Chapter 14: Preparation
Chara entered Toriel's house and began gathering supplies for her next move. "Chara." Started Frisk. "What are you going to do next?"
"Frisk, stop taking control just to ask me questions." Replied Chara as she took back control.
"How else should I do it?" Asked Frisk.
Chara stood up and with a deep growl, punched herself in the chest. Frisk felt herself staggering backwards, but then stopped feeling anything at all. Frisk looked down and saw she was hovering just above the ground, and Chara was now separate from her. "There, now I have your body to myself, and you can still talk to me, but don't waste your time trying to talk to anyone else. In that state you're basically a ghost." Said Chara as she finished putting on shoes and yawned. "To answer your last question, we're going to get my locket, my true knife, my body, and then of course Asriel."
Sans sat eating a hamburger and fries while all his friends sat nearby telling Grillby what had happened. "AND THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT." Concluded Papyrus.
"Well, that's quite the story, but I have a question. Isn't it impossible for a person to be hurt by Papyrus's blue bone attack if they aren't moving?" Asked Grillby.
"I can answer that." Said Sans. "There are three types of bone attacks, white bones are made from the energy that makes up our bodies, blue bones are made from the energy that makes our souls, and pink bones are made from a combination of the two. Monsters don't express soul traits the way that humans do, but our souls still output the same traits. Papyrus's blue bone attack is made with the trait of patience, which is a trait that can't be used to hurt without cause. When a person is moving the attack lands because it was in self-defense, when a person isn't moving Papyrus has no reason to hurt them, so the attack does nothing, but because Papyrus used his attack to stop Chara from hurting me and Undyne, he did have a reason to hurt her, so the attack landed."
"PINK BONE? SANS, HOW MUCH KETCHUP HAVE YOU HAD?" Asked Papyrus.
"Not that much. I didn't tell you about the pink bone attack because it takes a lot of power to use, and I didn't want you to try it. But now, since it is the only thing I've ever seen scare Chara, you probably should learn to use it." Replied Sans.
"Scare Chara? Sans, what else do you know?" Asked Toriel.
"Maybe I should start from the beginning" Started Sans.
"Hey Chara. I've heard you mentioning being a 'soul eater' before… but what exactly is that?" Asked Frisk.
"A soul eater is a human who consumes the souls of others and converts them into physical power." Explained Chara as she put a chocolate bar into her inventory. "However, this comes with a few consequences. First, your own soul will be weakened, but luckily the execution points and LOVE I earn from killing restores my soul's power. Next, your left eye will turn black and red, then start to bleed. The last time you reset, I lost all the souls I had eaten, but my eye stayed the same."
"But wait, if you lost the souls you collect, then won't you lose Asriel's soul when you bring my friends back?" Asked Frisk.
"No, that only happens to souls I consume. If I store Asriel's soul in an object, then it will stay in that object, and you can simply collect it later." Replied Chara as she let out another yawn. "Now, that's enough talk, let's get to the underground."
"Chara, you're exhausted. I think you should get some rest." Said Frisk.
"I'll be fine." Replied Chara.
"So, when Frisk tried to spare me, I used the pink bone attack to try and scare her into doing a true reset. The way it works is, once the single pink bone enters a person's body, the end that's inside them will explode outward as several white bones. It didn't make her reset, but it did hurt her bad enough to make her scared of it. From that point on, if I managed to get enough time to make a pink bone, she would load her last save point before I could use it on her. Eventually she wore me down though, and I lost." When Sans concluded his version of the genocide run, all the others stared at him in shock. "Yeah, it really was that bad."
"Well does this thing have any weaknesses?" Asked Undyne in frustration.
"W-well, based on the hints that Frisk gave Sans during their conversation the other day… It sounds like Chara is a soul eater. If that really is the case, then theoretically, religious items would cause her harm." Said Alphys. "B-but I'm n-no expert on that subject, and there's no way to test it."
"If she's reliant on the souls of others for power, we just need some way to keep her from getting those souls." Said Asgore. "Wait, didn't that weird flower thing that attacked us in the underground have the power to steal souls?"
"HEY, I KNOW THAT FLOWER! I SAW HIM RECENTLY! APPARENTLY, HE LIKES TO MOVE FROM FLOWER GARDEN TO FLOWER GARDEN HERE ON THE SURFACE!" Cheered Papyrus. "COME TO THINK OF IT, HE ONCE MENTIONED HAVING A FRIEND NAMED CHARA. IT WAS JUST SO LONG AGO I FORGOT. MAYBE HE CAN CALM CHARA DOWN!"
"Betting our lives on that flower sounds a little risky." Said Mettaton.
"Yeah, I have to agree there. Why don't we just crush the twerp so bad, she has to give us Frisk back." Suggested Undyne.
"Hmm… Pap is right, we have to find the flower. Let's split into two groups to cover more ground. Papyrus, Tori, Alphys, and Asgore should go check the flower garden in the center of town. Me, Undyne, and Mettaton will go to the flower garden at the base of Mt. Ebott." Said Sans.
"Now hold on a minute Sans." Said Grillby. "It's 11:00 at night, and I know the food helped ya, but you're still tired. You'll pass out before you make it half-way to Mt. Ebott. I suggest y'all stay the night and set out in the morning."
"Chara's not going to rest." Replied Sans.
"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Said Toriel.
"What do you mean?" Asked Sans.
"Well, when Chara was young, I noticed she took a lot of naps throughout the day. When she had energy, she had a lot of it, but it wore off quickly, and then she would be out like a light." Said Toriel. "Since Chara was apparently up all-night last night, and was fighting with Frisk all day, she will need to rest."
"Asriel… Your soul is mine!" Yelled Chara as she cut open Hyper-death Asriel's chest, revealing his odd, multi-colored soul. "Hehehe, finally, we're inseparable." Chuckled Chara darkly as she held Asriel's soul in her hands.
"I knew it." Sighed Frisk as she hovered near Chara, who laid sleeping on the couch. "This is just like back in the underground. After every major battle, Chara would make us go into the pause menu so she could rest before moving on."
"OH, SO CHARA'S WEAKNESS IS THE SAME AS SANS'S." Said Papyrus.
"I'm not so sure about that. I saw all her fights in the underground, and she didn't seem to be getting tired at all." Said Sans before he lightly yawned.
"Well, we already established she can mess with time. Maybe she just paused so no one would wake her up or attack her in her sleep." Suggested Undyne.
"Maybe, but then why wouldn't she do that now?" Asked Sans sleepily.
"I-it is possible that she's too exhausted to use her power right now." Suggested Alphys.
"Maybe, but…" The exhaustion from earlier as well as from the argument finally caught up to Sans, and he fell asleep before he could finish speaking.
"Well, that settles that." Said Grillby.
"Seriously? How can one person sleep so much?" Asked Undyne.
The next morning.
Chara yawned as she set up and found herself on Toriel's couch. "Ugh, I fell asleep again." Said Chara to herself.
"Yeah, I noticed." Said Frisk. "Don't worry, I kept watch, and nothing has happened so far."
"…We're wasting time here. Let's get going." Said Chara trying to ignore Frisk's comment.
"You know, it wouldn't hurt for you to thank your friends once in a while." Said Frisk, but Chara continued to ignore her and took off towards the door with Frisk following closely behind, both girls unaware of a third person observing them.
"Frisk and Chara, friends? Maybe things will turn out ok after all." Mused the third person, now revealed to be the young Asriel Dreemurr, as he watched Frisk and Chara leaving.
It was now morning and the two groups' Sans had created the night before were on their ways to their assigned flower gardens. "Sans, remind me again why we're going to waist our time in a flower garden instead of fighting Chara." Said Undyne sarcastically.
"We're not going to the flower garden." Replied Sans seriously.
"What? But you told the others-" Mettaton was cut off when Sans spoke again.
"I know. I just said that to keep them out of harm's way." Explained Sans. "We're going to the underground. If Chara went there last and was scared off by Papyrus, she's definitely going back there now, and if we're not too late, we can catch her. I may not have been able to break Chara's will last time, but if the three of us work together, we may have a chance."
"But why didn't we bring the others then? Surely if we all fought as a group, we would have a better chance at winning." Said Mettaton.
"No… the others wouldn't be much help. There's no way Toriel could bring herself to fight Chara as long as she's in Frisk's body. Asgore wouldn't fight Chara, she would remind him of Asriel too much, and he's still injured from last time. Then Papyrus…" Sans drifted off when being forced to remember what had happened last time Papyrus faced Chara.
"Ya just don't want to see him die, right?" Guessed Undyne.
"Yeah." Replied Sans.
Papyrus appeared near Sans's location with a short cut and quickly realized the top of his skull was on fire and he had to put it out. OH, I'M NO GOOD AT SANS'S SHORT CUTS. I NEED A LOT MORE PRACTICE. Thought Papyrus as he spotted Sans and his group nearby.
"Listen Sans, I know why you're worried about Papyrus. It's not that he's weak, he's actually pretty tough, but he doesn't' have the heart to kill. That doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to help us. He knows healing magic. And if anyone could get through to Frisk it would be him!" Cheered Undyne.
"I'm not letting Papyrus risk his life to save Frisk again. If it didn't work the last time he tried it, it won't work now." Replied Sans.
"Sans…" Announced Papyrus quietly.
Sans turned and saw his brother not far away. "Pap! What are you doing here?!" Called Sans in surprise.
"I TOLD TORIEL I DIDN'T WANT TO BE AWAY FROM MY BROTHER IN SUCH TRYING TIMES." Began Papyrus, picking up his usual demeanor. "BUT I WAS LYING… SANS, I ALREADY KNEW WHAT YOU WERE PLANNING. WHY WOULD YOU TRY AND HIDE THIS FROM ME?" Asked Papyrus.
"Pap I… I just can't watch you die again." Responded Sans.
"HA, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS? I THINK NOT! SANS, I MAY BE CHEERFUL AND KIND, BUT I KNOW HOW BAD THINGS ARE. YOU THREE NEED MY HELP, AND TO PROVE IT…" Papyrus dropped a large bag in front of the group. "I BROUGHT ALL OF UNDYNE'S ROYAL GUARD ARMOR TO HELP HER FIGHT! MINUS THE HELMET OF COURSE, BECAUSE SHE SAYS IT HURTS HER AIM."
"Alright! Nice work Papyrus!" Cheered Undyne as she put her armor on.
Sans sighed and said "Ya know Papyrus, it's really hard to argue with you. Let's get going." As the group moved forward, they soon found themselves face to face with a figure in a green and yellow sweater. Undyne took a step back while Sans asked, "Who the heck are you?"
"Howdy, I'm Asriel Dreemurr." Said the young goat as he stepped forward towards the group and Undyne stared in shock and disbelief.
"Wait, Tori's son? Kid, if you're alive, we need to go tell your mother." Said Sans.
"Well, alive is a bit of a stretch." Said Asriel as he pointed down and the group noticed his feet were nearly see through and hovering just above the ground.
"WOWIE! TORIEL'S SON IS A GHOST!" Cheered Papyrus.
"That's not it either, I'm a fragment of Asriel's soul, left to keep watch over Chara's grave, since Sans and Undyne dug it up the other day." Explained Asriel as he began to fade a little.
"Oh, so you're a horcrux. But why are you disappearing?" Asked Mettaton.
"Sorry about that, I'm not supposed to be away from Chara's grave this long." Explained Asriel as he faded a little more. "Listen, the reason I'm here is to help you stop Chara. She's not the person she used to be, and she needs to be stopped."
"Well, how do you plan to help us? Can you stop her from resetting or something?" Asked Sans.
"No, but I can help you fight her more efficiently. The judgement hall in my father's palace, it has its own unique properties, as long as the four of you are in it, I can help you remember everything that happens in there. Even if Chara resets a hundred times, you'll remember the first fight perfectly." Explained Asriel as he faded severely. "I've got to get back to Chara's grave now. Good luck." Said Asriel as he disappeared.
"Huh, so I guess Asriel is doing ok after all." Said Undyne to herself.
"Come on, if we're going to get to the judgement hall before Chara, we're going to have to use a short cut." Said Sans.
The Judgement Hall
Sans and Papyrus used their short cuts to take Undyne and Mettaton to the judgement hall. "Remember, scaring her into not wanting to fight us is our best chance, so intimidation will be important. And I think I have an idea." Said Sans.
While Toriel, Asgore, and Alphys searched the flower garden in the center of town for Flowey, they quickly realized he wasn't anywhere nearby. "We'll never find that flower at this rate." Said Asgore.
"Toriel, are you sure that Chara doesn't have any other weaknesses we can use?" Asked Alphys.
"I don't think so. If that demon really is Chara, then she's very different than when she was alive. Back then she would fight when she had to, but she loved monsters, especially Asriel, and she loved golden flowers. When she died, she sacrificed eternal rest by giving her soul to Asriel so he could leave the underground. And because she loved golden flowers so much, she asked him to take her body to the surface and bury her in the large patch that grew in her town, but we all remember what happened next. The only thing that worked out was that seeds from the golden flowers stuck to Chara's sweater, so when she was buried in the underground, a new flower patch grew." Reminisced Toriel.
"Wait… Asriel, golden flowers, Chara's body *gasp* That's where Chara was headed yesterday! To get her body!" Realized Alphys. "Wait, there was something else there, let me try again. Fight, sacrifice, golden flowers *gasp* SANS IS GOING TO FIGHT CHARA!"
"How did you get to that conclusion?" Asked Asgore.
"Think about it, Sans didn't trust that flower but sent the most pacifistic people in our group to find it. Papyrus was acting weird and said that Sans would need his help. And then there's the fact that he took all our strongest fighters towards Mt. Ebott. He clearly wanted to try and fight Chara again, sent us away so we wouldn't try and stop him, and Papyrus went to help them in the fight." Explained Alphys.
"Oh goodness, we have to help them." Realized Toriel, then she and the rest took off towards the mountain.