After getting back on track, I was finally able to speak with Chara again, as our current group was now on our own and I then explained to each of them about my invisible friend, her being called Princess and that they could only hear her when I was in physical contact with them.
"So... is that the voice I heard when you hugged me earlier?" Ceroba asked, me nodding at her. "I thought it sounded slightly... familiar. I swore I could've heard it before, but I don't know where from," Ceroba admitted.
"I don't blame her. When Clover was in the Underground, they had the same problem with people hearing me if they were in phsyical contact. Justice is the third strongest soul out there, only beat by Determination and Knowledge," Chara said while I held her hand, which made Ceroba even more confused.
"No, it wasn't during that... I don't think I heard it then... it was longer than that... when I was just a kid," she said, Chara then frowning.
"Oh... that explains it... back when the original human was down here. That's probably why," Chara frowned.
"Wait... that's it! I remember that voice now! You're C-" Ceroba was about to say before I covered her mouth quickly, which she was surprised by before I shushed her.
"Shhh! Don't say their name out loud, okay? That same flower would want us triple dead if he found out they're with me, even as a spirit. Just say princess, okay?" I said, Ceroba nodding at me before I then uncovered her mouth... which only then made me realize that... I had floated in the air to do so?
"I... I never met a human in the past who could float in midair... I'd heard myths and legends, but never actually saw it before," Courage gawked, me smiling at that.
"I didn't know I was that strong," I admitted.
"Still... I never expected it'd be... them... that was with you... last I heard, they fell ill and died, back before the prince was killed," Ceroba said, me seeing no Flowey nearby, nor did I sense him. And we also saw that Greater Dog was enjoying a cup of Nice Cream by his station, which he looked to be out of his armor while doing so, looking at our group and smiling before giving a small bark.
"Hi there, little guy. You have any spares?" I asked, the dog smirking and providing me with, get this, chocolate flavor. Which Chara looked at and smiled. "My invisible friend would love this. Would you be willing to share?" I asked, the dog nodded while panting before then writing down his thoughts on a piece of paper, me seeing that it said the following.
"Thankies much for saving my dog friends! You r VIP to all Royal Dogs Guards," the note read, me smiling at him and nodding.
"You're very welcome, little guy," I smiled, Chara then taking the nice cream and eating it, which Chara cooed at the taste, which made me curious how it tasted, me then giving a small lick myself, which Chara frowned at.
"Hey, don't mess with my chocolate, or I'll pound your face," Chara smirked playfully, me nodding at her.
"Understood, princess. Yeesh," I smiled back as we then finally went to the east, us seeing that Papyrus was actually waiting at the bridge alongside Sans, but rather than looking at us with seriousness as in the game... Papyrus looked at us with a happy smile.
"AHA! YOU'VE FINALLY ARRIVED! AS THANKS FOR SAVING ME FROM MY PLIGHT, ALONG WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL GUARD, I WISH TO SHOW YOU THE SIGHTS OF SNOWDIN TOWN!" Papyrus smiled, me nodding at him and going with him around the town. "BY THE WAY, WHO IS YOUR NEW FRIEND WITH THE WHITE ROBE?" Papyrus asked, me smiling at him.
"This is Courage, student under my tutelige. It may sound weird, but I found and won his bandana in the Honeydew Casino and, when I touched it, it revealed that his essence was tied to said bandana, and with my super-special soul, I managed to revive him, soul and all," I smiled. Papyrus nodded at that and proceeded to take us around the town, me seeing that Ceroba was looking... at Chara? Why? Because I was holding her hand... but I could tell she was concerned.
"Um... wow... you're a lot... smaller than I remembered..." Ceroba whispered down to Chara, which she pouted at.
"No, you just grew up," Chara batted back at her. But nobody noticed, aside from the other humans at my side. We happened to first go for the shop at the leftmost side of Snowdin, which is where we happened to come across someone that was alongside the Snowdin Shopkeeper, it being Bits and Buttons, which made Chara smile.
"Ah, here they are. The most bullied kid back when I was in school down here," Chara said happily.
"Heya there, how's things going?" Bits asked with a smile before the sock on his hand started to speak... and it sounded super weird, since it proved that the duo were actually two separate entities.
"Buy somethin' already!" Buttons said... at almost the same time that Bits spoke! And the duo then exchanged a glance before then looking at us again.
"Wow... uh... sorry, when I saw the one that's um... on your left, I assumed that it wasn't really alive... no offense," I admitted honestly.
"OI! Ya callin' me a sock, is that it?!" Buttons asked in annoyance.
"No, no, I just... we were just surprised is all... I didn't think a monster like that existed, where they had two different minds," I admitted, which Buttons looked at Bits and then at the Snowdin Shopkeeper.
"Uh, there's a reason for that, actually... you promise not to spread word, do ya?" Bits asked, which I looked at him and nodded.
"I promise," I said, followed by everyone else.
"I WONDER WHAT THIS SECRET IS!" Papyrus smiled.
"Ah... Papyrus, could you wait outside for a moment? It's uh... kind of a rock-your-world secret," the bunny girl asked, which he looked at him in surprise before I smiled at the lanky skeleton.
"If you do so, Great Papyrus, I'll give you some free cooking lessons as well as tell you my secret pasta recipe," I said, that making the skeleton smile with hearts in his eye sockets before he then waited outside.
"Thanks... okay, don't repeat word of this but... see, when the whole thing happened with the prince getting killed, the soul didn't really go to the afterlife... nor did it shatter," Bits said, me looking at him in confusion. "See, it was before I was able to talk... at that point, only Buttons could... s-so... um..." Bits said before Buttons spoke.
"So the gist is, we found a soul of red with a white border... and when we touched it, hoping to return it to Fluffybuns... Bits ended up getting the ability to talk and the soul disappeared," Buttons said, me being surprised at that... but then I gawked at what the whole thing could possibly mean, me looking at Chara and seeing that her eyes went wide.
"O-Oh my god... t-they have my soul!" Chara gawked as the duo then looked around in confusion.
"Who just spoke? I heard a voice, but didn't see which of you talked," Bits said in confusion before I then chuckled nervously.
"Ehehe... can I ask you to keep a promise in return, guys? All of us?" I asked, them looking around and then nodding. "That voice... was the conscious mind of the owner of that soul... her name is Chara... Chara Dreemurr," I said, which the others reacted in different ways. Ceroba smiled at how she was right, the kids looked genuinely confused, Martlet, Bits, and Buttons were all three shocked, and the bunny girl was confused.
"Chara is a who now?" the bunny asked in confusion.
"T-That voice was CHARA?! It's HER soul?! How is that-" Buttons was about to shout out loud even further, but I shushed him loudly.
"SHHHSSHHHSHHH! Keep it down, handy man! There's a reason it needs kept secret! There's a creature down here that wants to kill me, and he'd want to do so even more if he found out that the original fallen child is down here! Just call her Princess from here on out, okay?" I said seriously, the group nodding as Martlet then spoke.
"S-So... the princess you kept talking about... I heard she died the same day that the prince did... true?" Martlet asked.
"True... and it's my fault that Azzie died," Chara said with a sigh, which Martlet gasped at when she heard that, as she was... wait... not holding my hand?
"Don't talk out loud, right now, kid... I don't know why, but people are hearing you when they aren't touching me," I said, her being surprised at that.
"Maybe it's because I'm so close to my own soul... but oh so very far at the same time... it's impossible to extract a soul from a monster without major repercussions..." Chara said with an upset manner.
"Well... there could be someone who'd be able to help... someone that's the smartest man in the Underground," Buttons said, me looking at him in surprise. Smartest man?
"Who would that be?" I asked him.
"His name is WD Gaster," Bits spoke, which made my eyebrows go wide, as well as the others in my group.
"You know him? I was about ready to forget about that name for some bizarre reason... why is that?" Ceroba asked in complete confusion.
"I fear I don't know that name... who is it?" the bunny shopkeeper asked.
"He's actually the uncle of Sans and Papyrus, him being the Royal Scientist as far back as death of the prince. And after that, and after the green soul was captured, only then was the CORE nearing completion... and then he vanished. My guess, he fell into the power supply while the design was shuffling," Bits explained, me looking at him in surprise.
"But for some reason, Bits an' I never forgot... and I have a funny feeling Sans hasn't either, since I've seen him doin' some freaky stuff at night," Buttons explained, me then thinking on that before then seeing that those who were aware of Gaster since arrival didn't look confused. Who were they? It consisted of myself, Bits, Buttons, and Mary, all of us having one thing in common.
"I have a theory... maybe, the reason you and Sans happen to have the ability to remember who Gaster is, is due to Sans having access to Determination... and you having a stronger soul than most monsters," I said, Bits looking at Buttons before they nodded at each other.
"Sounds as good an excuse as any... so what do we do, then? About the princess's soul and all," Bits asked.
"Well, we can't really risk separating the soul from the owner, so we'll go with my original plan. Stick around with her memories incarnate until she regenerates both her body and her soul, as a certain scholar said I was able to do," I said, them nodding at me as Chara then held my hand.
"I'm honestly kind of scared... is Flowey nearby?" she asked. And I shook my head no. I didn't sense him anywhere nearby.
"He's not around... just make sure you keep that secret tight, you three. The villain in question is a talking flower, him already having tried to kill off the Snowdin Royal Guard because he fears my soul. If you see a yellow flower that talks, ignore him and don't engage," I said, Bits nodding.
"I know the flower you're talking of, and he's never gotten me before. I'm just immune to all of his attacks," he smiled.
"Well, that was enough of a break... you should go check on Papyrus, he doesn't like waiting," the bunny girl asked, me needing to know something beforehand.
"Before that, could I get a name?" I asked.
"I'm Belinda Buns... and I heard through the grapevine that you're called Scarlet... I must say, I feel sorry for you having a girl's name," she smiled.
"Untrue, Scarlet is actually able to be either gender, and I want to keep it, since it's also my soul color," I smiled.
"Okay, weird. Bye, then," Belinda smiled as we then disembarked and saw that Papyrus was waiting outside with a bit of a think on his head as he didn't notice us come out.
"HMM... THIS DOESN'T SEEM GOOD AT ALL..." he muttered as he then looked to the left. "I PROMISED UNDYNE I'D CAPTURE A HUMAN, BUT I CAN'T DO IT... AND WHAT IF FLOWERY DOES SOMETHING ELSE TO HURT PEOPLE? SHOULD I WARN UNDYNE AHEAD OF TIME?" Papyrus asked himself as I then spoke.
"Maybe you should, just in case," I said, the skeleton gasping and looking behind him.
"H-HOW MUCH DID YOU OVERHEAR, HUMANS?" he asked.
"Whenever you said 'This doesn't seem good at all' and everything after," Courage said with a serious frown.
"I SEE... WELL, I HAVE TO LET YOU KNOW, THE TALKING FLOWER HAD BEEN SEEN BY MY FRIEND, UNDYNE. THE FLOWER CLAIMED TO HER THAT AN ARMY OF HUMANS HAD MIND-CONTROLLED SOME MONSTERS WHO WERE FORMER ROYAL GUARD MEMBERS! I KNOW IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR HUMANS TO HAVE SUCH A POWER, BUT UNDYNE WOULDN'T LISTEN. SHE SAID THAT, IF SHE SAW ANY OF YOUR GROUP, SHE'D KILL ON SIGHT!" Papyrus said, me gawking at that.
"I see that the annoying weed is trying to up his promise that he made earlier. That he'd still find ways to mess with us. And since he was upset about me threatening to tell his secret, he's trying to spread his tendrils ahead of us instead to make our trip harder," I groaned, which I looked at Chara and she looked to be upset.
"Are you going to tell the secret to people, then? Or is that a no?" she asked, me frowning at her.
"What I meant by that threat was if he tried to actively hurt or harm people, then I'd tell the truth to everyone I saw... but as for now, I think I'll just tell a select few monsters and ask them to not tell anyone... and I think I'll start with the Great Papyrus, just so he can spread the word to Undyne," I said, him smirking at that. I mean, he had to, since he couldn't really frown without skin. "So, we ready to start cooking, Great Papyrus?" I asked, which Mary smirked at.
"I don't know why, but you constantly calling him Great Papyrus is kinda cute," Mary admitted to me.
"LET US BE OFF TO THE PLACE WHERE I COOK ALL OF MY MEALS!" Papyrus said with enthusiasm as he led us to his house, where he then led us to the kitchen and we proceeded to get to working with the secret recipe. I ended up teaching him the proper way to cook spaghetti, which he was surprised at how I did it a whole lot different than he was used to. And when he asked why he was taught otherwise, I told him why.
"Because you weren't taught by a human. Humans invented spaghetti long after the barrier formed, and the ones who invented it were from Italy, which I have heritage in," I smiled at him.
"WOW! AN EXPERT IS TEACHING ME! I'M SO EXCITED!" Papyrus smiled as Martlet then found the loose change in the cushions and the kids were snooping around the place, with Mary finding the endless book and Courage snooping under the sink, where he motioned me to it.
"There's an entire room under this sink! It looks so weird, filled with broken items and all," he said, me being confused as I looked under the sink after the spaghetti was cooked and saw that it was, in fact, the remnants of the dog shop, meaning this was from the Switch version.
"Weird, this door looks very out-of-place, too," I admitted as we then inspected it... and I felt some kind of weird feeling... an air of foreboding tension surrounded me as I saw that, out of nowhere, the place started to get... darker? Oh no...
"RUN!" Chara shouted, me and Courage immediately doing so as we tried our best to run out of the room... and while Courage managed to get through the door in time, it suddenly slammed shut before Chara and I could get through!
"CRAP CRAP CRAP!" I shouted as the walls proceeded to get dark. Darker. Yet DARKER! Chara looked around in concern as we were soon completely coated in pitch black shadow... and then I heard a voice.
"Entry Number 18. Alone With Knowledge..." the voice said, me gawking at how the place had a weird glitchy effect after. "The Boundaries Between Dimensions Is Faltering... Photon Readings Positive... A Duo Of Children, Awaiting My Arrival... It Seems This New Experiment... Will Be Very, Very... Interesting..." the voice said as I then saw the form of a single skeleton appear in front of me from the glitchy area... and it was for sure the Man Who Spoke in Hands. "What Do You Two Think?" he asked us, me gulping at him... the power that was emanating from his body was insane! At least 4 times stronger than Sans was when he was trying!
"What's that garbage noise he's making? It's giving me a major headache..." Chara groaned as she held her head.
"WD Gaster... it seems that we finally meet..." I frowned at him.
"You May Refer To Me As Doctor Gaster If You Wish, Rolls Off The Tongue Better," he said with his creepy grin, no light in his eye sockets at all. "I Felt A Strange Disturbance In The Air When I Found Your Computer Had Played Both Of Those Simulations... And Now I See Why... A Soul Of Knowledge... One Filled with The Mindset Of Pacifism, Yet Has Seen The Dark Side of Genocide," he said with a bitter gaze after the last bit.
"I uh... had I known this was an actual real world in the mutliverse, I wouldn't have done that stuff, honest," I said, Gaster smirking at me.
"You Are Mistaken, Scarlet. You Are Not In A Different World. This Is Your Own," he said, me gasping at his words before he then showed off... the sights of a timeframe as far back as the year 201 AD, where monsters were fighting against humans in a war to survive against the humans... and how that day ended with humans not only trapping the monsters underneath Mount Ebott, located in the western side of the mountain chain separating Europe and Asia... but they also trapped them in time for nearly 1000 years in the process! And only on 1201 AD did Chara come into the picture!
"Oh... My... God... monsters have been around for that long?" I asked in shock.
"Indeed, I Can See That You Are Amazed... But Finally, With Your Soul, We Can Not Only Be Freed, But The Monsters Will Have Someone To Protect Them," he said, me being nervous at that.
"I... I need to know something, Gaster... how come I've never once been able to see a human with soul strengths like Determination, Justice, and the like?" I asked him.
"Back in the older days of humanity, they were able to use their knowledge of souls to good effect, but then, as the centuries passed, this knowledge has been completely forgotten, as monsters are required for humans to know how to use their souls' innate strengths. Some Could Use Them For Good, Some Bad, But If You Were To Free Us, Your Strength Would Be Able To Protect Monsters For Ages," Gaster said, me being confused at how one long sentence sounded softer than the other.
"I see... and just to make sure that I'm not going crazy, one more question... is this the same exact year as when I went to sleep last night?" I asked, Gaster then sighing at that. That... didn't sound too hopeful.
"I... must apologize... when I saw your adventures in the simulation, I must explain... it happened very far in the past, when humanity was in the year 2024 AD... now the year is 2024X," he said, me being even more confused. "I sensed that you would have perished in your sleep from an invasion of bad humans, so I sent you forward in time to the current date... as for monsters, they were trapped underground in the year 100X... and monsters were first born after a big war of radiation coated the world, creating two subraces... humans and monsters," Gaster explained, my eyes going wider than previous.
"Uh... wow... no one left from my own time, then?" I asked, him nodding solemnly. It was... kind of a shock to me. I was the last one still standing from the original AD and I had a special soul that I didn't know about how strong it was. I was at a loss for words, since Gaster did save my life, but either way I'd never see my friends and family from that bygone age. "Then when did magic come into the picture?" I asked. But I really wanted to ask how Gaster chose a nobody like me as opposed to the guy who made Undertale a game.
"I'd Rather Explain At A Future Date... You Need To Leave The Void Before You Are Lost To It Just As Well... You And The Princess," he said, me then gasping as me and Chara were then sent through the darkness towards where the door was, me gasping as we slammed right through it as Courage opened the door, me gawking at the fact that I was still whole and Chara collided into the ground... wait... was she solid?
"Ow... I felt that... your soul's starting to make me feel pain..." Chara groaned as I saw that she was still halfway see-through, but now she could touch solid objects on her own.
"And I could hear you without touching Scarlet! What all happened in there? All I heard was you shouting to run, and then you stayed under there for nearly 5 minutes. What's going on?" Ceroba asked, me smiling, though it was forced.
"I... have some stuff to tell you all... let's go to the couch and I'll explain," I said as we then did so... and I had to hope Flowey would hold off on any trickery while I did so.