Zero Stories Left

15 | The SOUL in the Void

"...Do you think even the worst person can change if they just try?"

...

Zero opened a portal once again, this time it was almost the size that could fit him if he jumped in vertically. "Yes, you're getting better day by day!" Line exclaimed.

"Heheh..." Zero placed his index finger horizontally under his nose. "...Line?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I ever tell you...how I feel...some connection to some... unknown place?"

"Yeah...you did...once?"

"I don't know...it's a feeling of something once lost. ...Do you think it's a trap?"

"...Hm. Error? Or...King Multiverse? You are strong enough to defeat them anyway, you're the strongest person I know."

"Well, traps could be dangerous...especially by someone like Error. Heh... he's a good FightERR." Zero pointed two finger guns at Line and closed one of his eyes, signifying a joke.

"Haha, that sounds like a nickname I would make. I should be mad that I didn't make that one sooner." Suddenly the phone Line rang. "An emergency...again? Do much more of these happen recently or did Science upgrade the network or something? It's probably one of those monsters that despite being relatively weak still cause destruction. ...Are you going, Zero?"

"Eh...nah. If you need my help, you can find me anytime, can't you?"

"Hmm. I guess that's true. ...Don't go in there by yourself, okay? I am serious. I don't want you getting hurt." Line looked back, as he jumped in into the portal he just made.

"..." Zero concentrated and removed the device that was stalking him from his body. He gently placed it on the sofa that Line brought in just for Zero to be in there. He then created a portal that he jumped through and closed.

He looked down as he stood there. Suddenly he spins around with his leg, making a spinning attack. He felt someone on the right side and hit again where he felt a device. "What the-" Line said, as his invisibility device fell out.

"Heh, it was just a guess. But your devices are still nothing against attacks that can feel the enemy."

"You lied to me!"

"So did you." Zero stood menacingly. "You were not honest, so what I do shouldn't matter to you. There is an emergency after all, isn't there?"

"!..." Line was silent. "I did this because I care about you as my friend. I wouldn't want to lose you again, after all-"

"Shut it. We are still friends. But what I will do right now is none of your business."

"Wait, don't lea-" Line tried to scream as Zero teleported into the portal, as Line did just a moment before, not giving Line even a moment to think, because of how fast Zero was. Line punched the ground and tears fell from his eyes. Rubble flew into his face from the force of his punch.

***

Zero went into the place he was feeling the connection to...or was it rather a person? He shouldn't have known yet.

He saw...a person just sitting there looking at their pendant and looking like they wanted to cry but couldn't. "I understand that this is all my fault, Asriel... I know I will fix it someday... but even if I fix this, I understand if you won't forgive me...I will even understand if you hate me." They looked up and blinked, questioning if the skeleton they were seeing was real. Zero...felt some sort of connection to them. He came closer slowly.

As he came closer, it seemed like the person also felt something, they suddenly stood up, also coming closer.

...

In a flash, Zero hugged them. "Chara." Chara was surprised but hugged back in an instant. They started crying. "I feel like I've seen this before..." Chara said. "Old memories, huh?" Zero replied. "Yeah, but I don't deserve them or this...I'm not a True Pacifist." Chara hugged tighter.

"You don't need to be that to me. What you did was already enough. Don't you think...that even the worst person can change?"

"You stupid comic..." Chara wiped off her tears and looked at them surprisingly, then looked back at Zero. "Sans, how did you..." She didn't want to let go of the hug, but she eventually had to.

"I...don't know myself. I just...survived. And sometimes I blame myself for it. Why was it me and not them, right?" Zero's tears formed again.

"Sorry...it was all my fault..." she looked apologetically at Zero. "I thought what they went for was "power"...went and destroyed infinite timelines, then I was confused on what they really wanted, why did they want me to bring it back? I realized that maybe I could change something because I did not understand...thought they would be fine with having a happy ending for once after all what they have done, thought that's why they wanted the world back...thought that even if that was not true, that I was stronger and in control of everything...and all I did was cause utter destruction-"

Zero looked down, as he interrupted. "No. You probably don't know, but I'm sure it was a fault of mine, not yours." He looked back at Chara. "But we are left with we are left with. There are no stories that they can tell...but there are that we can." Zero's blue orbits started leaking a little blue liquid.

Chara also looked down. They looked at their body. "...How much time has passed?" She asked.

"Eh, I lost my feel of time long ago. By the way...call me Zero now." He held out his name. "Come."

Chara hugged him again, then stopped, in a prompt she ripped off a piece of her sweater and threw it to the side, the sweater on her body instantly reconnected. She looked in and jumped in into the portal that Zero made, as he looked at her. She landed on a sofa, Zero jumped in too. "Ow!" He landed on the metallic device.

Line, was sitting on the bed at the other side of the room, he was drawing on a tablet. "Who's...that?" He pointed to the new CHARActer in the room.

"Oh, that's Chara. Someone I know from a long time ago."

"Uh...from where?"

"...my AU."