Snowdin town
Frisk went to Grillby's for breakfast. Several of the regulars were already in attendance. Frisk suspected they were still there from last night.
A Big Mouthed monster was slumped over its table, slack lipped and drooling.
The Drunk Bunny had sprawled across two chairs. When Frisk walked past, it pawed at her leg and warbled "..H-hot guys…!"
A Fish Monster was sleeping under the bar, snoring softly. Its chin and neck was covered in coarse stubble.
Lesser Dog, however, was bright-eyed and well-groomed. He won his game of poker with himself, scooped a pile of dog treats from the table, and started building a house of cards enthusiastically.
Frisk ordered a cup of tea and a muffin. How peaceful it was! Last time she'd come here, the whole town had locked their doors and hidden away. She smiled at Grillby. He smiled back and topped up her tea.
Frisk had not slept well, and her mood quickly turned dark.
Why? What had compelled her to murder every monster she found? Was it curiosity? Or was it the desire to use her power to the fullest? She didn't know, but right now, it was as if her Genocide run had never happened. Did none of them remember?
Sans did. Sans was different. During their fights, he revealed he was aware of her ability to SAVE and RESET, and Frisk suspected he had retained some of his memories of that fight, even in this timeline.
The other difference in this timeline was the appearance of Chara.
This timeline had already deviated from the predictable world she thought she knew.
The thought disturbed her. The thought of being judged for sins committed in a past life, that the present time might be marred by her actions in the past, despite the RESET.
Did I think I was above consequences? At first I did.. I believed my power was absolute. That's why I had to try it.
I believed that everything I did was reversible.
I'm such a fool. I hope it isn't too late.
Grillby came up to her with a foaming drink and a sympathetic expression. "That's a gloomy face for so early in the morning", commented a Red Woodpecker monster perching on the bar. "Drink up, you'll feel better. It's butterscotch!"
Frisk took a sip. The hot sweet drink warmed her to the tips of her toes.
She thanked Grillby, gave a generous tip, and set out to visit her favorite places in Snowdin town.
Frisk visited the library. The misspelt name made her smile. LIBRARBY.
Inside, two monsters were debating quietly. They were the editors of Snowdin's local newspaper. Once again, there was no breaking news to report, and they were struggling for content to publish.
"That's not so bad", said Frisk, "Humans have newspapers, and they're full of horrible incidents. The Snowdin paper is much nicer. It has puzzles and fun games!"
That cheered the monsters up considerably. "I'm so glad you like our puzzles!" exclaimed the Scarf Lady monster.
"And I suppose having no bad news is a good thing", said the Yellow Rhinoceros, "Say.. would you be interested in doing an interview? A visit from a human is such a rare event!"
Frisk declined the interview, saying that if she did, the following day's headline would be 'Human Gruesomely Killed By Royal Guard' or something like it. She did buy a copy of the newspaper, and also a book of Junior Jumble.
Next, Frisk went to Sans and Papyrus' cabin.
Papyrus answered the door. He was overjoyed to see Frisk. Then he remembered he was supposed to play it cool.
"ARE YOU LONELY, LITTLE HUMAN.. FRIENDLESS AND UNLOVED?"
Frisk looked down at her feet and nodded.
"FEAR NOT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE YOUR TUTOR AND GUIDE! TOGETHER, WE SHALL CREATE PUZZLES! WE SHALL FROLIC IN THE SNOW!"
Frisk hugged him. Her head barely came up to his waist.
"REALLY? YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS, WITH ME?! WOWIE! WELL, I HAVE A FEW CHORES TO FINISH, SO COME IN AND MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME!"
Papyrus invited Frisk in and sat her on the saggy old sofa.
He cleared away the leftover mess from breakfast (he'd made spaghetti).
He dusted his action figures.
He fed the pet rock.
Then he changed into a T-shirt that read 'COOL DUDE'. He fastened his cape to Frisk's shoulders.
"TIME TO CREATE PUZZLES! JAPERS! CAPERS! HIGH JINKS! LOW JINKS!"
Papyrus grabbed Frisk around her middle and dashed out into the snow.
Sans woke late in the afternoon. He groggily checked his to-do list.
His only instruction was:
eliminate the human. papyrus in danger.
Papyrus in danger? Suddenly Sans was wide awake. He vaulted out of bed, picked up his cellphone, and dialled Papyrus' number. The phone rang.. and rang.. and rang. Papyrus always picked up within the first two rings anytime of the day or night. But this time he wasn't picking up..
Sans hurried out to find his brother. He was still wearing his fluffy pink slippers.
He asked some of the Snowdin villagers if they'd seen Papyrus.
"I saw him with that little human", said the Scarf Mouse monster.
The Red Horn monster piped in, "They were planning a puzzle! Papyrus seemed really excited."
Sans hurried in the direction they pointed.
Sans asked the Cinnabun lady if she had seen his brother.
"Why yes! Papyrus gave the human a ride on his shoulders. They looked very cute together! They were heading for Snowdin Forest," she said.
Sans thanked the lady. Snowdin Forest! There would be nobody around if Papyrus got into trouble.
It wasn't hard to follow their trail. He soon found a snow Papyrus and a snow child side by side.
A bit further on, he saw a half-completed puzzle.
And now, he heard his brother's voice, shouting, crying. He couldn't make out the words. He ran in the direction of the sound.
As he got closer, he could hear:
"YOU MEDDLESOME CREATURE! LET GO OF MY BONE! NYEEEEEEEH!"
Sans burst onto the scene. It was a tug of war over a bone. On one side, Papyrus and the human. On the other was the Annoying Dog. The dog was winning.
Sans reached into his pocket and grasped the first thing that came to hand. It was the electric zapper. He threw it for the dog. The Annoying Dog chased it reflexively. Then there was a CRACK, and then a shrill YIP.
Papyrus and the human had fallen over. Papyrus was cackling and the human was giggling.
So Papyrus was fine. Sans sighed with relief. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
"..how could you leave me out, bro? you've been having all this fun.. without me..?"
"YOU WERE NAPPING!"
"..it's called sleeping."
"Come on Sans, let's play!" said the human, interrupting their squabble.
"IT'S A FLYING HUMAN!" shouted Papyrus, lifting the human up over his head and running around. It spread out its arms and started laughing and whooping. Papyrus was having so much fun that Sans couldn't stop himself from joining in.
NIGHT
Frisk prepared carefully for her bedtime. She'd borrowed a t-shirt from Sans and fireplace poker from one of the villagers. She felt vulnerable sleeping in her vest and panties, but a lot better with Sans' t-shirt over the top (it was a little too big, and came almost down to her knees). As for the poker, it had a sharp point, and a much longer reach than a knife. She checked that the door was locked and the windows were bolted closed. She settled herself in bed with her book of Junior Jumble, and waited to see if Chara would appear.
The daylight was nearly gone. Frisk surveyed her room. Time to see how Chara did it. She cautiously started her puzzle.
This Junior Jumble was more challenging than she'd thought, but she nearly had the solution! Then, she sensed movement on the edge of her vision.
"Hi", said Chara, lounging in the chair on the other side of the room.
"Don't you know how to knock?" asked Frisk.
"There would be no point, really", replied Chara.
Frisk sighed. "Please tell me how you are doing this. You took my SOUL. What more do you want?" She was annoyed that she hadn't seen how Chara appeared and disappeared, despite her efforts to catch him at it.
"All right. We can play truth or dare for answers. That's standard fare for sleepovers, isn't it?"
Frisk shook her head. She hadn't agreed to this.
"Suit yourself", said Chara. "I won't answer any questions unless you promise to do the same"
"Even if we played, how do I know if you're telling the truth?"
"You'll feel it", answered Chara, "through the bond we share."
Frisk would have preferred to ask all of the questions, but taking turns seemed fair. She couldn't pass up the chance to find out what had happened to her. She nodded.
"Very well. Your first question: how am I appearing beside you, even though you locked the door and the windows? Thanks to our little bargain, my spirit can take a corporeal form. It's the same as you RELOADing your SAVE file, except my SAVE point is.. YOU. You have the ability to SAVE your progress, and I can borrow that ability in a limited capacity. It only seems to work at night though."
Frisk was disturbed. There was another being, besides herself, with the ability to SAVE. Even worse, it was Chara..
"Now for my question: who are the most powerful and dangerous monsters in the underground?"
Frisk thought carefully. "Sans is the most powerful." she said at last.
Chara looked skeptical. Frisk continued, "But Sans isn't dangerous except to really bad people. There's a monster called Flowey, a flower, which isn't powerful, but it's certainly dangerous."
"Not powerful but dangerous?" said Chara, puzzled. "Tell me about one more."
"I guess the next strongest would be Undyne. She's really dangerous if she's fighting to defend someone, and she has a lot of determination. Don't mess with her."
Frisk hoped that Chara wouldn't start picking fights with monsters just yet. At least the ones she'd named would have a good chance of defending themselves.
Frisk formed her next question: "What's happening to my SOUL? I don't feel any different – I have all the same emotions I did before. Did you really take it?"
"During the day, your SOUL is in your body. Remember, it's still your SOUL. But it belongs to me. At night, it's here", Chara tapped his breastbone. "I could have severed it from your body, but I didn't want to. It's a complicated arrangement, but I think we can share." Then he looked up at Frisk and smiled.
"Now, somehow you didn't answer me properly, so tell me this: who is the most powerful BEING in the underground? It can be human or monster or anything else. "
Frisk had to think quite hard to come up with an answer.
"The top spot belongs to you or me", she answered decisively. "I've defeated Undyne. And Flowey. And Sans. You: you destroyed a world and re-created it."
As she said it, Frisk felt sure she was right.
And now, rushing through her was an incredible feeling of satisfaction and pride. These were Chara's feelings, and she was feeling them too. Chara's eyes were gleaming. "The most powerful SOULs in this world are both ..mine!"
Frisk had to agree with him. She felt cold, and despite all her blankets, she shivered.
"Last question: have you.. killed anyone in the Underground?"
"I haven't killed anyone from this new world that you asked me to recreate. But before that, I led many people to their deaths", he said.
Frisk was relieved. No harm had been done to this timeline.. yet.
"We're on our last question now? Ok then. Here's mine: are you feeling cold?"
Frisk didn't want to admit it. She said nothing.
"Come on. We agreed to be truthful to each other. It doesn't matter. I feel what you feel – and you're feeling cold."
Chara got up from the chair and held out his hand to Frisk. She took it, reluctantly, remembering the last time she felt the touch of that cold hand. To her surprise, it was warm. Pleasantly warm.
"You look puzzled", said Chara. "Feel here", he said, closing his eyes and pressing Frisk's hand to his chest. It was beautifully warm. "You poor thing. You must be cold without your SOUL", he said softly. "Do you want me to keep you company tonight?" He kicked off his boots and sat on the bed.
Frisk put out a hand to stop him from getting in. If Chara thought he could do as he liked, he was mistaken. She would only share her bed on her own terms. She wagged a finger at him. "Promise me" – what good was it, to extract a promise? Promise me, or what? What power did she have, with her SOUL in his hands? But still, I have to try, she told herself.
"Promise me, you won't harm anybody. Especially me."
"I promise. For each night you let me stay with you, I won't hurt anybody. I swear."
Would this be enough to keep Chara out of trouble? If so, it was certainly worth it. Why's he doing this? If he wanted to go out and start killing people, Frisk knew she couldn't stop him.
"All right. Come in", she said, peeling back the covers a little.
Chara got into bed beside Frisk and put his head on her pillow. It was a little snug, but the heat was very welcome. Frisk turned off the light, and they were soon both fast asleep.
Frisk opened her eyes. It was just before dawn and the sky had just begun to lighten. Chara was sound asleep. Frisk's arm was around his waist, her cheek pressed against his back. Their legs were entangled. So warm and comfortable. Frisk went back to sleep.