Content warnings: If you've read this far, you don't really need a warning. Enjoy!
Bellona, the mighty Avariel warrior sat atop a tall tower. She was lounging after a particularly long battle, stretching her angel-like wings, and dangling her feet casually over the edge. The sky above her was bright, and endless, and the ground below was bustling and alive. She watched the people of the small town go about their day, unaware of the red-eyed fighter who lurked above.
Eventually, her gaze turned to the clouds, she recognized shapes in them.
One cloud looked like a bar of chocolate. Another, a flower. A third looked…like Sans. There was a hole in the Sans cloud where his socket should be, the blue sky shone through it. Bellona watched, perplexed.
Then it got dark.
The sky seemed to shutter.
Her perch seemed the quake.
The blue of the sky turned void black, except for that spot, that ghostly image of an eye, watching her.
Bellona felt the tower fall away. She tried to flap her wings, but they were gone.
She fell.
Their clothes had changed, they wore a tattered, dusty sweater which was green and blue. A heart shaped locket hung from their neck. Falling along with them, seeming to choke them them. They held tight in their hand a knife, which was stained with blood. They fell, and they fell, and they fell, the void engulfing everything.
And then they sat up, snorting awake.
Chara looked around, groggy from their terrifying dream. They were leaned against Frisk, in the safety of their blanket palace.
They had no knife, and their locket wasn't choking them, it merely hung on their chest, warm, and shining gold in the lowlight.
Chara took in their surroundings. Despite it being late, Frisk, they noted, was wide awake, the other child's eyes were bright and concentrated on something, and their head tilted downward. The string lights above gave Frisk's face a severe looking shadow.
Chara had a terrible feeling in their stomach. They knew this feeling. Every time someone fell through a hole in their universe and into another, they felt like this, like a piece of them was being torn away. Chara sighed, as their eyes drifted to Geno's character sheet, which was still on the Christmas light lit coffee table. Even in their groggy state, they put together that the other Sans, the one who had once hated them, must have jumped back into his reality.
It was a pity, but it was also bound to happen.
Chara almost went back to sleep. But before they could rest their head, they heard a clear bell-like voice utter two words. "Come…back."
Frisk had spoken. They reached their arm out, as if they were physically pulling something into existence, and suddenly, that empty, torn feeling dissipated from Chara's chest. They heard a crash as the other Sans was thrown back into their world.
Chara studied Frisk, confused.
"Why," They began, in a whisper, but Frisk frantically shook their head, holding out their left hand, and chopping their right on their outstretched palm, the sign for 'stop.'
Chara shut their mouth.
Frisk took in a quiet breath and leaned over to Chara, giving the ex-demon a small kiss on the forehead. Chara felt through their link that Frisk was sending them soothing emotions, a silent, but powerful plea for Chara to simply go back to sleep.
The resurrected child hadn't noticed how much tension they had stored in their shoulders, until it melted to the warm kiss. Their eyes drooped and they slumped onto the table. Their locket clattered as it made contact to the glass.
Chara felt Frisk crawl from the fort, and then, the ex-demon drifted to sleep.
They awoke, perhaps only seconds later, to the sound of laughing. The other Sans's laugh.
In a daze, Chara opened their eyes and crawled to the edge of the fort. They peaked out to see what was happening. From the fort, they could see the edge of the stairs. They could see Frisk and the other Sans. They observed as Frisk ran up, and down the stairs to bring the young skeleton a familiar key.
They observed as the other Sans teleported Frisk away.
Chara frowned, forcing themself into a state of full awareness and leaving the fort, passing a slight glance to MK, who was still fast asleep, as they did. That kid could sleep through anything.
Chara stood, stretched, and shoved their hands in their pockets. And then they walked. No way were they going back to sleep after that dream. But more importantly, they were DETERMINED to stay awake, if only to wait up for Frisk.
They walked into the kitchen, noting a discarded quantum physics book on the table that was open to the last page. They ignored it and went to the pantry, throwing open the door and reaching for a midnight snack.
But, instead of a king sized chocolate bar, their usual food of choice to chase away nightmares, they found only an empty wrapper. They furrowed their brow in anger, pulling the wrapper down and studying the trash. By the light of the moon, which filtered through the kitchen windows, they could make out a few short sentences written on the foil.
hey kid. you can't sleep either, huh? meet me at the usual place.
Chara glared. It was then that they noticed the back door was open, only slightly. They sauntered from the kitchen, and into the cool night air. They knew where they were going. The ex-demon waltz over to a tall, brambly tree, which was close to the house, and in the darkness, they started climbing.
Branches bent downwards, crissing and crossing as they ascended. Once or twice a branch broke beneath their bare feet. But regardless, Chara managed to reach the top. They stepped with practiced grace onto the roof of their home.
They saw him rather quickly, and gave an annoyed huff to announce their presence.
Sans sat on the roof, his eyes were cast upward as he watched the stars.
"You ate my chocolate." Chara accused.
The skeleton didn't look at them, he merely chuckled.
Chara stomped like a petulant child over to Sans, sitting angrily beside him, and scowling. The scowl didn't last long, as Sans wordlessly handed them half of the missing Chocolate bar.
Chara accepted this as a proper offering and took a bite.
There was a beat of silence.
Then Chara spoke. "Frisk went with the other you to the lab." They said.
Sans nodded, unruffled by this. *figured they would.* He confided. *they like showing off.*
Chara snorted at this.
There was more silence, but this time it was broken by Sans.
*heard you've been talking to the other me.* He said. *he told me that you two had a chat last night. He said that you sounded suicidal…?*
Chara actually laughed at this. "I'm always suicidal." They shrugged. "Thought you knew that. It's ironic, cuz I can't die." They said the last part half thoughtful, and half bitter, taking a final bite of the chocolate. Subconsciously, they found themselves fiddling with their locket.
Sans shook his head, *that's not irony, that's coincidence.*
"Well…technically it could be considered dramatic irony." Chara said. "Anyway, I'm fine. Fine as I'll ever be, at least."
Sans nodded, eyesockets still watching the stars. *okay.* He said gently. *but kid, if you ever need to talk…*
Chara was quiet for a moment, "You'll be the first one I'll go to." They promised.
When Sans spoke next, he sounded a bit surprised. *not frisk?* He asked.
Chara shrugged "They'll be the second." There was another beat. Chara took in a breath of the cold night air. "Do…you think they'll be okay tonight? At the lab?" They asked.
*you worry too much.* Sans responded. *you know frisk can handle themself. they have a lot of power.*
The resurrected child nodded at this. And then, with shaky hands, they held the locket out and opened it with a soft 'click'. A red glow came from inside. Sitting in the locket was half of a heart. It looked to have been cut from a full heart, right down the middle with surgical precision. It floated and pulsed in the confines of the locket, fluttering with a nervous energy. It was warm, and light. "Ya." Chara responded, studying the fragment of SOUL which kept them alive. "They do."
Chara's words seemed to linger like a fog above the quiet home.
Sans put a skeletal hand on their shoulder. *come on kid. let's go clean up the blanket fort and get you to bed.*
Chara closed the locket, and let it hang from their neck once more.
"Alright." They agreed.
The two returned to the livingroom and made quick work of the fort. That is to say, Sans teleported the majority of the blankets into his closet, leaving one which he threw over MK, and Chara pushed the D&D supplies into a neat-ish pile on the side of the table.
As Chara stacked the items, they noticed that one piece of paper was missing from the stack. They frowned, but didn't think much more about it.
Before they knew it, Chara was in their own bed, curled up in the dark room alone. Their locket was pressed against them. They were safe. They fell into a fast, and dreamless slumber.
Publishing fanfiction is my favorite 2am activity. Hope you liked this chapter. Please review!
Answering my fan mail:
That one guy named me: It is a great quote. Next time someone tells you that there's no time to do something, you know what to say. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!