Dimensions

Chapter 6: Last to Know

F...ri...Chara...sk?

"What..?" She asked, rubbing her temples. She looked around the den she was sitting in, in New Home. It seemed she was still alone, reading by the fireplace.

Ken! I was looking everywhere for you!
Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?

She was confused, her head hurt, and she had no idea who any 'Ken' was. And it was nonstop, like a broken record, repeating things she didn't know over and over in her mind through an endless loop.
"He only has one SOUL...so why?" She whispered to herself. It didn't make any sense, she never had any connection to the kid. It was a miracle Asgore even listened to her advice in regards to the SOULs, so they could all be free soon. But he only had one, so why..?

Sorry...for this.
Ken, please..if you know anything at all, tell us...
What happened?!
"...Stop..."
How could you?!
"Stop."
You're awful! How a guy like that wanted to be your friend I'll never know!
"Stop!"
Why'd you do it? Why hurt the only person who will ever give a damn about ya, kid?
"Stop!!"
You could have killed him! Don't you even feel sorry!?
"STOP!!" She yelled, loud, louder than she'd yelled before. She held her head in her hands, trembling even after it finally subsided for now.

"Chara? Are you alright?" A concerned voice came in from the kitchen doorway.
"Toriel! Uh..no, no! I'm fine, really." Chara insisted, quickly closing her book and standing up.
"Chara wait! Won't you at least take a walk? You look very pale.." Toriel insisted.
Chara stopped at the bookshelf, setting the book down before looking over at her. She was worried, she probably heard her yelling. "I...yeah. Sure. I'm probably tired from all the reading today." She agreed, rubbing her neck. "Let me go get my sweater, I'll turn around at the Ruins like normal, okay?" She promised.
"Be sure to text Asriel and let him know, you know how worried he gets!" Toriel called.

---
"Are you okay?!"
"I'm s-sorry! I got scared, I didn't mean to!"
---

It wasn't enough to leave the house, for whatever reason this particular recently captured SOUL was tormenting Chara in whatever she was doing. She tried not to obviously hold her head as she made her way to the Ruins. So far, so good. But upon finally exiting Snowdin, starting to see the door to the Ruins themselves, she had to quickly hide what she was doing as she saw Asriel.

"Are you okay?!" He asked, running up to her. "Mom texted me first, she heard you screaming again.."
"Honestly...I think there's something in here." She admitted, looking at the closed door. "Something just...I dunno. It's telling me to go here."
"You think another human fell?"
"I really hope not.."
"Only one way to find out, right?" He asked, but when he looked back at Chara, she looked paler than the snow on the ground, if that was possible. "C-Chara?!" He asked, he really was getting more worried.

"I.."
Someone is here.
"Um.."
Don't stop. Go on.
"I..I'm fine.." She said, then took a deep breath. "I'm fine, it's just-"
"I found you here before." Asriel finished. "You haven't been here since then, huh?"
Chara shook her head a bit. "I've always just...been at home." She froze for a moment when Asriel took her hand gently.
"We'll go check together, okay?" He said reassuringly.

The puzzles were slightly difficult, but not so bad that they died. Chara vaguely remembered Asriel helping her when she initially fell down. It was by the leaf pile, after hours of silence and somewhat relief, that her nuisance of the day returned.
STOP! WAIT PLEASE!
Even Asriel could feel that something was wrong. "Chara?" He asked, turning to check on her. She was holding her head and trembling. "Chara! What's wrong?! Chara!" He said, standing in front of her. "Maybe this was a bad idea! Let's go back!" He started to panic a bit, he'd never seen her like this before.

A loud click behind him made him spin around. He saw a young boy with a cowboy hat on, gun in a trembling hand that was raised at him. "Don't m-move!" He warned.
Asriel took one step forward, cautiously. Two loud bangs followed. Out of fear, he closed his eyes, bracing himself for whatever pain came next. Instead, he heard the boy drop his gun. This made him open his eyes, and to his horror he saw that Chara had stepped in fromt of him to protect him. "Chara!" He shouted, catching her.
"I'm s-sorry! I got scared, I didn't mean to!" The boy tried to apologize, but Asriel, for the first time in his life, was consumed by anger. He only saw red.

---
I...I didn't mean to...
I killed him...
---

He ran as fast as he could out of the Ruins, he even left the SOUL there. Someone would pick it up later, Chara was more important now.
"I'm gonna get you help Chara, you're gonna be okay! I promise!" He said, jumping over the puzzles laid out in Snowdin in the process.

"Prince Asriel?!"
"Is Chara alright?!"
"I'll contact the doctors for you!"
He nodded in response to the townsfolk wanting to help. Near New Home was the hospital, all he had to do was make it there.

He started having trouble in Waterfall, he was putting all of his energy into protecting Chara as he ran that he was quickly wearing himself out. He stopped for just a moment to catch his breath. "I'll get you help...I will..."
Please allow me to help, young prince.
He jumped, spinning around and holding Chara closer. A guard in the Royal Armor stood behind them. If he could have growled, he would have.
Sire, I wish to help you.
The guard offered his hand as a sign of trust, and once Asriel reached and took it as he held onto her, the guard managed to teleport them to the hospital. Once Asriel steadied himself, he ran inside. "Thank you mister!" He called, the guard nodding in response as the doors shut behind them.