Alice is the name that I was given.
But that is not my true name.
As of yet, there is nobody who knows my true name, nobody who may ever know. When I am always called by "Alice," what is the difference to an outsider looking in on my world?
And yet I don't really feel the same as I did when I was a kid. When I was a mere human I felt many things, but I do not feel so much now. Not even my desires and drive to achieve them are mine, but belong to the kindred spirit whose SOUL resonated with mine; although my thoughts are my own, I can't help but pay attention to her's, as well.
My knowledge has also been expanding a lot lately. Recently I had a lesson on quantum mechanics. Before that I've been studying the blueprints that make up this world, the design of Frisk's surroundings that are kept safe in her SAVE file each time we remake everything. I have been looking at the power that we have to SAVE in the first place, which seems so limited and yet so far-reaching. The reason why we have it, what it can do, on a large scale as in reloading and on an individual scale as in restoring other people...
I have found it fallible, but applicable to more situations than even Frisk realizes. You see, the benefit to them having someone like me on their side is that I can think logically and rationally about situations that they are experiencing in the heat of the moment. They can be overcome by it as fully as they like, but for me I am distanced enough to analyze. As a mere child I also felt that way, honestly distancing myself and thinking so clearly for it, and it has only gotten better after my death. Even the hatred I felt back then has dissipated, if only because Frisk exercises little ill will herself...
Perhaps my only flaw is talking too much. I see a need for commentary, and I digress.
My point is that when it comes to our powers, I have figured things out that Frisk may not have yet. First and foremost is that although the theory of our SAVEs was posed by someone who is ultimately inconsequential, it is not wrong. We moved through the underground like gods. I knew from the start it could not be mere time travel.
We both collapsed and reconfigured this reality so casually, in a way only such a boosted human SOUL could. Each time it was her decision, while as of yet I have only watched. There are some things that I can do without her, but they are things I would rather do with her.
After all, we are partners.
Yet... we are not able to do everything. Some parts of this world slip through our fingers, some rearrangements fail, and some parts cannot be reached at all.
But most disturbing is what we have both learned recently. Surprisingly, against my expectations, this planet that I call a "game," and its "code," can surrender itself to the will of somebody else. It's not first come first serve. And so easily, too easily, we lost out.
That other Frisk and that other child with her, frankly, disturb me.
And yet Frisk desires to be friends with them. For the first time I find myself disagreeing with my partner, even though my heart does agree with them- but that's just because it's her heart in the first place that I am borrowing.
In the end, with no SOUL of my own I can't help but want what Frisk wants, and we will always get it regardless of what anyone else wishes or desires.
So unless I get one- that is, a SOUL- how can I maintain our status quo?
That is what I wish to learn.
But I have not introduced myself. I do not see it as rude because you likely already know who I am, in a story where no one else does.
Nonetheless, greetings. I am Chara.
Anna is the name that I was given.
But it is not my true name.
It is likely the same for many children, wherever they may be, who move with names someone else wrote them. Beneath it, so that you might never even see if you don't look, there is a true name, even if it's ultimately inconsequential. I met a child recently who was much like me, with the given name "Alice." Their true nature is the same as mine, although they hide it behind strange pretensions. We are not enemies, and I don't think they will get in my way. They are just curious.
The child they have attached to, their "Frisk" is not the same as mine, which could account for the meager differences. And yet they are both, in their own ways, ugly children. I can't help but wish to strip them of everything that they want. I can't help but hate them.
Make no mistake, although I despise them both, I feel the most strongly for my own Frisk. Because my own Frisk is what allows me to feel the most strongly. I experience her feelings at a distance, and hear her ugly, petty little thoughts on an hourly basis.
My feelings... I gave all of them up on the day I died, when I pushed poison down my throat. I entrusted them to someone who betrayed me, someone who was little more than a coward beyond all his bluster. And then after death, I woke up to someone who was more of the same. I do not even have a SOUL of my own anymore.
I have been learning more and more recently. I have been expanding my knowledge of myself and of Frisk. I don't yet know what is most important to her, but when I find it I will know what to do. I'm well versed in what this Frisk can do, and what I can do- not just from observation, and I'm sure there is much more we have yet to observe, but because I have gained a new understanding of what the SAVE ability really is. I can thank that insignificant being from the other world for that.
More than that... I believe there may even be things I can do without her.
Now that she no longer wishes to give up, the end of the "game" that she plays is coming soon. As I say, what Frisk holds most dear isn't clear yet, but I suspect that I'll see the answer after that ending.
And I'll take it.
I'll break the status quo.
You can't always have what you want just because you want it.
But for those of you watching...
My greetings to you. I am Chara.
The child named Alice and the child named Anna
Across many worlds
Are both Chara.
Author's Note: So ends the epilogue for this silly story.
I said I'd have some concluding thoughts on all this to share with this epilogue, and so that's what I'm going to put!
First and foremost I want to give another huge thanks to everybody who has commented on this story, shared their opinions and appreciation, and to everyone who has favorited it, bookmarked it, or given it kudos (on AO3 specifically.) Your support meant the world to me and I loved every review and comment; I was always looking forward to seeing your reactions with each chapter that I posted, and that may have been one of the reasons I was able to get them out so quickly (twice a week!) I hope that at least some of you will continue to give some of your time to looking at my future works.
Now in regards to that...
I originally began the story on a whim after seeing a couple of "Underfell and Underswap switch places" stories and wanting to do one with Underfell and Undertale instead. Since that starting point my ideas began developing very quickly, not just in my interpretations of how Underfell could be different from canon (I could spend a lot of paragraphs discussing that,) but the scope of this story in general. It definitely did not end the way that I imagined it at the beginning, although some elements that I always wanted to include stayed in.
I left a couple of plot points open because I do have ideas for a sequel- actually more than one. As of this writing my intentions are to make it into a little series (which will be clearer on Archive of Our Own by formatting alone.) For reasons I decided to call it the "Bunny Fell-Fell" series, which although not the coolest name I think it'll be fitting for the theme I have in mind.
The next story in this series will be a logical following of this one, a story following "Red Frisk" as she goes through Underfell and elaborating on just what kind of ending she ends up getting. Although I am excited for this and other stories, I should warn that it's a busy time of year for me (as I'm sure it is for many people) and I can't promise that I'll update quite as quickly as I did for this fic. Still, I hope you look forward to it! I'll try to get the first chapter of the next installment up soon.
