Chapter Nine: Defense
Frisk simply looked at her older sister in horror, looking at the knife wound in Chara's chest. Blood oozed out of the wound (not a lot, but it was definitely coming out).
Chara simply looked at the knife sticking out of her chest, almost confused. She pulled the knife out of her chest and looked at it.
"Knife." She said, slightly amused. "My choice of weapon. This one is very intricate."
"You didn't even flinch." The woman said, shocked. "H-how?"
"Try having a bone shoved through your chest." Chara said, looking at the blade again. "Or having a giant hole blown through your chest.
Chara stuck her tongue out of her mouth and leaned it closer to the blade.
"Ew!" Frisk said, realizing what Chara was about to do. "You don't know where that's been."
"Ehn meh thetht (in my chest)." Chara said, her tongue still out of her mouth. She licked the blade, licking up some of her blood. She then smacked her lips trying to figure the taste. Her eyes widened slightly out of recognition. She threw the blade on the ground, shattering it.
"Buttercup poison." She said, looking at the woman. "You're no amateur, are you?"
"So" the woman said, her eyes narrowing. "You know of the buttercups?"
"Yeah." Chara said, growling a little. "I've encountered them a few times."
"Then you should know of their potency." The woman said. "You'll be dead in seconds."
"No." Chara said, a small smile forming on her lips. "I'm immune to the buttercup poison."
"What?!" the woman exclaimed. "How!?"
"The last time I encountered the buttercups" Chara said, chuckling. "I ate fifty of them before I got sick and I still lasted three weeks before the poison finished its work. A few drops of one flower won't do much to me."
"Th-that's impossible!" the woman exclaimed. "No human could even handle five before dying in a day."
"I'm not like other humans." Chara said, her eye flashing red for a split second. "Now, let me show you a real blade."
Frisk grabbed Chara's arm, knowing what the violent teenager was about to do. Chara looked at her with eyes that seemed inhuman, like she was committed to this action and Frisk was the only thing able to prevent it.
"Don't do this." Frisk plead. "Please, don't fight her. You'll get hurt."
"I've been hurt before." Chara said, glaring at the woman. "I'll be able to handle it."
"Please, Chara." Frisk said, her eyes wide. "You don't know her, what she can do to you, what she's done, what she's done to me."
"Chara?" the woman said quietly. "That name…"
"Lady." Chara said, her tone fierce. "I don't know who you are, but I can tell that Frisk is terrified of you and doesn't want to go anywhere with you. And I'm not gonna let you hurt her."
"If you thought that that knife was the only weapon I could use to harm you" the woman said. "Then you're sorely mistaken."
"Leave my sister alone." Chara said, her eye turning redder.
"Chara.' Flowey whispered. "I'd be careful around this one. Something's off about her, but I can't place it."
"Sister?" the woman said, her eyes flashing (as in anger) for a second. "You're not her sister."
"Yes I am." Chara said. "And, I'm not letting her go anywhere with you if she doesn't want to."
"I know what's best for Francesca." The woman said.
"Well, if she's that afraid of you" Chara said, growling. "I don't really think you do."
"All right, that's it." The woman said, dropping the trench coat. Underneath the trench coat, she wore what seemed like a bodysuit mixed with armor.
Chara stepped closer, her eyes turning red.
"This girl." The woman thought to herself. "What is with her? She seems strong. And her name…"
The woman joined her hands together as if she was trying to use jutsu. Frisk grabbed onto Chara tightly, as if the hand motions were the scariest thing she'd seen. Chara looked at the woman with confusion.
Suddenly, the woman looked towards her ear. She picked up her trench coat and put it back on.
"I'll deal with the two of you two later." She said. "Know that I'm not finished with you, Francesca."
"I'll say you are." Came a voice from behind the girls. They looked to the source to see Toriel standing in the door. The woman's eyes widened and her face turned into a growl.
"Toriel." She said under her breath.
"Leave my children alone." Toriel said, stepping forward, fire in her eyes. Even though she wasn't as powerful as Chara, she could give any human a pretty good fight.
The woman looked at them, as if calculating her chances.
"hmm.' She thought. "I might be able to handle Toriel, especially at this point. But, that girl might prove to be a problem. I have no idea what she is, but she's definitely a problem if she decides to start a fight."
"This isn't over." The woman said, raising her hand, a strange device in it. She disappeared, leaving the five of them (Toriel, Frisk, Chara, Flowey, and Kid) outside the school.
"Chara.' Toriel said. "What happened?"
"That bitch…" Chara began.
"I meant your sweater." Toriel said, pointing towards Chara's sweater, which had a tear and some blood stains on it.
"'Tis but a scratch." Chara shrugged.
"It looks like a stab wound." Toriel said, inspecting the cut. Her heightened sense of smell (it was almost double that of a normal human's) picked up a familiar scent.
"Buttercups." She whispered.
"Eh, I'm immune." Chara shrugged.
"How?" Toriel asked.
"I ate like fifty of them back in the Underground." Chara said. "Still took me three weeks to die."
"Fifty?" Toriel said, looking at Chara, impressed. "I had no idea you'd eaten so many."
"Kid's a badass." Flowey said, shrugging.
"Well" Toriel said, looking at them. "You four had better get to class. You're late."
"On it." Kid said, walking in with Toriel. Flowey snaked his way down Chara's arm and burrowed into the ground.
"Frisk." Chara said, turning to Frisk and putting her hands on her shoulders. "Who was that woman?"
"I-I don't want to talk about it." Frisk said.
"Frisk." Chara said. "You're gonna have to tell me. Whoever she was, she's someone that seems to want you. You've got to tell me so I can keep you safe."
"I-I can't." Frisk said, looking down as memories flooded back, memories she didn't want to relive.
Suddenly, she realized they were in an entirely different location. Frisk looked around to see that they were in the Judgement Hall, the room they'd encountered Sans in and where Frisk had died. Chara used this place as the place she and Frisk could share secrets without the threat of being discovered.
"Frisk." Chara said, her expression empathetic. "You've got to tell me. It's okay. I won't let her hurt you."
Frisk said nothing. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Chara. Chara put her arms around Frisk, rubbing her back. She knew from experience that if Frisk didn't say anything, it was pretty bad. She never did want to talk about her past when Chara had first officially met her. She always avoided the question. Chara had shrugged it off as it wasn't the best, but from what she'd seen, her past must have been hell. That woman absolutely terrified Frisk and Chara could tell that she wasn't the type to give up easy.
"She's" Frisk said, trying to work up the courage to talk to her sister. "She's my mother."
In an unknown location
The woman (the same one from earlier) walked into the room, two men in similar trench coats turning to look at her.
"Did you get her?" they asked.
"What do you think?" she asked, irritated.
"I'm guessing 'no'." one of the men said.
"Toriel was there." The woman said.
"What?!" the men exclaimed. "Toriel?!"
"She came out in defense of Francesca." The woman said. "Apparently, Francesca lives with her."
"That could complicate things." One of the men said. "Especially if there are other strong monsters living with her."
"That's not the worst part." The woman said. "There was a girl there who was very protective of Francesca."
"So what?" one of the men said. "It's just one girl."
"There was something different about this girl." The woman said. "I felt this strange power coming off of her, like she wasn't really using all she could muster."
"Think she can hide her power?" one of the men asked.
"I don't know." The woman said. "But, she not only didn't flinch when I stabbed her, she didn't take any effects from the buttercup poison on the knife."
"No way!" both men exclaimed.
"I don't know who she is" the woman said, crossing her arms. "But, she might be trouble."
"Want us to scope out her and Francesca?" one of the men said.
"I don't care." The woman said. "Be careful of that girl, though. She says she's Francesca's sister, so they might live in the same house."
"Can we get a name?" one of the men asked.
"Yeah." The woman said. "The name Francesca used was Chara."
"Chara?" one of the men said. "Kinda sounds like…"
"I know.' The woman said. "If it's not a coincidence, then we'd best not engage her. Better do this the subtle way."
"Right." The two men said, leaving the room.
With Frisk and Chara
"When I was little" Frisk began, her arms moved as if to shield her chest. Chara still had her arms wrapped around Frisk, though, holding her close. "I ran away from home. My mother used to do horrible things to me, things no caring individual would do."
"It's fine." Chara said comfortingly. "You don't have to go into it."
"No, I have to." Frisk said. "It has to be said, whether now or later."
"Alright." Chara said. "But, I'm not forcing you to do this if you don't want to. You can stop at any time."
"I know" Frisk said. "But, my mother used to do awful things no mother ever should."
"It's alright." Chara said. "She can't hurt you now."
"Sh-she tortured me." Frisk said, burying her face in Chara's shoulder. "She would tie me down and beat me and cut me. One time she even burned me. All because I wanted to make friends instead of fight. I finally managed to get away and I ran. I ran to Mount Ebott and jumped in, wanting to escape her in any way I could. I didn't know if I'd survive the fall."
She could feel Chara's grip tighten and her anger rising as well as her LV rising. She could tell Chara was angry, unbelievably angry. She couldn't see it, but she knew Chara's eyes were flaming red and potentially even bleeding. Frisk could tell Chara hadn't transformed into that thing she'd become when she fought that being in her mind, or even a step beyond that, but she was definitely unleashing a lot of her LV. Any nearby monsters would instinctively run from Chara when she was this angry.
"Frisk." Chara said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I promise that no matter what I will never let her hurt you again."
"Thank you, Chara." Frisk said, smiling, feeling safe and comforted in Chara's arms.
"Funny." Frisk thought to herself. "Not even mom (A/N: whenever Frisk says 'mom', it means Toriel—I'm only saying this since her birth mother's been introduced—if she was referring to her she'd say 'my mother') has arms this warm and embracing. Chara's sure changed since we met."
Awww. Such good feelings. But, aside from that, who the hell is this woman?! She seems to know Toriel, but she's also Frisk's mother. Who is she? and what are her 'plans' involving Frisk? Find out soon (i'm not sure if it's next chapter, so i won't say that)
