Chapter 13:

Chara began to explain the situation as we looked to our north to see a very large and imposing machine in the distance... one that made some creepy noises. I had a feeling that this was the CORE, as it seemed that the lava was going directly to the place and extreme heat was what caused Gaster to be vaporized and sent to the Void.

"Back before I fell down here, I lived in a miserable home... my parents were abusive and kept me locked up in my room in chains, saying I was a mistake and they didn't want me at all... they fed me table scraps like I was an animal and they beat on me constantly..." Chara said, me frowning at how horrid that sounded. "But then, one day, they vanished... and I awoke to see that the chains were gone from my feet and hands... seeing the opportunity, I packed my things and escaped, me feeling that my family would come back at any point... only to find out they basically left me for dead, as my village was being attacked by a group of bandits... I managed to escape to Mount Ebott and found the hole... the same hole you fell down... and then I met... him..." Chara said as we then got on the elevator and pushed the button to go to the second floor.

"Asriel, right?" I asked her.

"Yes... Asriel offered me a much better life... and he, Toriel, and Asgore were the first family I really truly cared for... but it only made me hate the humans even more when I learned how they were horrible to the monsters and trapped them for no reason after slaughtering many of them in the great war... so, shortly after I learned of how the barrier worked... I got an idea... I would poison myself with buttercups and Asriel would then take my soul and go get 6 more from the humans on the surface... but back then, I wanted him to kill the humans from my village specifically, as I hated all of them..." Chara said, me being surprised at that.

"Wait... you committed suicide?... Did Asriel know? What about Toriel and Asgore?" I asked her.

"Only Azzy knew of this plan... no one else did... but, when he took my soul, I forced him to carry my body to the surface, as my soul was stronger than his... but when we got to the village, it was supposed to go according to plan... I forced Asriel to lay my body in the yellow flowers in the town square in front of everyone... the humans in the village were very scared and were wanting to attack me and Asriel... but that wasn't what happened... no, they never attacked us once..." Chara said, that making Spike be surprised.

"Wait... that wasn't what I learned in school... I was taught that the humans attacked the prince with everything they had... and you say that they didn't attack once? Then what happened?" Spike asked.

"Asriel, who wanted to remain passive, fought my control with everything he had... he eventually grabbed the weapon I brought with us, a gardening knife, and he then stabbed himself in the chest... he was so willing to be a nice person that he didn't feel animosity for the humans... he knew that, since he did the deed on himself, it'd take awhile for him to turn to dust, so he grabbed my body and walked us back to the Underground, us falling directly down into the garden... before our souls then left for the afterlife and for my memories and existence to be trapped in the Void..." Chara said.

"And you didn't want to fight him for control then? What changed?" I asked.

"When he killed himself to prevent the humans from getting killed... it made me realize how selfish my plan was... and now that I've seen what the humans in the true world are like? I feel that I made the worst mistake in the world by making that plan fall into place... all this misery, all the time loops, all the death and horrible atrocities in this world... it's all my fault..." Chara said, me being a bit taken aback by her telling me this as I noticed that time had stopped around us and only now did the elevator door open, me looking at Magenta and seeing that she had stopped time so we could talk in peace.

"I may not know what's going on in your thoughts right now, kid... but just know that it wasn't all your fault... if your human parents hadn't been such horrible people, then you wouldn't have thought about committing suicide at all..." I said in thought, Chara sighing at that.

"Yeah... they were definitely a 10 on the scale... but at least they weren't as bad as humans in the true world, who kill babies when they're not born and say they're proud of it..." Chara said, me frowning at that. That was very despicable. We then moved forward to see that Sans was right there near us and he looked like he was selling hot dogs to a couple different buyers. One of them was Vulkin, then there was a couple other monsters I recognized instantly, since I'd met them before.

"Shyren? Shyster?" I asked, them looking at me and smiling happily.

"Frisk... thank you so much," Shyren smiled as she swam over to me and hugged me with her tiny fins, me seeing that her second part wasn't anywhere nearby. "When I heard my sister's song, I ended up crying for a good five minutes. I never thought I'd be more happy in my entire life! I owe you big time for helping her out as well as tons of other monsters," Shyren said, me smirking at that as she swam over to me and hugged me with her tiny fins and I smiled at her... she was actually about as big as my head in terms of body size, but her hug was still very warm and kinda soft.

"The only thing I need is to get Asgore to call off his plans of war against humanity... also, maybe a hot dog?" I said, Shyren smirking at that as she went over to Sans and paid him 30 gold and got me a hot dog, me seeing that it was actually a vegetarian kind made from what was known as a 'water sausage'. "Thanks," I smiled at her as Sans then smirked at me.

"you're really making a name for yourself, kiddo. i've been hearing tons of stories about how merciful and powerful you are. pretty much everyone in the underground now knows that you're a good person... though the flower is still out there and you know it needs to be saved as well," Sans said to me, me nodding at that.

"Yeah... how do I do that, anyways?" I asked, Sans smirking at that.

"you'll find out sooner or later, i'm sure... anyways, i think it'd be wise to call your lady friend soon, right? the furry one?" Sans asked, me gasping at that.

"Crud, you're right! I've been so sidetracked that I haven't called her for awhile! Thanks for the reminder, Sans!" I smiled at him as I then decided to call up Toriel as we then went down the path to the west and I got her on the other end as we came across a lengthy straightway of regular flooring.

"Hello? Is that you, Frisk?" Toriel asked with curiosity.

"Yep, it's me. I wanted to give you an update on the situations that I've been finding myself in," I said as I then explained pretty much everything that had happened in Hotland so far, especially considering Alphys and the Amalgamates, her sounding a bit conflicted on the other end when I was finished.

"Well... I honestly did not expect to hear about that... so this Doctor Alphys... I've never heard of her before. Was she hired more recently?" Toriel asked as Chara then gave me the answers.

"She was hired as the Royal Scientist roughly 40 years ago. She was given the position after Asgore was impressed by her creating a robotic body for a ghost monster. Asgore then asked her to study the nature of souls, and then, 30 years ago, the problems started to happen," I said, me smiling and touching my chest with my free hand as a means of thanking Chara.

"I see... so where are you as of current?" Toriel asked.

"I'm on the second floor of Hotland and proceeding to the place called the CORE. I need to get there in order to get to Asgore's castle," I said, me hearing Toriel sigh on the other side.

"I fear for what may happen when you encounter Asgore... you promise not to get into any trouble, do you?" Toriel asked, me smiling at that.

"Well... actually, I wanted to know if you'd be willing to join me in going to talk to Asgore?" I asked, Toriel becoming silent afterwards, but her breath was wavering. "I know, it's probably the last thing you want to do... but think about it, he'd never listen to a human child and he probably wouldn't know of all of the recent courses of events. If he were to see you, then maybe he'll lower his guard and refuse to fight me. Also, I kind of have some super important stuff to share with you, but I'd like to do so in person," I said, me feeling Chara get nervous and angry at me saying that.

"Well... okay, my child... if you think it'd help, I'll join you when you go to meet with Asgore. I shall make preparations and set out for New Home shortly," Toriel said, me feeling my smile form when she agreed.

"Thanks, Tori... I owe you a lot for this... and for helping me out when we first met," I said.

"See you soon, Frisk," Toriel said before then hanging up... and Chara then spoke to me in thought.

"Don't you remember what I said before? I don't want her to know about me being in your second soul..." Chara said, me smiling at her.

"I'm not going to tell her that... I was actually hoping you could," I said, Chara sighing in thought and shivering. "Huh... I guess that Alphys isn't the only nervous one around," I said, Chara groaning at that unneeded comment.

"I'm just... what will she think when she realizes what I did? That I killed over a million times and I'm currently inside of your body?... And how my strong is a billion in one?" Chara asked, me smiling at that as I then thought something to her.

"It's better to tell the truth... and even if she isn't approving of it, at least you can finally get it off your chest... keeping a secret from someone you care for is very taxing... I should know," I thought to her, Chara frowning at that.

"What kind of secrets have you been keeping?" Chara asked.

"Not anymore... back when I was at the orphanage, I once broke the heating systems in the middle of winter because of me getting the bright idea to throw a water balloon indoors... all the kids were lined up and asked who broke it... and at the time, I stayed silent. I felt guilty and didn't want to admit my mistake... so, the headmistress told us that, unless the one responsible fessed up, she wouldn't install another heater and we'd be forced to without blankets... I fessed up immediately after, mainly because of my own secret that I've only told you," I said to her in thought, Chara smiling at that.

"You mean your security blanket?... And did they all hate you afterwards?" Chara asked.

"No... in fact, the headmistress put her hand on my shoulder, smiled, and said that I did the right thing by telling her the truth... none of the kids hated me either," I thought to her as we then arrived at what looked like a puzzle filled with pressure plates and strange switches corresponding to them.

"I see... well... okay... I'll tell mom about that stuff, then... but just try to be wary of a certain flower as well... I'll share some memories with you on what to expect when everyone meets together at the castle," Chara said, me nodding at that as I looked at Spike and Magenta and they looked at me in confusion.

"Were you arguing with yourself or something?" Spike asked.

"You could say that, yes," Chara said to them, though she made sure to use my voice to do so. We then made it through the puzzle after figuring out the trick and then we got through the next bit... part of the way. Because a couple voices came from behind us.

"Halt, citizens!" said one of them, causing us to look behind us to see two large dudes that were wearing thick black armor. Obviously, they were part of the Royal Guard.

"We're sorry, but all roads through Hotland are shutting down temporarily," the one said, him being in a pointy helmet and sounding very deeply-voiced.

"Yeah, like, there's this human that's been sighted and they have enough power to destroy the world! Scary, isn't it?" the other one asked, me noting he had a square helmet on. But when he said that, my frown form on my face.

"Yet again, that bastard of a flower is spreading lies about me... first he tries to trick Papyrus, then Undyne, then he tries to get Alphys to commit suicide, and now he's getting you two involved in this," I frowned, the duo looking at me in surprise before then looking at each other and then back at me.

"Wait... is what you said true? That the flower is a liar and he tried to convince the Royal Scientist to kill herself?" the deeply voice guard asked.

"It's true, dudes. We've been with Frisk ever since she's been in Waterfall. We've seen that flower ourselves and he's very deceitful. He's trying to convince others that Frisk is a threat to the universe, but Frisk here has never harmed a single monster Underground," Spike said, the duo looking at me before the one got on his phone and I was about to leave... before the other stopped me.

"Halt, we're not done yet," the lighter-voiced, square helmeted guy said as the deep voiced on got on the phone with someone.

"Hello? Captain Undyne? It's 02," the deep voiced guard said into the phone as I had a feeling I knew what would happen. "Yeah, we wanted to ask... who's the one to trust right now? We were told that a human wearing a striped shirt was going to destroy the universe... and the human says that the flower is a liar and he tried to persuade Alphys to suicide," he asked. After a bit of mumbling, they then got their answer.

"... I understand... thanks for clearing this up, Captain Undyne," the guard said as he then looked at his cohort and then eased his weapon down.

"At ease, 01. The human speaks the truth," 02 said, me smirking at that as I then looked at 02 and saw that his armor looked a bit dirty.

"Hey, your armor looks kinda dirty, dude. Let me make it cleaner," I said with a smile as I took out my security blanket from my bag as well as some disinfectant wipes and proceeded to rub the armor... despite the guard looking a bit uncomfortable as I did so.

"Rgh... armor... so hot... can't... take it..." he said as he then took off his top layer of armor... and I saw that 01 looked at him with sweat pouring from his helmet. "Ah... much better..." 02 said as I then looked at 01 and smiled at how he looked a bit clammy.

"Hey, it looks like you're a bit preoccupied about something, 01... is there anything you want to get off your chest?" I asked, the guard gulping at that as I then turned him to face 02 head-on and he looked even more freaked out. "Don't worry... just tell him the truth," I said, 01 groaning at that as he then spoke.

"I... I can't take it anymore!" he exclaimed, 02 looking at him in confusion. "02... I, like, really like you, bro... the way you fight... the way you move... the way we sync our attacks together?... I don't want anything else... just for us to stay like this... forever," 01 said as 02 looked a bit taken aback by that and I simply held onto 01's hand, him breathing in and out rapidly before 02 spoke.

"01..." he said.

"Y-Yeah?"

"What do you say... we go get some ice cream? The human isn't a threat to us... and... I feel the same," 02 said, me smiling at that as the two then did a manly bro handshake and I smiled at 01 as he and 02 were going to leave... he then turned around and threw a money pouch at me.

"Here, take some of my money... as a way of thanks," 01 said, me smiling at that and nodding as he and 02 rushed down the path back to the elevator due east and Magenta smiled at me and kissed me on the cheek.

"That was incredibly sweet of you, Frisk," she smiled at me.

"Yes, that was pretty sweet, but I'm just a neutral party... I don't mind who you date, just make sure I don't get involved with your love life, kid," Thorn said as she temporarily took control... only for Chara to do the same thing shortly after.

"I, for one, am not neutral... I'd much prefer to be dating a boy... but so long as I'm stuck in this body, I'm gonna have to suck it up," Chara frowned as we continued forward until we got to another dark room... Magenta groaned at this and then flicked the lights on with her magic... and we found that there was a camera focused directly one us as well as Mettaton flying in place above us and him being behind a podium prop.

"Ugh..." I groaned.

"OH YES! Live from Eastern Hotland, this is Mettaton live with MTT NEWS! An interesting situation has arisen in the vicinity. Let's go to our correspondents in the field! Find me something juicy to report!" Mettaton said at us and me smiling at that and seeing a couple different items on display, me deciding to check out the video game, since I did like to play them at times.

"Well, it appears that I have a brand new video game here, called 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie: the Game'. And from what it says on the back of the box, Mettaton himself makes a cameo appearance in the game's third chapter!" I said, Mettaton making a smiley face on his screen at how I was acting just like the actual human reporters on the surface.

"Oh my, sounds very interesting! Why don't we open it up and see the game disc, darling?" Mettaton asked with a smile as I opened it up and saw that the game disc inside had a picture of Mew Mew on it and she had a magical wand in hand that was firing hearts at a male human.

"How very kissy and cutie indeed! Thanks for the reporting darling! And now, it's time for our regularly scheduled break! Don't worry, beauties and gentlebeauties! You'll be in for quite the treat when the break is over!" Mettaton smiled as the camera turned off and I smiled at the robot as he flew down to us.

"So you're aware, that flower ran out on me and I haven't seen petal nor root of him. So we're just going to perform safe, yet interesting shows that can still captivate the audience! And I expect you in the next performance area in 40 minutes sharp... of course, you can always be fashionably early if you want, I'll be waiting for you after a quick wardrobe change," Mettaton said as he then flew off and our trio looked at each other with confusion.

"Huh... Flowey just disappeared on Mettaton, huh? What's he planning?" I asked.

"Just be careful on floor 3. Though you have been doing good at showing mercy thus far, I doubt that will be of use against a particular monster on that level. Even during pacifist runs, she desires nothing more than to devour your body and soul," Chara said, me being surprised at that... a female monster that wanted me for dinner? What would it be? And could I be able to convince her that I wasn't tasty and worth sparing?