Alpha Timeline
New Home
The Underground
Fall 2019
Chara sat to themselves, staring down at the needle and thread on their lap as they contemplated whether to continue the sweater at all. It wasn't as if it got cold in New Home, or that they ever experienced weather. What would an eight-foot goat do with a sweater anyway? But, Chara wanted to do something for Asgore after how they bit him the first day they arrived. The least they could do was give him was a sweater. Chara sighed and decided to continue anyway. They had just begun to work on the deltarune design when Toriel popped into the doorway.
"Oh, Chara, are you here alone? I could have sworn you were with Asriel."
"Nope." Chara said, not moving from their art project. "Asriel said they were going to play with some friends or something. Kids from the quarter. I told him to have fun."
Toriel dried her paws with a towel as she frowned at Chara. "Come now, wouldn't you like to have fun too? Those kids could be your friends if you just gave them a chance."
Chara scoffed. "I doubt it. A lot of the monsters seem…distrustful of me."
"But there are a lot who aren't! And they are worth getting to know. Don't you think so?"
Chara pouted as they stopped crocheting and turned to face the wall. "Maybe."
"That is better!" Toriel laughed. "Now, maybe you can start today by going to retrieve Asriel? Dinner is almost ready and he'll need to be home for it. You can do that for your little old Tori, can't you?"
"Fine! You win! But I get to have chocolate tonight after dinner!"
"Sounds like a fair trade, darling." Toriel giggled as she made her way back to the kitchen. Chara sighed as they threw on socks and began moving towards the front door.
New Home was depressingly gray. Using the resources available to them at the time meant building with the stone they could manipulate, and aside from the flickering flames of the houses below, much of the city lay within a large, somehow-lit, monotone cavern. Chara never grew tired of staring out at the municipal abyss from the cliff leading to Toriel's home, and often found themselves sitting on the ledge when life inside was too hectic. Being in the underground, after all, was a large adjustment that definitely took its time.
Not wanting to disappoint Toriel however, Chara wasted no time approaching the elevator and punching in the keys for the highest level of the city. They crossed their arms and closed their eyes as they tried to purge their mind of any unnecessary anxiety. It wasn't as if leaving the house or riding the elevator scared them; they just had not yet gotten used to what would happen next.
DING! "As the elevator doors opened, Chara could feel the piercing stares of the other monsters cutting a hole right through them. They moved through the crowd of monsters towards the fountain where Asriel sat. Expecting him to be surrounded by friends, it looks like the prince had found himself in a rougher situation instead.
Surrounded by a group of monsters, it looked like Asriel was being given a little bit of a hard time. Chara had missed how this confrontation started, but as they got closer, they began to make out more of their argument.
"My dad says that you can't trust a human! They're dangerous" said one bear-shaped monster!
"Y-yeah!" Said one that reminded Chara of a sea otter. "Real monsters don't hang out with humans, they're the ones who put us here!"
One particularly obnoxious Ice Cap said "I bet the human that lives with you is super mean too, right? Why don't you just take its SOUL already? Then we'd be free!"
Asriel looked like they had cried a fair amount already. They sat on the lip of the fountain, sniffling at the other monster's insults. But his face lit up as they noticed Chara cut through the crowd.
"Ahem!" Chara said, clearing their throat. The three monsters who had surrounded Asriel backed up upon seeing the human in person. Their shocked expressions brought Chara a modicum of joy. They tried their best to seem like they didn't care about the bullies and said "Asriel, get up. Mom says it's time for dinner."
"Oh! It's you, Chara!" The young prince leapt to his feet to hug his adoptive sibling. "It's so good to see you! Of course we can go home, I was just about done here anyway."
"I-Idiot! Not here." Chara's blush deepened as they pushed Asriel off them. They were trying to keep any more attention from being drawn to them, but it seemed like Chara's actions had the opposite effect: A Tsunderplane in the crowd got scared just as Asriel stumbled backwards.
"Eeek! That human pushed the prince! No! Don't hurt him!" Tsunderplane spawned a volley of plane-shaped magic bullets as it screamed. Startled and dumbfounded, Chara reacted with just enough time to dodge most of them, sidestepping to the left and right to ensure they missed them, but as the final plane approached, they bumped into the fountain, tripping over the side as the last plane came straight for them.
Luckily, they could count on Asriel for the rescue.
With one arm, Asriel grabbed Chara's collar just before they hit the water, and with the other, they harmlessly blocked Tsunderplane's last shot, taking a minuscule amount of damage compared to the harm direct magic would have caused Chara. Asriel triumphantly grinned as they posed to the cheers of the crowd.
"H-Hey, Asriel! Lift me up! I'm a little too close to home here!"
"Oops! Umm…hold on!" Asriel grunted and lost their footing as they yanked on Chara's shirt, causing the pair to fall together into the fountain. Asriel broke out into a joyous laughter while Chara tried to hide the embarrassment on their scarlet red face.
The three bullies, who had watched the spectacle unfold from the sidelines, took an opportunity to join in on the fun too.
"HAHAHA, THE HUMAN'S WET!"
"Watch out, I bet wet human feels disgusting!"
"ooooooh, Asriel and the Human, sitting in a tree~!"
Chara growled and leaned up to bark at the monsters. "Argh! Scram before I pull you all into the fountain too!"
"Yipe!" The three monsters ran away without another word. Their quick escape from the square caused Asriel to laugh even harder, even though the blush wouldn't leave their face at having their crush called out by another monster.
Chara, however, pretended to be less than pleased. "Honestly Asriel, you're such a dork! How dare you try and embarrass me like this…"
"Awww, you didn't like it? I thought it was fun! And you do have to admit, I was a little cool just now. I was even able to hold you up for a bit! I'm definitely getting stronger!"
"Stronger!? Don't make me laugh, I barely weigh anything at all! Lifting me hardly counts as strength." Chara got up from the fountain bed and began to wring the water out of their clothes.
"I don't know Chara, if you keep eating sweets all the time, who knows? Maybe you've already gotten bigger~ - Ouch! Why'd you hit me!?
"Honestly! The nerve…" Chara jumped out of the fountain and tried their best to fix their hair. They began to stomp back towards the elevator plaza. "I would expect a royal prince to have a little more tact."
Asriel got up and ran to catch up with Chara. He playfully said "Yeah well, I would expect a royal pr-…umm….a royal to be a little more classy! How are you ever going to find a partner like that!"
Chara stopped in their tracks. "…You're mistaken. I'm not trying to find anyone else." They spun around to confront Asriel and cupped both of their bright red cheeks between their hands. "The only person I need in the underground is you, Asriel. If we stick together, I know we can do anything." The blush returned to Chara's cheeks before they continued too. "Plus, you did save me just now too, so…yeah."
"Aww Chara!" they tried to say through their squished mouth. Asriel was very tempted to indulge in their praise but decided to comfort them instead. "Don't talk like that! They're afraid of your now but they'll get used to you! There's plenty of cool monsters in the underground. I'll sure you'll meet someone!"
Chara let go of Asriel's mouth. Their expression turned dour as they recalled the incident in the square. "Like your friends?"
"That's…! Well, I…There's…um..."
Chara sighed. "See? We have to be here for each other. Each other is all we have. And if we stick together, I'm sure things will turn out okay. You trust me, right Asriel?"
"Y-yeah Chara! I trust you! If we're together, there's nothing in the world we can't handle!"
Chara smiled. "That's the spirit."
Beta Timeline
The Ruins
The Underground
Thursday, May 2, 2120, 8:38 AM
It was quiet as Frisk approached the spot where they once had fallen down so many years ago. With a bouquet of creamcups in hand, they walked slowly through the caverns that connected the Ruins to the chamber where every human had once entered the underground. Frisk's heart ached with every step as the nostalgia of their past adventures, both good and bad, washed over them as they examined every stone, every switch and every puzzle on their way back to the very beginning. Inside them, they could feel Chara pulling away more and more with every step, and the closer they both got to their grave, the harder Chara made it to continue moving forward.
"Chara…you're heavy."
"What!? Wha-Sorry Frisk. I'm still getting used to this body control thing." Frisk could feel the weight on their shoulders evaporate as Chara consciously tried to ease the tension they felt.
Chara spoke up to break the tension. "Coming here is hard, right? It's hard for you too?"
"Yeah…every year, I always think that this will get easier, coming back through the underground again like old times. But honestly, it just gets harder and harder every time. I just…" Frisk paused as they reached the cave where it all began. Just as it had five years ago, a single beam of light illuminated the patch of creamcups in the center of the cavern. Frisk swallowed before continuing. "…I just wish Asriel could be here with us."
Frisk hustled up to the patch and started scanning the creamcups for Flowey. They were meticulous, but it was clear from the beginning that if Flowey was here, they would have noticed from the moment that they walked into the cave.
"Frisk, we can always come back. Ascension Day isn't for a couple more days. We always tend to come up for it together anyway, right? It's okay if Flo-Um, I mean Asriel isn't here."
Not responding immediately, Frisk laid their bouquet down on the patch of creamcups and stared solemnly at the mound. They remained silent for several moments before kneeling in the patch and placing their hand among the soil.
"Flowey? I don't know if you can hear us, or if you're even there. But, I can't leave without saying something, without trying. I know I've done this every year, and I know that every year, nothing has changed. But…!" Tears began to well in their eyes. "I'm not abandoning you Asriel! I'm going to get you back and bring you home, no matter what!"
Frisk rubbed their eyes free of tears as they continued. "Asriel, you were the one who taught me that every person in this world was deserving of love and a chance to be shown that love. When I was fighting you, I realized that the only way that we're ever going to move forward is if we remember the hopes and dreams that others give us. I've never forgotten the sacrifice you made for us, and every day I've worked to try to build a future where we could all live together. A future where we can place our hopes and dreams in each other. It's been tough, you know? Not killing or being killed. I've…I've done some things I'm not proud of since then, but I'm not giving up! I can't… not as long as you're here."
"Asriel, I can't imagine the pain you must feel. It's been five years. Five years of sunrises and sunsets, of snow and storms, and all the life in between. And to have spent it all here, in the underground, I can only imagine how lonely it is to feel like the world has forgotten you here. But I haven't forgotten you Asriel! I never will! And I'm not going to rest until I've found a way to bring you back again! I…I swear it…"
Frisk tried to finish speaking, but couldn't say another word before they began to cry. Chara, who wanted to be as far away from here as possible, decided to let Frisk cry out their feelings before approaching them. Minutes passed with just the sounds of Frisk's sobbing and the birds above.
"Frisk, come on, we should go. Maybe we'll see Asriel on the way back. But we can't afford to stay here too long, you know that."
"Chara, did we fail Asriel!? What if he's mad at us because we left him behind? What if he doesn't want to be found? I knew that we shouldn't have left him here, I'm-"
"Frisk! It's okay… really. I promise when the time is right, we'll meet Asriel again. But please, we need to go."
Frisk looked mopey-eyed at the patch of creamcups before starting to bawl again. Chara sighed and looked on as their partner became lost in their sorrow. They considered taking control of Frisk's body, but even then, they knew they would never hear the end of of it, would they?
Chara sighed. "Frisk, come on. We need to go."
Frisk didn't stop crying.
"Asriel will come back, I'm sure of it. But being here won't solve anything."
Frisk didn't stop crying.
"Frisk we literally have so much to do today, we need to get the train back to Grand Ebott! Or we'll never get through everything we have planned."
Frisk's sobbing slowed down, but they were still distraught enough that tears continued to roll down their cheek. Chara could feel how little Frisk wanted to leave, no matter what they had to do today.
"Chara…why do you want to want to leave so bad? I…I don't understand. We can't... we can't…"
No matter what it felt like Chara couldn't console Frisk. Exasperated, the spirit took control of Frisk's body. "Okay, fine! We can stay. Ugh, you feel so heavy. We'll stay, we'll stay! – Just give me a minute." Chara stood up and took a long look at their grave with a neutral, deliberating expression. They let the wind blow through the hole for several seconds before they opened their mouth to sing.
Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh, Danny boy, oh, Danny boy, I love you so.
Frisk was held in a state of quiet awe. They've never heard Chara sing before, and certainly didn't imagine it to be so lovely. Sniffling, they stayed quiet and let Chara continue.
And if you come, and all the flowers are dying
If I am dead, as dead I well may be
I pray you'll find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warm and sweeter be
And then you'll kneel and whisper that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.
Frisk softly said "Chara…" as they noticed tears welling in Chara's own eyes. Chara rubbed the water away and tried to maintain their composure as they continued to sing.
"Oh, danny boy, the stream flows cool and slowly
And pipes still call and echo cross the glen
Your broken mother sighs and feels so lonely
For you have not returned to smile again
So if you've died and crossed the stream before us
We pray that angels met you on the shore
And you'll look down and gently you'll implore us
To live so we may see your smiling face once more."
Looking solemn but remaining silent, Chara stood up and dusted themselves clean of dirt and seeds. They took one last look at their grave before turning around and letting Frisk retake control.
"Let's go, Frisk."
"…Yeah, okay." Frisk said, beginning the long walk back to the river person. "When did you learn to sing like that?"
Not wanting Frisk to be sad and silent the entire time, Chara decided to practice a bit of vulnerability. "When I was a child, my grandmother used to always sing to me. I would always try to copy her because it made her and Madeline happy. I guess I was good at it."
"Wait, who's Madeline?"
"My sister."
"Wait, what!?" Frisk said out loud, shocked. "Seriously? You've known me all this time and didn't tell me you have a sister!?"
"Well yeah, we didn't talk about it. And you never asked. After all, she's surely long dead. That was over 100 years ago and…and a whole timeline away."
"W-would you mind telling me now?" Frisk said, making their cute face at the air in front of them. It didn't matter that Chara couldn't see it; they could feel it and they knew Chara hated that. There was no way they knew they could resist that voice and that look.
"Fine! But you can't cry anymore or anything, okay? It all begins a little over 100 years ago, in Seattle…"
As Frisk left the chamber, Flowey popped out of the ground on the far end of the room. Frowning, they watched Frisk leave before burrowing past them and into the Deep Waterfall area where Sirius' lab was located. When he arrived, Flowey found the scientist putting the finishing touches on a very large device. It was so large that it took up an entire expansive room nearly the size of the rest of the lab. Sirius was so hard at work that they didn't even turn to welcome Flowey back into the lab.
"Okay, they're leaving." Flowey said, at first facing away from Sirius' person. After she didn't respond, he sighed and turned his full body to face the jet black dog monster. "I don't have any regrets anymore. We have to do this."
"Mmhmm. Okay." Sirius weakly uttered a reply as they welded away at the large contraption. Flowey grew more and more annoyed at Sirius' ambivalence.
"Hey, you cold canine! This is serious business. We're about to mess with a lot of people here! The least you could do is give me, the integral piece of your puzzle, an ounce of your attention!"
That caused Sirius to stop welding. They lifted up their mask and turned around as they jumped to the floor. Their trademark jagged, toothy grin filled their face as they walked past Flowey out of the room. "Don't get it twisted, Asriel. Frisk is the piece of the puzzle that I need. You are a tool for me to use to get them here. Even if you fail, I have other methods. But just remember, I'm doing this for you. You should be grateful."
"Meh. Whatever, I guess. But it's not like this took a lot of effort on your part. Most of this stuff was already here, right?"
"That's right. They're his relics." Sirius tapped away at her console, pulling up the underground's security feeds and writing several lines of code. "My Lord's machinery was not meant to synthesize life here, but thanks to his flexibility, we might just be able to make it work for you."
Flowey grumbled. "Well, I hope so, for all of our sakes. Are we ready?"
"Aurora, Altair, and Vega are all on their way back. And it looks like our ambassador just left the underground as well. So, the question becomes, my dear prince, are you ready for what's about to happen next?
Flowey let hesitation show all over his face before summoning all his courage and saying "Yes."
Sirius turned their head and smiled. "Good. Then get ready. We're starting now."
Beta Timeline
Aboard the Ebott Express
Napa Valley, California
Thursday, May 2, 2120, 10:41 AM
Frisk and Chara were the only ones in the royal car as the train connecting Mt. Ebott to Grand Ebott rocketed through the Napa Valley. The train, just finished and built specifically at the request of Monsterkind, solved a diplomatic issue that connected the exclave of the area around Mt. Ebott to the Monsters' main home on an island in the San Francisco Bay. Out of the ashes of World War III, and the limited nuclear conflict to occur in this timeline, rose a city of nearly 15 million people and monsters, all of them centered on Oakland, the new provincial capital of California. For Frisk and Chara both, whose experiences with the world differ greatly from the ones in this timeline, flying past the collections of towns and cities on the way to Grand Ebott felt like a glimpse into a life that both of them would never get to live. Frisk had turned their chair to face the window as Chara continued to tell them the story of how they fell into the underground.
"…so that's it. When I fell in, I expected to be tortured and killed, or at least taken hostage. The very last thing I expected was to be integrated into a family instead."
"I see." Frisk said. They kept their chin in their hands as they tried to contemplate Chara's unbelievable story. "Did you adjust well? I imagine it must have been hard to be in a family like that, after, well…everything."
Chara sighed. "Honestly…not at first. I was pretty awful to everyone in the beginning, especially Asriel. And no matter how nice Toriel or Asgore was to me, my gut reaction was to always treat them coldly. And yet…"
Frisk stayed silent for awhile, watching other trains and vehicles pass in front of the sprawling, pulsing city behind them. Frisk absolutely envied how people got to spent their entire lives enjoying the luxury of living and breathing with the city, becoming one with its energy and getting to grow and change together with it throughout time. Human cities where places that truly felt amorphous and alive compared to the stagnant feeling of the underground. It was hard to not the envy show on Frisk's face.
"They took you in Chara. You were able to grow with them. You hard another chance."
"Another chance…heh, that isn't the way I would put it. I would say that I got exactly what I deserved at the end."
"Chara!" that bit of self-depreciating humor made Frisk sit upright and say that fallen royal's name out loud, but fortunately for Frisk, the car was empty. Frisk slumped down in their chair and began to admonish Chara.
"What happened wasn't your fault! You were 13, the entire world had literally just nuked itself to pieces. You were scared, and hurt, and lonely, and you just wanted to help your family and do the right thing. You can't hold that against yourself."
Chara scoffed. They thought about directly responding, but decided that they didn't want to hear anything nice Frisk may have had to say about them. They instead turned their attention to the gleaming skyscrapers of Marin City and Oakland, which towered like monoliths over the San Francisco Bay. The train was beginning to slow down as it approached its destination, giving them both more time to ruminate over the world they had discovered.
"Do you ever get used to this, Frisk? I mean I still don't know what the world looked like when you fell in, but I do know we're far from what either of what our worlds used to look like. I can't believe we ended up in the future of another time."
Frisk frowned as they slouched over the window frame and stared absently at the gleaming monuments to human progress on the horizon. Frisk had yet to disclose the secrets of their past in any of their runs, even to Chara, so it always left the spirit waiting intently for whatever answer Frisk would provide. After a moment, Frisk said "No. Cars, skyscrapers, even electricity. We didn't really have any of that in my time, probably as a result of what happened in your's. I didn't even ride a train for the first time until we surfaced five years ago. This world is so foreign to me. Yet, somehow, I was still able to love it." Not turning from the window, they asked Chara the same question. "How about you? Looking at the sea, it's hard to fall in love with this place, right?"
Chara groaned. "Ughhhhh Frisk, don't make me say it. It is pretty. But before five years ago, I had never even seen the ocean. Mother was afraid of water. And after the bombs fell, well…I think everyone's last priority was to go swimming in a toxic lake anyway. I'm so envious, Frisk. It's cloudy here a lot, but on some days like today, the sun shines through and the sky is such a brilliant blue. It wasn't ever like that after the war started."
"Right!" Frisk snapped up and put their fist in their hand as they remembered a question from earlier. "Your sister! What happened to her!? You said Madeline was the descendant of the Sage of Patience from long ago, right? Do you know?"
"No, unfortunately." Frisk could see Chara's reflection in the window look a little down at that response. "When we went back the compound, we didn't have a chance to look for her. And then we died. Anyway, we jumped timelines, after all. Who knows if I even fell in this world?"
"I've been thinking about that too." Frisk said. "We did jump timelines, but everyone here still seems to talk about you and Asriel like that incident happened. Even Asgore will mention you by name sometimes. If that's the case, then a Chara must have existed here too, right?"
Chara shrugged. "Who knows? Honestly, the answer isn't important. You're the one who went through the underground for the final time. When you awoke on the flower patch for the final time, it was me that was with you. That's all that matters to me."
Frisk took pause from that answer. Chara had a point. If there were another Chara spirit waiting to get attached to them, wouldn't that have happened upon falling into the underground? There's always a chance that they overwrote themselves in the timeline, like a file saving over itself. But Frisk couldn't help but wonder at the state of the world before their time, and the lives that would have been led before them. Would they have died differently? Would Asriel have been treated better? History books were enough, but no book would have ever recorded the fates of their predecessors. But ultimately, it felt like it didn't matter; the world was similar enough that they were able to integrate without question, so how different could it be? They wouldn't get a chance to ponder the topic further before they saw the blue and grey spires of New Castle.
Chara sucked their teeth before speaking up. "Here we are. Grand Ebott, our small enclave of peace surrounded by a sea of humans. Disgusting."
Frisk put their hand up to the window as the train began to slow down. "One day, Chara. I promise things will change."
Beta Timeline
University of Cascadia-Ebott (Alphys' Office)
Oakland, California
Thursday, May 2, 2120, 11:24 AM
"OKAY SO WAIT…just to make sure I have this straight. When you fell into the underground, Chara's spirit attached to you and they've been with you ever since? You can hear them and sometimes see them, and ever since getting back from the EU, they can take control of your body!?"
Frisk, red in the face, stared off to the side and bashfully scratched the back of their head. "Y-Yeah, that's just about all, hahaha…"
Frisk could see Alphys trying not to trip over her own disbelief. They tried to give her a reassuring look, but Alphys was far too phased to be convinced otherwise. She rifled through the charts on her tablet before even throwing that aside and running up to Frisk. "H-H-How!? I don't even know how this should be possible, really, but you're here so it has to be! You fell in 2115, but Chara fell down in 2020, so that means that 95 years would have had to have passed before their essence bonded to your's, Frisk! But-!"
"I know that it seems…a little hard to believe." Frisk said, cutting Alphys off. "I don't completely understand it either. But if it hadn't been for Chara, I never would have made it through the underground, let alone be sitting here right now. I think our determination was high enough that I was able to well, just, awaken them."
"Determination…hmm…." Alphys picked up her tablet and scrolled through her charts again. "I guess that could be possible. Frisk, your determination levels are unlike anything I've ever seen. As for Heir Chara's, I can only imagine if their...if their…essence had existed for this long. As for this level of violence, however-!"
Frisk, wanting to dodge a potentially uncomfortable question, interrupted Alphys again. "Would you want to talk to them? Chara, I mean? I'm sure they could tell you things I couldn't."
Chara sounded absolutely betrayed "W-What Frisk!? What do you mean, of course I don't want to talk to that scientist-!"
"OH WOW COULD I!? W-What do I need to do!? Do I need to look into something or face a certain way?"
Frisk giggled and smiled. "Nope! Just wait right there." Closing their eyes, they went to egg Chara to come forward. "Come on, pleaseeeeee? Just to get her off our backs. If she got too suspicious of us, that's be a problem and you know it."
Chara let out their loudest groan of the day. "UGHHH FRISK! You ALWAYS get your way! You totally owe me later, okay? One King Size Muffet Caramel Chocolate bar, as soon as we get back. No exceptions, you have to let me finish the entire thing!"
Frisk whined. "What, Chara!? No way, that's so unhealthy, I can't do that."
"Uh Uh, no way! I'm not giving in to your pouty face again. No chocolate, no deal!"
"Hmph. Fine."
Frisk let their consciousness recede as Chara came to occupy the forefront of their shared body. Blinking awake with Red eyes, they looked a very excited Alphys in the eye before giving her a very curt "Yes?"
"OMIGOSH there's so much I want to ask you! This is so amazing, first off…" Alphys trailed off as Chara gave the royal scientist a death glare that could kill a Whimsum. Knowing Frisk would admonish them for anything too mean, they softened their face a bit before responding.
"Could you please just ask one question for now? I promise me and Frisk will come back for regular checkups, we're just…very tired. We had an early start to the day, and we just want to go home to rest."
It was only a little past 11:30 AM, but the delivery enough might have been enough to sell that line on anyone. Alphys did a double take at the time before taking deep breaths and facing the human again.
"Y-Your majesty. I know must be tired, but please, can you allow me two questions?"
Chara kept up their look of displeasure up but displayed a very subtle glance to the side as a show of deference. "Fine."
"Thank you!" Alphys opened her tablet's notepad and began to have it record notes on her behalf. "The first thing I want to ask is about…w-well, about you. About your SOUL. Do you have one?"
Chara closed their eyes. "No. I'm not sure how to describe this, but it feels like when you're playing a video game now, with the headset and the sensors. Like you're yourself, but occupying another space in another time. It all feels real enough, and at the same time, it doesn't. I feel things, but anything that I happen to feel is really happening to Frisk."
"I see. A-And the second question is about…y-your…your…unusually high LOVE, your majesty."
Chara shifted in their seat at the sound of pleasantries "Please, Alphys, call me Chara."
"R-right! Sorry…Chara. So, if a regular human had a LOVE as high as you do now, they would normally be prohibited from approaching the Kingdom at all. Not to mention the fact that they would have already committed several criminal acts. But what's baffling to m-me is that this LOVE appeared out of nowhere LITERALLY overnight. Records from your death indicate that you had a LOVE of 1, as did Asriel. Frisk receives four check-ups a year and I've never noticed anything abnormal. Do you know where this came from?"
Damn, of all the questions she could have asked, it had to be that one. Figures she would ask the toughest questions first. A smarter Chara should have picked the question for her. They avoided eye contact with Alphys while they struggled to think of something to tell her.
"Oh Frisk, you so owe me for this one. As if Willow wasn't enough, you love putting me up for the tough questions these days, huh?"
"Sorry! I promise I'll eat the entire chocolate bar, even if I don't want to, okay? Or better yet, you can eat it yourself now, can't you? I'll just let you do it."
Chara paused before cracking a devious smile. "Just be glad I'm merciful, Frisk. Now, for your first act, you'd better help me answer this question."
"Oh. Just say you don't know. We don't owe Alphys an explanation. And even then, we can't be sure our LOVE is from our past actions. So why make it out to be like it is?"
"I…You're…I guess you're right, wow." Chara let the shock fade from their voice and focused their attention back to Alphys.
"Of course! I'm a diplomat, after all. Don't think all of these negotiation skills haven't come in handy."
Speaking to Alphys, Chara said. "I don't know. It's true that fighting Cage, Frisk and me did some things that we're not entirely proud of. But it was a stressful time, and the lives of so many monsters were on the line. It all just kind of got away from us. But I promise we didn't kill anyone."
Alphys watched the last of her notes record themselves before looking up and giving a smile to the lost heir. "T-Thank you Chara! Whatever you can provide is a big help."
"Sure, no problem." Chara said before closing their eyes and letting Frisk's consciousness regain control of their body. Frisk blinked a couple of times to regain focus and Alphys mumbled to herself about her Frisk's change in eye color from Red back to brown. When she finished, she snapped her tablet shut and went back to desk to sync with her computer.
"Alright Frisk, well, I think I've think I have enough to think about for one day. I'm going to extract some blood and I'll be sure to send you on your way. OH! And before you go-!" Alphys reached into her drawer and pulled out a bracelet. She held it up as she talked. "I've been working on this all week! This bracelet will mask your LOVE! That way, other monsters shouldn't notice your aura as you pass them. BE CAREFUL THOUGH, because it doesn't reduce your LOVE. So whatever you do, make sure you don't attack any monster for any reason, okay?"
Frisk excitedly accepted the bracelet. "Does this mean I get to hug monsters again!?"
"Y-Yes! It should be absolutely safe to leave quarantine now! Just remember to-!" Before Alphys could finish, Frisk had hopped off the table and picked Alphys up into their embrace. They giggled as they swung her from side to side. "F-Frisk! Y-You're going to make me dizzy!"
"OH! Sorry Alphys, I'm just so happy. I haven't been able to be close to anyone since returning from London and ahhhhh, this is wonderful." Frisk put Alphys down before smoothing their clothes out and sitting down for the blood drawing. "Before I go, Alphys, I have a major favor to ask of you. Do you want to hear me out?"
"Sure Frisk, I don't mind. What is it?"
The playfulness disappeared from Frisk's voice as they readied themselves to ask a very hard question. "I know you would have told me about it if you had anything to say, but do you have any news on Project Echo Flower? I…I went to visit their grave today for the anniversary and…I…I just miss them a lot…"
Alphys' smile soured as she prepared herself to console Frisk. "Frisk, I…I don't…I haven't made any progress on it. To be honest, without Flowey here, I don't know if I'm going to be able to do much of anything at all. There's still so much about determination I don't know. I even dug up some old plans left behind by the last royal scientist for using ambient magic for healing souls! But without actually having a monster SOUL to heal, there's no guarantee that Flowey wouldn't turn into…well, you-know-what again. And after my…last incident, I can't afford to make any mistakes again. You know that."
"Yeah, that makes sense! I…I understand." Frisk tried to assure Alphys of her efforts but fell short of comforting her. "Maybe you could use me? I mean, Chara and me are a special case, but I'm sure that we could be of some help to your cause."
"Frisk…!" Chara warned. But it wasn't necessary.
"I-I-I'm sorry Frisk." Alphys responded. "There's just too much I don't know. Maybe in the future, things will change, but for now, I've done all I can. I really do feel bad."
Frisk tried their best to hide their disappointment for Alphys' sake. "It's okay Alphys, really! You've done so much for all of us already! I know you're just doing what you can. It'll be okay some day for sure."
Alphys walked over embrace Frisk one more time before opening the door to her lab. She truly felt sorry for Frisk, Chara, and Asriel, and for the part she played in their entire story. Alphys had accepted Frisk's hope that things could be changed, that she could make amends for the mistakes of the past. But just as separating the amalgamates proved to be impossible, restoring Asriel without a physical body or soul was also proving to be highly difficult. No matter how much she wanted to change things, she knew now that she couldn't do everything and that she shouldn't try; There were some things that she just had to live with. At a loss for words, Alphys offered Frisk a weak, but soft, smile, and said "I promise to keep doing my best. If I find out anything, even if it's minor, I will let you know. Promise."
In contrast to Alphys' dour demeanor, Frisk widely smiled as they retrieved their suit jacket from the coat rack and left. "Thank you for everything, Alphys."
Just as Frisk walked out of Alphys' personal lab, Alphys called "Oh! Remember to sign out with Artemis before you leave."
Artemis perked up at the mention of his name. A short and small boy with a baby face and a peculiar sense of vintage fashion, he apathetically started swiping away at his computer as Frisk walked by. He said in a sleepy fashion "Right away, Dr. Alphys. Heir Frisk, if you could be so kind as to scan your ID pleaseeeeee."
Red, who was waiting in the reception room for Frisk, was taken aback by Artemis' casual tone. "Artemis! Don't you address a member of monster society like that! Especially someone of a royal stature! Apologize!"
Frisk tried to laugh if off. "Red, it's okay, really! I didn't see it as offensive at all. You can stand down."
Red let her cape relax to the floor as she turned her face to hide her embarrassment. She bashfully responded "Yes, your highness."
Unamused, Artemis pinged the details of Frisk's next visit to their calendar. "You should be good to go, your highness. Just remember to update us if anything changes."
"Right Artemis, thanks for your help again!" Frisk offered him a genuine smile and Red glared backwards at Alphys' human assistant as both of them left the room and made their way to the elevator leading back to the campus grounds. On the way, Red vented about the manners of the "kids these days" (even though she herself was very young by monster years), and the two caught up as they gossiped on all the news of the day.
"Your highness, did you hear that monsters are still going missing? Not from the Kingdom, of course, but from Monstertown?"
"No, I didn't. Has Sans or the Cascadia Office of Central Intelligence found anything?"
"Nope, as you expect!" Red pouted. "Can't expect those humans to be much help on anything!"
Frisk chuckled. "I'll reach out to Cascadia and the Mayor of Oakland later. But for now, do you have anything good to tell me?
"Well, Aaron and Vegetoid just dove in together on a new health gym near the square! It's been a big hit so far. And Muffet's just about to open the Monstertown branch of her café too!"
"Neat! We'll have to come back here sometime to try it!" Frisk said. The pair began to cross the Alameda Bridge, the only above-ground crossing point between Cascadia and the Kingdom of Monsters. At the zenith of the bridge, they both greeted Dogamy and Dogaressa as they swiped themselves in and began to make their way to the reconstructed Castle Dreemurr just a little bit away. The castle, still beautiful and recreated painstakingly to look as it once did in New Home, paled in comparison to the size and scale of the towering city just across the water.
Upon arriving at the steps to the entrance, Frisk shook hands with their loyal royal guardsman. "Thank you for all your help, Red. I can take it from here."
"Okay, your highness! You can't be too careful now, with Cauldron attacks on the rise and all. I'm just happy we got you home okay. Asgore is out at the moment, so you'll be here alone. However, feel free to call me or Papyrus if you need anything."
"Will do, Red! See you soon." Frisk gave out one last smile for the day before passing into the palace and letting the exhaustion take over their entire body. Upon reaching the royal wing, they wasted no time stripping out of their business clothes and making their way to the small personal kitchen Asgore and Frisk kept for leisure cooking.
The closer they got to the fridge, the more devious and excited Chara sounded. They actually sounded like they were smiling, for once. "Well Frisk, you promised~! You ready for a great treat for your tastebuds!?"
Mustering the strength for one last smile, Frisk responded with tiredness and love "For you? Always."
Alpha Timeline
New Home
The Underground
Spring 2020
"So that settles it then." Chara said, closing the book on California Fauna in the castle's grand library. "I will consume the buttercups, and when I get sick, you will take my soul and pass through the barrier."
Asriel's face looked filled with hesitation "I... I don't like this idea, Chara."
Chara's voice deepened at the resistance they received from Asriel. "What? Asriel, we can't stop now. We have to do this. For Asgore, for everyone. Are you saying that you do not want to work with me then?
"Wh.. what? N-no, I'm not..." Asriel's eyes began to fill with tears at the thought of having to assist their sibling and best friend in their suicide. Why would freedom matter if it was a freedom without Chara? He wanted to complain, to speak out about how crazy this all seemed. But Asriel couldn't bring himself to do it.
Sensing Asriel's emotional turmoil, Chara sighed and put down the camcorder still in Asriel's hands. They then grabbed one of Asriel's paws while Asriel rubbed their eyes with the other. "I'm sorry. I may have been a bit too harsh. But Asriel, this could be our chance. You're strong. You're special. You can do this. And you know what you always say, right?"
Asriel stopped sniffling long enough to respond. "... big kids don't cry."
"Right. This is…." Chara paused. "This is…really scary. I have no doubt that this is going to be hard. But you know, for so long, neither of us have wanted anything more for monsters than to be free."
Asriel tried to put on his best determined face, even though he still looked thoroughly sad. "Yeah, you're right."
"I believe that we can set things right, that we can become strong and save everyone. We'll chart a brand new path for humans and monsters." Chara paused, remembering Asriel's previous hesitance to the plan before pensively pulling away and saying "Look, Asriel. You're the only person in the underground I can trust with this. I really do need your help. Unless, you still don't like this idea, then I guess I could always…"
"No! I'd never doubt you, Chara! Never!" Asriel shouted.
Chara looked as if their spirit was renewed by Asriel's hope in them. They felt a little bad for convincing them go along with this plan. But Chara was resolved to see this through. Monsters did not deserve to be locked up underground while humans were allowed to ravage the planet time and time again. There truly was no greater injustice that stuck out in Chara's mind. And since Chara was the only human in the underground, the burden to save everyone had to be on them. Only Chara alone could make the humans pay for what they've done. Starting with their mother.
Chara hugged Asriel and gave the most genuine response they might have said all day. "Thank you Asriel. I promise, we're going to make things right. We'll be heroes, okay?"
"Y... yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone."
"Do you remember where the flowers were last time? Near the barrier? Do you think that you could grab them again? I'm going to prepare myself here."
Asriel nodded. "I'll go get the flowers."
A/N - Here it is! This took so long to get out for a variety of reasons, but the majority of it ends up being that June 2020 was a hard month to be a black trans women in the United States. Not a day goes by that I don't think of this fanfiction, but I had so little mental energy to do anything else at the end of most days except rest, so work on this chapter progressed really slowly up until the end of the month. For everyone who stuck around during my hiatus, thank you. I really do appreciate it.
Welcome to the surface! It feels exciting to finally get to the meat of the story and into the massive, massive world where our characters spend their time in. This was another chapter that I had been envisioning since I started writing, and as all things go, it turned out slightly different than imagined. But I think I'm still happy with what I ended up with. Exploring the character arcs of the royal family is something I had a lot of fun with, and it's something that I hope y'all enjoy too.
Red is a wonderful character from the fangame Undertale Red (tumblr dot com /post/135354499621/undertale-red) created by Taxiderby. They retain all rights to this character and I highly recommend that you check the game out!
Thank you to irlgoomy for proofreading my work and making all of this possible. Goomy is working on a beautiful fan adventure called Deltastuck (mspfa dot com /?s=33534&p=1), and I promise that if you like this story, you're going to love what it has in store.
