Chapter 22
"Finally."
Sans blinked as Chara whispered that word. Then, he realized something was wrong: nothing happened. There he was, the God of Death, with his hand on her forehead. And nothing had happened.
She was still here. Still alive. That shouldn't be possible.
Without warning, her right arm shot up and grabbed his, locking it in place. "You know," she said conversationally, without looking up, "For a moment there, you almost had me convinced."
She lifted her face and Sans saw that her eyes had become pitch-black spheres. She grinned and swung her scythe at his face. He blocked it with his own, but that meant they were deadlocked now. He struggled, attempting to free his arm and push her scythe away, but she was fighting back just as hard. They stood, blades locked against each other, each trying to gain the upper hand.
"Did you really think you could kill me that easily? I honestly thought you were smarter than that," Chara sneered.
"Fine," he replied. "We'll do this the hard way."
His eye flared up as he began to channel his magic. She might be able to match his physical strength, but he was willing to bet that his body was more durable than hers. He doubted she could take a blast from one of his Gaster Blasters from point blank range.
"It's a shame though," he thought. "This library isn't going to survive the blast."
He began to cast the spell that would summon his Blaster, when the magic he had gathered for it suddenly disappeared.
"What the…?"
At the same time, he suddenly felt weak all over. The weight of Chara's scythe seemed to double, and its blade began to creep closer and closer to his head. She was pushing him back.
"What's going on?" he thought frantically as Chara started cackling.
"What's the matter?" she said. "Aren't you going to fight back?"
Sans gritted his teeth and tried to push back against her scythe, but that only made her laugh harder.
"Wow. I can't believe you're this ignorant," she gloated.
Sans had no time to spare for her words. He was feeling weaker by the second and he couldn't figure out why. Every time he tried to gather his magic to cast a spell, it would vanish. What was she doing to him?
He closed his eyes, concentrating on feeling the flow of magic throughout his body, when he realized what was happening. His magic was flowing out of him. Specifically, out of his left arm. The arm Chara had firmly in her grasp.
"She's draining my magic?" he thought incredulously.
Sans hadn't even thought it was possible to forcibly take magic out of someone else's body. Apparently, he'd been wrong. As a god, magic was the force that not only powered his abilities, but also what kept his physical form intact, which was why he felt weaker. If she drained him completely….
"Damn it! What do I do? How do I fight back?"
He couldn't match her strength or use his magic, not as long she held her grip on him. He couldn't even teleport away. He didn't see a way out.
"What's wrong, Sans? Afraid of death?" Chara taunted.
Sans could only grit his teeth in silence.
"I didn't plan to take you out first, but I'm not about to let this opportunity pass me by. I will have my vengeance!"
Just as she was about to overpower him, Sans caught a glimpse of light reflecting off their blades. His mind and reflexes quickly figured out what it was and he grinned in response.
"Not today, shorty."
Confusion spread across Chara's face and then she too saw what was headed their way. No, what was headed her way.
A solid beam of light was flying right at her face. Grimacing, she had no choice but to raise her blade to block it, which let Sans swing his newly freed weapon at the arm she had grabbed him with. Weakened though he might be, Sans was still a god, and his scythe still sharper than anything the mortal realm could boast of. Chara let go, dodging the attack, and as soon as she did, Sans teleported back several yards to stand in front of the source of that unexpected attack.
The acolyte he had saved from Chara's onslaught was on her knees, arm outstretched, panting heavily. She was barely holding herself up, but she had mustered enough strength to launch that attack at Chara. Even more remarkable was her aim. She had to put that attack in exactly the right spot so that Chara couldn't have simply dodged it by moving her head. Not to mention the fact that she had been at least twenty yards away and done at it night, to boot.
"There is no way I'm letting you die tonight," Sans thought. "Not after that."
"YOU WORM!"
Sans flinched as Chara screamed out of pure rage.
"YOU DARE TO GET IN MY WAY!"
Darkness was pouring from Chara's eyes, streaking her face as if they were grotesque tears of some kind. Shadows had gathered around her mouth, transforming it into a black maw. Dark energy sizzled around her, and her scythe was wrapped in black flames.
"YOU WILL NOT DENY ME MY VENGEANCE!"
Chara swung her scythe, releasing a storm of energy that looked like a giant blade at both of them. Sans, whose magic had stabilized far faster than thought it would, summoned several Blasters at fired them directly into the teeth of Chara's attack. A massive explosion shook the night air, and when the smoke cleared, he saw that the ground between them had been reduced to dirt and ash. He was surprised there wasn't a crater to go along with it.
He stared Chara down, and she returned it with a hate-filled glare. He could hear multiple voices in the distance, and they were getting closer. Their battle had undoubtedly woken up several other acolytes by now. It seemed they were coming to investigate.
"NO! NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN!"
Chara was practically foaming at the mouth. Sans immediately understood why. She might be able to fight him one-on-one, but she definitely wasn't up to fighting him and trying to fend off the spells of the all the acolytes headed their way. Only a few would be able to use magic, but there would be enough of them to tip the scales.
Sans gritted his teeth. Truth be told, he felt the same way. Chara was going to get away from him again. The acolytes incoming presence might make it impossible for her to defeat him, but they were also potential hostages. If she launched an attack at them, she knew he would step in to defend them. That moment would be all she needed to make her escape.
"SO CLOSE! I WAS So close…"
Chara's breathing slowed, and Sans watched as the shadows on her face receded until her visage returned to normal. Her eyes were steady, and her expression suddenly lacked any trace of emotion.
"I'll be leaving now Sans. Going to try to stop me?" she said.
Sans just stared at her. She knew the situation as well as he did. He lowered his scythe. "No," he replied.
She backed into the shadow of the library, right next to where Flowey had collapsed. "Until next time, Death," she said, and the shadows swallowed them both.
"Damn it," he muttered. "Damn it."
As much as he hated to admit it, he was the lucky one. If that acolyte hadn't been here, he would likely be destroyed right now. Why? Why was it that every time he got close to catching Chara, she would thwart him with some new ability he'd never heard of. Since when could she drain magic? And from a god, at that. Gaster could likely come up with some sort of theory on the matter, but he obviously hadn't known anything about it beforehand or he would have mentioned it. His thoughts were interrupted by a soft groan from behind him and he quickly turned around to examine the acolyte that had saved his life. She was injured and exhausted, but she was alive. He sighed.
"Wish I could heal you or something kid, but that ain't really my thing. Guess all I can do is say thanks."
"Not that you can hear me or anything," he thought to himself.
To his surprise, however, the young woman raised her head and glanced in his direction. Her gaze was off, like she was trying to look at him, but couldn't tell exactly where he was. Had she heard him after all?
With a tired smile, she mumbled, "You're welcome, my lord…" and passed out in front of him.
"Guess that answers that question," Sans thought. Humans that could hear, but not see, him? Something else to ask Gaster about.
He let out another sigh. He really did wish he could help her somehow. He glanced in the direction of the crowd of acolytes rushing towards them. There would surely be someone who could use healing magic among them. He looked around the scene one more time, concluded that there was nothing else he could do here, and teleported out.
Flowey followed Chara into one of their many hideouts, and he couldn't quite hide his trepidation. He had been out of it for the last half of their confrontation with Sans, and when he came to his senses, Chara had already shifted them out of the temple. He'd gotten a look at her face, and kept himself from asking any questions. He'd seen that face before, the one completely devoid of anything resembling feelings. True, she'd become rather stoic since they started their crusade for revenge, but he knew there was something different about this particular expression. He also knew the cause. She had used magic to forcibly suppress her emotions and enter a calm, rational state of mind. He didn't understand how she did it, magic to control emotions was unheard of. However, he learned long ago that Chara wasn't really bound by normal conventions. Still, as unique as that magic might be, he'd also learned that it came with a price. She couldn't keep her emotions bottled up forever. He knew she only invoked that magic when she was losing control, and as soon as she felt safe enough, she would unleash her pent up anger and rage in a mindless rampage.
Chara came to stop. She looked around, and looked at Flowey. "Leave," she said flatly. Flowey didn't even reply as he tunneled away. He reappeared at the entrance of their hideout, determined to keep watch. As he scanned their surroundings, making sure they hadn't been followed, he tried to ignore the screams of pure rage coming from within.
"Uhh…" Morgan groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She didn't know how long she'd been out, but it was still the middle of the night, so probably not long. She was sitting down, leaned up against a wall, and her body was letting her know just how much damage she had sustained.
"What happened again?" she thought. She remembered fighting that demon child, tumbling through the window, and then being saved by that blue fire that had appeared out of nowhere. She remembered hearing that child talk to someone who wasn't there, and then she saw her fighting an invisible opponent. At first, she thought she'd gone crazy, but she soon realized what had happened. That demon child had been fighting a god. That was the only explanation. It seemed ridiculous, but the evidence of their clash was all around her. Not to mention what she had seen during her last attack. The child had latched onto something, and as she laughed maniacally, Morgan had begun to make out a hazy form trapped between the child's scythe and arm. She had mustered the last of her strength to launch her final attack, hoping she could help the god who had come to her aid, and it had worked. The child's rage proved that. As soon as she let go of the god, though, he had vanished from her sight again. One massive blast of magic later, and the fighting was over.
Then, she'd overheard the child's parting words, and how could she forget them? "Sans" she'd said. The God of Death. Death had come to her rescue, and she felt both surprise and immense gratitude towards him. She'd even heard him thank her before he left. She chuckled as she thought about it. Who would ever believe that Death had come to her rescue? And that she'd heard him thank her for saving his life? She'd probably get accused of blasphemy.
"Oh well, guess I'll take the silver lining. That fact that I could hear a god talk is proof my soul has gotten stronger. I should definitely be elevated to an upper-acolyte now."
She chuckled to herself again, and glanced around. There were several acolytes examining the scene of the battle, and the now broken wall on the upper floor. She had a good view of everything, and she saw one of senior acolytes send a messenger to get the temple's head cleric, no doubt to heal her.
"Wait a sec, wasn't I laying on the ground?" she thought. That's when she realized that someone was standing near her. She looked up and saw another acolyte watching her. Their hood was pulled up, and they were standing with their back to the moonlight so she was unable to make out their face.
"Um, is something wrong?" she asked.
"…You did well tonight," the acolyte said in a young woman's voice.
"Uh… Thank you?" Morgan replied.
She didn't recognize the woman's voice, but that wasn't strange. It was a big temple, and she spent most of her time in and around the library. She knew she hadn't met every acolyte that lived there.
"Your strength will be necessary. Hone your skills, and be ready for the storm to come," said the mysterious acolyte. Then she turned, and started walking away.
"Wait, what!?" Morgan said. "Who are you? Do you know who that child was? Do you know what's going on?"
The woman paused. Without looking back she said, "If you seek answers, you must ask the god shunned by the world, or perhaps his father. However, it is unlikely they will give you what you ask for." She paused again. "But if you will put trust in him regardless, and if your wish is to aid in his battle, to defeat that child… then grow strong, and seek the Emissary."
She started walking away again, so Morgan called out to her, "Wait! What does any of that mean?"
"I'm sorry, but I've said all that I can."
Her reply was short and curt, and before Morgan could say anything else, the hooded woman turned the corner of the building and disappeared from view. Morgan sat there, stunned, and then she realized something. "Doesn't that side of the building lead to a dead end?"
She forced herself to stand and she stumbled over to the corner the woman had disappeared from. She poked her head around the side of the building and sure enough, there was nothing but a dead end that connected to the temple's outer wall. Despite this, the strange woman was nowhere to be seen.
"What just happened?" she thought. As if tonight wasn't filled with enough questions already.
"Acolyte Morgan! Are you all right? You shouldn't be moving yet!" a voice shouted behind her.
She turned, and saw the head cleric running over to her. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she said as she sat back down and let the cleric heal her body. She would meditate on everything that happened later. For now, she was just happy that she was alive.