Chapter 16

"I can't believe Papyrus would do such a thing." First Undyne shouted the comment over and over. Then she growled it with every breath. Now she muttered it every few minutes or so.

Sans, all the while, did nothing but drink. Whenever he finished his glass, he would pick up the bottle and pour the liquid to the brim. This time only a few drops came out, so Sans threw the bottle over his shoulder and didn't react as the glass shattered into dozens of pieces. The house was an absolute mess anyway. A broken bottle or few wouldn't make a difference.

"Better believe it because that's exactly what happened," Sans said, as he did every time Undyne made her statement for the hundredth time.

Baring her teeth, Undyne mixed things up by abruptly standing to her feet and slamming her fist onto the remaining half of the table. "That human has Papyrus brainwashed!"

"That's your conclusion?" Sans rolled his eyes. "You saw that human with your own eye. Do you really expect that small fry to be capable of brainwashing?"

"Shut the hell up, traitor," Undyne snarled. "What have you been doing to the human to make it think it can ask you for help? I should be taking you to King Asgore right this moment!"

Sans sighed. "I don't know where Papyrus has taken the human, but I do know this: The human has plans to leave the Underground."

This was news to Undyne. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm. "So the human is practically delivering itself to Asgore then?"

"All that's missing is the gift wrap." Sans downed the little liquid left. "If there's one thing you can count on with humans, it's their pesky determination. Sooner or later the human is going to come out of hiding to journey towards the barrier. All you need to guarantee success is to wait for it on the path."

Undyne hummed, considering Sans's words. "I honestly can't tell if you're giving me legit advice or giving me misleading information."

As he stood from the bar to retrieve another bottle, Sans said, "I guess that's your problem, huh?"


For not wanting anything to do with Sans, the monsters of Snowdin Two were incredibly accepting of the skeleton monster's twin brother. Not that they weren't hesitant at first, but once they saw Papyrus with Frisk and noted how Papyrus was practically harmless, they were delighted to welcome their old neighbor back into the circle. When Papyrus asked Beatrix to make a white and blue version of his outfit – from a costume party a few years back, he told them – most everyone let go of any remaining suspicions they had.

"I have been wondering," Frisk told Alice as they watched from the kitchen as Beatrix took Papyrus's measurements. "What do red and blue signify?"

"Red is worn by monsters who want to paint the world with human blood." Alice crossed her arms over her body and shuddered.

"Sound like my kind of people," Chara said from across the room. Frisk cast a quick glance his way to see the boy studying the paintings on the walls. She couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"And the Blues?" Frisk asked.

"Monsters who wear blue wear it to symbolize their desire to see the sky one day, without it coming at the cost of shed human blood," Alice answered. "After the death of the princes, the kingdom was divided. Reds are those who remain loyal to the king and his desire to wage war on humanity once we escape. Blues follow the ideals of our exiled queen, who did not blame humanity for our situation and believed we should desire peace with them and treat them as friends."

"I agree with the king," Chara called from another room. What he was doing now, Frisk didn't know. "Humans are awful."

Before Frisk could do anything – reply to Alice or roll her eyes at Chara, she didn't know which – Papyrus laughed and exclaimed, "That tickles!"

Frisk smiled a sad smile. "I'm going to miss him too," she said.

"What are you saying, Frisk?" Alice asked. "Don't tell me you still plan on going to the surface."

"What choice do I have?" is how Frisk chose to answer. "Undyne knows I'm in the Underground. She's not going to give up looking for me. If I stay here, you and your town will be in grave danger."

Alice shook her head. "There has to be another way."

"If there is, tell me now." Frisk chewed her lower lip. "Time is of the essence here. If we can't figure something out now, then it's better for everyone if I leave soon."

"If Undyne doesn't find you here, she will definitely find you out there."

"You're right, Alice," Frisk agreed. "That's why if it comes down to it, I'm going to fight Undyne."


"Is Stripes actually making a decision of her own free will?" Chara mocked as Frisk sorted through her pack for the third time, too anxious to find something else to do. "I didn't know she was capable of making her own choices."

Frisk looked up from her bag to glare at him. "You're insufferable," she commented.

Instead of replying, Chara merely shrugged and walked around the room.

"So," he began, "are you going to kill her?"

"Who?"

"Undyne, stupid."

Chewing on her lower lip, Frisk said, "I can only hope things don't have to come down to that."

"And if they do?"

"I'll find another way."

"What if there is no other way?"

"I'll keep looking."

It was with a groan Chara said, "You know, Undyne could kill you literally hundreds of times, and you still wouldn't deem her worthy of the death penalty."

"The day resets every time I die," Frisk reminded Chara. "When the day starts over, I technically never died. I can't kill anyone over a crime they didn't technically commit."

"Technicalities." Chara tsked. "I say if you know for a fact someone is going to commit a crime, then it is as good as if they have already done it."

Not having an argument, Frisk returned to her pack. She pulled out the map Alice had given her and unfolded it. Waterfall, the next destination, was only a day's journey away. The journey to the Capital would still be a long ways off, but Frisk was eager for a change of scenery. As much as she loved Snowdin Two and its residents, Frisk would be happy if she never had to so much as look at snow ever again.

"What do you know about Waterfall?" Frisk asked when she noticed Chara was looking over her shoulder at the map.

"It's dark and there is a lot of water," Chara answered. "You might want to get over your hydrophobia if you insist on journeying through that area."

Frisk shivered. Not more water. She traced her fingers on alternative paths, but none were as short as Waterfall. There was also the big body of water she had to cross no matter which path she took. Waterfall, whether she liked it or not, would make the most sense.

"What is it with you and water?" Chara, to Frisk's surprise, sounded somewhat curious.

Not knowing if Chara truly cared or was planning some other way for her to die, Frisk spat, "The first time I died, I was nine. I drowned in the river in the Ruins. It was the scariest moment of my life, especially since I didn't know I was going to come back."

The memories rushed at Frisk all at once. Her shouts and cries. Water filling her lungs. The world fading to black. Toriel, her mother, having to find her child long after it was too late.

Frisk had to wipe her eyes before Chara could mock her for her tears.

"When I had you slip into the river that day," Chara began, "I must have helped you experience some post-traumatic stress."

"I should have thrown the locket into the river as soon as I could after the day reset," Frisk growled, only half-meaning it.

"I am sorry. I did not intend to sound insensitive."

Surprised, Frisk looked at Chara. Nothing about his composure implied he was dishonest. However, this was Chara; there was no way of knowing if the emotions he displayed, if any at all, were genuine or an act. She could not conclude if there was any sincerity to his apology.

I can't tell if he truly hates me or not. Standing to her feet, Frisk approached Chara and began circling him. Although he was very much no different from a ghost, he still appeared solid as if alive, as if Frisk really could touch him until she tried and her fingers went through. Everything about him – every freckle, every scar, and every vein under his pale skin – was different from what Frisk had grown used to. No fangs. No claws. No horns. Perfectly, plainly human.

"Why are you studying me such?" Chara asked, arms crossed. It looked almost as if he felt the need to cover himself in front of her.

"I never got this close to you before," Frisk answered, hiding her amusement at Chara's body language. "I was too scared before, but now I know you can't hurt me."

"Am I really that fascinating?"

"I haven't seen another human before you in the eight years I lived here. The monsters are all so unique from each other, while you and I look the same. But not."

"'But not'?"

"You're a boy, and I'm a girl." Frisk shook her head. "Before you fell Underground, did you go to school? Did you play games with other human children? You remember how boys would group up and girls did the same? Boys with their boy games, and girls with their girl games. Boys and girls didn't always interact with each other, especially since their peers would tease them for doing so. Only now do I realize how sexist we can be as young children. It seems so silly now."

"You think my being the only other human here counts for something?" Chara questioned, a challenging look in his eyes.

"You're the only other one here who knows what it's like to be human in a monster world," Frisk replied. "Like it or not, that gives us more in common than we realize and more in common than we want to admit."

When Chara didn't say anything to that, Frisk asked, "Do you hate me, Chara?"

"I hate all of humanity, Stripes," Chara answered, "and you, as a human, fit that criteria."

To that, Frisk had no response. Then, "How did you die?"

Sneering, Chara said, "Why not look through that history book of yours?" Before Frisk had the chance to react, he added, "Do not pretend you did not sneak out a book on the Dreemurr royal family when you thought I was not looking."

"You won't tell me who you are!" Frisk exclaimed, then stopped talking to make sure no one would check on her. Quieter she said, "You didn't exactly leave me with a choice, you know."

"Funny, because I do not remember your asking." Chara smirked when he saw Frisk grit her teeth. "You really thought I would not answer so it was better to not try?"

"Would you have answered me?"

"You know, Stripes, you amuse me," Chara said. "If it will shut you up for a while, I will tell you three things about me. If you keep pestering me after that, I will not tell you anything else ever again. Well, except things that might get you killed. Do we have a deal?"

As she gave a stiff nod, Frisk replied, "Deal."

"The first thing is my cause of death," Chara began. "You see, I was executed by King Asgore himself."

Color drained from Frisk's face. She sat on the bed, eyes glued to Chara. "Executed?" she whispered.

"I deserved it, which leads to my second thing: I was executed for killing the Crown Prince."

Her heart hammered in her chest, pounded in her ears. Frisk couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. Chara's malicious behavior, Frisk convinced herself, was a result of being dead for so long with no place for his soul to go. Knowing some of who he was when alive became the very confirmation Frisk didn't desire that Chara truly was the vile personality in life he was in death.

"But there were two princes," Frisk muttered, her words strangled in her tight throat. "If you killed one, what happened to the other?"

"That leads us to my third and final thing about me." Chara didn't smirk. He didn't blink. Displaying absolutely no emotion on his demeanor, Chara simply said, "I am the other prince."