Cinematale | Ongoing

Arrival

Author's Note

I accidentally unpublished this story, so I've put it back up again. Sorry for the inconvenience, though! I mainly write these chapters on the app, and they just had to put the 'Publish' button first instead of the 'Save' button.
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The first thing Frisk noticed was that the ground was soft.

Awaking from what felt like an eternal slumber, they almost didn't believe it at first, but one glance down showed that there was a carpet underneath them. Not the smooth, reflective floor they had been used to for so long.

They glanced around the place, only to see a large living room, with a door leading out into the unknown and a huge TV screen on the wall. One thing became clear to them at that moment: this wasn't the Judgement Hall, where they had been fighting Sans over and over. This place hadn't been stained with blood time and time again from when they had lost.

"What...where..." They could barely speak out of shock, before panic began to settle in. "Hello? Sans? C-Chara? If this is some sort of trick, it isn't very funny...just...just kill me already..."

Frisk waited, and waited for the familiar feeling of being impaled, slammed into the ground or a wall, or being blasted to smithereens.

But it never came. Nobody came.

Slowly getting up, Frisk sighed and summoned their save file with a wave of their hand. Strangely enough, the text glitched for a while - could it have been corrupted or something? The child squinted at the information, the glitching suddenly stopping as they did so.

FRISK LV 1

JUDGEMENT HALL

LV 1.

"My LV's gone?" The child stuttered in disbelief, for it was almost at the highest level a few moments ago. Something, or someone, must have tampered with it. But now, they felt weaker - it was as if everything had been reset. "Did...did he do this? How on Earth would he-"

They stopped, the save file disappearing as soon as they heard a groan from nearby. Bracing themselves for any possible attacks, they stalked over to the source of the noise, getting ready to dodge if possible...only to find another child slowly getting up from the ground, and a monster they never thought they'd see again.

"Chara?"

At the mention of their name, the child went stiff as a rod, their eyes meeting Frisk's. "Frisk? Look, I have no idea what you did, but-"

"What I did?" Frisk questioned. "I never even touched the save file other than using it to continue from that point! All my LV's gone, and..." Their eyes fell on a young goat monster wearing a sweater similar to Chara's, still lying unconscious. "How is he...like that?"

"I don't know at all." Chara sighed, just as confused as they were. "He was only a flower...there's no way he could have this form without getting a soul...but look."

Frisk nearly choked at the sight of Chara summoning a red soul, equal to their own. This was impossible, not to mention bizarre, because Chara had lost their soul long ago. In the runs they had been through before this one, they at least knew something about their past.

"A soul...a human soul..." Frisk stared at it in a mix of wonder, amazement and fear. "So, does that mean he has one, too?"

"Probably...it's just like it was before we-" Chara stopped themselves before any painful memories could come back. "Before I...lost it. But...is Sans here? If he did this, then we have to find a way to get back. We have to finish this run-" Then, for a moment they went stiff, their eyes widening as they stared at something behind them. Frisk raised an eyebrow, turning around and coming face-to-face with the person they least wanted to see.