Chapter 4: Determination

It had been a little over a year since Chara had been living with Asriel and his family. During this time Chara was given the task of walking Asriel to school.

Ever since Chara had arrived Asgore had been telling the monsters of how he would be their new hope. Some delighted in his words but others were far skeptical. Many monsters had known the reason why they were trapped here and also why they couldn't escape.

Asgore only had one human soul and it would be impossible to break the barrier with at least one.

Many children had confronted Asriel about this. Several monsters had pushed Asriel in a corner once he had arrived at Monster school.

"Oh ho little Asriel doesn't have his wittle father to back him up. Must be the curse of being royalty."

"Leave me alone," Asriel cried out.

The monsters slammed him into the wall.

"Your father is nothing but a liar. He's all talk but he doesn't even have the ability to set us all free."

Chara caught him after school.

"Come on Asriel, we got to get home."

Looking to his side, Chara saw that Asriel was upset.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"It's those kids again. They said my father doesn't even have the power to open the barrier."

Chara smiled.

"It's alright. They're nothing but bullies."

He patted Asriel on the shoulder.

"This sucks. I'm useless. We were doomed from the start. I don't know why we don't just give up," Asriel said before they headed inside their house.

The two walked to their room and Chara shut the door behind them.

"Listen."

Chara lunged for him, grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. He looked deep into Asriel's eyes.

"You can't give up. There must be a way. Didn't mom say that a monster can cross the barrier if they only have one soul?"

Asriel nodded.

"That would be mean we'd have to commit murder."

"You'd only need to gather six human souls if I die."

Asriel's eyes widened.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm being completely serious. That skeleton said that those buttercups are toxic right?" Chara asked. "Once I eat those flowers it's pretty clear that I will die."

"I don't like this idea, Chara."

"It's fine, I've already accepted it."

"I don't want you to die though."

Tears gathered at the corners of Asriel's eyes.

"Don't be such a crybaby."

"Wh..what? N-no, I'm not...big kids don't cry."

"Yes, and you're a big kid aren't you?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"You'd never doubt your brother would you?"

"No, I'd never doubt you, Chara...never..."

Chara grinned.

Asriel smiled.

"Y...yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone."

"That's the spirit."

"I'll go get the flowers."

Chara spotted the video camera on the top of the toys with the cap still on. There was a flickering red light indicating that the video camera was still on. He turned it off.

"Tell mom, I'll be back by dinner time."

Chara snorted before he removed the video. There was no need for any of their parents to know their plan.

Once Asriel had left the house to gather buttercups in the field outside the village, he was so excited that he hadn't looked up until it was too late. Asriel fell on his butt and looked up to find none other than Sans.

"Sans, I didn't expect to run into you. Did you need to see my father or something?"

"Nah, I just wanted to stop by to say hello. What are you doing out here so late?"

"Oh..." Asriel stammered. "I-I-Listen can you keep a secret?"

Asriel looked up, tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.

"I can't make promises, kiddo."

"Please."

Beads of sweat dripped down the skeleton's skull. His discomfort seemed to translate into patting him on the shoulder as if to console the youth.

"Alright, relax kid."

"I'm scared. I was talking with my brother. He said he'd help me get past the barrier to the human world to collect enough souls to shatter the barrier and release all the monsters but he's going to die. I don't know if I can do it."

Sans could recall memories of a time when his father had told him bedtime stories.

His father often told him of legends of a monster risking his life to save a human from a deadly poison. The humans had thought that the human and the monster had died.

Days had passed but the monster had awoke, his hands reached up to his chest for invisible wounds. It screamed in horror once it caught sight of the claws.

It sat in the corner of a dark cave sobbing silently. Dwelling upon its current situation, it seemed to have access to a closed off part of it's mind shrouded in equally dark caves.

Its friends was sitting on the ground.

"What's going on? Why are you here?"

"I don't know. The last thing I remember you were sick and I was trying to find an antidote. When I came back you were already dead and the humans killed me."

"No, that's impossible. You're lying."

"But it's true."

"I don't believe you."

The monster theorized to have come to the village by the human's intent had seen it's family and friends. The ones it had acquired when it had once been human. All the humans now looked at it with anger and fear.

"DIE!"

It was later when his father had taken him in as an apprentice that he had discovered that the story was true. Dr Aster had discovered that a monster absorbing a human soul happens to share it with the human. If the intent of the human is stronger than the human can take over the body.

That human that was with the king's son had tried to kill the king. A person with such an intent probably had no qualms about killing anyone. The human had been smiling at the idea of harming the child's father. No human being possessed such glee upon killing a living soul unless they were a monster.

"Look I'll help you kid."

Sans walks away certain that the problem is already solved, certain that the king's son wouldn't follow though with the human's plans.

He doesn't see the large frown on Asriel's face.

All Asriel could hear is Chara talking to him, calling him a traitor.

He picked a bouquet of buttercups from the field and brought them home without his father or mother ever noticing him return.

As the days goes by there are rumours of the human falling ill. Sans feels a sense of dread. He wonders how the king and queen are handling it and how the human must feel sentencing them to the grief in finding their adopted child dying.

Sans visits them the following day. Toriel is holding a picture of a yellow flower that the human has drawn.

"I want to go home," Chara whispers. His voice is raspy. "I miss the village. It's where I lived my entire life."

"Dad, I think he wants to go home," Asriel said.

"Well, we can't take him to the surface it's too dangerous."

Yes, the moment any monster had gone to the surface with a dead body, the humans would inevitably assume that the monster was responsible. It would have been the start of another war between humans and monsters.

Revenge was what the humans called it, an emotion with the strongest violent intent.

The plan was becoming clear, the fallen human had wanted to start another war between them. Odds are it was some kind of revenge against the people who had scorned him.

He couldn't let that happen no matter what or all the monsters would be killed. Chara turns his head towards him. The human frowns.

Sans sees the smile on his face and wonders what prompted it. He knows that it's certainly not a smile indicating happiness. His eyes are cold, his brows furrowed in anger. It looks to be a spiteful smile though what kind of malicious intent the human has is beyond the skeleton's comprehension.

Sans leaves the castle feeling a little bewildered by the human's emotions. He heads into the deeper depths of the castle. The barrier to the outside world only allowed could only be broken if he'd allow them to leave.

It's midnight when he hears the sound of bare feet against the stone floors. It's the king's son but he's different somehow. He's grown a set of horns and three sets of stripes on both sides of his face. His eyes are hallow.

"Kid, are you feeling alright?" Sans asks even though he knows the answer.

The kid is quiet. He frowns.

"Let...me...through..." The kid says, his voice broken by tiny sobs.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that, kiddo."

The kid snarls and screams as if he were going insane. He conjures a line of fireballs and shoots them at Sans.

The skeleton dodges it.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave. You see I did, a lot of humans wouldn't be happy to see a monster coming from below the surface with a dead human in their hands."

The kid's eyes turn red, smiling with bare teeth.

Sans know this isn't the king's son. That the kid probably absorbed the human's soul out of desperation. The human had partial control over the kid's soul.

It lunges towards him and Sans shoots out a barrage of bones from the ground and hurls them at the monster.

The human stumbles upon some of them causing some of the bones to break in half. Some of the flying pieces had scratched up his face.

"Are you going to give up, kid? You don't know who you're dealing with."

This human, the monster growled and conjured a fire ball lunging towards him.

He stopped in front of Sans about to burn him.

"Not there, kid."

Sans suddenly vanished from in front of him. The monster turned in the direction of the voice and was startled by Sans who had suddenly appeared and kicked him in the gut.

He fell to his knees.

"Give up kid. You don't stand a chance."

Sans sees the corpse is in front of him. The monster is looking down, his shoulder drooped.

"Are you alright, kid?" He asked walking closer.

Sans doesn't see him pulling out the knife until it's too late. He feels the cool metal against his ribs.

"Let me through or I'll kill you."

The blade shakes in his hand. Sans wonders why he hesitates then he sees the monster move the knife from his ribs and in a split second stabs himself in the heart.

Sans suddenly hears the monster chuckling softly. It evolves to mad laughter.

Somehow he knows it's the human. The thought of losing must have been so frustrating.

"You traitor," The human snarls.

"You know what'll happen if I go out there."

"You're nothing but a fool, Asriel," Chara said. He looked up glaring at Sans. It's apparent that it's a look filled with nothing but hatred. "Don't think this is over. I'll make sure you pay for this."

Chara feels his consciousness fade away. He wants revenge on that wretched skeleton. From the calendar hung in their room, he realises at this point that today was the day he had come up with that plan to kill himself and get revenge on the human world.

'Asriel had to have told that skeleton about it. He was having second thoughts about it. What a coward.'

"Chara, I'm going to be late for school. We got to go."

Chara put his shoes on and followed Asriel.

On the way to school, Asriel observed that Chara was more talkative than usual.

"Say Asriel, I've been wondering this for a while but who is Sans anyway? Does your family know him very well?"

"Well, he mostly drops by to deliver messages from his father who happens to work for my father as a royal scientist. I heard his entire family is into the science field."

"He seems like he's a very close friend of the family."

"Nah, I think he really likes my mom though. They usually exchange a line of bad puns. He's never tried talking to me except for that one time when we heading to the capital."

"He seems a little creepy though. I mean when he did come over he was looking at us funny, when we were baking that pie."

"Really?" Asriel asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I saw him."

"That is creepy."

After Chara headed home, Toriel greeted him at the door.

"Hey Chara, I'm sorry to bother you like this but I wanted to ask you a question. You want to take a walk with me to Waterfall? There is something I want to show you."

Chara nodded. Last time she had asked, he had refused.

"It is a long way though. I'll ask Sans if he can join us."

'Perfect,' Chara thought. He had already told Asriel his plans and he could have second thoughts about it this time.

The two headed for the capital. There was a large building in the center of the city where according to Toriel, the royal scientist lived with his family.

Toriel knocked intently on the door.

"Come in," A soft voice came from the other side.

She cautiously opened the front door. There was a large white couch that stood facing a stone fireplace. A skeleton with long stringy blonde hair, a pink fluffy scarf, blue bell bottoms and pink heels sat on the couch with her skeletal hands folded.

She looked up with dark hallow eyes.

"Toriel, I wasn't expecting to see you. Did you want to talk with my husband?"

"No, Arial. I was hoping to talk with Sans."

Arial got up and headed to the far end of the room. She opened the door a hair speaking softly.

"Sans, the queen wishes to speak with you."

"So she has a bone to pick with me does she?"

"SANS," She snarled.

Chara can hear him chuckling.

"You have no sense of humor."

He plopped into the room as Arial had put her hand to her forehead and sighed in exasperation.

"Is there a reason you wished to see me your majesty?" Sans asked.

"We were both heading to Waterfall and I wondered if you wanted to come along?"

Sans glanced at Toriel.

"Heh, heh."

Chara noticed his eyes didn't seem to leave hers.

'What a creep!'

Sans shrugged.

"Well, if you insist."

The three headed out.

"Be careful won't you, Sans," Arial said. "You know how much I worry about you."

"Ok."

As he walks with the two to Waterfall, Sans can't help but sense someone watching him. There is a chill that creeps up his spine. It's coming from the left side. The human is glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

It's a cool gaze, dull from sorrow and frustration. It's as if they had experienced some horrible past encounter. Nothing from the human's behavior however seemed to have indicated that Sans had did anything malicious.

Still he felt something strange from simply returning the gaze. A foreign thought passed his mind.

'I have to get away from him before he stabs me.'

Why Sans would have a fear of the human killing him he had no idea? He wondered if this human child even had a knife?

When they had stopped in Waterfall, Toriel had gone off to gaze at a waterfall by a bridge. Chara was by the lake where two bluish flowers peered on into the water. Sans walked next to him.

"So kid, do you like the scenery?"

"I suppose it could grow on you," Chara said.

"Would you say it looked better on the surface?"

"No, it looks about the same to me."

There was a moment of silence.

"Say kid, have you killed anyone? I'm only asking because every time I looked at you I can't help but feel in some other time that you might have tried to kill me."

Sans sees the human's left eye twitch and he begins to suspect it's true. He has no memory of ever getting into this encounter. The only explanation is either the human had the ability to wipe memories or somehow the human had gone back in time to change it from ever happening.

The first one simply wasn't possible. Humans couldn't acquire magic through normal means and using magic had severe affects on the human body. An overuse of simple magic took a toll on a human's life span.

So a human wiping every monster's memory of this encounter would have been an impossible feat without shattering their own soul.

There was no reason for the human to even confess that he had.

"Would you tell me if I asked?"

Chara simply chuckled.

He revels in knowing that even if Sans knew that he had tried to kill him, he will never know the reason. Chara has to give him credit for being such a pain in the ass. Everyone he had met has never cared one way or another. Even Kenny hadn't faced him in the end resorting to telling the keeper of the orphanage, a woman who only gave him a pat on the wrist.

Chara had remembered the first time he had used this power after he had died. The situation was similar to this one. Many time lines he had tried to get closer to Sans just to see whether the skeleton turned any better on further acquaintance and if there was a chance of him divulging his secrets. There was clearly more to him than met the eye.

One of the strangest things about the skeleton was that even on further acquaintance, Sans was still very distant and secretive.

'I wonder how much it would take before you begin to shatter. How long would it take before you break?'

Chara finds himself torn when his plan actually starts to work. He wants to stay in this endless loop seeing whether he can make that skeleton break but he also strives to see the humans suffer.

It's with reluctance that he follows through. He finds that Sans only has memories of events that happened from the timeline before. Chara should have figured it out earlier from the many times the two had crossed paths. Perhaps he had been so blind by his hatred for the skeleton that he hadn't realised.

Chara thinks with Asriel he can make the humans suffer. He hears children begin to scream and he sees the woman who had once been his guardian.

"We got to call for help. That monster will kill the children."

Any kind of maternal feelings that he might have felt were vanquished by her words. Now he can only remember the times in which that woman had mistreated him, keeping him out of activities where he'd usually play with the other kids, punishing him for his little pranks.

"KILL THEM," Chara's intent seeps through.

Asriel's hands are shaking. It's fear though none of it comes from Chara.

It's ironic that the reasons Asriel doesn't want to kill them was due to their inseparable bond. Asriel remembers when they gathered the golden flowers in the garden. He remembers when they made that pie. Chara realises that little insignificant things like that were things that were important to Asriel.

Asriel walks to the village. It's slow because by the time they arrive the humans are already there with guns aiming them at the monster.

He sees the flowers in the middle of the village.

"I can't."

Just about every human backs away. Chara however notices that a man seems to be backing up towards one of the house. He wonders if the man is hiding something.

Asriel steps closer.

"Go away. You're not welcome here, monster."

The man points his gun at him. His hand is trembling.

"I won't let you harm my family. Get any closer and I'll shoot."

Asriel moves once more.

"KILL HIM!" Chara screams maniacally.

Asriel conjures a fireball in his hand.

The man gulps. Suddenly Chara hears bullets coming from behind.

Chara senses Asriel growing weaker but even with all of his determination pressing through Asriel's defenses, Asriel's walls of determination keep him going strong. For some reason, Asriel is determined to spare the humans despite everything they had done.

'To them I am the monster. My father used to tell stories of how life was on the surface. Humans and monsters were able to coexist at one point but one day a human had died from the surface. The humans discovered that once the monster had absorbed it's corpse that it grew more powerful. They feared that the monsters would use this power to destroy them.'

Asriel sensed Chara's surprise.

"Now you're deciding to pity them because of this?"

Chara's voice was loud and biting.

Asriel snapped.

"They are only protecting themselves. What will happen if I attack them? If they die, they will attack my family next. That barrier doesn't stop humans from coming in, it's stops monsters from coming out."

It's in a situation like this that Chara for the first time feels awful. All those time loops where he had tried to get his revenge and he hadn't been thinking of Asriel's feelings at all. He had become a monster and deserved to die right where he stood.

"I'm sorry, Chara."

Chara embraces this as his punishment.

Asriel manages to make it back wanting to say good bye to his parents for the last time. He just makes it to the garden in his father's throne room before he collapses to his knees succumbing to his wounds.

The shadow of a monster looms over him.

"Dad! I'm sorry."

He looks up but it isn't his father staring down at him but Sans. The idea is a haunting prospect that even in death, Asriel wouldn't be able to say 'bye' to his own father.

His consciousness fades and Chara sees Sans for the last time through Asriel's eyes.

"By this point, you've already figured out my plan but this time you're too late. Even after I'm dead, it'll be satisfying knowing that you've never won."

Chara smiles.

"I recall you asked me a question. I never did get around to answering it did I? Truth was I didn't think you'd be very happy with the truth. It's not every day you discover your pleasure in life is going back in time just to see someone else suffer. Yes, I tried to kill you. I did it in just about every time line I've experienced. HAHAHAHAHA."

Chara closes his eyes as his body vanishes to dust.