A/N: Hello! Sorry, I know it's been a while, and again, this is very short, but I swear I will have longer and more frequent chapters soon! I have been swamped in work lately, and haven't had any time to write. Not too proud of this chapter, but I'm not very good at writing action scenes, and they tend to be pretty short, and my stories fast paced. I'll try and tone it down a little. Enjoy!
Chapter 3
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Once Frisk had recovered from their crying fit, they proceeded to explore and contemplate the nothing, and how the existence of non-existence even works. Turs out it doesn't, because the only people discussing it are about seven years old, so they didn't get very far with it. Chara had a few more ideas, but when Frisk asked about why they spent so much time looking into what happened to someone when they were exposed to incredible amounts of magical energy, it was like she had completely shut down. Chara did not speak to them for the rest of the day.
Or was it two days? A week maybe? Or maybe they had only been here for five minutes. Maybe they'd been here for years. It was hard to tell when all you had in nothingness was a sardonic murder ghost and your own shame. They found out that they had no need for sleep anymore. They never grew hungry. They never tired, because they didn't exist. Frisk had originally thought it a convenience, but eventually, they began to miss those simple everyday necessities. Frisk told Chara about their news, but Chara acted like Frisk was the stupidest kid in the world when they told her about their discovery. They supposed that Chara had gotten used to not needing sleep or food a long, long time ago.
. . .
Chara was beginning to wonder what was to become of Frisk and she. She'd always sort of assumed that there had to be an end to it. It doesn't make any sense! How can you still be aware, and have your soul, or in my case, DETERMINATION, intact? Their physical body is sure to be gone by now, but how are we existing in non-existense?! Heck, how am I even alive?! ALL I WANTED WAS TO GET OUT OF THIS HELL-HOLE AND GET MY FAMILY TO THE SURFACE! WHY IS IT THAT WHATEVER I TRY, OTHERS AND I SUFFER?! Chara felt hot tears running down her cheeks. She clenched her ethereal fists in frustration, and heard Frisk's concerned voice echoing from behind her. "C-Chara? Are you okay...?"
What a stupid, stupid human. They think I'm okay. She slowly stood up straight, arms so rigid they trembled, and she slowly, and deliberately said "Am I okay. What an idiotic question. Frisk, I hAven't bEen okay fOr lonGer tHan you'Ve beeN ALIVE." Frisk made to put their hand on her shoulder, but it was smacked away. Chara spun on their heel to face the younger child and yelled "HAve I EVER beEn okAy?!" Chara's eyes began to leak the horrid black oily substance as her face morphed into something Frisk hadn't seen in a long time. This was the Chara Frisk knew when they RESET before completing a genocide run for the first time. Frisk felt a sinking, sweeping motion, and within seconds, Chara had entered them in a battle. Frisk knew that she would have to do this. She watched as their choices began to appear in front of them. Frisk tentatively reached for MERCY, but was slammed back as Chara glitched out from where she was and appeared in front of them, blocking the choices.
Frisk barely dodged the slash, and was just picking themselves up off the floor when Chara attacked again, wildly swinging her knife around. She shrieked with an unearthly tone in her voice, "WhAt? YoU tHouGht yoU'd gEt to haVe the firSt piCk?" She then sent out a surge of red energy towards Frisk, who had to drop to the floor to avoid it. "OH, wEll I supPose I shoUld tell yOu about hoW this 'rEd maGic' stuff woRks, huh?" Chara said, a smile reminiscent of the Chesire Cat stretching across her face as she lovingly fingered her knife. "HeRe'S hoW it wOrkS: DON'T GET HIT." That said, Chara's knife began to glow an ominous blood red color, summoning a large plasma knife that hurtled towards Frisk.
...
Frisk was exhausted, and the onslaught just kept coming. They could feel their breath coming in ragged pants now. Through bleary eyes, Frisk looked up just in time to notice the giant knife hurtling towards them. Panicking, they lurched out of the way, and dodged just fast enough to force the weapon to slam into a wall and shatter itself into thousands of tiny shards. Chara leaned forward, hovering slightly, her cheeks bright pink and one red eye cutting through the shadows shrouding her face. Frisk wondered why Chara still looked so happy, when they heard a rattling sound from behind them. Though exhausted, and straining themselves to their limits, Frisk darted to and fro, trying their best to dodge the relentless onslaught of pain. Frisk felt one of of them slash across their cheek, causing them to stumble backwards, creating the opportunity for several more to attack. Frisk was being stabbed all over, they knew this was what they deserved, but they couldn't give up. Not yet.
Though beaten, battered, and thoroughly drained, Frisk pressed on. Suddenly everything went still. Frisk was tensed in a position to run away, but through the darkness they saw a glimmer of hope. Or more literally, a glimmer of choice. They were still there! Frisk disregarded the risk factor and made a run for it. They were so close...! Frisk chose MERCY, and then... a sticky, tar-like substance began to ooze over the option. Frisk retreated, a sickening feeling creeping up on them as they backed away and tried the ACT option. The same thing happened until only FIGHT was left.
The thought was beginning to creep up on Frisk's mind, but soon FIGHT was gone as well. Frisk literally had no choice left. Then the liquid began to flow down in large rivulets, as a childish giggle could be heard. They felt their soul drop to their feet, as all hope of surviving just flew out the window. Frisk's face was somewhere in between horror, fear, and plain disgust. Frisk sighed, and looked up at the darkness where they knew Chara was hiding. Chara watched Frisk from above, confused and angry.
"You know, Chara... I know why you're angry. You're angry at me, because I RESET. Again, and again, just because I couldn't face death. So I resorted to killing. Over and over, I murdered the ones you loved. I got them to freedom, but since I couldn't continue, never could they...And the worst part? You tried to stop me from the first time. Whenever I was tempted to fight, you persuaded me to SPARE them. Frisk the Merciful, Ambassador of Monsters, was just a front. The only reason I could be so kind was because of you, Chara. Then I tried to fix my mistake, but now look at me... I'm no better than I ever have been, and I can never change that." Chara's smile had turned into a surprised frown. "FrIsk, I rEally-"
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-ErRor-