath the clothes that were scattered around. She waited there, remaining quiet. The sound of the door to this place, opening, echoing. The humming present within the safehouse.
"Oh human~" The non-human sang. "Are you in here?"
The closet was a cramped space, with little to see. But it was the safer place to remain for the time being. To avoid detection.
"Come out~" The non-human sang, her steps audible. "I just want to talk to you."
The situation was looking unfortunately grim, as the non-human grew nearer to the closet. Listening, looking for something...testing to see if she could sense a presence. Clever, as always, Frisk.
The closet door began to open. Unfortunately for her, the perspective shifted. Moving to another soul, somewhere else in the ruins.