guess who's back, back again [Backdated to three days after their death so... early Nov? Idk man]

[itstheend]

There's no sensation of time having passed.

No game over screen, in which a small voice they now hate tells them to hold on, help is coming (it never does.) It doesn't quite feel like reloading. There's just pain, impact, and blackness, and then... sensation. A heartbeat, suddenly roaring in their ears. Their fingers twitch, curl, and then they lie there, boneless, just waiting for the brat to come down and try and finish them off. Their position is prone, but they'd have the element of surprise. They listen, ears pricked, for footsteps, counting their breathing. Frisk is silent; they're straining to hear too.

Could be five, ten minutes. No sound but them. Nobody comes. A red eye slits open, and their head tilts up a little to see the empty staircase. They gingerly push up on fingertips and toes, scanning the room. They're alone. Well, as much as they ever are. There's no pain. In fact, they feel physically better than they have in a while. So much for a vacation.

*They're... gone...? Frisk's thoughts sound as muzzy as they feel, with adrenalin started to ever so slightly ebb.

That's right. Time has wound backwards, hasn't it? They're not here because they will be here. Only... that doesn't make sense. They don't remember saving here. They are almost entirely certain they would have. They definitely weren't in that position before. They grind their teeth when they remember. Castle magic. Three days. They need to find out what precisely has happened in that time.

They stand, fully, and look up the stairs, lip curling a little.

"Coward," they spit upwards, and the word is warped, flanges, sounding a little like it's been put through one of those voice distorters at toystores. It brings with it a twinge of pain.

*Easy, easy!

It makes them think of hands with holes in them and they hiss through their teeth. They automatically bring a hand to their throat, fingers landing on a seam of raised scar tissue which they trace all the way across it. They don't remember that. Maybe not such a coward after all.

They turn from the stairs and exit the room. They have someone they very much would like to talk to, and this time, they're going to pick up a better weapon than a book. Some armor would not go amiss either. And food, yes. The last of their stocks.

They're going to search the entire castle and grounds if they have to, even with Frisk's deliberate unhelpfulness, and an extremely pissed off and newly alive Chara can be found pretty much anywhere.

Comments

[characlysmic]

[Meanwhile a coward in question finally removes themself from a hiding hole they'd been staying in for the last few days. The nice part about huge castles was the abundance of small attics and closets for recent murderers to hide.

Oh yes, they remember their promise to the weird scarf kid (did they get their name? they didn't remember) and you know what? Chara kept their goddamn promises. They've been staying out of the way, watch the scarf kid bury two, avoid others for a few days, the works! But their food was running low and they hadn't seen any signs of revived victims in their scouting so they'd allowed themselves a small expedition for supplies.

They ransack a few kitchens for their troubles, throwing apples and anything they can find into a small bag they'd stolen from a room when they'd arrived here.

But when they exit the room, still biting into one of their apples, they come face to face with someone quite familar.

Red eyes meet red, and Chara's body screams for escape. Their eyes flick down to the scar on the others neck and their knife practically burns in their pocket. They'd say they felt sins crawling, but this was really just what creatures like Chara did right? They were just afraid of these consequences, that's all.

Still, they make no move to attack, remaining frozen like a deer in the headlights. They can't count on an accident saving their hide again, they won't count on it. They promised, they promised. And if they can't keep one simple promise they probably aren't worthy of any name.

Spurned to motion, they chuck an apple straight at the other Chara with a shout and dart away. *Run, is a form of mercy is it not? See, look how non fighty they are scarf kid. Hopefully, they can buy themselves enough time to actually brag about keeping this promise another day. ]