This was written after return soul;! This story actually takes place between return null; and return true;. I wrote this in October of 2016. This takes place in a Soulless Pacifist Route: a Pacifist route completed after a genocide route. As such, this story contains spoilers for both routes. This series has been from Frisk's POV so far, but this story takes place from Chara's POV. I'll include the original author's notes at the end of this fic. I hope you enjoy!
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There was a flash of light, and you opened your eyes to find yourself in a bed of golden flowers.
Golden flowers...from the surface. You'd seen them before; especially at home, and in your father's garden. But never here. But they were very helpful, you supposed, since they'd probably helped to break your fall.
You...did fall, right? Or did you simply wake up here? You couldn't remember, but the way your whole body hurt, you supposed you must have fallen.
Slowly, you pulled yourself up, using your arms as support. As you caught sight of your hands, and your sleeves, you nearly fell back down again. That wasn't your shirt; your hands hands hadn't been so small in a few years now. You hadn't expected to look so different.
This...wasn't your body. It was that kid's.
They must be younger than you had been. You were, what, fourteen, when you died? What were they now? Twelve, eleven? You groaned. That explained some of their attitude; you'd been pretty awful at that age yourself, though nowhere near their level.
All of this definitely threw a wrench in things, though. You hadn't known what'd happen after you took the kid's soul, but taking over their body hadn't been on the list of favorable outcomes. And their body felt so different than yours had...it'd be hard to get used to. Even now, it was difficult just to stand up, though you did manage.
Something on your cheek itched, and you brought your hand up to scratch it. A bandage got in your way. You didn't remember seeing it before, though to be fair, you hadn't paid much attention to them before at all. What happened to this kid's face?
Speaking of, where was the kid, anyway? You looked around, but they were nowhere to be found. That was odd. You'd fallen them around before, so now that you had their soul, shouldn't they be here now? Oh, well. Not that big of a loss. It's not like you wanted them around or missed them or anything, it's just what you expected.
Cursing under your breath, you made your way to the door to the next room. You went slowly at first, not used to the body you'd been stuck in, or even the concept of walking itself anymore, but were able to pick up some speed as you went. By the time you got there, you were starting to almost most normally. But at the door, you stopped.
It took you a second to realize, but you weren't ready to keep going yet. You weren't ready for the next room. Not when it held...your brother and mother.
They wouldn't know it was you, of course. And you didn't plan on telling them, not now. But it would be the first time since you died that they'd be able to see you, regardless, and it felt...weird. After the way things had gone the last time you had seen them, you didn't think you could face them yet. Not without more mental preparation, at least.
(Of course, 'last time' referred to the last time you'd seen them alive, not when you'd seen them in the previous run. They wouldn't remember that, not even Azzy. But they'd watched as you drove yourself into an early grave, and offered endless love and more things than you deserved anyway. The whole thing made you feel uneasy, at least.)
You looked down at your hands, saw the red staring back up at you, with fingernails noticeably shorter than before. Oh. You hadn't even realized what you'd been doing. Even with a different body, old nervous habits persisted, it seemed.
It was your determination that got you moving again. You hadn't taken the kid's soul without reason. You had a purpose.
Fittingly enough, you had the same goal as you'd had all along. You aimed to break the barrier. The kid wasn't going to do it any time soon, so it was about time you stepped up to the plate. But that wasn't the end of it. If that were so, you could just give your soul to Asgore and be done with it. This was bigger than that. No matter what happened, breaking the barrier would result in a war against humans and monsters. It looked inevitable at this point. And even if Asgore absorbed enough human souls to become a god, it seemed unlikely the monsters could win. Humans, with their physical bodies, were much more powerful. Monsters would need all the help they could get, and you were more than willing to give it.
In this world, it was kill or be killed. When you had first been awoken by the kid's determination, after your own death, you were confused. Your plan had failed, hadn't it? The barrier was intact, Azzy was gone, and there was nothing left for you here, not in this world. So why had you been brought back? Why were you here? What was the point? It was with the kid's guidance that you realized the purpose of your incarnation. Humankind had not changed. They were all the same, and this kid was no different. This world was a world without mercy. Even if your plan had succeeded so long ago, and you'd been able to break the barrier, monsters would be wiped out regardless. But there was still hope. You were in a position to change the outcome. You had judged long ago that monsters deserved justice, and humans deserved nothing short of death. Regardless of what happened to you, you could deliver it. Give monsters freedom, and humans exactly what they deserved. All it took was the soul and determination of a kid who no longer deserved it. Who needed shared love powerful enough to destroy the entire world? You had enough determination for everything else you wanted to accomplish.
It was time to move on to what came next.
So you walked into the next room. You met your brother face to face, though despite his determination, he couldn't remember the world's destruction, and had no idea it was you standing before him. You dodged his attacks, he called you out, and before you knew it he'd been chased off. Your mother stood before you. She mistook your hesitation for shyness, offered gentleness and kindness. She took you Home.
By this point, the kid had rejoined you, following you has you had to them for so long. They offered inane sugestions; usually either suggesting you flirt or fight any monsters you came across. Your mercy annoyed them. But they had little choice, so they kept along, rarely differing their tone.
You walked into the room she offered, the room that had once been Asriel's. You looked into his closet. Some of Azzy's old clothes were still in there, as well as some other clothes you didn't recognize. But you also found an old shirt of yours. Brown, with a darker stripe. The shirt you had worn when you had first fallen down here.
You changed your shirt, put on your old one. It fit you well, despite being in a different body. But you weren't that kid. You didn't want to keep wearing their shirt.
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Ah, finally, something in Chara's pov, rather than Frisk. I really like both. Still want to explore with them more.
Next thing that happens in this timeline will probably be up on the surface.
