New Home was a massive city made up entirely of gray stone houses. Most of them were cleared from their furniture. Despite that, the group found a house were there was a left behind bed for Lara. As soon as she lay down on it, she fell asleep immediately.
She had, after all, been busy traveling the Underground.
And despite the harrowing experiences she had in the secret lab, the human girl slept very well and had no nightmares about melted faces or anything like that.
So the next day she woke up pretty much refreshed and motivated. Together with her friends, Lara left the house and continued walking through the deserted city. If what they said was true, all of them had to just reach Asgore´s home and then reach the surface. Lara would finally be reunited with her sister!
Somehow the girl with the white soul couldn't believe it. And yet it was so. As they all walked through the empty houses, Lara thought about her underground travel again. The riddles in the ruins, Emma's brief attacks, the cold weatcher in Snowdin, the near fall into the ice lake, the fight against the Goner Kid, Johnathan's attack, the secret lab, the memory heads and their fusion... All of this happened to her.
So many things could have gone wrong, so many things could have ended with Lara's death. But instead, she got this far. Experienced so much and met new people. Because her friends helped her whenever they could. But also because Lara herself always stayed strong, kept going and never gave up hope. Because she always believed that everything would be fine. And it was worth it. She was here now. The end was near. And no matter what was in store, no matter what would come after, Lara would face it.
She never had been this optimistic about the future.
She was filled with… HOPE.
The group reached aplace that looked familiar to Lara. They went through a door and were now in Asgore's house. What the white souled girl immediately noticed was that it looked exactly like Toriel's house. The only difference was that, like the outside, everything was colored in a light gray tone. Golden flowers that stood here and there in a vase gave some color. But beside them the surroundings where rather dull. It made Lara wonder why the King of the Monsters would live like that. But she didn´t ponder it for to long. She and her friends went down a flight of stairs, into a long corridor. After several shifts and turns they walked into the final corridor.
The final corridor was a sight beyond compare. Golden-yellow walls, illuminated by a warm light coming from elongated windows with pretty patterns. Huge pillars that supported the high ceiling. The floor was covered with orange and yellow tiles.
"Wow," Lara said in awe.
"I know what you mean. When I was here for the first time, I was speechless", Emma told her with a smile.
"So... thats it? We´re really going to the surface now?" Flowey asked. He sounded very unsettled. Lara bent down to him.
"What's going on?"
"It's... I... I'm a bit scared."
"Of what?"
"Of myself. I have to think about what John said. That only a part of my soul has returned. That I'm still a flower I'm afraid of falling back into my old ways. That I will terrorize you and everyone else on the surface. I do not want that! I don't want to destroy the happiness of others."
This caused Johnathan to look away in guilt. By now he really regretted with how overboard he went with his actions. But he remebered what the other ghosts told him and how he could help Asriel out.
Lara meanwhile tried to calm her flowery friend down.
"You won't! Listen to yourself! You worry about everyone. You dread about killing them." "Yes, I'll do that now. But what if I wake up one day and I don't care. That I don't mind killing I… don't have a complete soul…"
"And that's our cue!," Emma called. Flowey and Lara turned to the ghosts in confusion. The flower asked: "What do you mean, you guys?"
"Flowey, we've thought about it and we've had a very long discussion. After you got that soul fragment, I got an idea. I started talking to the others. We were sure: now that you have a part of your soul back, maybe the power of just six human souls instead of seven is enough to bring you back completely. And that's why we offer you to absorb our souls so that you can be Asriel." There was silence for a moment. Then Flowey started to laugh nervously.
"Heh... you... you wouldn't... that's a joke. Right?"
"No. We are absolutely serious. We have thought about the whole thing carefully. It would make us happy if we could offer you a chance to really get on with your life."
"And to right the injustice that our kind have done to you. And what I almost did to you" John added the last part quitly.
Flowey didn't know what to say. "You guys would really do that? You would give up your chance at a happy life for me? Don't you have people waiting for you?"
"We fell underground a long time ago. Our friends and family are long gone" said John and Lizzie.
"We don't have anyone who would miss us" Emily and Simon replied.
"My mother died giving birth to me. My father left a long time ago. I was raised by my uncles, but as you know, he's dead. My foster parents are terrible", said Klyde. Emma said nothing. She looked down thoughtfully. Then she looked up and gave Flowey a soft smile, "You remind me so much of my little brother, Asriel. I want you to have a happy life. Just promise me one thing: Find my family. Find them and… if they are in trouble, help them. Please. If you do or they are fine, tell my family that I love them from the bottom of my heart. That I never forgot them and that they were always important to me."
Flowey was deeply touched. He had never experienced such great kindness. Even now, with only a fragment of his soul, there were strong, indescribable feelings. His face began to resemble Asriel's. A tear ran down his cheek.
"Everyone… thank you. Thank you for your kindness. Emma… I promise you that I will seek out and support your family. And to the rest of you: I will make very good use of your gift and will not waste it. And as long as we are together, I will protect you."
The spirits' bodies disappeared into their souls. The hearts of light flew towards Flowey, touched him and merged with the flower. A bright light shone. Lara looked away in order to avoid being blinded. Then, as the light faded, she turned and saw the real Asriel for the first time.
A goat boy arund her age. He was wearing black pants and a striped sweater. He had friendly green eyes and snow-white fur. Laughing, he rubbed his face.
"It's worked! I'm me again!" He then noticed the wide eyed look his human friend gave him. „Oh Lara...uh how do you like my true form? I hope I don't seem scary to you or anything." Oh my god, he is adorable. I want to pet him, thought Lara. Then she sligthly shook her head. She had no idea if something like that would be offensive or not. Or at the very least incredibly akward. So instead Lara said:"I think you look... kind. Very friendly."
"Thanks. And… thanks for everything else. Without you, I'd still be sitting depressed in a field of flowers."
Asriel hugged her. At first she stiffened in surprise, but then Lara returned the hug. It felt good to be able to hug her friend properly. It was good that he, and the human souls trough him, could live an acutal life on the surface. But the tender moment didn´t last long.
"How sweet," said a calm voice in a bitter tone. The corridor had been empty before. But during their hug, a person stepped out from behind one of the pillars and stood now with her back turned to Lara and Asriel.
At first Lara thought it was Frisk. But then she realized that the stranger's skin and hair were a little lighter than her sister's. And the clothes were a different color alltogether. Instead of pink and blue there was green, yellow and brown.
"C-Chara?" Asriel asked stunned and shocked. Lara turned to him with visible confusion. "Wait… Chara? Like as in your best friend Chara who died a long time ago?"
"Yes, but how can she be here. Unless…"
"Oh my dear Asriel," Chara interrupted. "I'm not really back. At least not as a normal human." Slowly the child who shouldn't have been alive turned around. Lara and Asriel had to pull themselves together not to scream. After the Memoryheadfusion, they shouldn't have been scared by this. But they were because the sight came completly unexpected. Chara´s face was disgustingly disfigured.
Wide, red, unmoving eyes with blood dripping from them. Instead of a mouth, there was just a dark crack twisted into some form of grin. In her hand this disfigured creature held a sharp knife.
"Chara, what happened to you?" Asriel asked scared. The grin grew even wider.
"That Asriel is your fault. By your betrayal we died. And my soul was destroyed. You think being soulless is bad? Try having a shattered soul."
A shapeless cloud appeared in front of Chara's chest. It consisted of hundreds of red shards, some larger, some smaller, many dark and some light in color. "You don't know how it feels. The feeling of being made up of things that don't fit together or are in the wrong place. And then there's this undescribable pain. And all because of you and Frisk. You are both traitors." "Wait, what does Frisk have to do with all this?" Lara asked.
„Yeah Asriel, how does sweet, innocent Frisk, who you prefer over me, fit into this?", Chara asked mockingly. Asriel looked at Lara somewhat guiltily. "I didn't tell you, because I didn't think it would affect us. But obviously I was wrong. One day, Chara took control of Frisk. They reset and started a genocide. All Underground life was destroyed. And the rest of the world erased."
"Wha… WHAT!? Are kidding me? B-but how? And why?!" Lara turned to Chara. "How and why would you do this?"
The shattered soul chuckled. Under any other circumstances it would have sounded understanding. Right now it just sounded condescending and deranged. "This absence of understanding. So predictable. But also kind of understandable. When Frisk fell underground, and her determination brought back a part of me, I was so confused. But then I realized the reason for my reincarnation: power. And I realized that if I amassed enough power, I would be strong enough to take my revenge. Revenge on all who have used, lied to, betrayed and forgotten me. So I took control and gathered more power. With every bit of LV. and determination, I grew stronger. To take control of the reset-anomaly and change it. From resetting space-time… to ERASING it! But in the end, I was still incomplete. I needed a soul. So I got an idea. I made Frisk an offer to help me and destroy the next world. But she refused to accept my gift because of her disgusting sentimentality. So I set a trap for her. I erased this world and left Frisk alone in the void. She cried and regretted and wanted to make things right. And then I struck. I made an offer again: Frisk soul in exchange for the ability to reset. She agreed. First I triumphed. Only to realize that I had made a serious mistake. Frisk reseted. Everything was brought back to the beginning. Her and the world. But not me. I still had a strong conection to her soul, but it didn't do me any good! I was chained to Frisk and could only watch from the outside her acts of stupid love. Only at the end was I able to take some control and take my anger out on the others. Have my little fun But then Frisk reseted again… and I don't know how, but this little bitch somehow managed to sever the connection between us! To have her soul all to herrself again. I was so weak, barely existent. But then Asriel, your new friend here opened a rift into reality. Which gave me a chance to take on a solid form. I still need a real soul. I'll go get Frisks."
"Chara… you… can't really have done ALL of that! This isn´t you! You've gone completely insane!"
The face of the former human remained expressionless. But when she continued speaking, her voice sounded hurt: "My best friend, no, more even, the person I...who I.…
…
I should have known That you would call me a demented demon. A killer. Still, I wanted to be with you, even in this state. But your words finally convinced me. In this world, or any at all, there is no such thing as love and friendship, only lies and hate. In this world... it's kill or be killed! AND THAT'S EXACTLY HOW I LIVE NOW!"