Chapter 21
The Nightmare's End
After what seemed like a hopeless chain of events for the past couple of days, it finally seemed like every loose end had been tied. Everyone stood amongst each other as they were all preparing to say their goodbyes and go about their own separate ways. The only one who didn't stand along with everyone else was Chara, who stood a few feet away from them, unable to face everyone after all the terrible things he had done.
"So... these last few hours have certainly been hectic." Hothead said as he looked at the ruined building. "...Today definitely didn't go how we had planned... I... had to miss my anger management class today because of the fighting going on for so long... but... I guess as long as everything works out in the end, I can't really complain.
Alphys gave a look to Undyne and gave a little clear of her throat. Undyne was quiet for a few seconds before giving a sigh and stepping up to Hothead. Neptune's Hound gave a little protective growl, but Hothead put his hand in front of the beast to make sure he didn't do anything.
"...I'm... not really good with these kinds of things..." Undyne started, giving a grimace as she felt like she had to twist her own arm just to get herself to do this. "But... uh... thanks."
"You're... thanking me?" Hothead questioned. "...What for?"
"For... saving Asgore and his family." Undyne answered. "...We were afraid that we were going to lose them when they got trapped in there... but the three of you risked your lives to save them... so... as much as I really don't like to say this to you three... thanks."
Hothead was quiet for a few seconds before giving a smile and a little nod. "...You know, fish face... I mean, Undyne." he corrected himself. "...I guess we don't have any reason to try and kill each other, now that Chara's stopped and all that... so... what say you and I have a little scrap here and now? No weapons, no powers, just our physical bodies as our weapons."
"Oh, I would love nothing more than to beat the Hell out of you in a rematch." Undyne was obviously pleased with the thought, but then looked back at Alphys before giving a clear of her throat and going on. "...But I'm afraid I can't right now... I have some personal business that Alphys and I will be attending to as soon as we get home... it's going to need our... full concentration and all of our energy." Alphys blushed furiously and looked down nervously.
"Ah. I hear ya." Hothead said with a nod. "Alright then... some other time."
"Wh-where will the three of y-you go from here?" Alphys questioned. "N-now that Chara no longer h-has you under his control, I mean."
"Hmmmmm... I think that the three of us have a little more searching to do." Hothead said as he looked back at the ruins of the building that Chara and Frisk had fought in. "...You see... while we were looking through all of that debris in search of Chara... it came to our attention that Darkeol and his five pals were nowhere to be found... it's as if they were never there in the first place."
"...Now that you mention it..." Papyrus said as he looked up in thought. "...We only saw Darkeol's friends after they set up a barrier to keep us from helping Frisk in her fight against Chara... I... don't believe that they were around very long afterwards."
"So they just set up the barrier and vanished..." Hothead said with a thoughtful hum as he looked to the sky. "...Hmmmmm... it doesn't sound like any of them to just disappear unless it was an extreme emergency, especially when it comes to a fight like that... it doesn't make sense that they wouldn't be around... but at the same time, we would have probably found them by now if they were."
"D-do you think they might have had a good reason for just leaving like that?" Alphys questioned.
"That's honestly what we're most worried about... if something is actually going on that required them to leave, we have to find them and see what's going on."
"...Well then... I'll tell you what." Undyne said with a little smile. "Once you find those six, feel free to swing by my place any time you like... I'll gladly take you on in that rematch any time you're ready."
Hothead gave a nod. "I'm looking forward to it." he said before he held out his hand to shake, to which Undyne just stared at him without shaking his hand. "Heheheh. Don't worry. I'm not gonna poison you or light you on fire while you're shaking my hand."
Undyne hesitated for a few more seconds before taking Hothead's hand and shaking it. The two of them gave little nods to each other and glared for a few seconds before releasing each other's hands. "...I'll be looking forward to the day I'll get to fight you again." Hothead said.
"As will I." Undyne said with a nod. With nothing more to say, Hothead turned around and walked away, followed by Illusionist and Neptune's Hound, the three of them going off to search for Chara's other creations.
"...Well... as much as I would like to stay here and chat with you guys... Alphys and I have to head out now." Undyne said as she turned to her friends. "We have some... business that we need to attend to."
Frisk gave a snicker and a nod. "You got it from here, Alphys?" she joked. "I doubt that I'm gonna be able to roleplay with you to help you on this one."
"F-F-Frisk!" Alphys squeaked as her entire face went red. Undyne began to laugh, while Asriel, Asgore and Toriel were left to figure out what Frisk was talking about.
Undyne stopped laughing within a couple of seconds. "Well... we'll be seeing you around." she said. "...Oh, and Asgore... congrats, man... I'm happy to see you with your family again."
"Thank you, Undyne." Asgore said happily as he held Toriel, Frisk and Asriel close. "We hope to see you both again soon." Undyne and Alphys turned around and took each other by the hand as they walked away, going off to do whatever business the two of them were going to do.
"Well... this certainly has been quite a long day, hasn't it?" Papyrus asked as he looked around. "I would love to stay around and talk about our latest victory... but I'm afraid my brother and I must head home now."
"You two have some places to be too, hm?" Toriel questioned.
Papyrus gave a nod. "Yes, indeed. You see, after everyone got out of the building, my brother brought to my attention a certain channel that the surface has known as the Food Network. After consideration, I decided that it would be the perfect channel for I, Master Chef Papyrus, to learn all of the different cooking styles that the humans have, so that I may be able to master them all and become a world renowned chef to both humans and monsters alike."
"Wow. That sounds great, Papyrus." Frisk said with a smile and looked at Sans, who looked back to Frisk and gave her a little wink. Not only would Papyrus learn a little bit more about others' cooking styles, but he might also be able to become a better chef overall. "I hope that goes well for you, buddy."
"Thank you, Frisk. It will most certainly go well for me." Papyrus said. "After all, there's no cooking style in the world that is too difficult for I, Master Chef Papyrus! Nyeh heh heh!" He turned around and began to leave. Sans just stood there for a little bit, staring at Chara. "...Sans? Are you coming, lazybones?"
"Yeah, I'm coming." Sans said. "Just... give me a second. I need to talk to the kid quick." Papyrus turned back around and watched as Sans walked over to Chara.
Chara kept his eyes down, looking to the ground. He couldn't bring himself to look at the skeleton, not just out of guilt, but also out of fear. The last time that Chara had gotten on Sans's bad side, he almost killed him. He didn't want that happening again any time soon.
"...You realize you've hurt quite a lot of innocent people, yeah?" Sans questioned with a hard frown on his face. "...Had it been any other person aside from Frisk... you would have long since been killed for what you did."
"I know..." Chara said as his head hung a little lower in shame. He knew that Sans was right. If Frisk wasn't the caring girl she was, Chara wouldn't have been standing there at that moment.
"Look at me, kid." Sans ordered. Chara didn't comply at first. "...I said look at me." he repeated a little firmer. This time, Chara hesitantly looked up at Sans, looking at that frown and those serious, warning eyes. "...You're very fortunate to be here and alive at this moment... for your sake you better make sure you don't hurt anyone like this again... if you do... you're definitely not going to like what will happen next."
"...I understand." Chara said as he looked to the side. He just couldn't bring himself to look into those eyes of his. "...I won't give you any more reasons to try and kill me."
Sans was silent for a few seconds. He closed his eyes and gave a sigh. From the looks of it, he was really struggling to be able to say the next few words that came from his mouth. "...It's not me you'll have to worry about, kid." he said quietly, his voice sounding like he was trying to keep someone else from hearing him. "...You've pissed a certain old friend of ours off through your actions... and he's not going to be as merciful as us if he gets his hands on you."
"Huh?" Chara questioned as he looked at Sans's eyes. They were still hard and firm, but Chara could detect a hint of some sort of concern for him. "...Wh-what do you mean? Who are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about... about..." Sans gave a groan and put his hand on his forehead. He seemed to have been in some sort of pain.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Chara questioned. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... give me a second." Sans said as he held his head and closed his eyes, obviously in pain. As he did, Chara noticed a strange orange and blue glow that was appearing from under his left eyelid. His eyes widened as he swore he faintly heard the electronic, unidentifiable sound that he had been hearing all day yesterday.
Sans was quiet for a few seconds before he looked back to Chara, taking his boney hand off of his head. The glow that was in his left eye had completely vanished, and the faint sound that Chara was hearing was no longer able to be heard. "...Well... just pray that you never have to find out." he answered. "...Trust me... this is someone you're not going to want to meet again any time soon."
Chara had no idea what Sans was talking about, but he gave a little nod, choosing to take the skeleton's word for it. Sans gave a nod and turned around, walking over to Papyrus. "...What was that back there?" Papyrus questioned.
"Nothing. Just making sure that the kid and I are clear about each other." Sans said with a shrug.
"No, I mean the whole head grabbing thing." Papyrus said. "You held your head and looked like you were hurt."
"Oh... that?" Sans questioned, giving a shrug as he was trying to play it off. "That was just a little bit of a headache, Papyrus. Nothing that I can't deal with."
"Are you sure, brother? You seemed like you were in quite a lot of pain."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Really." Sans said quickly before giving a fake yawn and stretching. "I'm... probably just tired, that's all."
"Hmmmm... well... I suppose you haven't had a nap recently, with everything happening." Papyrus said as he looked up in thought. "...Well then, worry not, my brother! I, the Great Papyrus, will have us both home in no time, and then you'll be able to-"
"Uh, yeah. That's awesome, bro. Let's get going now." Sans said quickly as he began to hurriedly walk away, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"H-hey! Wait for me!" Papyrus called after Sans as he ran to catch up to his brother.
Asriel, Asgore, Toriel and Frisk watched Sans and Papyrus leave, all four of them having a concerned look on his face. "...He seemed like he was in pain." Toriel said.
"He's... been acting like that from time to time ever since we woke him up this morning." Frisk pointed out. "...He just seems... so secretive all of a sudden... like there's something he doesn't want us to know..."
"...Do you think we should go make sure he's alright?" Asriel questioned as he looked at his parents. "...He seems really bothered by something."
"...We'll check on Sans some time later." Asgore said as he patted Asriel's shoulder. "...For now, however... I believe it's time that we start heading home. It's been a long day for all of us... and I believe this is a cause of celebration, to have our family reunited again."
"If it's no problem to any of you, Frisk and I will go back to our house first, see if there's anything that could be salvaged from the damage." Toriel said. "There are a couple of things that I would like to be able to keep with me... if they aren't destroyed, that is."
"Asriel and I will help you then." Asgore chirped with a smile. "If we're going to be a family, then we'll work together as one." Toriel smiled and nodded before the two of them hugged again, both happy to be together with their children once more.
Asriel gave a smile at this and hugged Frisk, thanking her again for allowing this to happen. "Thank you again, Frisk... thanks to you... our family is finally back together again."
Chara watched and heard this from a distance and gave a little faint smile, showing his joy of seeing his brother and parents so happy, but also his sadness that he wouldn't be a part of it. After what Sans had told him, he believed he was too dangerous to be kept around them. "...Take care of them, Frisk... be better than I was." he wished silently before turning away from them and hanging his head as he began to slowly walk away, unsure of what he was going to do.
Frisk saw Chara begin to walk and gave a little frown. "...Not yet, it isn't." she said to Asriel and broke the hug, looking at Asriel. "...If I'm not mistaken, Asriel... we still have one member of our family left out." She then gestured behind Asriel.
Asriel turned his head around and watched as Chara was attempting to leave. "...Yes... you're right." Asriel said with an understanding nod. "...I'll be right back." He turned around and began to run after his brother. "Chara! Chara, wait!" he called out.
Toriel and Asgore both looked over and witnessed Asriel running after Chara, who had stopped in his tracks, hearing his brother's voice. "Wh... where are you going, Chara?" Asriel questioned.
"...I... I don't know..." Chara said half-heartedly as he kept his head down. "...I don't really have any place to go at this point..."
"Chara..." Frisk said as she walked over to where Asriel was and stood by his side.
"...Asriel, Frisk..." Chara said with a sigh, his voice becoming more sad. "...Don't waste any more time on me... I don't want to cause any of you more pain... I'll just go off on my own, and-"
"Chara... you don't have to leave." Asriel interrupted as he took a step forward. "...You will always have a place with us... come with us, Chara."
Nobody dared to say a word for a few seconds. After giving an agreeing nod to each other, both Toriel and Asgore walked over behind Asriel and Frisk, watching as their adopted son was taking what Asriel had just said in. "...Asriel... please don't make this any harder than it has to be." Chara pleaded as he shook his head. "...I'd be nothing but a pain to you and the family... you're better off having nothing to do with me."
"But this is what you wanted, Chara." Frisk said. "We'll forget everything that happened these past couple of days... we'll be a family... just come with us. Please."
"...Why would you want anything to do with me... after everything I've done to you?" Chara questioned as he turned around to look at them, his eyes full of pain and remorse. "...I killed you... all of you... I caused all of you so much pain... I... I don't deserve to be here... I don't... deserve any of you."
"What you have done cannot be so easily forgotten, Chara... the pain that was caused by your actions could never be undone." Asgore started. Chara gave a nod and looked down, convinced by what was just said that Asgore knew he and the others were better off not having anything to do with him. "...But that changes nothing at all... it doesn't change the fact that you are still our son."
Chara looked at them all again, surprised. "...We took you in when you fell down... we raised you as our own son. You were always one of us." Toriel said with a gentle smile. "No matter what has happened in the past, we always have and always will love you, my child."
Asgore held out his hand gently to Chara, just like he did before Chara's fight with Frisk. "...You will always be our son... no matter what you've done in the past." he said gently. "...Come home with us, Chara... it's time for us to become a family again."
Chara stared at all four of them, too shocked to say anything. Even after everything he had done to hurt them, even after becoming what he had become during his fight with Frisk, his family was still willing to forgive him and take him in again. After taking the shock in and processing all of it, his hands began to shake, and he began to snivel as tears were forming in his eyes, moved by his family's act of love and kindness.
Asgore gave a quiet sigh and knelt down. He understood what Chara was going through, having once himself thought that he could never be forgiven for the sins he committed. He held his arms open gently. "Come here, my son."
Closing his eyes and looking down as his tears began to flow from his eyes down his rosy cheeks, Chara ran to Asgore and hugged him, crying into his armor. Asgore returned the embrace, hugging and giving a few reassuring pats on his back, to let him know that he understood Chara's pain, and would still be there for him no matter what. Toriel walked to them and joined in the hug, hugging her husband and their son close, which made Chara cry more.
"I'm so sorry... for everything I've done to hurt you all." Chara said in a broken voice, speaking through sobs and snivels. "I wish I could take it all back... I wish I had never done any of this."
"...Everything will be ok, our child." Toriel said. "We've already forgiven you."
Asriel gave a smile and stepped forward a bit. Toriel and Asgore released Chara, and let him look at his brother. "Asriel." Chara said.
Asriel and Chara both ran to each other and hugged each other, both silently crying in the other's hold. "...I never lost faith in you, Chara." Asriel said happily. "...I always believed in you."
"...Thank you, Asriel... for never giving up on me." Chara whispered. "...I'm sorry... for causing your death all those years ago... I should never have dragged you into my plan."
"Don't be... you didn't make me do anything I wasn't willing to do for you, brother." Asriel replied with a smile.
The two released each other's hold, and Chara walked over to Frisk. It was kind of an awkward feeling to be standing before the girl that he had tried to kill earlier that day. "...I... don't suppose there's anything I could do to... make up for all the Hell I put you through?" Chara questioned.
"...Eh. I wouldn't start trying if I were you. You'd definitely be at it for a long while." Frisk joked before giving a little laugh. "...I'm just glad to have you here with us... everyone's alive and safe now."
Chara gave a nod. "...None of it would be possible without you..." he said and held Frisk tighter. "...Frisk... thank you... thank you so much... I... I could never be grateful enough for all you've done for me."
Frisk gave a smile. "It was my pleasure." she said as they let each other go. "...So now... I guess we're brother and sister now, huh?"
Chara gave a little faint smile. "I guess so." he said. "Never would have thought I would call you my sister."
Asgore gave a smile and began to walk away from the ruins of the building to head for Toriel's house, Toriel walking with him right by his side. "...Come now, children." he said. "Let's go home now." Asriel, and Frisk nodded, and began to race each other to see who could catch up to their parents first. Chara hesitated for a few seconds, looking back at the ruined building before running to catch up with the others, ready to leave behind what he had started and start his life anew.
As they left the ruins of the building behind to start their new lives together as a family, all five of them failed to notice a strange distortion of time and space happening right above the ruined building, a small perimeter of the air bending and twisting as something began to appear. The distortion cleared up within a couple seconds, and standing on top of the ruins was the same being that had appeared to Chara in his nightmare that drove him crazy the day before. This time, however, his body was visible. There wasn't very much that stood out, aside from a large black cloak he wore and his hands, both of which had gaping holes in them.
He watched as all five of them walked away, not saying a word. He began to slowly raise his left hand up, as if he was going to do something to them, but didn't do anything past that. He just held his hand out toward them, staring at them through the large hole in his hand as they walked farther and farther from his view. They were soon gone, and the mysterious man put his hand down.
He stood there quietly for a few seconds, looking down and contemplating before he felt the presence of another being appear from behind him. He turned around and saw Darkeol, quietly standing a few yards away, staring at him.
The man gave a quiet hum and began to speak, speaking in a strange language that sounded nothing like any of the known languages. 'Ah... what have we here?' the being questioned. '...Someone who is actually aware of my presence now?'
Darkeol was quiet for a few seconds. The man was beginning to think that he had not understood what he said. This, however, was not the case, as Darkeol finally began to speak."...I know what you are." he replied, his red eyes glowing threateningly as he glared at the man. "I know why you are here."
'...Is that so?' The man gave an amused hum and began to approach Darkeol a little bit. For every two steps the man took, Darkeol took an apprehensive step back until the two were just a mere foot from each other. '...Tell me then, how is it that you are aware of what I am? I've been forgotten by almost everyone for many long years, and if I am not mistaken, you were merely created days ago.'
Darkeol didn't answer. Instead, he just stood there quietly, not taking his eyes off of the mysterious man for a minute. '...Interesting.' the man said with a hum. 'You certainly are more intelligent than the rest of the abominations that were created, at least.'
"...You shouldn't be here..." Darkeol said warningly as his staff appeared in his right hand, the dark purple mist sparkling rapidly with dark power. "...You don't belong here."
'You are going to tell me where I don't belong?' the man questioned amused, his white pupils appearing in his eye sockets. 'Correct me if I am wrong, but you and all of your brethren shouldn't be here either... because your creator should never have been here. He should be long dead, buried underneath the earth where he belongs.'
There was silence among the two for the longest time. The man gave a scoff that Darkeol was unable to come up with a retort for what he had just said. Either that, or he was actually smart enough to not deny the truth. Either way, the man looked back into the direction of where Chara and the others had walked again, looking back at the hole in his hand as he did.
"...If you truly wish to make Chara suffer, why did you leave him be for so long?" Darkeol questioned. "Your hatred for Chara is only second to the hatred that he carried for the humans after his brother's death, and I can sense the power that lies inside of you... so why have you not yet done any harm to him?"
'My, my. You truly are more insightful than I gave you credit for.' the man said as he looked back at Darkeol. 'You are correct. I could have destroyed Chara the very second he came back... I could have ended his pathetic life long ago... but I've decided against that. If he is going to be here, then I am going to put some use to him being alive.'
Darkeol waited for a few seconds. He was about to question what the man was talking about, but he didn't have to, as he began to speak once again. 'I'm going to use him to finish my experiment.' he went on. 'My hypothesis ended in a failure that cost me everything I was... and now that the boy is alive once again, I shall use him as my test subject.'
"Test subject... test subject for what?" Darkeol questioned. "What experiment are you talking about?"
'I'm afraid that will have to wait for a later time. Until I have everything ready for my experiment.' the man said. 'Don't fret, you and all the others will know soon enough...' He gave a smirk and got a little closer to Darkeol, their faces just a couple short inches away. '...Unless you would like to try and stop me now?'
Both of them stared at each other for a while, each waiting for the other to do something. "...I was created to serve Chara and protect him from anyone like you."
There was silence among them yet again, both quietly daring the other to say or do something. "...My brethren and I will be seeing you again soon enough." Darkeol finally said backing off a couple of feet.
'Indeed you will.' the man replied with a nod, not at all intimidated by Darkeol's threat. Chara's creation gave a little sigh and closed his eyes. He was surrounded by very deep purple fog, which dispersed in a matter of seconds. When the fog had cleared, Darkeol had disappeared along with it.
'...I may have some use of his creations as well.' the mysterious man thought to himself out loud before turning back to the direction that Chara and the others had gone. '...But for now... I have work to do... so enjoy your gifted time with your family while you still can... for soon... I shall make you suffer for the crimes you've committed...'
The man gave a smirk and gave a little chuckle, the space around him distorting as he did. '...My research will not go to waste.' With nothing more needed to be said, the man disappeared, allowing Chara and the others to enjoy these moments as a family while they still had them.