Chapter 6

"Are you sure we should be leaving before Sans comes back?"

Chara silently watched as Frisk and Papyrus rode the ferryman's boat down the river. It didn't take much discussion before it was decided that the best way, and possibly the only way, to get to Dr. Alphys was through Undyne. Frisk was understandably hesitant, but in the end, she was the one to talk Papyrus into seeing the monster and not vice versa. Chara didn't need Frisk to tell him that Undyne's showing mercy towards Frisk resided heavily on Frisk's mind. Meeting with Undyne was a gamble, but Chara knew Frisk's thought process was if Papyrus could spare her and see her again without showing any ill-will, then there was a chance Undyne would be the same.

Not that Chara was hopeful, but he knew he was beyond talking some sense into his companion.

"Sans will be fine," Papyrus said in response to Frisk's question. "After all, I'm with you. It's far better than you doing this on your own."

Frisk didn't say anything. However, Chara knew she had some thoughts. Frisk voiced them when she asked, "What are we going to say to Undyne when we see her?"

"I don't know," Papyrus answered, "but we will figure it out as we go."

"Shouldn't we have some sort of plan?"

"Nonsense. This is Undyne! I'm sure you two might actually become friends if you both try!"

"I'm not so sure about that," Frisk muttered. Papyrus either didn't hear her or chose to not respond. Either way, how Frisk kept shifting from foot to foot and wringing her hands plenty indicated how comfortable she was with this task.

As they rode down the river, Chara allowed himself to get lost in his own thoughts. If seven human faces were sacrificed to create the curse, then it would require seven faces to break it. This was the working theory they were hoping this Dr. Alphys could confirm or disprove.

But what would we do if the seven faces are required? Chara wondered.

Humans have already died in this forest, that much was already confirmed. However, neither Chara nor Frisk knew what became of their faces. Maybe whoever stole the faces left Ebott Forest while wearing them, or maybe they were stored somewhere just as the human items were collected by some of the monsters. If it was the former, then confirming the information would still be just as useful to Frisk as not knowing. If it was the latter, then there remained the question of how many faces had been collected already and where they were kept.

Chara felt sick, or as sick as he could in his ghostly state. There were seven willing sacrifices to set the curse. It would take seven more sacrifices, many of which Chara doubted were willing, to break this same curse. He wondered if he was one of those sacrifices. Against his will, Chara wondered if Frisk would also become one of them.

Just as he no longer wished to know who he was, Chara no longer wanted to know how to end this curse.

Chara came back to reality only long enough to see Frisk staring at him. Despite the mask blocking her demeanor, he could tell what she was thinking. She worried for him but was unable to discuss those worries with him. Chara knew that refusing to share with Frisk what he remembered hurt her, but it was for the best. If Frisk knew who he truly was, that he was the reason she tried to throw her life away by running into this forest, she would hate him and become bitter knowing that they could never go far from each other.

Leaving Frisk in the dark was extremely difficult for Chara, but he knew it was far more bearable than if she hated him.

As a result, Chara would continue to keep quiet. He would not share who he was. Unless the theory of the seven sacrifices was proved correct, he would not voice his concerns. It was better to keep these things for himself. Frisk would benefit from the secrets remaining hidden to her.

Yet if that was the truth, Chara could not understand why he felt as if he was committing a serious crime.