Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was dark. At first, Chara assumed that Gaster was lying. Figures. Did he just yeet them out of the timeline or something to stop their destruction?

Except…  they could feel things like… dirt.

They were in their grave, weren’t they?

They dug up until they reached the top. Once they got their face out, they saw Frisk who looked… petrified.

“You-you’re a monster.”

Chara saw their hand. It was skeletal. Well, Gaster mentioned that, didn’t he? Wait, didn’t fabric decompose, too? “Wait, am I naked?” It didn’t bother them, since they were pretty sure they didn’t have anything that could be considered inappropriate. (They’d seen skeletons in science class, and Frisk probably did too. They weren’t clothed like Sans, Papyrus, or Gaster either.)

Only Chara’s head and one hand were out of their grave, so they couldn’t tell if they had clothes. And fortunately, it also meant they weren’t really exposed if they were naked. They were absolutely covered with dirt, though. The part of Chara’s arm that was above ground didn’t look like it had the shirt they died in, which was long sleeve, but it was possible that Toriel put them in something else or that the sleeve slid down when they dug their way up.

Chara felt their body with the arm that was still buried and just felt bone. No fabric. (Wait, how could they feel things without skin?)

Frisk backed away.

“If you are… trying to get away from monsters, there are more that way.”

“Wha-what?”

“But they are friendly!” Wait, why did they suddenly care?

Oh, right, Gaster gave them a soul. It felt weird.

“By the way, if you see a goat monster, tell her I am here.” Frisk ran away, barely hearing Chara yell, “If you see a flower, do not trust it!”

And then they saw a flower.

“Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!” This guy didn’t seem dangerous. What was that skeleton worried about?

“I-I’m Frisk…”

“You must be new to the Underground, aren’tcha?”

“The skeleton back there said I shouldn’t trust you.”

“Skeleton…? A skeleton in the Ruins…? Well, don’t listen to them. Whoever they are probably mistook me for a different talking flower. Bet they didn’t even try to explain how things work down here.”

“I… don’t know. I ran away before they could.”

“That sounds rude! But I guess little old me will have to do.”

A red glowing upside-down teardrop appeared in front of Frisk. “What’s this?”

“That… should be a heart. But I can work with this. That is your soul, the very culmination of your being. Your soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV, or LOVE. Down here, that’s shared through little white…” seed-like pellets appeared above Flowey, “friendliness pellets! Are you ready? Catch as many as you can!” Then they flew towards Frisk.

Frisk moved out of the way.

“Hey buddy, you missed them,” Flowey said. “Let’s try again, okay?”

Frisk dodged again.

“Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN! INTO! THE! BULLETS!”

“What?”

“Friendliness pellets! I meant friendliness pellets!”

Frisk dodged again.

Floweys face changed to be creepy. “Y̴̭͊o̷̳͛ǘ̴̘ ̴̞̈́k̴̩̈́ń̵̬o̷̥̒w̶͚̏ ̶̦̂w̴͜͝h̴͔̎a̵͍͛ť̴̘’̶͓̓ș̵̈ ̷̛̺g̶̬͌o̸̻̍i̷̻̎n̸̘͗ǵ̵͚ ̷̣̄o̴̠͑n̵̘̐ ̵̧͗h̵̯̀e̸͈͝r̷̟̈́e̸͓͝,̴̖̓ ̶͓̕d̴̫̈o̵̳̍n̶̗̅’̸̙͝t̴̬̂ ̸͎̈y̸͙͋o̵͙̎u̶̞͘?̴͇͊”

“What...?”

“Y̸̻̕ó̶̳ů̴̱ ̶̤̉j̵̗͊u̶̱͗s̷̼̓t̷͎̾ ̶̲̅w̵̦͒a̶͇͒n̴̫̊t̶̨̏e̵̺͐d̴̨͐ ̴̟͋t̸̩̋o̸̧͐ ̴̢̄s̴̗̀ȇ̶̬e̷̞͠ ̴̗̚m̴̅ͅe̸̯̎ ̸̖̊s̴̖̈́ù̸̫ḟ̵̩f̶̯̃ẹ̵̚ř̸͈.̴͓̇”

“No! I- I didn’t, I just-”

The pellets surrounded Frisk.

“D̴͊ͅì̷͙e̴̥̽.̸̹̑”

Flowey laughed as the pellets closed in on Frisk. This was it. They were going to die here.

But the bullets didn’t touch Frisk. The pain miraculously went away. Frisk looked up in time to see Flowey get hit by a fireball and then go into the ground. Then a goat lady approached Frisk.

“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth. Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come down here in a long time.”

“There’s a skeleton coming out of the flower bed back there,” Frisk said. “They told me to tell you.”

“A… skeleton?” Toriel paused. “Did they say their name?”

“No. I ran away before they could say. But they had a necklace.”

“Was it gold with a heart on it?” Frisk nodded. “Is it… Uh, could you stay here for a moment? I will be right back.”

Toriel walked away, towards where Chara was.

She saw them, still digging their way out of the flower bed. The flower bed where Toriel’s adoptive child was buried. “Hi, Mom,” they said.

“Chara, is that you?” Toriel asked.

“Yes.”

Toriel looked about to cry. She approached them. “Oh! You need clothes, do you not? I have an idea.” She used her claw to cut one of the sleeves of her outfit, then used magic to make it a little bigger. “I have plenty more of these.” She set the cut piece of fabric on the ground.

Chara climbed the rest of the way out of their grave and put the sleeve on their body. It felt weird to stand up.

Then Toriel adjusted the fabric to fit more like a dress that went to Chara’s knees. “When we get home, I will find you some actual clothes to wear. After you take a bath.”

Yeah, Chara was pretty dirty, weren’t they? They tried to walk forward but stumbled. Whether it was because their legs haven’t been used in 100 years, because their legs were meant to be moved with muscles instead of magic or whatever was allowing them to move now, or because they just weren’t used to having a body (they thought they got over that possessing Frisk), they couldn’t walk right.

Toriel held out her hand. “Here, take my hand. If you fall, I will catch you.”

Chara took it and they and Toriel started walking. “Thanks, Mom.”

“By the way, who is your friend?”

“Friend?”

“A child in a blue and pink shirt told me you were alive. Were they the one who brought you back?”

“You are talking about Frisk. They did not bring me back, and we are not friends.”

“Did I tell you my name?” Frisk asked. They were still waiting for Toriel, and their waiting had paid off.

“Yes.” Just, in a different timeline. “You must have forgotten that you told me. I am Chara, by the way.”

“Well, we can be friends.”

“Not very likely. I do not like humans.”

“You used to be a human,” Toriel said.

“Wait, am I a monster now?”

“I… do not know. But I’m sure the other monsters will consider you one of their own now. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs.”

Toriel led Chara and Frisk through the Ruins.

Chapter Text

Eventually, they reached Toriel’s house. Along the way, Frisk found a ribbon and a toy knife, which they picked up because Chara said they belonged to someone named Lily who died, and Frisk wanted to give her family her stuff.

By the time they reached it, Chara could walk without help from Toriel.

Once inside, Toriel said, “I have a surprise for you.” Toriel led them to the first door in the hall. “A room for you two! I apologize, I was not expecting both of you at the same time, so it is not yet fully ready for both of you. I can lay down a sleeping bag for one of you or you can share the bed until I get a second one. First, though… I’ll be right back.” Toriel entered the room and then came back out carrying clothes. She had a green and yellow striped sweater and brown pants. “Chara, come with me.”

She led them to a bathroom. She set the clothes on a stand, and then left Chara alone, but not before asking if Chara needed anything else (they said they were fine).

Chara looked in the mirror. Their skull… looked like a normal skull, nothing particularly weird about it. Their eyes were like Sans’ eyes. Except, instead of white dots, they had red dots. It felt… weird that they looked like this.

They had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, they liked that they had their own body again. They weren’t attached to anyone. They also liked that they were closer to a monster than they were before.

On the other hand, they were a skeleton. Sans and Papyrus were both skeletons. Just looking into a mirror was a reminder of them.

Papyrus was nice. He was innocent. Kind. Forgiving. He looked at someone who had just wiped out… forty monsters? He looked at that person and decided that what they needed was a second chance.

And Chara killed him. Sure, it was undone, but did that make them innocent? Of course not.

And then there was Sans. Chara felt nothing but frustration when they tried to fight him. But now… they understood why he did what he did. How what they were doing was wrong.

‘on days like these, kids like you… should be burning in hell.’ Sans was right. Why did Chara ever think what they did was okay? Or even fun?

They were also a bit afraid. He wouldn’t remember, but if he managed to figure out what Chara had done, would he…? Though, they deserved it, really. Anything he did to them.

Their knees felt weak. The only reason Chara didn’t just break down right then and there was because they knew Toriel would notice they were taking a while and her mom instincts might kick in. They didn’t want to worry anyone.

So instead they decided to hop into the shower.

After the shower, Chara looked for Toriel.

They went to the living room, but she wasn’t there, or in the kitchen.

Chara went into the hall and opened the door to their room. Instead of a cozy bedroom with kids’ toys and a soft bed, it was Gaster sitting in an otherwise empty white void.

“Come in, Chara,” he said.

“What… is this place…?”

“The void. I needed to talk to you for a moment and this is much easier than materializing in the real world. It seems that you may be entering Snowdin, and I wanted to tell you something about Sans and Papyrus. I̸̳̾f̸̢̈́ ̵̣͊y̸̟͗ô̵̠ṳ̸͊ ̶͘ͅh̸̘̋ú̷̻r̸̤̋ṫ̷͇ ̴͔̆t̵͓̀h̶̻͒ĕ̸̼m̷̱͊ ̶́ͅá̵͈g̸̺̓a̶̧̍i̸̻̽ņ̶̓,̶͕̚ ̶̼̔I̶͕͘ ̴̻̃w̴̥̍i̴͓͆l̷̼̂l̵͇̑ ̶͓͝b̷̨͆r̵̖̀ḛ̷̒ḁ̷̚k̸͇͘ ̸͙̅ẻ̵̙v̸̨̐ë̷̢́r̷̙̾y̴̗̕ ̶͚͌b̵͎̀o̵̭͐n̵͚̈́ȅ̵̥ ̴̙̒i̸͉̇n̶̝̈́ ̴̟̈y̵̭͝o̵̭̅ŭ̴̼r̴̮̀ ̷̭̓b̷͈̓ó̸̲ḑ̷̂y̴̘͆.̵̞̽”

“I won’t… I’m not… I won’t… I’m sorry…”

Gaster watched the child in front of him collapse in guilty sobs and apologies. He could tell they were from guilt, not fear. “This… was not the outcome I was expecting from you. I did not realize that only half a soul would have such a strong effect so quickly.”

“Ha-half a soul…?”

“Creating a soul out of thin air takes weeks at best, though months are more likely. So I used half of Frisk’s instead.”

“Um… so what’s… what is your connection to Sans and Papyrus?”

“That’s not of import. All that matters is that I care about them, like you for Asriel, your parents for you, and both of them for each other, even if Toriel denies it.”

“Mom… still cares for Dad? I thought I… made her hate him…”

Gaster sat for a moment as if trying to figure out how exactly to word what he wanted to say. “A… lot of things happened when Asriel died, yes. One of the effects was Toriel leaving Asgore. They were both very upset, Asgore declared war on humanity, and Toriel, in response, decided to protect humans. It never occurred to her to try to reason with him.”

“So… if I try to talk to him, then… I can… help?”

“I meant for Flowey to guide you, but I suppose a little instruction from me wouldn’t hurt. You can try. I don’t know if it will work. But to save Asriel, you must leave the Ruins with Frisk.”

Then… they were in their room. Frisk was sitting on the bed looking at Chara weirdly.

“Chara, you were… muttering to yourself,” Frisk said.

“Oh. I was. I am… perfectly fine. Where is Mom?”

“Do you mean Toriel? She said she was going to go shopping for a ‘surprise.’”

Chara sighed before looking at the box of shoes in the room. Toriel must have bought them in case they were needed. But since everyone except Lily (and maybe Frisk, though that remained to be seen) had decided to stay in the Ruins, they were never worn. They didn’t look like they were ever worn. Well, Chara needed shoes, so they tried some on.

“What are you doing?”

“I am going to practice magic.” If they could figure out some way to distract themself until Toriel got back, then they would be happy until then. They always wanted to do magic, but being human before, it was extremely difficult. If they could do this, it would make them happy, at least until they remember what they were trying to distract from. They found a pair of boots that fit them and matched Frisk’s. “This type of magic harms humans so I recommend you stay inside.”

Creating attacks (bones, who would’ve guessed?) was… surprisingly easy. But the emotions from earlier hadn’t gone away by the time Toriel got back, and how could they? It was only a few minutes.

So when Chara saw her, they felt… bad.

“Y… you… really hate me that much? Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here. Not you… but them!” She collapsed to the ground and laughed weakly, before turning to dust.

Their attacks went crazy for a moment before Chara composed themself and all the bones disappeared. Shit, she couldn’t see them like this. If she knew, she would try to help. But Chara deserved this. This feeling… this guilt… was punishment. Chara just had to hope she didn’t notice.

“Chara, is… something wrong?”

Shit. “I was… just thinking about my past.”

Toriel set her bags on the ground and sat next to Chara. “I do not know what happened on the surface,” they weren’t talking about the surface, “but know that you are loved down here.”

“I know.” That was what made this so much worse.

They decided that they weren’t going to tell anyone anything if they could avoid it.

Chapter Text

Most of the humans who wanted to leave the Ruins expressed this desire almost immediately upon realizing Toriel intended to keep them there.

Frisk didn’t. 

Chara didn’t feel right to pressure them, seeing as they had no guarantee that Asriel could be saved or that things wouldn’t go badly for Frisk. There was also the fact that Sans was right outside the door to the Ruins, and of all monsters, Sans would be the one to be able to figure out what Chara did, or that it was even possible given nobody was dead, and of all monsters, he would be the one to have absolutely no trouble killing them 100 times over (even Undyne wasn’t that strong, despite the state she was in). Death didn’t scare them as much as it should’ve, but it would greatly hinder their ability to save Asriel.

Chara was laying in their shared room with Frisk. They took the sleeping bag. (Frisk kept saying they could take the sleeping bag, or they could share a bed, but Chara insisted that Frisk take the bed. And they refused to share out of fear of disturbing or waking Frisk. Which turned out to be a good thing, because they had a nightmare about their own death . Was that normal for skeletons?)

Toriel had put two plates of butterscotch pie in the room. Chara hadn’t touched theirs. They didn’t feel like eating. They weren’t entirely sure it was possible. They just stared at the ceiling of the room.

Well, there was no use letting it go to waste.

They got up and went into the living room to see Toriel.

“Chara, you are awake.”

“Mom, do you have any plastic containers, about the size of a slice of pie?”

“What is wrong, my child?”

“I do not feel like eating right now. I don’t know if I am capable of it, either.”

“I am sure you can, it is made of magic, after all. You are not the first skeleton, so they must be able to fuel their bodies somehow.”

“I still don’t feel well.”

“Oh. Is it the same thing as earlier?” Chara nodded. “Oh. Do you wish to talk about it?” Chara shook their head.

“I just want something to put the pie in so I can save it for when I feel better.” Or if they feel better, that is. If this all worked out, they may just give it to Asriel. Actually… “Mom, can I have a piece for a friend, too?” Just in case they did end up getting hungry. Or Frisk noticed they weren’t eating and Chara had to appease them.

“Oh, a friend? Do I know them?”

That was a very complicated question. “I don’t think you would recognize him.” She might recognize him as the flower that kept attacking children, but other than that…

“Well, you will just have to introduce me to your friend someday.” Toriel got up and headed to the kitchen. When she came back, she had two food containers, one empty and one with a slice of pie in it. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Chara ran back to their room.

Frisk was waking up. “Oh, hi Chara.” They rubbed their eyes.

“Greetings.” Chara scooped their pie into the empty container.

“Is that pie?”

“Yes. Mom makes amazing pies.”

“Is that why you have two?”

“One of these is for a friend.”

“Who?”

“Well, if you have met him then you would know him as Flowey, but-”

Frisk’s eyes widened. They were squinted earlier, but now Chara could see they were red. “You’re friends with Flowey?! He tried to kill me!”

“Oh. Right. He was not always like that, and I am trying to help him. He is my brother, and he used to be the sweetest monster ever. He… lost his soul, and it changed him. A lot. Asriel… that was his name before… would never hurt anyone. But someone promised me that it’s possible to get him back. It is… risky, don’t get me wrong, but seeing my brother like this, is… upsetting. I need to at least try to do something.”

“Oh. That sucks. Can I help… at all?”

“Yes, but it is not something I feel right asking you to do, especially since there is no guarantee I can get him back.” Chara sighed. “We have to leave the Ruins. Together. The problem is, once you leave the Ruins, nowhere is safe from monsters unless you either choose to return here or leave the Underground entirely. To leave, though, you need a human soul and a monster soul. Given the state of your soul, that is impossible to accomplish.”

“Yeah, Flowey said my soul was supposed to be a heart, but it was only half a heart.” Frisk paused. “Wait, why would monsters try to hurt me? You and Toriel are really nice!”

“I said to leave you need a human soul and a monster soul, right?”

“Yeah? Wait, are they going to try to take my soul to leave?”

“Yes, but not in the way you are probably thinking. It is possible to get rid of the barrier keeping everyone here entirely, but to do so requires seven human souls. They already have six. They used to be much friendlier to humans, but then when Asriel died, to humans , Dad became angry and declared vengeance on all humans. Mom left him to protect anyone who fell.”

“If he was so nice to humans, why didn’t she talk to him?”

“Ga- someone told me it was probably because the wound was too fresh when she would have tried.”

“Could it be possible now?”

“I don’t know. Frisk, if you want to do this, I will go with you and protect you, but I need you to understand how dangerous it is. If you cannot talk him down, then either you or he will die.”

“But he’s your dad, right? Even if he won’t listen to me, he has to listen to you.”

“I hope.”

Frisk got up. “How do we leave?”

“The staircase across from the entrance to the house. If we get caught, it was all your idea and I’m only going with you to protect you.”

Chara grabbed their pie and they and Frisk walked downstairs.

“Children, what are you doing down here?”

They both turned around to see Toriel.

“I wanted to leave,” Frisk said.

“I tried to talk them,” Chara said, “but they insisted and I thought I should protect them.”

“Oh.” Toriel paused. “I see. Chara, thank you for wanting to protect Frisk, but it would be better entirely if they do not leave at all.” Toriel started to walk away.

Chapter Text

“Mom, wait!” Chara said. They followed Toriel and so did Frisk.

“You wish to know how to leave, do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be good children and go upstairs.”

Toriel walked toward the exit as Frisk and Chara followed them.

“Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child… If you leave the Ruins, they… Asgore… will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? Go to your room.”

“We can convince him if we talk to him!” Frisk said.

“What makes you think you could stop him? Even if you believe that you could, there is no guarantee you will make it to the castle.”

“Chara will help!”

Finally, they were at the door. “You want to leave so badly? You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself… prove to me you are strong enough to survive out there.”

Chara slashed, grinning with Frisk’s face. “Was that good?”

Could skeletons be nauseous without stomachs? Because Chara definitely felt sick.

“Chara, why are you looking at me like that?”

“What?” Chara said quickly.

“Like you have seen a ghost. Do you know something that I do not?”

Chara laughed nervously. They couldn’t tell her. Not only would nobody understand… but… telling Toriel they killed her before was just… creepy.

“No… that is impossible.”

Toriel held up her hand and a flame appeared. It went towards Frisk.

“I’m not going to fight you!” Frisk said. A fireball flew at them as a wall of bones appeared to block it.

“Mom, how are you protecting them by fighting?!” Chara asked.

Toriel didn’t have an answer for that, except for her attacks beginning to falter and avoid Frisk.

“I promise to protect them,” Chara said. “I promise I won’t let Dad or anyone else hurt them.”

“Chara, I understand, but I do not know if…”

“You saw that wall of bones. I can do magic!”

“Please let us leave,” Frisk said.

Toriel stopped creating attacks. “I know you want to leave, but… but please… go upstairs now. I promise I will take good care of you here. I know we do not have much, but… we can have a good life here.”

“No.”

“Why are you making this so difficult? Please, go upstairs.”

Frisk and Chara said nothing.

“Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child. No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations… my loneliness… my fear… For you, my child… I will put them aside. If you truly wish to leave the Ruins, I will not stop you. However, when you leave, please do not come back. I hope you understand.” Toriel hugged both of them. “Chara, the monsters do not recognize you as human. Please use that to your advantage and protect Frisk.”

“Okay, Mom.”

“And you know the most efficient way to New Home. I trust you will take it.” Chara nodded. “Oh! Wait, I have something for you. Stay here. I will only be a moment. Wait, Frisk, did you eat your pie or is it still in the bedroom?”

“It’s still in there,” Frisk said.

“Okay.

Toriel hurried away and eventually came back with two backpacks. “Frisk, your slice of pie is in here. There are also a few other things for your little adventure. Oh! And Chara, I gave you some chocolate from the fridge. I converted it to magic, so you should be able to eat it and it will not melt anymore.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Chara said.

“Please stay safe, alright?”

“We promise.”

“Goodbye, my children.”

Toriel started to walk away but stopped to take one last look at them before finally walking away.

“Ready to go?” Chara asked. Frisk nodded. “Then let’s go.”

On the other side of the door was a golden flower. Frisk hid behind Chara.

“Chara!” Flowey said. “It’s you!”

“Yes. It is.”

“I would recognize you anywhere, but how did you know it was me?”

“What do you mean?”

“You called me Asriel.”

“Oh. That. Uh, you, uh just… act familiar.”

“That’s not it and you know it. You said it yourself. I don’t act like Asriel.”

“Were you listening in on our entire conversation…”

“I don’t know what you’re hiding, but I bet it’s really interesting. Too bad you’re not willing to tell your best friend and brother the truth. Or is it just because Frisk is here? Are they your new friend?” Why did that last sentence seem threatening? “What’s wrong, Frisk? You aren’t afraid, are you?”

“I promised Mom I would protect them. So if you want to hurt them, then…” bones popped up around them, “…you will have to go through me first.”

“Oh, please. I’m not going to hurt them. Yet. I know they’ll just come back anyway. Even if I did, I know you can’t hurt me. After all,” Flowey’s face changed to look like Asriel, “I’m your best friend!”

“After all, it’s me, your best friend! I’m helpful, I can be useful to you. I promise I won’t get in your way. I can help… I can… I can…” Flowey’s voice was Asriel’s, and he was crying. “Please don’t kill me.”

Chara took a step back.

Flowey’s face returned to normal. “See? Even you know you could never do it!” He laughed. “By the way, congrats on sparing Mom! Not sure how well that’ll work on the king, but if you’re so insistent on talking everything through, good luck anyway! Y̴̨̊o̸͕̕u̸͚͆’̵͗ͅr̴̯̈e̵͖͐ ̷̠́g̵̟̚o̸̞̒i̴̤̓ṅ̸̨g̶͖̀ ̷̱́t̶͕̉ö̵͕́ ̵̼̔n̸̢̆e̴̗̐ȇ̶͈d̵̨̈́ ̴͚̃i̵͙͝t̶̞͂. Buh-bye!” Flowey went into the ground.

“I don’t like him,” Frisk said.

“I am just hoping some of Asriel is still there,” Chara said. “At least enough that he can be saved.”

Chapter Text

Immediately upon leaving the Ruins, Frisk was hit with the cold. Chara wasn’t. Turns out there are perks to having no skin.

Frisk’s hands were shoved in their pants pockets.

“Mom probably packed gloves,” Chara said.

Frisk checked their backpack. There were a pair of gloves, a scarf, and a hat. “Either Toriel already had these or she goes to the store really quickly. What’s wrong?”

Chara was frowning. Well, as much as one could frown with no lips. “Frisk. I think you should look behind you.”

“Why?” Frisk turned around. “Hi.” There was a skeleton about Frisk’s height in a blue coat, shorts, and slippers. Sans.

“hey,” Sans said. “i was gonna sneak up on you all mysterious and stuff, but then i saw another skeleton.”

“Why do I hear Comic Sans when you talk?!”

“welcome to being a skeleton. that’s my name, but everyone just calls me ‘sans.’”

“I heard Aster when talking to Gaster but I just assumed it was because he was from a different plane of existence or something so my… brain? Mind picked up on some void weirdness or something.”

“What’s it like to hear fonts?” Frisk asked.

“So weird… why do you not have a font?”

“only skeletons have noticeable fonts,” Sans said. “so what’s your name?”

“Chara. You’re not going to ask about them?” Chara pointed at Frisk.

“hey, your name’s like charakterny. which makes sense, since that’s your font. as for frisk, i heard you call them frisk. anyway, gaster, did he have cracks in his skull? one above the eye and one below the mouth?”

“Yes- wait, you know him? Do you know what is going on with him? He can appear out of nowhere, remember things Flowey did in different timelines, he’s the one who brought me back, and he can turn a bedroom into the void before putting me into the actual room I wanted to go to!”

Sans shrugged. “eh, i don’t really remember him, but i know how to use what knowledge i do have. i have a picture of me and my brother with him when we were bittybones. my guess is he’s our dad? anyway, my theory is he disappeared somehow and it made everyone forget about him. as for bringing you back as a skeleton, any skeleton can do that if they have the right motivation. heck, i’m sure if you really wanted to, you probably could do it, but it’s pretty hard. i’ve never done it, and i don’t think papyrus has either.”

“So… if I wanted to, I could bring the six humans back- wait, do you become related to someone if they revive you?”

“i don’t think that’s how it works. i think i was born like this. ‘course, i was a baby so i don’t remember. but i know my bro was, since i wasn’t a baby at that point.”

“Good, because I do not want to be related to you, and I do not think you want to be related to me, either.”

“wow. rude. oh, i think i can see my brother up ahead. he likes to look for humans. i have an idea.” Sans led them to a bridge. “go through this gate thingy.”

Frisk crossed the bridge. Chara didn’t.

“well?”

“I’m afraid of heights…” Chara said.

“it’s not even that far.”

Chara stepped on the bridge and held onto the gate like their life depended on it. As far as they were concerned, it did.

But they got to the other side of the bridge. They all walked forward and there was an oddly-shaped lamp.

“quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp. chara, hide if you want but papyrus isn’t gonna try to capture you.”

Frisk hid, and then Papyrus approached.

Sans greeted him with “sup, bro?”

“YOU KNOW WHAT’S- SANS WHO IS THAT?” Chara waved at Papyrus. Who spoke Papyrus , who would’ve guessed?

“oh, this is chara. they came from the ruins.”

“I THOUGHT THAT DOOR WAS LOCKED.”

“from the inside, apparently, but i guess anyone inside can come out.”

“WELL, HELLO, CHARA! MY NAME IS PAPYRUS! UNTIL NOW, SANS HAS BEEN THE ONLY SKELETON I KNEW, BESIDES MYSELF OF COURSE! ARE YOU NEW TO SNOWDIN? BECAUSE IN THAT CASE, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN BE YOUR FRIEND AND GUIDE!”

Why was this making Chara feel weird? “Uh, thanks, I think I am fine.” They didn’t want friends. They didn’t deserve friends. As soon as they saved Asriel, they knew exactly what they would do. (Okay, they didn’t have the exact details down yet… maybe Sans would be willing to help?) It would hurt Asriel, and that was exactly why they could not have any more friends. Hopefully, this time it would take.

“SO YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH SNOWDIN?”

“Yes. That was… the part I meant when I said I was fine.”

“GREAT!”

How did they tell him they don’t want to be friends without hurting his feelings? “Uh, Papyrus, I am not sure you want to be my friend. I… have zero redeeming qualities and am honestly a horrible person.”

“WELL, I’M SURE IF YOU WANT TO DO BETTER, THEN YOU CAN! EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY! AND ME, I HARDLY HAVE TO TRY AT ALL!”

Why did he have to say it like that? Why did he have to word it that exact way? Fuck, did anyone notice Chara freaking out? “Okay…”

“GREAT! DO YOU HAVE A PHONE?”

“I do not think Mo- Toriel ever gave us- me a phone.”

“WELL, THEN WE’LL JUST HAVE TO TALK IN PERSON! I HAVE SOME PUZZLES TO ATTEND TO! AND SANS SHOULD DO THE SAME FOR HIS OWN PUZZLES.” Papyrus walked away.

“ok, you can come out now,” Sans said.

Frisk came out from behind the lamp. “Where did he go?”

“up ahead. but you should go, too. he’ll be back, and then you’ll have to hide again. i mean, unless you don’t want to.”

Chara seriously couldn’t tell if that was just a joke or Sans trying to hint that he know what happened in the previous timeline.

Frisk and Chara started to walk away. “actually, hey, frisk… hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking… my brother’s been kind of down lately. he’s never seen a human before, and seeing you might just make his day.”

“That is a lie,” Chara said.

“eh, true, but i don’t really count amber. don’t worry about papyrus, he’s not dangerous. even if he tries to be.” Before Frisk or Chara could give a response, Sans said, “thanks a million. i’ll be up ahead.” And then he went in the… complete opposite direction…?

Okay then. Well, if Sans suspected anything, he definitely wasn’t saying anything. And they were going to do everything in their power to keep it that way, at least until the right moment.

Chapter Text

Apparently, Frisk did have a phone. Toriel had given them one when she went to the store, but since she only had one, they were meant to share it with Chara. Chara wasn’t planning on telling Papyrus the next time they saw him.

In the meantime, though…

“Who’s Amber?” Frisk asked.

“Who?” Chara asked.

“Sans mentioned Amber. Who is she? Why does Sans not consider them human? Are they something else?”

Chara called the whole ‘Papyrus has never met a human’ thing a lie without thinking about it until Sans mentioned Amber. “What makes you think I know about her?”

“Calling it a lie that Papyrus has never seen a human and Sans knew exactly who you were talking about.”

They really weren’t getting out of this. If it was Sans, at least they could convince Frisk to go back. Frisk was… really impressionable and easy to control.

It was fun before (god, why did lacking a soul fuck someone up so badly?), but now it was just kind of concerning. But with Frisk being the one to ask the question, that wasn’t an option even if they didn’t remember other timelines.

Chara sighed. “I would rather not talk about her.” Amber may have been able to influence Chara extremely negatively, but she wasn’t responsible for their actions. Despite that, Chara felt angry at her. “Just know that she was a very bad person and if there were any monsters who still believed humans were good at the time, she fixed that problem very quickly, if you understand what I am saying.”

“Oh. What’s up there?” Frisk pointed forward.

“Sans and Papyrus are that way.” Chara rubbed their arm awkwardly. “I am not ready to talk to them yet, but if you want to, then…”

“Okay.” Frisk went to the left instead.

Wait, what? Chara followed. “Frisk, there is nothing here.”

And there wasn’t. Except for a fishing rod with a picture of a weird-looking monster.

“I told you. Nothing. You can go ahead. I will catch up.”

“Are you sure?” Frisk asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you… want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Okay…”

Frisk walked away.

As soon as Frisk was gone, another skeleton appeared in front of Chara.

“What do you want, Gaster?” Chara asked. “I have not touched Sans or Papyrus. Speaking of them, why did you do this, anyway? You clearly care about them, you know what I did, and yet…”

Well, originally he only brought them back to make them easier to kill, but his plans had changed quite a bit since then, and he didn’t think it was a good idea to tell someone something like that when they just had a panic attack. “It is complicated. It helps that I knew you before.”

“But I-”

“I know. You do not remember me- nobody does.” Gaster smiled. “But you used to call me Uncle Gaster, and you and your brother loved when I would take care of both of you. You were so adorable.” Gaster frowned. “But then everything changed. My point is that I did not realize how much of a negative effect soullessness has on someone until I watched you experience having one again.”

“Did you think I would have done that if I was normal?!”

“I suppose it’s more that the Chara that did… all the stuff you did without a soul made me all but forget about the Chara who loves gardening and knits sweaters to say thanks.”

“That makes me sound like a grandma.”

“Well, to be fair you are over 100 years old.”

“Wait, really?”

Gaster nodded.

“Okay, well, why are you here?”

“I wanted to say, you should really make friends.”

“I am fine.”

“Really? So you haven’t had a single breakdown or panic attack since you were brought back?”

Chara paused for a moment to think before saying, “What does that have to do with friendship?”

“You were the one who claimed to be fine. Everyone knows ‘I’m fine’ never truly means ‘I’m fine.’ But, negative mental health generally isn’t helped by being a loner. It would be good for you.”

“I have Asriel.”

“True, but he’s not himself right now, and having only one friend isn’t healthy either. What about Frisk? You seem to like them.”

“I do not.”

“You protected them and you explained the danger of leaving the Ruins, knowing it may dissuade them, knowing Asriel needed you both to leave in order to be saved.”

“With all due respect, I did not trust you. I still do not trust you.”

Gaster shrugged. “Fair enough. By the way, you haven’t eaten anything at all since you came back from the dead. You need to eat something. Why not eat that butterscotch pie?”

“I am… not hungry.”

“Chara, that’s not healthy.”

“What are you, my parents?”

“You recently came back from the dead. You have not eaten anything in over a century. And given how young the magic fueling your body is, you need something. ”

Chara sighed. “I have a chocolate bar if that will make you happy.”

“It’s better than nothing for now.  But you need some real food soon. And you should try to be friends with someone.”

Then Gaster disappeared.

Chara took their backpack off, took their candy bar out, and put their backpack back on.

They started eating before they went to rejoin Frisk. By that point, both Sans and Papyrus were gone.

“Greetings, Frisk,” Chara said.

“I told Papyrus about how we’re sharing a phone and now we have his number. Oh, and they said I was familiar, which is weird because I thought they were kind of familiar? For some reason?”

“What?”

“I said-”

“No, I heard you. Please tell me you did not mention that to them .” Frisk shook their head. “Also…” Chara whispered. “Don’t talk about that out loud. Sans can teleport so he could appear completely without warning. If he finds out, it will be bad for both of us, but probably mostly you.”

Chara was definitely going to talk to Gaster about this later.

Chapter Text

Sorry I haven't updated for a while. I've decided I'm going to rewrite this AU. Part of the reason I took so long to say this is that at first I wasn't completely sure if I wanted to do that or not. Also, when I finally decided I definitely was, I kept forgetting to update you all.

There are a few things I'm not happy with, so I've decided I'm going to change them.

It's going to start from the first story, so once that's ready, it'll be deleted and replaced and the other two will have notes put on them about the AU being rewritten.