After leaving Alphys' lab, Frisk took the boat from a mysterious hooded ferryman to arrive back inside the waterfall cave. They wondered about why Chara would ask to meet them here, of all places. Traversing through the dark, winding paths of the cave reminded them awfully of the many times that Undyne had tried to kill them with her barrage of spears. They were friends with Undyne now, so they didn't need to worry about that again – but they would have preferred to meet someplace less dangerous, like Snowdin, or the MTT resort.
The sound of soft, trickling water from the ponds around the path helped calm their mind. There was a fresh and pleasant smell in the air that reminded them of the aftermath of a spring rainfall back on the surface. They had walked to the part of the cave that was like a marsh. The path here was surrounded by a maze of ponds and streams. A strange teal luminescence emitted out of the water, lending the walls of the cave an eerie glow. Tall cattails and blue echo flowers grew along the banks of the stream, the latter of which filled the air with their distant conversations.
They found Chara, eventually, sitting on a little wooden bridge that passed over one of the streams.
"Greetings," Chara said when Frisk arrived. "It took you a while to get here."
Frisk waved back, but Chara looked away.
"I had to talk with Alphys," Frisk replied. They still spoke quietly when they talked to Chara, preferring to be reserved.
When Chara didn't respond, Frisk sat down beside them. The bridge was very low, and they had to take off their shoes and let their feet dangle into the water. The stream was cool and shallow. It was relaxing feeling the water brushing against their feet and sifting softly through their toes.
Frisk looked up at the ceiling. As usual, it was lit up by a plethora of glow worms, and also by the light that emitted from the streams. The pinpoint glows were so much like little stars.
"You came from the surface, right, Chara?" Frisk spoke up. "Then, you must've seen the stars before, too."
"I have," Chara answered. "But, I try not to think much about it."
Frisk turned to face them. "Why not?"
"I...I've never liked the surface," Chara said. They stared down into the water with a glum expression. "I've always hated the human world. I wanted to escape from it. And, for a while, I wanted to destroy it."
They turned back to Frisk. "It probably isn't the same with you. You probably have trouble hating anything or anyone."
"Well..."
"Why did you even come down here?" Chara asked, raising their voice.
Frisk looked away from Chara's eyes. They kicked their feet through the water, making small splashes in an attempt to distract themselves. It was difficult for them to give an honest answer to that question. In truth, they didn't even know if there was an answer.
"I can't say," Frisk finally replied. This elicited a mean glare from Chara, and Frisk found themselves turning their face further away.
"What do you mean by that?" Chara demanded.
"I mean – well – it's not like I wanted to leave everything behind. But, at the same time, I wanted to explore someplace new, and maybe discover something nobody's ever seen before." A small smile started to spread across their face. "I guess I ended up finding more than I would have ever expected by climbing that mountain."
Chara folded their arms. "So, you don't regret falling down that hole?"
"I guess not," Frisk said. "What about you, Chara?"
"Me?"
For a few seconds, Chara closed their eyes and leaned back, pressing the palms of their hands against the floor of the bridge. They breathed in and out deeply. Slowly, their expression started to change. Their face became calm, and they started to smile in a wistful way, as if they were remembering something fondly. When they opened their eyes again, Frisk saw that the look in them had become distant – almost melancholic.
"How ironic. I can't give you a straight answer, either," Chara said with a short laugh. "Coming to the underground was both my best and worst decision."
"What do you mean?"
"You know what happened," Chara continued. "The son of the monster king, Asriel, found me, and their family took me in. They treated me like I was their own child."
Again, Chara's expression became glum, and their voice grew softer.
"But I betrayed them. You saw the tapes, Frisk. I wanted revenge on the humans, and I found the means to do it through Asriel. All I needed to do was die, and then Asriel could take my soul and cross the barrier. We'd kill six human souls together, and then – and then, we would've been able to shatter the barrier and free all the monsters."
Frisk stared at Chara, remaining silent. Something in the tone of Chara's voice had changed. It wasn't so fierce and resentful anymore. Something – it felt like a hint of sadness – was welling up within Chara's words.
"It was the perfect plan. Asriel and I could've saved the underground together. But, Asriel, they – they didn't listen to me. They didn't want to kill anybody. Because of them, our plan failed."
Chara pulled their legs up against their body and sank their head into their knees. There was a marked shift in their mood. Their voice became choked and muffled.
"We both paid the ultimate price. I could sense, even when I was in Asriel's body, that our failure would crush the hopes of every monster living in the underground kingdom. It meant that everything that I worked for would amount to nothing. Worst of all, it meant that I would be letting my family down – Asriel's family, who treated me better than any human ever did."
Chara brushed their head against their arms. Looking carefully, Frisk saw a streak of something wet against the sleeve of Chara's sweater. They had wiped away tears.
"Asriel, Toriel, Asgore – they believed in me, and I failed them."
Gradually, Chara raised their head again. They leaned forward, staring down at their reflection in the water.
"I was so confident," Chara said, their voice now a whisper. "I wasn't even afraid to die. Poisoning myself – letting my physical body expire – that wasn't the most painful part."
They turned to Frisk with tearstained and bloodshot eyes.
"The worst came when I realized that my soul would disappear forever once Asriel died. All of a sudden, I realized that I had nothing – nothing anymore."
"I wanted to scream, the instant before everything went dark. I felt so lonely. I was going to go to a place where there was nobody and no feeling, forever. I'd never feel the comfort of having another person close beside me again, or a person say that they cared about me, or, or–"
Frisk reached towards Chara and placed a firm hand on Chara's shoulder. Chara looked up at them, sniffing.
"Chara. You're not dead anymore," Frisk said. "I'm here for you."
They could feel Chara's body shaking, but they held on tightly. They realized, for the first time, that they were Chara's source of comfort. They were together, sharing a soul, without which Chara would descend into the void again – a void of non-feeling despair and complete emptiness. They would never let Chara fall back there.
"I-I suppose," Chara responded finally.
Frisk placed their arms around Chara's back and brought them together in a close embrace. They moved their hand up and down Chara's back, comforting them. Tears fell from Chara's eyes. Gently, Frisk pressed the side of their face against Chara's cheek. Against themselves, Chara felt warm and soft. They were definitely alive.
"You're here with me now. I won't let you go."
"F-frisk. I don't deserve this."
"You deserve it more than anyone I know."
Chara took a deep breath. "Y-you know that night, back at Snowdin Town?"
"Yeah."
"That was the night that I first got my body back. I reached out for you because I wanted to feel someone's embrace again. I'm...sorry, if that was unwarranted."
"It's okay."
"I was angry. I felt like the world gave me a soul again only so that it could make me suffer more. That's why I wanted to kill everyone...that's why I kept telling you to murder people."
Slowly, Chara pulled away from Frisk.
"Thank you," they said quietly. "But I can't stay with you yet. I've done something horrible. There's still someone that I – no, we need to help."
Frisk nodded. "You mean...?"
"Asriel."
Chara stood up and turned to face the other end of the bridge.
"I think...I think I'm ready," they said. "I'm ready to face Asgore. You've made lots of good friends, right? Together, we can maybe convince him not to fight us. And then...we can deal with Asriel."
Chara turned towards Frisk. There was a new look in their eyes now. They were no longer so dark and malicious. They were shining, full of hope – full of determination.
"When you fight Asriel, I'll be here with you," Chara said. "We'll save him together."
"Yes. Let's do it."
As they walked away from the bridge, Frisk began to hear echoes around them. It was the sounds of their own voices. Their conversation was being replayed, over and over again, by all the echo flowers that grew in the waterfall cave. They picked out, from amongst them all, Chara's voice -
"We'll save him together."
Author's note: This was a hard chapter for me to write. Looking back on it...I think it feels a little bit rushed. I always feel that my writing lacks something - a core emotion, some feeling that I had envisioned it to have, but found it lacking when I read over everything. I suppose I can get better at expressing these emotions only through practice. In the meantime, thank you for your reviews and comments, and as always, I'd appreciate more! =)