Wow, you guys blew my mind. Seriously, I really did not expect so many views on this story so fast. Thank you so much for checking this out, and even more so to those who've followed, favourited or reviewed it. It really helps me keep motivated to write.

So, I've decided to start uploading twice a week. My little gift to you. I will now be uploading on Mondays as well as Fridays. I hope you continue to enjoy, things are starting to get more intense...

Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters. however, The Defiler is mine.

Frisk floated aimlessly about the grey, lifeless world around him. He didn't seem to have a body, or any control over where he floated. Still, there was something calming about the whole scene, and he was more than content to continue this way forever if he needed to.

After an indeterminable amount of time, he looked down on the word below him, and saw Chara, appearing as she did in his mental image of her, wearing a green shirt with a pale yellow stripe through the middle and dull brown pants. She was the only thing he'd seen so far that had colour.

He was happy when he floated after her, following her though this dreamscape. He'd had dreams like these before. They were rare, but as far as he could tell, they were a side-effect of two souls sharing one body. He was seeing Chara's dream.

Ghostly figures began to appear in the land around them. There were four of them, standing together in the mist. Their figures were blurred and colorless like everything else, but Frisk was fairly certain the two tall ones were Asgore and Toriel, which probably meant that the two small ones were Asriel and… Chara?

The coloured Chara seemed happy to see them and ran towards them, but just before she could reach them, they faded away, only to re-appear a short distance away. They seemed to be having fun, playing and talking together, though Frisk couldn't understand anything they said. Chara kept desperately chasing after them, calling out their names as she did so. But every time it was the same. They did not seem aware of Chara's presence and they always faded before she could reach them.

This went on for quite some time, and Frisk tried to go down to comfort her, but he was still unable to move of his own volition. He could only watch, helpless, as Chara got more and more desperate below him. At last, the family faded away and did not return, leaving Chara alone.

She fell to her knees, and Frisk could faintly hear the sound of crying from her. He tried again to go down to her, but he was forced to continue circling above. It reminded him of those times that Chara had been in control back in the Underground. He had been a prisoner in his own body, forced to watch as his friends were felled around him.

Suddenly, Chara clutched at her head and began to scream; a high-pitched wail of pure agony. Frisk watched in horror as she began to transform, her body morphing and growing until there was nothing left of her. Instead, a colossal being stood in her place, blacker than the void and the size of a mountain. It raised it's head and gave a howling laugh that shook the world around him.

The creature made a gesture and the world transformed. It became a place of light and colour. Frisk was raised to the heavens to see the world spread out like a jewel before him. He saw civilizations and fantastic creatures working and living together. He saw a world of magic and wonder, of hope and happiness.

Then he was pulled back down. And he saw more of the massive creatures, each with a different form and each more terrifying and bizarre than the last. They were walking through the world, smashing and destroying everything in their path. At their head was the being that Chara had become, and it was laughing. The armies of the world made war against the creatures. Frisk saw dragons and deific beings challenging the creatures. But they amounted to little more than an annoyance to be swatted away like insects.

As the darkness threatened to take over the whole world, the dream shifted. Frisk was now hovering above Waterfall, and he could see Chara below him, hiding in the same tall grass that had shielded him from Undyne's eye back in the Underground. She was trembling, her arms wrapped around herself as she glanced furtively around.

At a quiet sloshing sound, she ducked her head lower, and Frisk turned his gaze towards the sound.

It was the man from before. The one he had seen kill Flowey. He walked casually through the shallow water, his staff tapping silently against the ground as he did so.

"Chara." He called softly. Even though his voice was low, his call carried through the area, until all of the echo flowers were repeating him.

"I know you're there, Chara."

The girl in question shrank lower, covering her head with her arms.

"It will be so much easier if you just co-operate." The man's words were practically dripping with malice. And the echo flowers continuously repeating what he said seemed to be getting louder.

"You cannot escape me. You are a part of me. I will find you, and when I do…"

The dark laugh the man emitted was instantly taken up by the flowers and it got louder and louder until Frisk had to cover his ears against the wall of noise.

"We will be one again."

Chara's scream woke Frisk up. He sat bolt upright in his bed, absolutely covered in sweat. Chara's image was in a similar situation, and she seemed to be panting heavily. Frisk could feel her grasping for control, but he gently pushed her down.

It was just a nightmare, Chara. He said soothingly, trying to calm down the girl. Everything's alright now.

Chara put her head in her hands.

You.. you saw?

Frisk nodded.

I… I…

You don't need to talk about it. Frisk soothed. Chara was always vulnerable after a nightmare. Just go back to sleep, alright?

Idiot. But her voice held no real malice in it. It was more of a token gesture than anything else.

Frisk lay back down and closed his eyes. He felt Chara settle back down, but he wondered if she would actually go back to sleep. He vaguely hoped that she'd be alright before he drifted off.

Morning came, and Frisk went down to have breakfast with his mother. It quickly became apparent that Chara had barely slept during the night, and as her concentration waxed and waned, Frisk was once again subjected to her emotions, none of which were positive.

With his divided mind in turmoil, he was incredibly distracted; Toriel had to ask him three times to pass her butter for the waffles she had made that morning before he actually heard her. After breakfast, she sat him on her lap in one of the reading chairs in the living room, and asked him to tell her what was bothering him.

But he couldn't do it. Frisk began to feel the weight of all the secrets he was keeping, the promises he had to keep. He couldn't tell her about Chara or Asriel, and he was to frightened to tell her about the man from Chara's dream, the man who had destroyed Flowey without a second thought. His only response to her questioning was to cling tighter to her.

Fortunately Toriel seemed to understand. She held him for a while, before reaching over to the small table holding her favourite books just within arms reach of the chair. She selected one, then began to read aloud. Frisk let her soothing voice wash over him.

She was reading another book on snails, but that was alright. Frisk wasn't listening so much to the words, he just listened to her voice. Warm, strong and full of love.

It was a balance he needed with everything going on in his mind. He was scared. He was more scared than he could remember being. The simple reason for this was that Chara was frightened.

He had never felt fear from her before. Even when she had fought Sans and seen the skeletal monster's enormous power she had never been afraid of him. She'd been angry, frustrated, and, when she realized she couldn't beat him, bitter.

Even the nightmares that plagued her once in a blue moon had never evoked fear from her. Or at least, not she'd let him know about. Sorrow and anger, yes, usually in the vulnerable moment just after she woke up before she could collect herself. If she had been afraid, she'd never let him know it.

But now…

He let out a shudder, and snuggled deeper into his mother, who gave him a reassuring squeeze, never halting her reading to the boy. He closed his eyes, not wanting to think anymore.

He awoke to find himself wrapped in a blanket, his face gently pressing against the back of the armchair. He stretched and yawned, then pulled off the blanket and got down from the large chair to go in search of his mother.

From the smells coming from the kitchen, it seemed that she was cooking there. Frisk rubbed his eyes blearily and checked the clock as soon he entered the kitchen.

Five o' clock? He'd slept practically the entire day away!

Toriel pulled a chicken out of the oven and tested it. Satisfied, she looked over to where Frisk was still staring numbly at the clock.

"Oh! Frisk! I did not hear you get up, my child. How are you feeling?"

The sudden rumbling of the child's stomach quickly answered her question, and Frisk smiled sheepishly.

"Hee hee. Well, fortunately for you, dinner is nearly prepared." She leaned down and booped the boy's nose, eliciting a surprised giggle from him. "Falling asleep after breakfast and getting up in time for dinner. You're certainly grabbing life by the horns, aren't you, young man?"

Frisk took her joke as a challenge and wrapped his small hands around her horns, while giving the woman a bright smile. Toriel shook her head, pulling the child back and forth with her head motions. Her antics finally tore a laugh from Frisk's throat and he had to admit he felt a little better for doing so. His mother smiled widely at her success, then gently removed his hands from her horns and shooed him into the dining room.

"Go and sit down, small one. I will be there with the food shortly."

Frisk quietly ate his dinner across the table from Toriel. He pretended not to notice the worried looks his mom kept shooting him when she thought he wasn't looking. He couldn't shake the feeling that something very bad was about to happen, and the fact that Chara had apparently retreated into his subconscious did nothing to ease his nerves.

His mind kept wandering back to the man in Chara's nightmares. He was the same man from Chara's flashback in the ruins. He must be connected to Chara somehow, but what did he want? And why did he-

He felt Chara suddenly snap forward, pulling out of his subconscious and back into the forefront of his mind.

Chara? Are you-

Something's coming.

"Frisk, child?" Toriel asked worriedly, getting up from her place and walking towards Frisk. "What's wrong? You look very pale, and-"

A sudden sick feeling washed over Frisk, and he fell out of his chair at the force of it, letting out a quiet "oof" as he hit the floor. The feeling slowly drained away as he stood up, but it was quickly replaced by horror as the scene before him unfolded.

Several… things were attacking Toriel! They were shadowy figures and their bodies didn't seem to have a constant shape. They kept changing, bodies morphing themselves around Toriel's defences and out of the way of her retaliations. Toriel was desperately defending herself with her magic, and the creatures had only managed to get a few hits on her, but she was quickly being overwhelmed by them.

They're hurting her! Chara cried, her essence surging forward. Give me control!

Wait, we can stop this without hurting anyone! Frisk fought back, using his Determination to keep Chara from taking over.

"Why are you doing this?" Toriel cried out, narrowly avoiding an attack by another of the shadowy beings. "There is no reason for us to fight! Why- Urgh!"

One of the creatures morphed its arm into a spear, extending it so that it pierced Toriel's side. She backed up, but she was quickly pressed against the wall. The creatures showed no sign of letting up, nor did they make any reply to Toriel's words.

Frisk leapt forward and tried to pull one of the shadowy beings away from his mother, but he phased right through it and ended up crashing to the floor. His concentration was fraying as Chara renewed her assault on his mind.

Give me control, dammit! She screeched. They're going to kill her!

In desperation, Frisk reached for his Save file. He couldn't remember the last time he'd managed to Save, but whenever it was, it was worth going back to if all this could be avoided. As he tried to grasp hold of the familiar energy, however, there was a sharp pain that suddenly spiked in his skull, and he let out a cry, lowering his defences as he clutched his head.

It was all Chara needed to take control. Her eyes almost seemed to glow as she took over, pulling herself into a standing position. She could barely see Toriel under the mass of black that now engulfed her. Damn Frisk! He should have let her take control from the start!

But there wasn't time to dwell on that. She quickly ran to the table, grabbing the knife Frisk had been using to cut the chicken. It wasn't incredibly sharp, but it'd have to do. She rushed back into the fray, letting out an angry shriek as she began to slice at the apparitions.

"Leave." Slash. " My." Stab. "Mother." Swipe. "Alone!"

She could feel an unfamiliar energy building in her gut and slowly rising. With each swing of her weapon, one of the creatures dissolved into nothingness. They didn't turn to dust like a normal monster, but these weren't monsters, were they? They were… something else.

There was a burst of magic, and Chara had to hurl herself to the side to avoid the fiery blast that, it quickly became apparent, originated from Toriel. It caused the rest of the creatures to dissolve, leaving only Toriel breathing heavily before Chara. She had suffered several cuts, but she didn't seem too badly injured. Just to be sure, Chara focussed her power and viewed Toriel's life-force. She winced at the discovery. Shallow though they might be, those wounds had done a lot of damage. She would need healing, and soon.

"Are you alright, my child?" Toriel asked, ignoring her own wounds and stepping towards Chara. But she stopped as she noticed Chara's red pupils and registered the knife in the child's hand.

"Frisk? Are you…"

Chara whipped around, her eyes scanning the room. She thought she had felt…

Yes, there it was! There were more of those things coming, and they were coming quickly. She could feel their presence. It all seemed so familiar…

"There's no time, Mom, we have to go!" Chara grabbed her mother's hand and started pulling her towards the door, surprising Toriel with her strength.

They had to get out of here. If those things focussed on Toriel again, she wouldn't last for very long. They needed to get her somewhere safe, so she could rest and heal.

Suddenly, several of the dark presences were extinguished all at once. Chara stopped short, though she didn't let go of her mother's hand. She was asking her something, but she couldn't concentrate on that now.

Several more of them began to wink out of existence, and Chara furrowed her brow. None of them seemed to be able to make it to the house anymore. By the time any of them got close, their presences disappeared.

Was it a trick? Did they know she could sense them and were hiding their auras from her? She re-focused. There was no time for any of that! She had to-

"Ngaaah!"

The door burst open and Undyne bolted into the room. She was wearing her full suit of armour, even the intimidating helmet with its jagged teeth. She held a spear in her right hand, and there were two Human police officers right behind her. As soon as she saw them, the fish-woman ran towards them.

"Are you two alright? Are you hurt?"

"Mom's hurt pretty badly. She needs help."

Undyne glanced down at Chara, presumably out of surprise at her voice. But if she noticed anything odd about her eyes or demeanor, she didn't say anything.

"Rob, Grant. Grab Officer 02, I think he's been practicing healing magic. Then I want a perimeter set up around this house. I don't want to see a single one of those things anywhere near this place, got that?"

"Yes, sir!" The two officers made a quick dash outside at Undyne's orders.

As Undyne began removing her helmet, Chara helped Toriel into one of the chairs at the table, then went to stand next to the door, eyes darting around the yard, searching for more of those creatures. Frisk seemed really quiet, she could barely feel his presence. But she could worry about that later.

"Geez, Tori, they really roughed you up." Undyne grimaced, looking closer at Toriel's wounds.

"I am alright, Undyne." Toriel reassured her, though she was unable to hide the pain in her voice. "Frisk?" She called out. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, mom." Chara replied, not turning around. "They all came after you." She could see the armoured Dragon-Monster hurrying his way towards the house.

There were heavy footfalls from behind and Chara felt an armoured hand rest lightly on her shoulder.

"Hey punk, we've got this under control now. You're not gonna need that knife anymore."

Chara looked down in surprise. She'd actually forgotten she still held the weapon in her hand. Still, she hesitated. At least, until she saw Sans appear at the edge of the garden, and she swore she could see the images of a couple of Gaster Blasters fading away behind him. She sighed and placed the knife in the blue-scaled fish warrior's hand.

"See, Tori?" Undyne called, "Frisk was just taking up arms to protect you till I got here! Heh, I guess there is a little fighter in the punk after all!"

Chara couldn't help a smirk at Undyne's enthusiasm. She stepped to the side as 02 finally reached the door, panting slightly. He gave her a little nod, then ran past her into the house. Sans was also approaching, but at a walk, which didn't surprise her at all.

Frisk? You alright?

Ow.

You tried to load a Save, didn't you?

Y-yeah.

We're going to have a talk about that later. For now, though, you should take back control. Sans'll be more happy to see you than me.

Red eyes closed.

Brown eyes opened.

Frisk wobbled for a moment before steadying himself. He felt drained, and tired. He really didn't want to have the conversation he knew was coming. He turned back inside and was relieved to see some of Toriel's wounds closing under 02's ministrations. Undyne had retreated to the living room, and Frisk could hear her talking loudly, probably communicating with her forces.

Toriel made eye contact with him, and he steeled himself before walking over to her. He had no clue how to explain what had happened.

Any ideas? He asked Chara.

Mom got attacked, you tried to help. It happens.

...Thanks.

"Frisk?" Toriel asked cautiously as the boy approached. When Frisk raised his head, she furrowed her brow upon meeting his gaze. Before she could speak again,however, Undyne came in, a triumphant smirk on the warrior's face.

"Well, it looks like whatever those things were, they're gone now. My boys are just mopping up the last of them. Hah! Shoulda known better than to attack my city!"

"Do you have any idea what they were?" Toriel asked.

"Yeah, been wondering that myself."

Sans had come into the house and was leaning on the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. His ever-present grin seemed strained.

"Sans? What are you doing here?" Undyne asked, surprise evident in her voice.

"I was in the neighborhood. Bumped into a few of those things on the way. I tried to make conversation, but they really didn't seem to give a carp."

"Ugh." Undyne rolled her eyes. "02, head back to the station, and call everyone in. And I mean everyone."

"Yes, miss Undyne!"

Undyne returned her attention to Sans and Toriel.

"I don't know what they are, but I don't think they're Monsters. They're definitely magical though. I've never seen anything like them before."

Frisk took a deep breath.

"I think I might know what they are."