Chapter 27
After they had been walking all morning, Frisk stopped and frowned. When Chara asked what was wrong, Frisk answered, "Something feels off. Shouldn't Flowey have popped up by now?"
"You want to see that flower?"
"No, I don't, but the day reset. Everything should happen as it did before."
"Maybe you did something to initiate the flower's appearance last time that you did not do this time?" Chara suggested.
"I can't think of anything I did differently that would determine whether or not Flowey would show." As much as she didn't like the flower, Frisk found his absence more unnerving than his presence would have been.
"What is it with you and that flower anyway?"
"Flowey was the first thing I met when I fell Underground. He tried to kill me."
"That's right. I remember now. You were near death when Toriel found you." Chara shook his head. "Your life is basically summed up in everyone trying to kill you."
"Thanks for the reminder."
"No problem."
Chewing on her lower lip, Frisk tried to make sense of Chara's new attitude. He was still distant, but he wasn't as big a jerk as before. It was amazing to her how far he was willing to go to trick her into trusting him again.
After they walked a ways, Frisk turned her attention towards a dark path. It might have been her imagination, but Frisk thought she saw something move in the shadows. What must have been a small monster pranced down an unmarked path, going deeper into the darkness. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her. Or maybe this was the way to a secret room.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Frisk quietly said as she turned in that direction, "I want to go this way."
"Uh, Stripes," Chara replied, "there's no path lighting the way you want to go."
Instead of saying anything in response, Frisk took a cautious step forward. She stepped onto solid ground. Although slowly and carefully, Frisk continued forward into the darkness.
Soon the path was illuminated with light. Turning a corner, Frisk abruptly stopped when she realized she entered a village. She was about to turn back around when she saw all the monsters were wearing blue.
"Monsters in blue are good for you," Frisk muttered as she walked further into the village, eyes and ears on alert for the first sign of danger.
"I have never been here before," Chara said as he and Frisk took in their surroundings.
"And I've never seen monsters like these," Frisk replied.
There were many monsters running around the village, but they were all the same kind of monster. It reminded Frisk of living in the Ruins, where the population was made up of multiples of the same types of monsters. Ever since leaving, it seemed as if every monster was a unique individual.
All the monsters in this village appeared to be some sort of cat and dog hybrid. They all had white fur, black hair cut to what Frisk assumed was their chin, and blue and yellow stripped sweaters. They walked on all fours and had tails. Nothing about these monsters seemed to be the least bit threatening. Either this was the safest place in all the Underground, or the most dangerous.
"Is it bad I want to pet one?" Frisk asked as she walked further into the village. The monsters noticed her arrival but didn't approach her, choosing to instead watch Frisk with their beady little eyes.
"You cannot pet them," Chara answered. "You're allergic."
Frisk furrowed her brows and turned to Chara. "I don't think so. I'm not having any allergy symptoms."
"No, you're allergic," Chara insisted, and all Frisk did in response was shrug it off.
"Hoi!" One of the monsters pranced forward and greeted Frisk with a large smile. "I'm Temmie, and welcome to Tem Village."
"Tem Village, huh?" Frisk looked around. It was rather modest. All the holes in the cave walls must have been homes and shops. Other than mushrooms and a large statue of the monster species on the other side of the village, there wasn't much to see.
"I rate it a Tem out of Tem."
Choking on a laugh, Frisk whipped her head around to see Chara wearing a serious expression.
Did Chara just make a pun? If she didn't know Chara's voice so well, Frisk would have laughed harder than necessary. However, she was overwhelmed by the mere fact that Chara, the big grump he was, somehow had the capability to tell a joke.
"Let Tem show you 'round!" Temmie exclaimed, happily leading the way. As they passed the other monsters, Temmie introduced every one the same way. "Dis is my friend, Tem! Dis is my friend, Tem!"
In response, all monsters replied with, "Hoi, I'm Tem! And don forget my friend, Tem!"
When they finally got to the last monster, it smiled at Frisk and said, "Hi. I'm Bob."
"It's so nice to meet everyone," Frisk said as the Temmie monsters came closer. "I'm Frisk."
"Noice to meet you, human Frisk!" the first Temmie exclaimed.
Frisk's heart stopped. "Wait, you know I'm a human?"
"Aye!" Temmie jumped around, the others moving around in a similar manner. "Tems think humans cute! Tems not seen any humans in long time. Now human here! Tems happy to see human!"
Whatever fear Frisk felt melted away. After being in dangerous situations left and right and dying more times than she could count, it felt great to be surrounded by adorable monsters that thought she was cute. It was the change in pace she really needed.
Since the Tems were okay with letting Frisk wander around without supervision, Frisk seized the opportunity to explore. She and Chara saw the giant Temmie statue, and they peeked through cracks in the walls to find a Tem or two stuck inside – "No need halp! Tem get out . . . eventually." When they came to a painting of a Tem riding on the back of a dragon, both Frisk and Chara tilted their heads to the side.
"This must be some part of their rich history," Chara suggested, the thought so ridiculous Frisk believed it was another attempt at a joke.
"Either way," Frisk replied, "it's a nice painting."
Chara didn't respond, so Frisk looked at him from the corner of her eye. It was her turn in this game. "What you said, about my being the perfect child Mom never had . . ."
Gulping, Frisk gathered the courage to continue. She didn't even check to see if Chara was paying attention. As much as she wanted to speak, she was stuck with not wanting to be heard either.
"I was so scared she wouldn't want me anymore if I ever got out of line," Frisk admitted, saying the words aloud for the first time. "I didn't misbehave, I didn't ask too many questions, and I didn't dare want for anything I felt would be too much to ask. Of course, Mom never said or did anything to imply she would give me up if I tested her one too many times. But still . . ."
When she didn't finish, Chara said, "It had happened enough already you did not want to take any chances."
The fact he didn't phrase it like a question surprised Frisk. "Yeah. . . . As a result, I shoved away so many pieces of me. I . . . I wanted to redo the puzzles in the Ruins for a long time, but I never pushed this want to the point Mom and I argued. One day while Mom cleaned her closet out, I saw some of your old artwork; when I asked who Chara was, Mom told me to not ask again, and I listened despite really wanting to know. When I first fell, I wanted to leave the Ruins, but something compelled me to stay. I think it was because I didn't want to disappoint her."
Hugging herself, Frisk looked at her feet. "Sometimes, I don't even know who I am. I spent all these years sacrificing parts of myself and trying to be something I'm not. Now that it's all been ripped away from me, I've been struggling to make sense of who I am and what I want."
It was silent for a while before Chara said, "I wish I could have told you there was never anything to worry about. If Mother loved me till the literal bloody end, there's nothing you could have done to make her stop loving you. Well, except maybe become a serial killer."
Frisk didn't have a response to that. She wanted to say something, anything, but words would not come.
"You are very strong-willed," Chara then said. Frisk looked at him, and he smiled at her. "That's a big part of who you are. You do not let anything stop you, Stripes. Not even your uncertainty holds you back. You are filled with determination."
Somehow, hearing Chara say the words overwhelmed Frisk. It was as if her own grit overflowed, giving her a new sense of purpose. Whatever that purpose was, she would find it.
"Let's keep looking," Frisk suggested, moving forward. "As much as I like playing tourist, we're on a mission. There's got to be a shop around here somewhere."
As he and Frisk continued to explore in silence, Chara thought about what she had just revealed to him. After everything they had been through, Chara didn't expect her to open up to him about anything. He readily accepted being honest with her wouldn't change how she treated him.
That was why when Frisk allowed herself to be vulnerable, it had stunned him. Chara knew nothing about Frisk's life before Underground. Toriel often admitted that Frisk reminded her of Chara in that regard since Chara also rarely spoke of life on the surface.
It seemed the two had a lot more in common than they initially realized.
When Chara said "Mother" and Frisk said "Mom," they were talking about the same woman. It wasn't until Mew Mew had asked if being adopted by the same woman made them brother and sister that Chara realized just how weird the foundation of his and Frisk's relationship really was. Frisk immediately answered that Chara wasn't her brother. The feeling was mutual. Chara had a sibling once, and nothing about his relationship with Frisk was anything close to what he and Asriel were.
Of course, Chara had been so bent on thinking of Frisk as his replacement that there was never room for anything else.
"Temmie Flakes?" Frisk questioned, brows furrowed, as she surveyed the shelves in the Tem Shop.
"Hoi, vewwy tasty!" the Tem Shop keeper exclaimed.
Frisk stared at the bag of treats for a second before deciding, "Eh, it's only one gold. Why not?"
After she purchased the flakes, Frisk looked around some more. Chara halfheartedly did the same. Most of the items for sell were useless junk Frisk or anyone else could never use.
Then Frisk froze and reached her hand into a pile of damaged jewelry. Seeing her pull something out to look at more closely, Chara moved nearer to see what had caught her interest. The world immediately dropped from under him.
"This is pretty cool," Frisk said, possibly to him under the guise of talking to herself, completely unaware of what she was holding.
How did that get here?! Chara wondered. Until now, he had believed his ring to be lost forever.
Frisk's fingers held a thick silver band with a red crystal on the top. The crystal glowed in a rhythm, as if pulsating along with her heartbeat. Chara could not believe what he was seeing, what this possibly meant.
"How much is this?" Frisk asked the Tem, completely unaware of the true value of what she held.
"Oh, um, one million money things," Tem answered.
Wide eyed, Frisk blinked and exclaimed, "That's so expensive!"
"So es collage," Tem replied. "B'sides, real human item! Much hard to find."
Frowning, Frisk looked at the ring. Chara didn't know whether to talk Frisk into leaving it or stealing it. He wasn't sure which was worse.
"Oooh!" the Tem suddenly exclaimed, eyes locked on the other item in Frisk's hand. "You haz Temmie Flakes!"
"Uh, yeah." Frisk furrowed her brows. "You just sold them to me."
"You can haz ring for Temmie Flakes!" Tem cried out. She looked utterly desperate, as if those specific flakes Frisk held were the difference between life and death.
Lips slightly parted as her brows remained pinched, Frisk quickly looked to Chara then back at Temmie. Without a word, Frisk handed the monster the Temmie Flakes. Upon receiving the very item she sold to Frisk for one measly gold, the Tem began thanking Frisk as if the human was some goddess who just ascended from Heaven to end a drought.
After they had left the shop, Frisk told Chara, "I have no idea what just happened."
"Sometimes it's better that way," Chara replied. Looking at the ring, Chara asked, "Why did that catch your interest?"
"I . . . really don't know." Frisk pursed her lips. "It just feels like I was supposed to find this somehow."
When Chara said nothing to that, Frisk asked, "You know what this is, don't you? You seemed to recognize it back in the store."
Not sure how much to say, Chara answered, "That used to be my ring, back when I was alive. I lost it a few days before I died."
Chara watched as Frisk examined the ring with a new eye. He mentally debated what and how much to tell her. If Chara's guess was right, it would be vital for Frisk to know what exactly she was holding.
Before he could decide what to do, a crackling laugh interrupted the moment.
"My, my, my," a petite monster with purple skin, five eyes, six arms, and chin length black hair tied into two tails began as she approached Frisk and Chara, "I wasn't expecting to find the human so soon. You wouldn't believe my ears when a servant passed word to me that you came here. Lucky me you happened to be in town while I was traveling by."
Chara took a step back and looked at Frisk. The color drained from her face. Her hand curled around the locket as it always did whenever she was scared or uncertain.
"Who are you?" Frisk asked, voice wavering. The moment of peace was finally over.
"Oh, you're right. How rude of me to not introduce myself." The monster curtsied and answered, "I am Muffet, Queen of the Spiders."
Of course she's queen of the spiders, Chara thought, trying his best to maintain his composure. Why does it always have to be spiders? Could it please not be spiders for once? How about dogs? Nobody hates dogs.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Queen Muffet," Frisk said, trying her best to curtsy. It was a sad attempt.
"If she invites you to her parlor for tea, you should excuse yourself," Chara suggested. A subtle nod was Frisk's only response. Her eyes were locked on Muffet's red dress.
"My darling will be so disappointed to hear that I found you first." Grinning, Muffet took a step forward. "Well, I'll let him keep his show. He did promise me a dancing doll."
"NO!" The same Temmie who first greeted Frisk jumped between the two and shouted, "No hurt human! Human friend of Tems!"
Muffet wrinkled her nose. "Humans are no friends of spiders. They like to stomp on them and rip off their legs! Tell me, why would I let a human run around when that's how they treat spiders?"
"But I would never hurt a spider!" Frisk exclaimed. Chara rose his brows. Although he didn't doubt Frisk was telling the truth, she looked like she was someone who would hate spiders more than he did.
"Your words mean nothing to me," Muffet said, eyes glinting as she advanced towards Frisk.
"Spider queen will not hurt human!" Temmie cried out before jumping onto Muffet, "Human, run!"
Frisk was too stunned to move.
"Stripes, run!" Chara shouted at her.
The spell broken, Frisk spun on her heel in sprinted away. She didn't see Muffet rip the Temmie off her and throw the smaller monster towards the wall.
"Owie!" the Tem cried as she crumpled to the floor.
Before Chara began to follow Frisk, Muffet giggled and yelled, "You can run, but you can't escape!"
Muffet extended a hand, and purple strings shot from her fingers.
"Duck!" Chara warned, trying to catch up with Frisk before the locket began dragging him along with it.
This time Frisk listened to his warnings. She ducked just before the purple webbing could reach her. However, what neither of them anticipated was webbing reaching lower and wrapping itself around Frisk's ankles.
Frisk fell to the ground with a resounding thud. Swearing, Frisk pushed herself up enough to turn her head around. Her fingers curled into the dirt as Muffet approached her.
"Your soul is mine, human," Muffet declared before licking her fangs.
With the exception of the one Tem, the residents of the village all fled. Nobody was going to come to Frisk's aid. Chara pressed his fists into his sides, again the useless bystander forced to watch those around him get hurt while he was unable to do anything about it.
"Please," Frisk tried, "can't we talk about this? Or will you at least give me a chance to defend myself?"
"Hmm, no." Muffet giggled again, the sound innocent and wicked both at once. "I don't play by the rules, dearie."
Muffet stopped in front of Frisk, bent down, and began reaching forward. Before she could touch Frisk, a bone shot between the two of them. Surprised, Muffet pulled her hand away so fast she lost her balance and fell backward.
"Good," a voice Chara would never thought he would be glad to hear said. "Neither do I."
Sans teleported between Muffet and Frisk. Eyes locked on Muffet, Sans said, "You've got some backbone picking on a kid."
"That wasn't even funny," Chara muttered. He looked over to find Frisk staring wide-eyed at Sans. Somehow, the way she looked at Sans bothered Chara.
"Stand down," Muffet ordered, pushing herself back to her feet with ease. "This is my kill."
"You really don't want to do that," Sans replied. "I tend to take monsters killing my friends a little too personally."
For a heartbeat, the monsters stared each other down. Then the fighting started.
Bones emerged from the ground, but Muffet jumped out of the way in time. Landing a few feet back, Muffet spread all six of her arms and shot webbing from her fingers. In a matter of seconds, Muffet created a web on the dozens of bones sticking up from the ground.
Muffet jumped onto her web and grinned. "Why don't we have it out on my battlefield?"
"You must think I'm an idiot," Sans said, his hands beginning to glow red. To Frisk, "Run. I'll keep her distracted."
"Right!" Frisk pushed herself upright and began to run. However, she didn't get far before something crashed in front of her. The impact threw Frisk back, knocking her down again. Smoke too thick to see through rose up from the ground where the mysterious object landed.
"Stripes, are you all right?!" Chara ran up to Frisk as she pushed herself back up.
"Not for much longer," Frisk breathed, eyes locked dead ahead.
When Chara turned his attention to the pillar of smoke, a person could be seen in it. As the smoke faded, a humanoid figure became visible. Chara had never seen a monster such as this before.
The new arrival stepped forward and looked down on Frisk.
"Hello, darling," he greeted.
"Mettaton!" Muffet exclaimed. While Frisk and Chara attempted to flee, Muffet had somehow succeeded in tying up Sans in her purple web. The skeleton monster tried to no avail to escape.
"My love!" Mettaton returned, eyes shifting to the spider queen. "You didn't tell me you found our little prey."
"Only got word twenty minutes ago." Muffet examined her nails. "I hope you had plenty of time to promote your new show."
Before Mettaton could respond, a spear pierced through the air and flew just past Sans. It cut the webbing that bound him. Now free, Sans teleported away from Muffet's web and next to Frisk.
"Hey, punk!" Undyne exclaimed, stepping forward. "Only I can kill the human."
Muffet sighed. "And here I thought this was going to be easy."
"The show has only begun!" Mettaton said. They must have been words of encouragement, because Muffet looked at the other monster and smiled.
Chara swallowed. Sans was the only thing standing between Mettaton and Frisk. Muffet looked at Undyne as if a plate of sushi had just been served to her. Frisk was still too weak to fight, and as with every other encounter, Chara was useless to do anything about it.
If only he was still alive. Chara would join the others in this battle. This was not the Underground he fought so hard to create. Yet Chara bitterly admitted to himself this was the Underground he brought in death. Over one hundred years later, and everyone still suffered as a result of his mistakes.
Mettaton was the one to break the tension in the air.
"Let's dance," he said.
Then all hell broke loose.