Chara wasn't sure what to think. They had tried to take the two of them back to the Nexus so they could go to New Home and see if they could find anybody, but... only Chara returned. Only Chara could go to the still-shimmering New Home. They returned to find the entrance to the underground as they had left it, with Frisk near tears wondering why they were suddenly alone. Luckily, the other child seemed to take things in stride, and quickly recovered as they wordlessly, happily welcomed Chara back.
The two of them would have to walk from here to New Home, which was on the total opposite side of the underground... but they hadn't left for there just yet. Chara had been struck by sudden sleepiness. They wondered what could have caused a ghost or whatever to become tired like that so suddenly. Frisk was fine with letting them rest, though, and Chara soon fell asleep in the bed of golden flowers...
They woke with Frisk cuddled up as close as they could get without actually "touching" the translucent figure. They seemed to be asleep... Chara carefully reached out to attempt to carefully touch their cheek, only to go straight through. Frisk shivered a bit, but did not wake immediately, Chara withdrawing to think on things.
They hadn't met another person, making them... feel like they needed to stay near Frisk. The two of them had each other if nothing else. They hadn't really gone anywhere, though... Chara closed their eyes again and sighed. Here where they fell... if only Asriel would walk in and find them again... then things could go back to the way they were before...
Frisk awoke shortly after Chara, and they made their way down the hall and into the ruins. Chara, despite their current state, thought of their family and was filled with determination.
They weren't really sure what to make of what they found in the next room.
A golden flower stuck out of the ground, with a... smiling face on it. Almost as soon as they entered it greeted them, "Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower!" The two humans glanced at each other uncertainly before looking back at... "Flowey," who went on, "Hmm... You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?"
Frisk nodded, while Chara spoke up, "I've lived here before, and was wondering if-" Flowey interrupted them, seeming to ignore them completely, telling Frisk, "Golly, you must be so confused." He... it... whatever it was, it was right about that at least. Chara had no idea what was going on. They were apparently seriously a ghost, they showed up in the same place as Frisk, Frisk wasn't a ghost, and now they were supposed to travel through the Underground on foot all the way to the barrier while Chara was apparently invisible. Thinking of this as they went ignored, they were startled and momentarily panicked when they saw... Frisk's soul.
It was strangely similar to theirs in color, but they only thought about that for a moment, turning to Frisk's physical body. They looked extremely focused, but they weren't injured... "See that heart?" asked Flowey from the center of the room. "That is your soul, the very culmination of your being!" Ah, the flower was explaining the rules of the Underground? Knowledge of Determination and souls was just as common on the surface, something considered important enough to be passed down since the war between humans and monsters hundreds of years ago.
Something not explained, though, was how to project your soul in fights with magical creatures. Long ago, some humans had a form of natural magic – the reason the barrier existed – but when they died out so did the need for physical manifestations of the soul. Chara had learned of this in the lab when they were very young. They had held onto this knowledge in hopes that it made them less of a freak.
"Your soul starts off weak," the flower said, smile never faltering, even as they said, "but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV."
"What the heck!?" Frisk looked over to Chara at their sudden outburst, concerned. The flower said LV stood for LOVE, but Chara knew he was leaving out some of the details. "It stands for Level of Violence, Frisk. Don't listen to him, he's trying to fool you. Those 'friendliness pellets' are thorns – they'll hurt you if you let them touch you." Frisk nodded, which Flowey didn't question as he asked, "Are you ready? Move around!"
And Frisk did, concentrating on the movement of their soul away from the pellets. Flowey wasn't amused, and insisted they try again. After a second failure in hitting their target, he was visibly frustrated, asking, "Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BU—er, friendliness pellets!"
A final failure and his look turned sinister.
"You know what's going on here, don't you?"
Frisk nodded hesitantly, while Chara pointlessly moved in between them and the flower, prepared to defend the living child however they could. "You just wanted to see me suffer."
Without any other warning, thorns surrounded the two humans, leaving no space to flee. Frisk pulled their soul close to their chest, but there was no protecting it in a fight like this. "DIE." the flower said, laughing maniacally as the thorns closed in around them. Chara ran at the flower, walking straight through the thorns and screaming "NO!" as they attempted to do something, anything to save Frisk. They focused on their own soul, feeling an absence that shocked them, but nonetheless they reached out their hands and-
Ice barely formed on Flowey's petals. His devilish grin was replaced by a look of confusion, and while he was distracted Chara turned to see the thorns had paused in their movement. When they quickly turned back to Flowey – he suddenly went flying, letting out a brief shriek, fire knocking him to the side of the room where he fell flat on the ground. Was he- was he dead? Would he turn to dust?
This question was interrupted by the sound of an all-too familiar voice: "What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth..." Chara's eyes widened, feeling an ache deep in their chest as they slowly turned to see...
"Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins."
...Mother.
