Frisk's bedroom

It had been a hectic day at the restaurant. Frisk recalled the queue that stretched around the block; the harassed wait-staff; the kitchen full of confusion and panic. Frisk was one of the few people who coped well with the chaos, which was probably how she'd been promoted to sous chef.

Frisk untied the Heart Locket – now on a pretty piece of ribbon – from around her neck. She'd had the chain clipped off with a hedge-pruning tool. It was by choice that she wore the locket every day.

Now she lay in her bed. It was well after midnight. During her frantic hours at work, Chara slept. But when she closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to take her, Chara woke. He lacked a corporeal form, but he was definitely there.

Today, he was in a melancholy mood.

NIGHT

"What's wrong, Chara? Why are you unhappy?" Frisk whispered.

She reached into her own heart to comfort him and listen to him. Together, they relived his abuse at the hands of the villagers in his hometown, and then his climb to the storied Mt Ebott, where travellers were known for disappearing.

"Me too, Chara. I climbed the mountain too. I wanted to end the pain. Just like you, I didn't have the greatest start in life… I wanted to disappear."

Frisk's sympathy did nothing to improve Chara's mood. Instead, he was miserable. They both shared the memory of Asriel carrying Chara's lifeless body to his hometown.

"Why?"

Chara's bitter motive burned through her:

To lay his dead body at the feet of those who drove him to suicide.

To hold his tormentors accountable for the young life they had ruined.

To return even a fraction of that pain and suffering.

He was sinking deeper and deeper into his pain, and Frisk could feel it too. All of the wrongs that had been done to Chara never left him. Even when he was surrounded by a loving family, they couldn't heal all of his wounds. Chara found himself rescued by Asriel, and in in no time at all, Chara was belittling and coercing his adoptive brother; he knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help it.

Frisk reached further into Chara's damaged SOUL and touched those deep wounds. Poor Chara had never felt love before, and when his new family took him in, he devoured it greedily.

By instinct, he manipulated Asriel into depending on him emotionally. He couldn't get enough of Asriel's adoration, or his loyalty.

"You did the same to me, didn't you?" Frisk smiled. "You earned my trust and made me fall in love with you. And nearly convinced me to go through with your horrific plan. You wanted us to lure the monsters up to the surface and kill them."

Chara replied, and it was almost as if Frisk could hear his voice:

"I loved being loved by you."

"You are still loved.." Frisk responded, squeezing one of her pillows to her chest. "I can feel that you need me. You can't exist without me, and I certainly would not have survived without you. Now we really are together forever, exactly as we wanted. In fact, sharing a SOUL and a body, we're about as intimate as two people can get."

Frisk felt Chara's intense shame and vulnerability.

"I can see all that you are, and I love you still.." she whispered. "But don't think I'm like that crybaby brother of yours.. I'm made of much stronger stuff. I have a better plan than yours."

Chara listened quietly. He put his pain aside, the better to hear her.

"The Determination we share, that's mine. But the precision, the dexterity, the ambition (remember when you knitted that sweater for 'King Dad'?) all those things are yours. Each time something increases – the customers we serve, our achievements, our salary – that feeling: that's you. That's what you really want: the power to decide your own fate. So, Chara, let's succeed. Let's spite all those people who did us wrong. Let's humiliate them... by surviving!"

Determination burned in Frisk's heart, and Chara forgot his sadness.

"Come, Chara, let's go to sleep. It feels good, doesn't it? Tucked into one bed, our heads sharing a single pillow…"

"Yes", replied Chara, "When I'm with you, I feel warm. Despite everything, we're still here together."

Writer's note:

So… what happened to those deleted scenes?

The violent deleted scene is now published (Rated M) under the title 'The True Monster'.

The 'Charisk-y' bit will never be published, but I will continue to make it available on request.