To Kill A Chara

Hopes and Dreemurs

Chara begins to die. They can feel their soul being taken as die. They think about being soulless again. They think about how hard they had to work to get this far. They think about everyone they're letting down. Gaster, Asgore, Toriel, and everyone else.  They clutch their locket... and they refuse.

"What?" Frisk asks, "how did you? Doesn't matter, this ends here!"

Frisk attacks, killing Chara... but it refused. "I see how it is," Frisk growls, "you're more DETERMINED then I thought. Fine, then I'll do this."

Frisk does nothing.

"Yup," Frisk smirks, "recognize this? You got this far against Sans, but I stopped you. Then, I saved everyone. We were happy, but then you came. You ruined everything, but after this, you'll never hurt anyone again! I just gotta wait here, until you die from exhaustion. You fall asleep, and I'll be able you kill you without DETERMINATION in my way. I'll win either way. Anyways, I'm taking a nap, wake me up whenever you wanna die."

Chara knows Frisk is right, they killed everyone. Chara feels the weight of their sins returning. They don't know what to do now, this is where they got stuck FIGHTing Sans when they were soulless, and now, their past has come back to haunt them.

Chara begins to lose their DETERMINATION. They consider the possibility that they deserve this. It's their fault that Asreil is dead, it's their fault that everyone is trapped in The Underground. They wonder if they're the bad guy here, if they'll just cause everyone to suffer.

Frisk falls asleep. Chara thinks once again about Toriel and Asgore, how happy they'll be to have them back. Who said they had to know about Frisk? Well Asgore does, but that's not important. Chara decides to continue, no matter what happens, they can't give up, they can't lose DETERMINATION.

Chara looks around, there's not much they can do, but if Frisk attacks, they die, and they know they aren't DETERMINED enough to be killed again. They have to find another way. They move around the box, thinking, until they bump into the wall, shifting it to the left... They keep pushing, eventually ending up over the ACT menu. They use ACT, they can check, hope, and dream.

Chara hopes.

You hold on to your hopes, you'll take less damage this turn.

It actually worked! Chara tries dream. Their feel the last dream appear in their pocket. They fill their inventory with last dreams, just in case.

Asreil, seeing how close Chara is, is filled with DETERMINATION. They struggle against Frisk, for a moment, they almost feel like something is fixing itself, like an old wound is finally healing, but the feeling fades. They get control just long enough to wake up and fix SAVE.

Frisk regains control. "Shut it stupid goat!" They growl. They see the SAVE option, but they're to late.

Chara chooses the SAVE option, they know that there's only one left they need to SAVE...

Chara thinks back to when they first fell into the Underground. Asreil helped them, it's time to return the favor, after all these years.

Chara tries to SAVE the one Frisk never could, Chara tries to SAVE Asreil.

Frisk smirks, "SAVE Asreil? Not Gaster, Sans, or anyone else who could actually stand up to me, but Asreil? Wow, you really are an idiot. Asreil can't be SAVEd. I tried, I tried to help Flowey, but Asreil has no soul. Sans and I found pieces when trying to study what happened to Asreil, but there's no way to put Asreil's soul back together. The pieces are there, yes, but even though he is a boss monster, that only went so far. The soul falls apart, there is no way. I'm sorry Chara, but Asreil is truly gone, so why don't you join him, and die!"

Frisk FIGHTs. Asreil intervenes, filled with DETERMINATION, knowing they still have pieces of their soul. Frisk's attacks are slower and weaker, allowing Chara to dodge most of them. They do get hit, but only take five damage.

Chara tries again to SAVE Asreil. Seeing Chara try to SAVE them fills Asreil with DETERMINATION. Asreil almost feels like he has a soul, but the feeling fades again.

"Why are you still trying?" Frisk asks, "it's over, you can't stop me. Just die!" Frisk attacks again. Chara gets hit again, taking five more damage.

Chara tries once more. Asreil is now fully DETERMINED to stop Frisk. So DETERMINED, that his broken soul pieces itself back together.

Frisk notices. They smile. They realize a way to save Asreil and themself from an eternity of being soulless.

"Here's the deal," Frisk smirks, "Sans and I had a theory, since Asreil was a boss monster, with enough DETERMINATION, maybe his soul could be fixed, but that risked the possibility of him staying soulless with control of the timeline. Asreil just got so DETERMINED their soul fixed. So, I'll let Asreil RESET, just as Gaster did, fixing his soul for good. Just give me mine.

Asreil struggles to take control. "Don't do it!" He yells, "it's not worth it!"

Frisk regains control. "Please," Frisk pleads, "I can't live like this. So give me you soul, or just die!"

Frisk uses a red beam of DETERMINATION to try to finish Chara. All the buttons except SAVE are destroyed.

Chara holds on via DETERMINATION as their HP drops from twenty, to ten, to one, to one half, and smaller still. "Stop!" Frisk demands. Chara refuses. "stop it right now!" Frisk yells.

Frisk stops attacking. It's then Chara realizes, there's someone else they need to SAVE...

Chara tries to SAVE Frisk.

"I can't go on like this," Frisk explains, "I can feel some love right now, but... If I continue to be soulless, I'm just going to hurt everyone. Please, one way or another, keeping my soul, or returning it, end this. I'd rather die than go on like this. The choice is yours Chara."

Frisk is crying, their text slows to a crawl, "I'm so sorry... My freinds..." Frisk restores the buttons.

Chara eats the chocolate bar. Eating it makes them think. If Frisk stays soulless, they'll be a threat, but going back to being a husk...

Now with full HP from the chocolate bar, Chara scrolls over the FIGHT option. They choose it and prepare to kill Frisk... But they can't do it. They can't bring themselves to kill Frisk. They know what must be done, it is the only way they can atone for all the pain and suffering they've caused... Chara SAVEs Frisk, returning their soul.

"Really?" Frisk asks, "after all I've done to you?... Thank you, Chara. I swear to you, as Frisk Dreemur, I will do everything I can to bring you back. Asreil, go ahead and RESET.

Chara is slowly losing their ability to love. In their last moments, they smile at Asreil. "It's OK," they explain, "forget about me. Move on Asreil. And whatever you do, no matter what I say, DO NOT LISTIEN TO ME AFTER YOU RESET! It was good to see you again... goodbye."

Asreil, angry at Frisk, RESETs, after they're back, after all, they just need to get Frisk's soul again, but they believe, despite Frisk's sincerity, that Frisk was manipulating Chara, and intends to get Frisk's soul at any cost, even if it means killing them one million times. To make sure they have a shot, they delete Frisk's old save...

Frisk wakes up in a bed of golden flowers. They walk forward, a little confused on where their old save went, but deciding to focus on the task at hand. Where Flowey usually is, Asreil sits, waiting, smiling.

"Howdy," they greet with a malicious grin, "you best freind killer. Here's the deal, you're no Dreemur, Chara is. Return your soul to Chara. I'd rather not FIGHT. Did enough of that in my flower days. Please, just give up peacefully."

"I told you," Frisk replies, "I'm going to bring them back, and you can help! Your soul was put back together, maybe with Sans, we can study your soul and figure out if we can do the same thing for Chara, it's a stretch, but maybe their soul is broken too!"

"Wrong answer," Asreil growls.

Asreil starts a FIGHT...