Later…
I dress into a long, black dress.
The funeral is long. Very long.
The entire funeral, I try not to release my powers. Which is hard. All these hormones, rushing through my head, make one giant, crazy flurry of emotions.
When the coffin is six feet under, I wonder, Gosh. How the heck are we gonna stop Chara now? It's not like we have ten million hp! And even then, Chara can strike us down with just one blow! Plus, who will take care of me now? Has Chara gotten through the door yet?
All these maddening questions soar through my head.
I then go to Alphys' lab, trying to find out where Chara is. Where she could be. I move like a robot, slowly commanding myself to do each action.
But, eventually, I do find something.
A theory.
She could be in his mind.
Yes, I think my powers can do that. Go into Frisk.
I've checked my research with Alphys and she says it's good.
I put on my hoodie and scarf, and try out my powers.
I practice as much as possible, and they get easier and easier.
I practice on the suit of armor.
Bang, bang, bang. 20 minutes until it's scattered across the floor.
I'm ready physically. I'm a human. I possess 100 times more Determination than any monster here.
But mentally?
I do little tests throughout the day on different monsters. Different tests. But, can I actually get inside their head?
I can.
During dinner, I try it on Alphys. Everybody's shocked.
It was just for a split second.
However, I could see all of her thoughts. I saw all her hopes, all her plans, everything.
"Y-YOU…. I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT…"
To be honest, I didn't know that I could do it either.
It was the middle of the night. What drove me to do this? Maybe it was the anger building up inside of me? Maybe it was the quietness of the night, knowing you're more likely not to be discovered? Or the sleeplessness that came with having known Death every day?
I wrote a note.
To whoever reads this,
I'm fighting Chara. If I live, then that's great. But that's also unlikely. If I die, which I probably will, just know this. I have to do something to stop Chara. I can't just hide, having my family and friends sacrifice themselves anymore.
Don't try and stop me.
-Tristana Gaster
I put on Papyrus' scarf and Sans' hoodie.
I then slip out of the room, jumping out of the laboratory window.
Chara has hell to pay.
I take the journey once again to the New HOME. I checked the cameras, and Chara's still trying to get through to Asgore's room. Asgore fled recently, and I pass him by on the way to his house.
As I'm running, I hope he won't address me.
But then…
"Tristy?"
"Asgore? Uh, King Asgore… *basically repeats everything in the note*"
"Uh….."
While he's stunned, I run away to his house.
As I'm still running, Asgore doesn't follow me, but Asriel does. He's crying.
"Tristana, I'm sorry… but I swear that Chara was in my SOUL! I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore, but at least let me fight her! I hate her, too! All of those months in that hospital and this scar… please, Tristy."
"Alright."
Asriel sighs in relief.
"Thank you."
I give a sigh and walk onward.
" . . . "
She looks at both of us. Once she sees me, she smiles.
"I HATE YOU! You don't even DESERVE to be inside of Frisk! I'm gonna stop you from killing ANY MORE monsters…. even if it means I'M going to die, too!"
"I'm with her, too."
"Asriel? but… you're my friend!"
"You were NEVER my friend. How could you kill everyone? Your mother? My mother? I hate you just as much as Tristy does!"
Chara laughs.
"If you want me to kill you, 'friend…' go right ahead."
The battle begins. Chara looks excited.
But every time that she aims her knife, either Asriel or I stop it with my powers. She becomes frustrated.
"Alright! ALRIGHT! I GET IT! YOU' two are GREAT FIGHTERs! HOW ABOUT THIS… IF YOU two LOWER MY HP TO 1… THE REAL BATTLE WILL BEGIN."
So, we do. We keep on hitting her, and her HP diminishes to 1. She smiles.
Before I know it, Chara gets out some powers of her own. I scream. I feel as if Chara and I are becoming one.
She's trying to take me inside of Frisk mentally!
I try to fight it, but I can't.
. "Tristy? TRISTY!"
"Sorry, Asriel… *uungh*... I should've known she was in Frisk's mind. *AAAUGH!* Friends?"
"It's alright, Tristy. Friends. Tristy! Please, fight it!"
I topple over. Asriel catches me.
It's darkness. Then… what is that? A tiny voice, saying…. "Please… help me…"
It's Frisk. He's tied up with a rope. He's struggling, but he can't break free. Chara's in control of his mind now.
"HELLO, 'TRISTY". MY NAME'S CHARA, AND I'VE BEEN POSSESSING FRISK FOR THE PAST WEEK NOW. IT'S BEEN SO FUN, KILLING EVERYONE, WATCHING THEIR LOVED ONES IN horror BEFORE i kiLL them, TOO… WHEN I WAS IN ASRIEL, I WAS IN HIS SOUL. BUt NOW… I'm IN FRISK'S MIND. I SWITCHED PLACES! I JUST KNEW YOU'D ASK ASRIEL. HOW… ADORABLE! AND NOW YOU'VE GONE AND BROKE HIS HEART! AHAHAHAHA!"
That little snitch! I just KNEW she was the one behind all of this!
"NO ONE'S EVER GOTTEN THIS FAR BEFORE… TRISTANA, WANT TO GEt ME OUT? THEn COME AND GET ME OUT!"
The real battle finally begins.
Chara's attacks change from standard knife hits to scary attacks. Her attacks are images of death, images I have seen over the past week.
She's not trying to physically overcome me. She's trying to mentally, emotionally overcome me.
With every image, if I react emotionally, I get disconnected from Chara.
But it doesn't work. Not completely.
I will never give up.
I will stay determined.
Then, she does her worst mental attack of all.
She hides her knife behind her back and waits.
Frisk screams, as if to warn me of something.
The worst attack finally comes.
Frisk screams. "Tristana! It's above y-"
I look up at the ceiling, but it's too late. Somehow, Chara's crept on the ceiling, crawling like a spider.
There's some red liquid, only kept suspended by a large piece of glass. Chara swipes at the glass until it all breaks.
Terrifying, crimson blood suddenly pours down like a waterfall.
I feel my eye activate, but there's no powers. My body freezes as I scream, my feet refusing to move as my entire body freezes in pure, unadulterated terror.
The blood slams down on me, knocking me to the ground.
I close my eyes. I can't hear or see anything. I hold my breath for as long as possible, and I try to find a way out of the endless waterfall.
It's too late. I can't take it.
But I find a tiny hand grasping mine.
Frisk…?
He's somehow gotten me out.
I take a breath, but it's too early. I already feel fluid entering my nostrils before I finally hit oxygen.
I cough uncontrollably for a few seconds, but I'm fine after that. I take much needed breaths of air, but somehow I feel that I'm having a little trouble.
I stand up.
I see her.
This monster…. THIS MONSTER!
Chara managed to get me to feel scared and sad… and…
SO... ANGRY!
My powers respond quickly. Chara's laughter falters for a second.
Then, I go all out on her, using all the Blasters, all the bones I can possibly throw out. Chara screams, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" as she leaves Frisk. She screams.
I untie Frisk before leaving.
I'm back in my head. Asriel's trying to wake me up. He helps me up. Chara's there, except she's being dragged underground.
A mysterious black fog approaches her. Chara screams as the fog drags her down. She'll do anything to return back to Frisk. Her hand is finally dragged down before the abyss from which she was dragged down seals up.
For about 10 seconds, Frisk, Asriel, and I just stand there, trying to comprehend what just happened.
Then, at the same time, Frisk and I fall into each other's arms. Frisk cries first, but then I cry.
Asriel's crying in the background, too.
We don't talk. The events of the past week speak for themselves, an inaudible message.
Asriel and I take Frisk back to the lab to get his wounds treated.
I'm treated as a hero, but really, it was just a lucky guess that saved everyone.
I apologize to Asriel. It's not like he warmed back up to me immediately, but he gradually did.
Turns out, Frisk is an orphan too. He cast himself down the mountain because he doesn't have any family. And his foster parents are not so nice.
We are cast into the care of Delilah's family.
Once I meet Frisk, turns out, he's really nice. He's not… THAT person. That was all Chara.
I've developed a love-hate relationship with my powers. Sure, they've given me all of these abilities, but at the same time, it's like they somehow latched onto everything they happened with my family and desire to torment me with it.
I could just be doing something normal- or even happy- like dating Frisk.
I remember when Frisk and I were dating in the MTT resort. I kept on staring into Frisk's eyes.
We were talking about some sort of football game that had happened the night before.
I was laughing. Laughing.
But all of that changed when Frisk set his hand down on his butter knife to cut his chicken.
Then, I saw it all. Pain, fear, raw terror, sadness...
"Um, Tristana? TRISTANA?!" he said, snapping his fingers in front of my face. "Tristana, I'm getting scared. Sn-snap out of it!"
But I couldn't.
I couldn't stop hyperventilating. And before I knew it, I heard two things: the sound of my Gaster Blaster powering up and Frisk screaming.
I stopped immediately.
Luckily, that Blaster hadn't even fired yet.
I ran up to Frisk and hugged him.
"W…. what…. what was that?"
"Honestly, Frisk… I have no idea."
That night, I had a nightmare. I woke up in terror in bed.
I opened my eyes, and involuntarily, a bone smashed the mirror. Frisk entered the room.
Immediately, I can feel my eye activating. It's centered on one of the glass shards.
Stop, I think. All of them stop. They're suspended in midair, surrounded by an individual barrier.
Come down.
They each individually clatter on the carpet.
Frisk's right in front of me now.
"Tristana? Are you alright? Talk to me please, Tristana! Tristy!"
"I *pant* had a *pant* bad dream… Sans… Papyrus…"
Frisk's expression softened.
"Hey… it's OK… it's just a dream…"
Suddenly, he starts to cry.
"I...I'm sorry, Tristy… for letting Chara control me… everything you had to go through…. I'm. sorry. I'm really sorry… I-I'm sorry…"
I finally went to sleep after a while.
The next day, Frisk said that he'd called Alphys.
That was the start of long, long, sessions with Alphys. They helped me to control the powers.
And after that… through all the nightmares, flashbacks, hallucinations, wacked-up emotions, blaming myself for what happened, and even avoiding Frisk for a short while because I was so afraid… I started to get better. The powers started to become an advantage, rather than a disadvantage. In addition to teleporting and having telekinesis, I could clearly (disturbingly) recall exactly what happened and where it happened. People relied on me for research projects, writing stories for newspapers, and more.
After realizing all of this, I began to become filled with… happiness? No. Happiness was too much to ask for. Hope was enough.
But, I still have goals. WE, the citizens of the Underground, have goals.
We're going to rebuild this broken world. Treat the wounded, repair the hospital and other destroyed buildings, rebuild people's emotional status, get the population back up to a decent level, and make sure none of this happens again by teaching the younger monsters about how bad violence and hatred really are.
And maybe someday, I can even get back to the surface so I can finally meet real people again.
You know how?
We're gonna be ourselves and never give up.
And we will stay determined.
Epilogue
That Christmas…
…
Well, we did it.
We've rebuilt. We've recovered. The monster population is now decent, and Frisk is getting sweeter every day.
At Christmas time, Frisk gives me a present.
It's big and tall. It's the size of…
When I open it...
No…
It can't be…
"Tristy? Are you okay?"
It's Sans' trombone and the trombone book.
THE END
It's over.
We.
Made.
It.
Thank God.
So…. how'd ya "like" it?
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