Chapter 2

Frisk was breathless at the beauty before her. A steady stream calmly flowed past, and large, glowing blue flowers unlike anything Frisk had ever seen before grew all over the marsh. Little crystal grew on the trees, giving light to the otherwise dark world below. The babbling water gave music to this serene sight. Frisk leaned forward to smell one of the flowers to find that it had a faint but clean scent.

"These are echo flowers," Chara said. "They repeat everything they hear. Here, try saying something into the flower."

Not knowing what else to say, Frisk told the flower, "Hello."

"Hello," repeated the flower.

"Hello," repeated nearby flowers.

"Hello," repeated flowers near those flowers, and then the flowers near them repeated the word, on and on from where Frisk stood all the way past where her eyes could see and her ears could hear.

"Pretty cool, is it not?" Chara said, gently nudging Frisk on the shoulder. "These were always my favorite part of Waterfall Marsh. Asriel and I used to play with these for hours. We would be on opposite sides of the lake and use the flowers to pass messages back and forth to each other. It was the most fun I think I ever had."

Surprised at what Chara had said, Frisk asked, "Chara, do you remember being alive? This is the first time you mentioned Asriel as if you knew him."

Chara was silent for a moment before answering, "It is strange. I remembered something from my life just now, but I cannot remember anything else."

Speaking softly, Frisk said, "But now we know for sure that you are the same Chara that was Ms. Toriel's son. The one Asriel may or may not have killed and stole his face."

The words hung in the air, turning a beautiful atmosphere to one that was stale and heavy. Frisk and Chara stared at each other. It was as if the air was too thick for Frisk to breathe.

"What if Asriel did kill me?" Chara questioned, his voice rising with each word. "I can't believe that he would have, but what if the animalistic nature was too strong for him to fight? What if he was so ridden with guilt at what he had done, that when Asriel disappeared he—"

Chara cut himself off. By the time he abruptly quit speaking, he was practically shouting. His silence now, however, felt far louder in comparison.

"Asriel would have never hurt me," Chara whispered after a long moment. "I do not know what happened to us, but I cannot believe that Asriel would have killed me. There was another reason for my death, but what?"

"Chara," Frisk, who had been silent up until now, tried, "it's okay. We'll figure out what happened. I promised you that I would help you remember who you are."

Pulling the ribbon from her hair and the bandana from her pack, Frisk held each in one hand and extended them out to Chara as if giving him an offering. Determination filling her voice, Frisk said, "When Toriel gave us the ribbon, you remembered your name. When I took the bandana from Papyrus, you gained the ability to touch me, and now you're starting to remember more about your life. I believe if we keep collecting the items that once belonged to the humans who were lost here, you will remember who you are more and more. We will discover the truth of your past, Chara. I promised then, and I promise now."

Chara was silent for a moment before whispering, "What if I don't like the truth?"

"I'm here with you," Frisk gently reminded him. "You're not doing this alone, and you will never be alone. I'm here, Chara. I'm right here."

After a minute passed with nobody saying anything, Frisk tied the ribbon back in her hair and put the bandana away. She and Chara then wordlessly continued their journey. They traveled only so far before a large stone structure appeared in the distance.

Approaching it, Frisk leaned forward and read the inscription.

Why did they attack? Indeed, it seemed that they had nothing to fear. We were just as they, only with magical abilities. "Monsters," we were called. Yet those without magic possessed something much stronger: "Determination."

"Huh?" Frisk looked up at the monument. It was a simple structure that resembled a tower. It appeared as if it pieces had long since begun to break away.

"I wonder . . . ," Chara began, but he never voiced what it was he wondered.

After a while, he and Frisk resumed their travels. With all the rivers Frisk had to cross, she could see why this part of the forest was called Waterfall. At least there were plenty of bridges to make crossing the water an easy task.

As they traveled, Frisk listened to the passing conversations the echo flowers repeated. Stories about wishing on the stars and dreams to leave the forest. For the first time, Frisk began to wonder if those living in the forest felt just as trapped here as she did. Frisk regretted walking into the forest and was ready to leave it after spending the night on a bed of golden flowers. She tried to imagine being born into this forest knowing that leaving was never an option, having to live behind a mask so none could see you as you truly were.

"Hey," Chara then said, dragging Frisk out of her thoughts, "there is someone ahead."

Frisk abruptly stopped walking, but the other figure already noticed her. Trying to avoid arousing suspicion, Frisk stood in place as the monster walked towards her. She prayed that whoever this was would not know what she was.

Then the other person chuckled, and Frisk didn't know whether to feel relieved or scared. It was as if she was seeing a ghost. Unable to move, Frisk watched the man she wasn't sure she would ever see again come closer to her.

"Well, I'll be darned," he said once he was close enough. He stopped a few feet away from Frisk and stuck his hands in his coat pockets. "Fancy seeing you here."

Unsure of what to do or what to say, Frisk stared at him for a moment. She heard Chara speak, but she didn't listen to what he had said. When the blood stopped rushing in her ears, Frisk took a deep breath and greeted the man.

"Hello again, Sans."