The Silver Soul

31

I'm really starting to hate my luck so far.

Gaster and I stand stock-still, his magic forming a shield of hard air around us. Chara grins at us, red daggers appearing out of thin air, angled toward us. They strike the shield, one at a time, damaging it way too easily.

"Now, now. Don't hide behind something when I want to talk to you," she croons in a lilting tune. Alright then, let's just stay as far away from her as possible.

I laugh a little, my body tense with fear. Stupid coping mechanism. "We'd rather not talk." More knives hit the shield, causing my magic to spur into action. It thrums like a wild beast in my veins, the heat devouring me alive. It flickers over my skin, encasing me in an armour of silvery mist.

Let's hope this goes better than last time.

"Chara, we just want to go on our way. Stop fighting for once and listen," I murmur.

Chara giggles and shakes her head, chocolate-brown hair falling in a halo around her head. Well, I tried. Magic burns brighter, sending tiny wisps into the air. They curl around us protectively, concentrating in the air around my right fist.

Staring into Chara's foreboding and hollow eyes, I realise that a part of me always knew this was unavoidable. Perhaps, the key to waking up lies with her. I sneak a glance at Gaster, who's currently summoning freaky, disembodied hands. And maybe, just maybe...

Chara attacks, red light raining down on us, which I barely manage to block out. Whatever this power is, whatever magic she has here is somehow ridiculously stronger than anything I've seen before. We can barely hold our own working together.

Yay, for the power of friendship.

"Hey, what do you think she wants to do to us?" I ask, reinforcing the forcefield around us.

Gaster shrugs. "Probably destroy my form here and send me back to the void, then proceed to kill you."

"Won't that just wake me up?"

"It could also send you into another nightmare, like the one you just escaped."

"Oh. Crap."

She steps forward, incandescent red knives surrounding her form in a broad circle. "It's only a matter of time before you yield." Magic flares brighter on both sides. "Until then, let's have some fun."

Attack after attack flies toward us, hitting so hard the ground shudders on impact. Or maybe that's just me. At some point, we're going to have to abandon the shield and actually fight.

And I realised how scared I am.

Of how much I don't want to hurt anyone, demon or not. Of how easy it is to just take a life. Of how tender their flesh is when I cut into them.

And it slams into me. The full truth. That fact that I killed I killed I killed ikilledikilledikilledikilledikilledikilled-

I killed, and I enjoyed it.

Hello little worm.

No.

Did you miss me?

No nononononono

Shall we finish what we started?

Please no

Step, step toward the tall one in black. You mustn't fail me this time, little worm.

He is the evil one, the one festering your thoughts, showing you things that have ruined you, have made you forget who and what you truly are. And it makes you mad, little worm. It truly does.