And from now on, I think I'll be going on a New-Chapter-every-2-days program. :P

I moved on without Chara, feeling sad. I had a feeling of wanting to prove her wrong, but at the same time, I just wanted her back. I missed her company.

As it turns out, the cracks were a lot harmless than I had imagined them to be, as there was a point where I was forced to step on them to continue. After falling down once, I figured it wasn't so bad, and I moved on without difficulty.

A new enemy approached, and as my soul appeared, I hesitated. This one was radish-shaped. He had a mouth and eyes, definitely creepy, but I found myself hesitating. Now with Chara gone... maybe I could attempt a little something else? If I could actually manage to defeat this monster without killing it, then maybe I could prove Chara wrong! Then she would see what I was made of.

Mind set, I dropped the stick and yelled at the monster, "I don't want to fight!"

The monster just snorted amusingly in response before sending his attacks at me. They were n assortment of healthy vegetables, but harder to predict since they jumped up and down in the most unpredictable patterns. I got hit.

Feeling angry that the monster was still attacking me despite my foolish attempts, I tried again. "I said, I don't want to fight!"

Instead of faltering, the monster only seemed more eager to fight. "Eat your greens!" He cheered in a high-pitched tone. This time, he sent carrots. I gagged a bit at the sight of them raining from the air. I got hit again. I wasn't faring so well.

I decided to try one last time. "...don't want to fight."

The monster just snorted disbelievingly as he sent another attack, and then I knew it was hopeless. You couldn't spare monsters. They were always going to try to kill you, despite what you did to make a peace effort. Feeling a bit angry about the whole situation, I picked my stick back up and swung it at the monster. They disintegrated into ash, screaming as they died.

New enemies started to pop up, ranging from frogs to more bug-shaped monsters. Yet, I continued to slay all monsters that got in my way. It didn't matter if it still made me feel queasy. After all, I now knew that trying to save them was hopeless. And also... I wanted Chara to know that her help to me was needed, and that I would take her advice seriously. If I could really become stronger by killing more, then I would do just that. It would not only prove my point of being able to survive on my own, but it would also show Chara that I valued her information and help.

I was starting to get really dusty.

After a few more puzzles and strange cases of talking rocks that weirded me out, I was met with a table of cheese. It looked like it had been sitting there for a long time. For some reason, it was stuck to the table. I felt confused until I heard the distant squeaking of mice. After some looking around, I found a nearby mousehole. Knowing that the mouse might one day leave its hole and get the cheese fills you with determination.

And then moving ahead, I found a ghost lying upon a pile of leaves. He was oddly translucent, but was still solid enough that I was scared to move past it. He was taking up the entire length of the hall, and the only way to pass it would be to move him aside.

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…" I warily approached the ghost, feeling apprehensive. Would it attack? Was it dangerous? The ghost continued to whisper, "Zzzzzzz.. Are they gone yet? Zzzzzzz…." I had no choice. I was going to have to move it with force.

I reached forward to push it aside, but stopped when my soul was drawn out. Uncertain, I watched as the ghost rose from his pile of leaves, looking sad and downtrodden. I had a sudden urgency to cheer him up, but Chara's message of monster's betrayal made my options waver. Remembering Chara's departure also made me feel guilty.

No! I couldn't feel sad during a fight. The ghost would just take advantage of that, and strike me when my guard was down. I quickly swung my stick, feeling energy surge into me. Surprise touched me when the stick went straight through him, leaving him completely unharmed.

"Nnnnnggghhh." Well, he sure sounded hurt enough. Maybe just passing the stick through him would be enough to get him down. In the next moment, he was crying fat, white tears. It took me a moment to realize it was the attack, and by then, one had already plopped onto my arm.

I yelped in agony as the liquid seeped onto my skin, scorching like acid. Was this ghost's tears actually acidic? Feeling desperate, I dodged around, trying my best to avoid the tears of pain. One got onto my shoe. Another slightly singed my skin. I could feel myself silently hating this ghost for being so difficult.

Feeling angry, I swung the stick, and once again it phased right through him. "Just pluggin' along…" He mumbled. "Really not feeling up to it right now. Sorry." He looked like he didn't want to be here. But I didn't either, yet here we were.

Seeing that he wasn't going to attack anytime soon, I took it as my chance to make another swing. Surely he was weaker now? The ghost let out another indescribable noise before more tears flowed from his wide, empty eyes. I tried to move away, but they almost seemed to be following me wherever I went. One moment they were behind me, and the next moment, they had circled around to face me from the front.

It was unavoidable for me to get hit. One hit my leg. Another singed my shirt. A couple more passed above my head. Feeling helpless, I attempted to duck, only to bring myself face-first into a couple more. My face burned. My body felt weak. I couldn't survive this.

If only Chara were here now. Surely, she knew the best way to beat this ghost. She probably knew the perfect way to dodge these attacks, to kill this thing. I winced as a few more acidic tears burned into my back. If she were still here, I would no doubt have already let her control me, just so I could get through this stupid-

Suddenly, my body lurched, and I jumped right over a whole parade of tears. My eyes widened in surprise, but my body was moving on its own, expertly dodging all things coming my way, and dealing with the attacks like a pro veteran. I could feel my limbs moving, but I wasn't the one moving them. I couldn't control myself, but at the moment, I didn't want to. I felt strong, undefeatable. I could only see through my eyes as I felt power surge through me.

Readying the stick in hand, I felt myself jump before landing a final blow on the ghost. It was strong. I was strong. It sliced cleanly through him, but the ghost was left completely unaffected. The attack was over, and I suddenly felt my strength leave me. Instead, I was just left in a terrible, hurt mess. I shook my head in disbelief. Where did the power go? What in the world had just happened to me?

"Um…" The ghost stared uncertainly at me. "You do know you can't kill ghosts, right?" I blinked at him, feeling particularly stupid. I couldn't? I hadn't known that. If only Chara were here to tell me. "We're sorta incorporeal and all… i was just pretending to be hurt because i didn't want to be rude…"

I could literally feel my jaw opening in disbelief. The whole time, I was trying to kill him, and the ghost was just trying to be… un-rude? (If that was even a word)

"Sorry…" He suddenly apologized, "i just made this more awkward… um, pretend you beat me…"

"Wait, what-" Before I could stop him, he was already disappearing.

"Ooooooo…" And he was gone, leaving my hand still half sustained in the air. Sighing, I brought my hand back down. I didn't even get to figure out his name.

He was right, this was awkward.

"So, how was it?" A voice said next to me. Confused, I turned around to find Chara.

"You're back!" I exclaimed with maybe too much enthusiasm.

She smirked in response. "Miss me?" She gestured to the pile of leaves where the ghost had just been. "By the way, you would be dead by now if it weren't for me."

"Huh? How? You didn't even do anything!"

"Think harder." Chara insisted.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I still don't get it. I beat that ghost all on my own, after my body started to…" I stopped as I suddenly realized what might've happened. "No, wait. You didn't actually…"

"I controlled you." Chara beamed, no trace of guilt anywhere. "And look how great we did! We make a good team."

"What? No!" I could feel anger start to build up in me, all previous excitement gone. "You controlled me? I thought you said I had to give you consent in order for you to do that!"

"You did." She pointed out, an eyebrow raised.

"No, I didn't…" But then thinking harder… during the fight, I just might've thought something along that line. That just made me more frustrated. "Well, ok fine. I did, but you know I didn't want to be controlled, and yet you still-"

"You still don't get it, do you?" Chara was now giving me an annoyed look, like I was the one that was supposed to be apologizing. "I already told you so many times, and you still don't get it."

"Get what?" I asked, completely bewildered.

"That you can't trust anyone down here. Don't give me that look. I saw the way you were staring at that ghost. You were feeling bad for him, weren't you?" Chara's voice was loud and accusing.

"Well so what if I did?" Surely it couldn't be all that bad? What was so terrible about making a few friends here and there?

"If you let your guard down around monsters, they'll take advantage of it, and strike you right when your back is turned!" Chara sounded frustrated. "Don't you get that?"

I blinked confusedly back at her. "But he seemed nice enough!"

"Seemed." Chara pointed out.

"And he was just a sad, depressed ghost that needed some cheering up!"

"An act."

"He didn't want to be there. He didn't want a fight."

"Yet he still hurt you." Chara stared pointedly at the bruises on me, caused by the acid tears.

I was starting to get annoyed by how Chara had an answer for everything. "He didn't want to be rude…"

"Yet he still made things awkward." Chara shook her head. "Don't you see? He was just trying to make you look stupid! The whole time you were hitting him, he didn't even spend one moment to think about whether to tell you if it was effective or not. It was all planned from the beginning."

My temper was growing low. "Well, if you had just been here to tell me, then I wouldn't have had to go through that!"

"Oh," Chara drawled sarcastically. "So now it's on me, huh?"

"Yeah!" I shouted back. "It is on you! If you had just been here when I needed you, then those problems would've never even occurred!"

Chara stared at me harder before her gaze softened. "But I was there when you needed me. Isn't that enough?"

I stared at her. After the truth of her words finally sank into me, my anger started to die down as well. She had never really left me at all. She had still appeared when I was in danger. "Yeah, well…" I took a deep breath. "Just don't leave again. Please?"

Chara paused a moment before nodding in agreement. "Still. Don't give me that 'controlling you' lecture again. I know you enjoyed it."

"Did not!" I protested. But even then, I could remember that moment when I fought the ghost. I had felt strong and powerful, controlled and unbeatable. But I wasn't going to be admitting that to Chara. Because no matter how amazing it was… it was still wrong.

Chara smiled. "Suit yourself. But I know you'll have to come to acknowledge it someday."

"We'll see." I huffed. Seeing my expression, Chara let out a small laugh. I smiled back at her, but said nothing.

I was just glad she was back.

There were less and less of them now.

After killing a couple of spiders due to fear, accidentally falling down more holes, and pressing random buttons for fun, I finally found myself at a fork in the road. The whole time, Chara was there to guide me and instruct me on what to do and where to go. I found that spending time with her made my time through the Ruins a lot more bearable.

"Keep going forward." Chara instructed me. "It's time we got something better than a thin stick."

"Something better?" I questioned, moving down the hall.

"You'll see."

After finally reaching the end of the hall and taking a left, I was met with the view of a huge city. There were many buildings, and they were all big and grey. A dull color that gave of an abandoned aura of loneliness. Did monsters live here? I shivered just thinking about the amount of them.

I was so busy admiring the city that I hadn't noticed Chara moving away until she beckoned to me. Wondering what she was about to show me, I followed her to the corner of the balcony.

"Take this." She ordered me, gesturing to a silver thing lying on the ground. It looked like a knife. Feeling wary, I bent down to closer examine it, and I realized it was just a toy. Feeling slightly reassured, I picked it up. The handle was rubbery, and the blade was plastic. It was better than a stick… but not much better.

Still holding onto it, I cast Chara a grateful glance. "How did you know it would be here?"

"I know every nook and cranny of the underground." Chara replied simply. "Now come." She moved away from the room. Admiring the city one last time, I turned around and followed her out.

Now back at the fork in the road, I took the other turn. Ahead was a big black tree. The color it had resembled the burnt bark of forest trees that had been burned to ash. Just staring at it made me nervous. It had no leaves.

Then further ahead, I saw a purple cottage surrounded by colorful leaves. It was pretty small, and neat-looking. It reminded me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Seeing such a cute, tidy house in the Ruins fills you with Determination.

"Who lives here?" I asked Chara.

"That big goat monster." She replied, and I could immediately feel myself stiffen up. "She's a hard one to beat. Maybe we should go back and kill more monsters before approaching her."

I slowly nodded. Chara always knew what was best. I had to get more… Love. Still remembering Flowey's use of terms, I turned around and marched back towards the hall. I had to get stronger. Not that I knew how defeating more monsters could make me better, but I had to try if it would help.

"It does help." Chara told me, like she was reading my mind. "It not only gives you experience to fight battles better, but it also improves your ability to last longer."

"To last longer?" I pondered. "Like more health?" Maybe it was because my body was becoming more accustomed to getting hurt, and could therefore end up taking more and more as I battled. That made some sense.

Following Chara's advice, I fought more monsters. Now, I found myself perfectly capable of ignoring their screams as they died. I could tell that I really was improving. I could see and dodge attacks much more quickly. My swings became more precise, and with the toy knife, they were more powerful as well. After every death, I could feel myself becoming stronger. I had plenty of capacity. I just needed to fill it up to that.

After one last monster, Chara grinned smugly. "We're done. It's time to fight the goat."

I gave her a confused look. "Why now?" Couldn't I fight a couple more monsters? Just to make myself even better? I wasn't exactly sure of myself. I doubted I could actually face any strong monster head-on without failing. I wanted to be absolutely positive about my strength.

"Worried?" Chara teased.

"I just want to make sure I can beat it." I stopped when I reached the doorway of the house, feeling nervous.

"Well, there's no way to do that. Unless…" Chara was giving me a very serious look. "Unless you let me control you."

"T-this again?!"

"It's true though. I know all the attacks perfectly well. If I could just control you, then the fight will be easy! It'll be over before you know it."

I faced her doubtfully. "We'll see."

"You still don't trust me?" Chara shot a displeased look in my direction. "Huh. Fine then."

I obviously hadn't meant it that way, but I didn't feel like correcting her. We had more important matters at hand. "Ok." I breathed. "In we go."

And we finally enter the humble home of Mama Goat! Except things are different this time. :)