Sans was once again in the next room, but as Frisk stopped to interact with him Chara went to check out the northern room. The Nice Cream Guy was there, looking sad – probably about his lack of business – but he seemed to cheer up when Frisk caught up and he announced his punch card scheme. Taking advantage of this for healing items, Frisk bought some Nice Cream before they headed off into the glowing area nearby.
"Oh, um, by the way, Frisk? You... you have something on your face?" It looked like somebody had given them a black eye sort of, but Frisk only held up a small piece of paper they'd for some reason had in their pocket which only said "Sans." ...right, no explanation needed.
They heard the whispers of the Echo Flowers as they quietly passed.
"So? Don't you have any wishes to make?"
"...hmm, just one, but... It's kind of stupid."
Frisk pointed off the beaten path, to a place Chara knew was, "Just a dead-end." Still, Frisk wanted to go look, finding nothing but a huge patch of grass that for some reason seemed important enough to search. Chara was about to ask what their deal was, but... they emerged with some new shoes on. "...oh. Did you know that was there or just get lucky?" Frisk shook their head, signaling the latter, and Chara just chuckled a bit as they said, "...it looks good on you."
A little further along, they got a phone call from Papyrus. He basically confirmed he'd been reporting what Frisk said to Undyne, but... then said he told her they really weren't wearing a gross bandage, following their lie. Because he had known it was a lie. And wanted to protect the them wearing a gross bandage.
Frisk facepalmed as Chara groaned, but both of them had to hand it to him. That was pretty smart thinking. Until he added he'd specifically told her they were wearing a dusty tutu, which they would obviously... never wear...
"...if it helps, I... think it makes you look cute?" Despite Chara's attempt at encouraging them, Frisk stared ahead, obviously... very tired.
The conversation continued, "Don't say that! Come on, I promise I won't laugh." Chara couldn't help be reminded of a few times they and Ri had passed through here... but Chara did wonder momentarily how this conversation was progressing so smoothly with the flowers so far apart.
And then they came upon the other sign.
Before Frisk could even give them a questioning glance, Chara recited, "The power to take their souls. This is the power that the humans feared." They kept walking, eyes on the ground, voice low. "The power that made the humans kill and imprison monsters, when they meant no harm..."
Onionsan in the next room was a good mood raiser. They seemed as cheery as they could manage and were obviously trying hard despite the circumstances. Though the mention of Undyne and their somewhat creepy nature made things a bit awkward, the kids briefly considered staying in there for a while before deciding it was best to move on.
A concert and an encounter with an annoying dog later, Chara was back to narrating, looking even more uncomfortable than they did originally. "This power... has no counter. Indeed, a human cannot take a monster's soul. When a monster dies, its soul disappears. And an incredible power would be needed to take the soul of a living monster."
They stopped, finally, to turn and look at Frisk about this subject. "I... I thought it was a good idea. But I can't even remember anything that happened when we were together. We were... supposed to be together forever after that. But I know it was a mistake. I should've... accepted my death. I couldn't have lived on without hurting somebody unintentionally. My determination... I was losing it. And now it's gone. All I have is yours, I think."
Neither of them moved for a few moments, before quietly they continued, "...there is only one exception. The soul of a special species of monster called... a boss monster. A boss monster's soul is strong enough to persist after death. If only for a few moments. A human could absorb this soul. But this has never happened." They turned away, shoulders slumped, head down. Whether it was written or their own words, they concluded, "And now it never will."
Up ahead was a statue sadly being rained on. Chara stared at it while Frisk walked ahead, noting... it reminded them of their father. Protecting all the little statues underneath from the rain. The horns especially made it stand out in that way. Before they realized, Frisk returned to set an umbrella on it...
"...my..." Their voice shook a bit, Frisk looking at them in concern as they took a step back. "My... music box... I had one just like it. But I guess... this wouldn't be it. There'd be no reason to..." They let out a shaking breath, closing their eyes a moment, before turning to walk away. "Let's just go..."
They met up with MK after grabbing another umbrella, walking with him through the caverns that Chara was surprised hadn't flooded with water after all this time. Must've been a stream or river outside the mountain that it was all flowing into. Where did it even come from?
MK kept talking about how cool Undyne was, bringing up their dad coming to his school once to teach about responsibility and everything with his flowers. His flowers... Flowey looked like one of them. They had to wonder if that was a coincidence... but got distracted from that line of thought when they emerged into an area filled with beautiful sparkling rocks on the dark ceiling, looking like a night sky over the castle in the distance. All three children stopped to look at it.
"...That's it. That's... home." That was where Dad was. Where Asriel was. The nearby sounds of the waterfall reminded them they were still so far away, but they felt... if they just left Frisk behind, they could float all the way there. But they'd just be useless if they went back there without... the living human.
"We'll be there in a day or two, at this rate..."
MK helped Frisk up the cliff ahead, his lack of arms making it impossible to pull him up. Frisk wrote him a quick thank you as he spoke before watching him run off. The two humans carried on together, Chara knowing the writings ahead were almost the end of the story.
"The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly, and without any of that Frisky mercy." Trying to joke off how they felt about the writing, they winked at Frisk, who smiled as much as they could before stopping to save. "...but in the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak. Not a single soul was taken, and countless monsters were... turned to dust."
Going ahead, the lighting suddenly got dramatic again. "I feel like... something's off about this place. It's just like when we-" Annnnd suddenly spears. "Run run run, don't stop just keep going and run!" But stopping was more necessary, the spears suddenly coming out of the ground constantly in all directions. Chara couldn't do anything about them with their own magic, so the best they could manage was warning Frisk where the spears seemed to be appearing and where they needed to go.
But in the end... a dead-end.
"Crap, crap, crap, I don't... I mean the spears aren't appearing now, maybe you can backtrack a little before she catches up?" Frisk nodded, turning around to rush back, but... there she was.
She cut the walkway.
And Chara could only watch... as Frisk fell down...
"No. No. No, no, Frisk...!"
"It sounds like it came from over here... Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you... Are you okay? Here, get up..."
Warmth. Warm hands around them. Helping them. Who? Why? They had come here to
...
"I... I'm... Chara... you're..."
"Chara, huh? That's a nice name. My name is..."
Frisk opened their eyes, and they were alone. But they were alive. And they were really in pain, but... they could already sense a save point nearby. Just move, just move, it'll be okay...
Viewing this endless cycle of worthless garbage... they sighed. Determination. Why was there a dump down here filled with human crud? They backtracked to the bed of flowers they'd somehow perfectly landed on, wondering where Chara was. Had they not jumped down after Frisk? It probably wouldn't hurt them, would it?
...that dream. They'd seen when Chara first fell down here and met Asriel.
Was that why they seemed to be crying? How had they remembered something they hadn't witnessed?
...they felt really lonely without Chara by their side. The only way they'd even been getting through this is with their company. If they were all on their own...
...they'll catch up. Frisk knew. They'd just catch up a little later.
Right...
