#foiltale

Writing Prompt: When visiting an AU, Error meets character A. What is it about character A that makes them see the AU or the multiverse differently? Is this change in perspective positive or negative?

Prompt by @undertaleink

Error created by @loverofpiggies

Foiltale created by me

He had found another one, another filthy "Alternate Universe" that had to be destroyed. The creator didn't even look like they put any effort into this one; it was just a more washed-out version of the Original! Underfell had more effort put into its aesthetic, whereas this one was just… foggy and dreary. Was this scenery the creator's lame attempt at angst?

What was this place called again? Foiltale? Whatever, the name didn't matter when it was going to be gone soon.

Error made his way through the dense mist of this AU's Snowdin Forest, his red eyes squinting as he tried to find his way to the cleared path leading into town. He grumbled a bit, pulling his cloak closer around him as the cold wind brushed against his cheekbones. A few beats passed and it wasn't long before he found the main trail, his feet instinctively marching him down the familiar road. A majority of AUs had the same layout, most of them mirroring the original Undertale's Underground, so he doubted he'd get lost. In fact, he would have given this place points for originality if he had been caught off-guard by some new event, but alas. There was that same-old barrier with the same-old bars wide enough to walk through.

But he paused mid-step as something occurred to him: if he had just come across the barrier over the bridge, then that meant—

"this timeline sure is full of interesting characters. first a floating ghost 'kid' passes through, and now this?"

Error sighed, annoyed. Of course this AU had a Sans, and of course he'd be the first person Error met. Oh well, if he took care of this nuisance now, then he wouldn't have to deal with it later. Time to start the clean up!

Error quickly turned and shot out blue strings to where the voice had came from, looking back just in time to see the other figure teleport away in a blur. Anticipating a reactionary attack, the out-code jumped and landed in the snow a ways away. His eyes glowered as he scanned the area around him, getting more and more irritated at the hazy surroundings. How was anyone supposed to see anything around here?

"whoa, bud. howsabout we talk this out at grillby's instead? cuz i really don't feel like getting tangled up in any trouble right now," the voice called out, disturbingly calm even after having an attack launched at him.

"Nah, I'm a busy guy. I've got places to be, things to see, glitches to erase." Error emphasized his point by blindly shooting into the fog where he guessed the other Sans was hiding, growling when all his strings latched onto was a tree branch.

"pity. grillby rolls a mean bloody mary."

No longer amused by their bantering, Error summoned a Gaster Blaster and shot it toward the voice. "Stay still so I can erase you!" he yelled, his body and his voice both glitching out more and more as his anger mounted. What transpired next was what could be boiled down to a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, with trees and puzzles getting caught in the crossfire. Twenty straight minutes passed before Error paused to take a well-needed break. He panted, his gaze darting this way and that for any signed of his mark. Suddenly, he stiffened as he felt a presence teleport right behind him.

"wow. you sure did a number on this pla—"

Gotcha! Error's blaster fired point-blank at the other Sans, finishing him off for good. "Did he think I'd let my guard down?" The out-code laughed. "How stupid do you have to be to teleport right behind your enemy?"

"i'm guessing almost as stupid as someone who celebrates before confirming they won."

Alarmed, Error jumped a good foot in the air before scrambling to get away from the apparently not dead Sans. "How are you not dead!?" Error had fired point-blank for a good minute or so! Even if this Sans had more than 1HP, the continuous damage should have killed him regardless (and he was taking damage; Error saw the damage counters ticking off during the blast)! "Just how much HP do you have!" the out-code grunted as he readied a few more blasters, charging them all and taking aim at the all-too-calm AU resident.

"just one, lol."

“...” There was a lull in the battle as Error tried to make sense of this new information. This gray-boned Sans didn't seem like they were lying, but that means the blasters clearly wouldn’t work. Were the strings the way to go after all? There was only one way to find out.

In a flash, Foiltale's Sans was strung up in a web of blue strings, dangling from a high branch and unable to break free. His weighted iron ball and a few links from his chains connected with the ground in a heavy thud, crushing the snow beneath it. "really, bud?"

"Quiet! I can't find your soul to kill you if you keep distracting me!" Error tightened the blue strings, the force threatening to crush Sans' body. From experience, he knew Sanses usually housed in their soul in their ribcage, and even though this Sans had their orange hoodie unzipped with ribcage exposed, Error just could not find it.

"hey, weird me: try looking inside the weight."

"Oh, I see. Thank y—" Error caught himself and frowned. "What part of 'kill you' do you not seem to understand?" This Sans acted dismissive, like this had nothing to do with him, or like he was above death— no, that wasn't quite right. It was more like the Sans of Foiltale just didn't care whether or not he died, as if he had long given up hope and had simply accepted defeat. "Before I finish you off, I gotta ask: what's your deal? How are you still alive after being blasted?" Error peered up inquisitively at the Sans as he wrapped his blue strings around the large weight that was indeed housing the monster's soul.

Sans was just hanging around with nothing else better to do, so he figured why not answer the freaky newcomer? "i'm not really a monster in the normal sense. i'm more of a personification of hopelessne—"

"Nevermind, you took too long and I don't care anymore. Bye!" The strings around the solid metal ball tightened, easily crushing the soul's protective outer shell. Finally the threads wrapped around the white soul itself and…

FF.net Link: Chapter 7

It had been a while since the two departed from the Gate, but still, neither sibling had uttered a word, each lost in their own far-off thoughts. The snow beneath Chara’s feet crunched as they walked, the only sound echoing through the dense Snowdin Forest. They‘d used some freshly fallen snow to wipe away the blood and sweat for their previous battle, but that did nothing to heal their HP or mend their torn clothes. Were they even going the right way? The path through the trees seemed endlessly littered with puzzles and in every direction, all they could see was white.

Their brother didn't want to talk, the snow was freezing and they were pretty sure the both of them were lost. Chara didn't think their day could get any worse.

"H u m a n. D o n ' t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w f r i e n d?"

Chara froze. What was this intimidating presence behind them? When did they get there? Surely they would have heard someone else's approaching footsteps in the snow?

"T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d."

Asriel had bolted behind a nearby tree from pure fright. They had probably forgotten they couldn't be seen or touched, but his actions left Chara all alone with this menacing newcomer. The human gulped, not wanting to turn around, but fearing what would happen if they didn't. Hadn't their mother just finished telling that they'd be hunted down mercilessly for their soul? They had just started the first leg of their journey and they already had to fight for their life? With only seven HP, even!

Well, there was no changing their circumstances. It was time to face this next challenge head-on!

Chara quickly turned around and clasped the hand offered to the—

BZZZZZZT!

They snatched their hand back at the weird tingling-shock feeling sent right into their palm. What the! They glared over to the offending device but paused when they recognized the gadget. Is that a—

"heh, the old hand buzzer handshake trick. can't beat the classics. anyway, you're a human, right?"

"Hu-I-what?" Chara stammered. They watched the creature put its hand back into its zip-up hoodie's pocket and their incredulousness soon gave way to anger. "Of course I'm a human!" they yelled. "Who are you? And what was with the hand-buzzer?!" The monster in question was… a short skeleton? His bones were a charcoal gray color, his eye-sockets seemed to be backlit with dark blue light coming from deep within his skull, and black pupils indicated where he was looking. His clothes were casual: a bright orange hoodie that was open to expose his ribcage, light gray shorts and green, fuzzy slippers.

Wait, hold up. Was that a ball-and-chain attached to his left ankle?!

"i'm sans. sans the skeleton. and, uh, a word of advice? don't go screaming about humans down here. tends to stir up trouble. as for the buzzer," Sans shrugged, "i just thought it would be funny."

"Funny? You nearly scared the crap outta me! I thought you were going to attack… me…" Chara trailed off when they realized they were within grabbing reach of an unfamiliar monster. Suddenly alarmed, they jumped back to put some distance between them and got into a fighting pose just in case this skeleton initiated a fight.

"heh, you did look pretty… shocked. but relax, i'm not gonna fight or capture you. that's more of my brother papyrus' thing."

Chara narrowed their gaze, unconvinced. "Why not?"

"don't feel like it."

"I find that hard to believe. I know King Asgore sent out a declaration for any monster to obtain human souls from anyone who Falls down into the Underground, so I'm not falling for any tricks!"

There was an uncomfortable pause where Sans didn't speak or move. The stifling feeling from before swept over Chara's body and left them feeling very, very vulnerable …

But then it was gone. Poof, vanished as if it had never even existed. Sans moved a hand to scratch his boney head as he spoke, "seems you know everything, huh? a lot more than the usual child that comes through here, at least."

"… The usual child that comes through here?" What was this monster talking about? If Toriel was to be believed, then it had been a while since the last human made their way through the Underground. Was Sans lying? And to what end? "What are you talking about?"

Before the skeleton could answer, however, a voice rang out nearby. "SANS? WHERE ARE YOU? PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE NOT SLEEPING ON THE JOB AGAIN."

"that would be my bro," Sans informed casually.

"The human capturing one?!" Was that this monster's plan: to stall long enough for his brother to show up and attack together?!

"well, he hasn't captured one yet, but he's always wanted to. hey, there's an idea – could you stick around for a bit and let him capture you? it'd make him super happy."

"What?" What was with this weird skeleton! "Of course not! He'll take my soul!"

"nah, papyrus'd never hurt a fly. and if he did, he'd apologize and offer them dinner as an apology. see, just watch." Chara followed San's pointing finger, turning to see an approaching figure that was far too close to hide from now. The human turned back around to snap at Sans for using underhanded stalling tactics, but the stout skeleton was nowhere to be found. Where did he go?

As Chara was looking around in confusion, Papyrus drew near, still yelling after his brother. "YOUR SENTRY STATION IS VERY BROTHER-LESS AND HUMAN-LESS, SO I CAN ONLY GUESS THAT YOU ARE BEING A LAZY-BONES—" The loud shouting was interrupted by a very long gasp. "IS THAT A HUMAN?!" Before Chara could even turn to face this boisterous newcomer, the human watched him flash right by and pick up a sizeable rock that looked disturbingly like a human's contour. "GREETINGS, HUMAN! I, PAPYRUS, HAVE WAITED A LONG TIME TO CAPTURE YOU!"

The stone obviously didn't respond.

"HMM, MUST BE THE STRONG, SILENT TYPE."

"Um, that's… just a rock…"

"NYEH?" Papyrus turned and finally noticed Chara. "OH! A HUMAN!" He placed the stone down where it previously was before running over and picking up the actual human being off the ground. "GREETINGS, HUMAN! I, PAPYRUS, HAVE WAITED A LONG TIME TO CAPTURE YOU!"

"sup, bro?" Sans appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

"SANS! LOOK, I FINALLY CAPTURED A HUMAN!" Papyrus excitedly presented the human in his large, gloved hands.

"awesome, bro. i knew you could do it. you're the coolest."

"YES, I AM QUITE COLD RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF THE SNOW. BUT BACK TO THE MATTER LITERALLY AT HAND: I MUST INFORM UNDYNE! THEN SHE WILL SURELY RECOGNIZE MY TALENTS AND MAKE ME A ROYAL GUARD AT LAST!"

"Um, if you aren't going to attack me, can you let me down?" Chara said, awkwardly dangling in the taller skeleton's grip.

"HM." Papyrus frowned pensively, apologetic. "I AM AFRAID I CANNOT, HUMAN. FOR YOU SEE, I CAN ONLY LET YOU DOWN ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN SAFELY SECURED IN OUR HUMAN HOLDING CELL. FURTHERMORE IT APPEARS YOU HAVE BEEN INJURED! I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE HARMED ANY MORE ALONG THE WAY!"

"why don't you carry them to the holding cell, paps? they won't get hurt if you're there to protect them," Sans added.

"THAT IS A GREAT IDEA! AND WHILE WE WALK, YOU CAN TELL US MORE ABOUT YOURSELF, HUMAN!" Without consulting the human in question, Papyrus plopped the child onto his shoulders and started back down the path he came, apparently toward their 'human holding cell.' "LET US DEPART!" he proclaimed while gleefully marching in the snow, with Sans lazily trudging behind.

A little ways behind the three, the prince of monsters kept to the cover of the trees as he followed. Asriel could have sworn Sans looked back at him before moving on, but that couldn't have possibly been the case… right?

Previous || Beginning || Next

FF.net Link: Chapter 4

Chara hadn't seen Asriel since the group of three had entered the house- no, their old "Home." Everything was as the human remembered it, right down to the yellow flowers strewn here and there to give the residence a friendlier vibe, and a stark contrast to the gloomy scenery outside. The only thing out of place was the monster sitting their opposite at the dining table, all smiles despite the constant tears staining the fur of their cheeks.

"Are you all right, my child?"

Chara barely held back a flinch at Toriel's word choice. God, the monster even sounded like their mom. "I'm, uh, fine," Chara clumsily dismissed, red eyes looking at everything but the woman. Too many emotions were churning inside the young human, so many questions begging to be blurt out, but Chara forced them all down, opting instead to fidget with their red heart locket dangling from a gold chain around their neck.

Toriel didn't look convinced by Chara's answer, but decided to move the conversation along anyway. "Are your bandages staying in place? Not too tight?" When they had first stepped indoors, the monster had applied some first aide to Chara's numerous scraps, healing them back to full Hit Points (HP).

"They're good." The answer was curt.

A couple of uncomfortable seconds passed between them before Toriel sighed. "I am sorry, young one. In my rush to bring you here, I have neglected to explain anything. You have Fallen into a foreign land and are now talking with a scary monster; it is no wonder that you are frightened."

That caught Chara's attention: it seems Toriel had mistaken their apprehension for fear. Whoops. Still, the human couldn't help but smile a bit at the goat's words because Toriel was probably the least frightening person in existence – except when dad tried to sneak an extra piece of pie. The look of panic on Asgore's face whenever he got caught never failed to get a chuckle out of the Chara.

At the memory, Chara could feel some tension leave their body and they shifted into a more relaxed pose. As if in response, Toriel eased back into their chair looking much more relieved. Chara spoke, "Then would you mind answering some questions?" Time to gather some information.

The goat monster perked up at this and a smile graced her features. "Of course not! If you have any inquiries, I will certainly answer them to the best of my abilities. Is there anything in particular you wish to know?"

Why don't you recognize me? Where's dad? Why does this place look abandoned? Why are you crying? "Are there others here besides you?"

"Ah, that's right. You Fell a bit farther into the Ruins than the others." At Chara's confused look, Toriel went into more depth. "There have been seven other humans to Fall before you, my child. Usually, the children Fell all in the same spot, in the beginning of the Ruins, before all the traps. You, however, Fell right outside my house and therefore could not have possibly met any other monsters who live down here." Well, that wasn't quite right; they didn't Fall so much as "blip back into existence," but Chara wasn't about to needlessly complicate things. Plus, there were other, more important matters to worry about.

I was the first to Fall, but apparently there have been six others? How much time has passed since Asriel and I died? They asked their next question, "You keep calling this place 'the Ruins.' Why?"

Toriel's expression darkened for a beat before they replied. "Due to… reasons, most of the monsters have moved to a new capital, New Home, that's closer to the barrier keeping us Underground. This place, the old capital, has since been known as the Ruins and Old Home."

"…" Chara could there was more to the story that Toriel wasn't disclosing. They couldn't push it without drawing suspicion though, so they shelved that topic for now. "So, there are monsters in the rest of the Ruins, but you said there were seven other humans before me; where are they?" Knowing mom, if they were around the Ruins, I definitely would have seen them by now. So if they aren't here, did they pass on from old age or…?

It was Toriel's turn to look uncomfortable. Their smile turned sad, and they couldn't meet Chara's gaze anymore. "You certainly cut right to the chase, don't you, my child. You remind me of one of the previous children." The goat monster folded her hands while taking a shaky breath. "Of course. It is only natural that you would like to know where others of your kind are…"

Chara frowned. She's stalling. The human couldn't help but notice the tears streaming down Toriel's cheeks increase in volume, pouring onto her perpetually damp and worn-out tunic. As the seconds ticked by, droplets started to float upwards from Toriel's soaked feet, bobbing and drifting protectively between them and around the goat's form. The heavy atmosphere started to seep in from outside, causing the human to become acutely aware of both their surroundings and the feeling of impending danger.

In the heart locket, the human could feel their soul pulse in response to the mounting amounts of magic, as if a Fight was about to start. Could this have been what Asriel was talking about? A monster's "hurt" manifested into a living form? Did that mean this topic was somehow connected to the pain Toriel was feeling? In any case, Chara wasn't quite ready for a Fight, so they quickly scrambled to change the subject. "Um, I'm feeling a bit tired," they blurt out the first thing to come to mind. "This is a lot to take in, and it's starting to get to me. Can I rest a bit?" Well, it wasn't a complete lie – this was all quite a bit for the young human to take in, and they wanted to prepare before doing anything drastic.

"W-what?" Clearly taken aback, Toriel sputtered at the topic change. "Oh! O-of course!" The monster's mood quickly shifted gears, donning a welcoming smile. "There is a spare bedroom down the hall that you can use. I was going to show you later, but if you are tired now, then I shall not keep you up. Sleep well, young one."

Chara nodded their thanks before heading down the hallway. Now where did Asriel get off to…

Foiltale - Undyne

Whoo, this took me a lot longer than it should have, but it’s done! At least, as much as an amateur like myself can color sprites. I think the hardest part was her mask because I didn’t know how to go about making it, and when I finally found a solution, I was re-creating at least half of it myself.

Also, I have learned that making a sprite look like its “melting and “oozing” is hard for beginners. Ease up on the determination (the black ooze), Undyne, you’re gooping all over the floor!

Thank you so much!! You have no idea how much this message means to me!

And yes, I thought Chara deserved a shot at redemption. Plus, if Chara’s soul had been in unrest for that long, waiting for the chance to take control in a genocide route, I figured they had to have had a reason to be filled with that much loathing. I wanted to explore that in this story and help heal them while they heal others.

FF.net Link: Chapter 1

"Humans and monsters can get along!"

Chara's body all but froze its ascent as they recognized the voice behind them. "Asriel?" their voice called out, shaky. Chara's mind spun in a whirlwind of questions and emotions- elation, anger, melancholy, confusion, relief. But all too abruptly, their heart settled on shame and Chara suddenly couldn't face Asriel. "I…" Their throat tightened as they remembered the moments leading up to their death, remembered the fighting their combined consciousnesses had during their last moments. The anger and confusion Chara held then as they were attacked and Asriel holding them back with all their might, the searing pain they both felt as the attacks landed but still, Asriel cried out in their soul not to fight back. Then, when all was over and they were dying, the sadness they both felt in knowing this was the end, and they spent their final moments not trying to save Monsters, but fighting like in the legends of old.

As so, Chara couldn't bear to look at their brother as they sat on the bed of flowers. They opened their mouth, but no words passed through the thick lump of emotions in their throat, so after a couple attempts, they just closed it again.

After a few heavy moments passed between them, soft footsteps sounded and Chara flinched when they stopped a foot behind them. Did Asriel hate them? Would he berate Chara's actions? Would their brother—

"Hey, remember when we used to play around here?" Asriel's voice was peaceful as he sat down next to his adoptive sibling.

Chara was taken aback. It took him a couple moments to register what Asriel had said, "W-what?" The human finally turned around and sure enough, Asriel was peering at him with those large, green eyes. He still looked like his eleven-year-old self, except for what looked to be cuts and dust on his green-yellow jumper. In addition, part of his left ear was clipped off and the end looked to be dabbed in dust. Right, one of the villager's swords lopped off part of our ear, Chara recalled darkly.

Asriel repeated himself, bringing Chara back to the present. "I asked if you remembered playing here. Don't tell me being dead affected your hearing; too much dirt in your ears?" Asriel lightly teased, giggling at the deadpan face Chara gave him. Instead of responding, Chara rolled their reddish-brown eyes and turned to look at their surroundings:

It was Home. Well, that's what the city was called when they were alive. Now it looked like run-down ruins and decapitated buildings, ghosts of their former selves. A twinge of sadness filled the human as they recalled their time in the underground metropolis: playing with monster children of all shapes and sizes, laughing freely and forgetting the pain they experienced on the surface in years past. Currently, the two were on the outskirts of Home, on a balcony that overlooked the old city, their old house visible in the center of it all. Chara and Asriel would come here sometimes after playing in a nearby park and just look out. Chara would make a joke about how "everything they could see would ruled by King Asriel" and they'd laugh as Asriel would grow flustered and stammer about how that was a long ways off.

Chara's smile fell as they remembered how that future would never come to be. "Sorry," they said suddenly to the goat next to them.

"For what?" Asriel seemed shocked at the sudden apology.

"What do you mean, ’for what’?" So many things flew through Chara's head at once that they let out an exasperated, "For everything!" The words continued to flow from their mouth. "It's my fault your dead! If I was thinking, I could have separated our souls so only I died, and then you would still be alive and…"

"Chara!" Asriel cut in loudly, effectively stopping his older sibling's ramblings. "It's okay, Chara. I forgive you."

"You… forgive…?" Chara could scarcely believe his own ears. After everything that had happened, Asriel still forgave them?

Asriel nodded. "I understand why you did what you did: with our plan, you were trying to free the Monsters from the Underground. And the reason you wanted to attack those humans on the surface is because you didn't want me to die. But they were scared too, Chara, and that's why they attacked us. So, in the end, even though you want my forgiveness, I think no one is really 'at fault,' and I should be thanking you for trying to protect me!" they finished with a huge grin on their face.

"No one's… at fault…" All Chara could do was echo their brother's words, dumbfounded at his kindness and forgiving nature, even in death. Chara then couldn't help but chuckle, shaking their head. Here they were, ready to accept Asriel's anger, thinking that was nothing short of what they deserved, and the goat was giving him a big, goofy grin as if they had shared some silly joke. Chara turned back to the scenery, unable to keep the smile off their face too – Asriel's good mood was contagious. "You always were a giant softy."

"What?" Asriel scowled. "That's because you were always- wait." Asriel couldn't believe their eyes. "Are... are you crying?"

Chara quickly swerved their face away from the monster's stare. "N-no I'm not!" Though they vehemently denied it, their voice had cracked halfway through.

"You totally are!" Asriel got up and tried to walk around to see.

Chara got up soon after and turned, keeping their face out of sight. "I just said I'm not! Don't say s-stupid things!" Could you blame them though? The amount of relief that washed through Chara's body was overwhelming. It was the weight of his own brother's death, the guilt his soul had felt even past death, the fear of rejection from the sibling he held dear – with their brother's forgiveness, they finally felt free.

....

A while passed and when they finally calmed down, Chara turned back to Asriel, all smiles. "Thanks."

Asriel feigned innocence, grinning cheekily. "For what? Not calling you a crybaby?"

"Oh, that's it! You're gonna get it now!" The two laughed as they ran around the small area overlooking the ruins of Home. The red leaves underneath Chara crunched as they bolted from the buttercup flower patch, running up and down the balcony's length. Finally, Chara grinned wickedly as he cornered Asriel. "You're in for the noogie of a lifetime!" They pounced.

"Wait, Chara! Don't!" Asriel cried, suddenly alarmed.

Chara's outstretched arms reached for their brother's torso, but instead they fell right through and slammed into the stone barrier of the balcony. Before they could even registered what had happened, the balcony's railing gave into the heavy impact, and Chara scrambled backwards just fast enough to watch the weakened stone break and topple down to the cityscape below. Their heart raced a mile a minute upon realizing that they too could have easily tumbled over the side with it. But, but how could that be? They were trying to grab onto their brother, but then they passed through?! What?!

Chara finally turned to find their brother's head hanging low, pointedly avoiding their questioning gaze. The goat's voice came out quiet and apologetic. "Um, Chara? T-there's something we need to talk about…"

FF.net Link: Chapter 2

"So, mind telling me what's going on?"

Chara and Asriel were leaning against the stone entryway that leads to the now-broken balcony overlooking the ruins of Home. Well, Chara was leaning against it while Asriel made the appearance of doing so, being incorporeal and all. The light-hearted mood between the two had all but disappeared while the goat monster mulled over how to start.

"I'm, um, not physically here with you."

"Yeah, I got that much," Chara had all but snapped, glaring impatiently at their brother. Seeing Asriel's uncomfortable expression, the human quickly looked away and took a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry. I guess what I'm asking is: do you know why you're a ghost while I'm not? Actually, how are we even here? Didn't we die?" Feeling themselves get emotional again, Chara forced themself to take another deep breath. They were never good at facing problems rationally; Asriel was the calm and collected thinker while Chara was a person of action. Their mom always said that if Chara let their instinct and emotions get the better of them, soon enough they'd eventually run into deep trouble.

The deceased human grinned sardonically. I guess mom was right.

"I'm not actually a ghost," Asriel started to explain. "I think I'm more of a projection of my soul?”

"You think?" Chara parroted, finally turning back to their younger brother.

"I'm not exactly sure about the details, but that sounds about right." The goat prince continued. "My memory is a little hazy, but I think this is happening so we can help the other monsters, as well as help ourselves." At Chara's blank look, Asriel sighed. "This is hard to explain. Let me just start at the beginning."

"As we were about to die, I thought that was our end. My magic was depleted beyond recovery and your body was too injured to survive; we both ceased to exist. But the next thing I know, my soul and consciousness are being both awoken and separated. My consciousness -my magic- was put into a buttercup flower!" Startled, Chara was about to comment, but Asriel gave them a look that asked to continue without interruptions. Chara reluctantly acceded. "I couldn't tell you specifically, but I know a long time had passed by, and during it, all I could do was watch this flower come to life with my own magic, but without my memories. Every once in a while, time seemed to almost… reset, but flower-me kept changing up what happened. I think they somehow had control over it. And eventually... they even k-killed other m-monsters over many of these t-time resets."

Asriel's voice cracked, his body shaking with the last sentence while he looked away in shame. Chara wanted to comfort their distraught brother, but being unable to physically hug him, they could only clench their fists in anger at this… flower-Asriel. If they ever found that accursed flower, they'd…

Asriel sniffled, wiping tears from the corners of their eyes with his sleeve. He forced himself to continue – this was important! "My soul was in a limbo for a long time, long enough to watch some more humans fall to the Underground like you once did! But they all perished and the Underground changed. I haven't seen anyone genuinely smile in a really long time, Chara. Everyone seems so hopeless and it's like they forgotten what it means to be happy. After each 'reset,' everyone got more and more negative: some grew more depressed, others angry, some even grew suspicious of other monsters or started blaming themselves!" Asriel turned to look straight at the human, their eyes filled with sorrow. "Even you."

"What?" Chara was dead this whole time. How could they possibly feel anything?

"With every flower-reset, your soul seemed to grow darker and heavier." He explained, "You know how mom taught us that human souls are stronger than monsters'? They can even persevere after the body dies, so the Underground resets were affecting you too." Asriel frowned at the memory. "That's when I made the decision that I had to do something."

"About the flower?"

The goat prince deflated further. "No, I can't do anything against the flower, n-nor the resets. But! We can do something about the monsters and their problems!"

Chara pushed off the stone wall. "We already tried to break the barrier before. We both kind of died in the process, remember?"

"No, not the barrier. Their inner problems!" Asriel was starting to look excited again.

"Do I look like a therapist to you?" Chara deadpanned.

Asriel whined in response, exasperated. "Lemme finish: you know how you told me that human's have a saying about 'fighting your inner demons'? I thought we could do that, but literally!" The monster's face was beaming.

Chara blinked. Never before had they been so confused. "I… don't follow."

"We're going to help monsters in the Underground by having you fight them."

"You want me to hurt monsters?!" Nuh-uh! Absolutely not! Chara would never harm an innocent monster—

"Not actually them, but a part of them? The dark part of them?"

"Are you asking? Because that sounded more like a question than an explanation."

"Argh!" Asriel threw up their arms in frustration.

"And why me?" Chara asked. "Wouldn't it be better to ask someone else? Use a different soul not affected by these resets?"

Asriel's expression grew somber and their voice quieted. "But if I didn't, your soul…" He mumbled the rest, far too quiet for Chara to hear.

Chara walked closer to their brother's ethereal form. "I didn't quite get that. What about my soul?"

Asriel never got the chance to reply as another voice cut in from underneath the archway leading to their location. "Hello? Is someone there? I thought I heard a voice."

They could only watch in stunned silence as a familiar form stepped out from the shadows. The human couldn't believe their eyes and ears. Could it really be…? Was it really…? Chara's voice cracked when they finally spoke. "M-mom?"

(Trying something different here: I’m going to link to the ff.net posting on each chapter just in case people find that to be an easier format to read it.)

Fanfiction.net Link: Chapter 3

No, that wasn't right. The creature that stood before Chara sounded and acted like their mom, but it most certainly wasn't the Toriel Dreemurr they knew and loved.

Chara took a cautious step back as the newcomer walked toward them. They quickly looked around for anything to defend themself with – aha! The human scrambled to pick up a nearby knife half hidden in a pile of dead leaves, and held it firmly within their grasp, ready to attack!

… Except for the fact that the "blade" was made out of a plastic of questionable quality. A toy?!

"Ah, child, please do not be alarmed. I will not hurt you." Having watched Chara panic at their sudden movement, the monster stopped and held up their hands in a show of good faith. "My name is Toriel and I have come here because I thought I heard some commotion near my house." Watching Chara lower the toy weapon a little, a small smile appeared on the monster's face and she relaxed. "You are no doubt confused about what is going on, but do not fret. I will explain everything you wish to know. When you are ready, please follow me. I will be waiting just outside." With that, she left back into the darkness beyond the archway.

Chara waited until they thought the monster was out of earshot before swerving back to their companion. All of their pent up questions tumbled out unceremoniously. "Who was that? Why did they look like mom? Why didn't they even acknowledge you? Where…"

"Chara," Asriel cleanly cut in and the heaviness in his voice made Chara pause. "That was mom." The monster prince wasn't looking at their sibling. Rather, their gaze was far away as he attempted to come to terms with what they just witnessed.

Chara frowned. "That wasn't mom. Sure, they looked a little similar, but…"

"That was mom," Asriel repeated firmly. "Remember what I just said about fighting monster's 'inner demons'? That…" Asriel tried to swallow and talk around the lump forming in his throat. "That was mom's."

The reality of the situation suddenly hit Chara like a ton of bricks and everything started to click into place like puzzle pieces: inner demons usually referred to the negative aspects that people perceive about themselves. They're still a part of the person, but a part that people try to keep hidden away from everyone else. People usually try to deal with them on their own, too ashamed or overwhelmed to ask others for help. However, this can make them weigh heavier on the person's mind, causing them to bury it deeper within themselves, thus causing a vicious and harmful cycle. And didn't Asriel say something like each flower reset affecting all the denizens of the Underground in a negative way?

Did it get so bad that these feelings literally took on lives of their own?

"I want to help them, Chara." Asriel's voice was gentle and pleading. "But I can't help them in a normal way – we're both dead and nothing I can do will change that." Asriel finally met Chara's gaze. "Our souls though, they're still around, so I thought that maybe I could use mine to ease the burden of yours and other monster's souls. But," he frowned, "even after trying to help you, all I accomplished was trapping your soul in this weird limbo with mine. And it looks like other people can't even see or hear me, so in the end I only made things worse for everyone!" Did Asriel think that, seeing as how the flower is using his magic, that he was partially responsible for its actions? That was the only reason Chara could come up with for why Asriel was so adamant about this.

There was a long lull in the conversation before Chara finally spoke, sounding surprisingly nonchalant. "Maybe it's better this way."

"What?" That certainly wasn't what Asriel was expecting to hear.

"I said, maybe it's better this way." Chara raised a brow at their brother. "Can you really picture yourself using magic against mom?"

"If it's to help her, then I… I…"

"See? You can't even finish the sentence." Chara shrugged. "You couldn't hurt a fly, let alone our own mother. Besides, I wouldn't want you to; between the two of us, I was always more of the fighter anyway. You stick to the strategies and just tell me where to swing." They smiled, brandishing their new knife to show off their abilities. Sure, it was a toy, but it didn't take much for a human to dust a monster…

"Um, Chara? You have that weird smile on your face again." The one that sent chills down the spine of anyone who saw it.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." Chara was well aware that some of their actions left others… uneasy. After all, on the Surface that was one of the reasons that… well, best not to dwell on the past. Chara tried to rein in that part of themself around the Dreemurr family, but sometimes it slipped through in a brief manic smile or an inappropriately timed laugh. "Anyway, I'm here whether I like it or not, so I might as well make myself useful and help some monsters," they finished, putting the knife away.

Asriel's face lit up. "Really? You'll do it?"

"I owe Monsters for all the kindness they showed me after I fell, especially mom and dad for taking me in, treating me like family and giving me a home to call my own. It was because of you guys, that I felt like I finally had found somewhere I belonged, so yeah, if the Monsters need our help, you can definitely count me in." And who knows, maybe mom not recognizing me will later work in our favor.

"Thank you, Chara! Thank you so much!"

Chara rolled their eyes as they watched their brother openly shed tears of happiness and relief. "Yeah, yeah, enough with the blubbering." Asriel just laughed in response while wiping their eyes with their sleeve, a big grin on their face. "Now come on, let's go see how we can help mom."

The two left the eroded balcony that overlooked Home and set off to meet up with Toriel. The children were determined to aid her overcome her inner demons.

After all, no one liked to watch their mother cry.