Every fairytale needs a villain, right?
Feb. 4th, 2016 02:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
buttercup_eater posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
castle_perrault[[Closed to dustless and sansational, sorry!]]
What
the hell
was that?
It's this thought that echoes above all else in Chara's mind, even after waking up in a chilly stone chamber that definitely isn't anywhere in the Underground.
What the hell was that- why SPARE Sans, why throw away everything they'd worked for, did the other kid somehow get through to them, what kind of stupid, pointless decision was that?
They mull over the subject for a while, glaring at the ceiling, before realizing their partner has yet to direct them the way they normally would. That... complicates matters.
The first thing Chara does is sit up, and in the process their gaze drifts over their chest, and they can see green and gold. They're wearing a sweater much like the ones they used to wear, Chara realizes. And when they look at their hands they can see that the skin tone and the shape of them has changed. These are their old hands. Except they can't be because their original hands would have rotted away a long time ago.
Right, first priorities first: Chara can still feel the locket beating away, and a cursory glance around the room reveals the real knife resting nearby. There isn't much else in the chamber of interest, so they grasp the handle and get to their feet.
Now appropriately equipped, Chara heads to the door and strolls silently out into the empty hallways.
They can still fulfill their purpose. There's always a way- they just have to find it.
dustless and sansational, sorry!]]What
the hell
was that?
It's this thought that echoes above all else in Chara's mind, even after waking up in a chilly stone chamber that definitely isn't anywhere in the Underground.
What the hell was that- why SPARE Sans, why throw away everything they'd worked for, did the other kid somehow get through to them, what kind of stupid, pointless decision was that?
They mull over the subject for a while, glaring at the ceiling, before realizing their partner has yet to direct them the way they normally would. That... complicates matters.
The first thing Chara does is sit up, and in the process their gaze drifts over their chest, and they can see green and gold. They're wearing a sweater much like the ones they used to wear, Chara realizes. And when they look at their hands they can see that the skin tone and the shape of them has changed. These are their old hands. Except they can't be because their original hands would have rotted away a long time ago.
Right, first priorities first: Chara can still feel the locket beating away, and a cursory glance around the room reveals the real knife resting nearby. There isn't much else in the chamber of interest, so they grasp the handle and get to their feet.
Now appropriately equipped, Chara heads to the door and strolls silently out into the empty hallways.
They can still fulfill their purpose. There's always a way- they just have to find it.
violence and gore galore
Date: 2016-02-04 06:38 pm (UTC)Why would they? This castle has been kind so far. Nothing dangerous. Not really. S-4 and Sans-Serif were close, but now they're friends, so those problems were long since dealt with.
So their thoughts are more occupied on the reminders of Sans' party thing as they wander through the castle. Specifically, on the food. They'd had too much. Not enough to make them actually be sick, but enough to make them feel sick, enough that they were probably not going to have another dessert for a long time. (Other than pie.) But they're also getting sick of the stuff the garden supplies.
In short, they're just looking for a kitchen, peering into every door they pass instead of focusing on whoever's walking down the hall. The one they shared with another friend a while ago seems to have moved.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-06 06:02 pm (UTC)They come to a halt partway down the hall, still expecting that little itch in the back of their head urging them to seek out and to execute. Instead they're met with more silence, but for the footsteps and the sound of their own quiet breathing.
They feel uncertain and they hate it.
But they're confident- reasonably confident- that their partner would have been interested in seeking out anyone else who is around. They still have a purpose to fulfill, after all. And who knows, maybe Chara will get some answers out of whoever it is before they kill them.
They follow after the footsteps, resuming their pace from before, but when they turn the corner they come to a halt once again.
Even from the back, they can recognize the body they once shared. They stare, and words tumble out of their mouth before they can stop it:
“It's you!”
(writing this like a Normal Encounter is so weird)
Date: 2016-02-06 06:41 pm (UTC)The sudden words cut off more thoughts of investigation before they can properly form. The words are oddly familiar, but the voice--such as it is--is not. They've been in the castle for months, after all, and the voice that helped them through the Underground hadn't really had a sound to it.
They glance over their shoulder. "...hello?" They stand and turn, still holding the horseshoe. In fact, they lift it up for the other kid to see, because this floor isn't even near where horses could possibly be. It's not the weirdest thing in the castle by far, but it's still unexpected. "Don't know why this is here," Frisk informs them.
Hopefully Frisk'll figure out that it is Not Quite A Normal Encounter in a moment or two. :'D
Date: 2016-02-09 06:16 pm (UTC)They don't say anything out loud, at first, settling for silently glaring at the other child who's looking at them so obliviously.
It's them, alright, not only the face but the voice- though it's a little strange to hear it like this, coming out of the child in front of them instead of a shared mouth. (One reason, among others, that Chara hadn't cared to speak much to the monsters while they were out and about: Their voice had never sounded quite right while they were using the other child's body.)
"Why..."
They lick their lips, and grip the handle of the knife tighter. "Why are we here? What did you do?"
:'D
Date: 2016-02-09 09:54 pm (UTC)"...didn't do anything. Guessing you woke up here very--only--now?" Their thoughts are stringing together, but not quite fast enough. Sans said the person who killed everyone was them, or looked like them, so that's who they'd expect to see for the truth of the matter.
"You don't need that. There's no fighting here, even if there was...where you're from."
Before, they never saw Chara's face. Where they're from, Chara was (almost, except for near the end) never in control.
They don't know what they're seeing, even if their gut is starting to churn with an instinctive horror the sight of a knife shouldn't be enough to create.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-11 12:38 pm (UTC)There's no fighting here...
"Don't lie to me," they say, flatly. "I- We wouldn't be here for any other reason. Or are you just pretending to have forgotten our purpose?"
They step closer.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-11 01:02 pm (UTC)...Purpose? What does that mean? Saving is theirs, they guess, or at least it was back in the Underground. They don't know what this kid--this armed kid is talking about.
"Don't know you," they answer slowly, even though it feels like a lie on their tongue. "You might be from my future. Lots of people here are. Or. Maybe a different timeline." As they speak, Frisk eases back. They aren't foolish enough to stand in place while someone advances on them with a knife, at least not without a lot of talking first and without knowing when and where their SAVE points have been, just in case.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-11 02:55 pm (UTC)"Would you prefer misrepresenting?" they say. "It doesn't really matter what you call it, because you- and all of this," they gesture about the room with the knife, "-it's all wrong. And you do know me, or you wouldn't know about the timelines."
And then they'll suddenly dart forward and with their free hand, yank at the other child's wrist. "What did you do?" they demand again. "You made me think you'd disappeared, but you were planning on some sort of trick all along, weren't you?"
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-11 03:43 pm (UTC)Before they can get to struggling in earnest, they get a gleaming glimpse the locket and hear their words and oh. Oh.
Their expression goes slack. There's no way. No possible way. But--no, that's a stupid thing to think. Impossible is relative, especially here.
Recovering themselves, they give their captor a sharp look. "Wrong. Let go, Chara. I didn't do anything. You're not here," they say with a jerk of their head. Not nestled in the back of their with their odd humor and information and opinions and distant memories. "...Thought you disappeared."
Because they had. They were gone as soon as they said goodbye to Asriel one last time. Unless...
Frisk is distracted from their resistance by looking them over again. They never saw Chara's original body, not properly, but what they have now obviously isn't Frisk's shared one. Is this a really different timeline? Where Frisk fell first instead...?
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-13 12:16 am (UTC)"I am here," they say, missing the meaning behind the other child's words. "I've been here longer than you have. You relinquished your control after we cleared the Ruins. How dare you come back now?"
Now that they're so close, after everything they've seen and done? Just because they can RESET doesn't mean it's all erased. They can still remember it, all of it.
"You say you didn't do anything. For your sake, you'd better be lying." Without another word of warning Chara yanks the other child towards them and thrusts their knife forward, stabbing it into their torso and wrenching it out again.
"Because if you're telling the truth, you're in real trouble now."
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-13 01:10 am (UTC)Frisk doesn't have time to finish their sentence.
They see it happen. It's a series of still images, one two three--the knife getting closer; the blade piercing through their shirt, through their skin; the knife pulling out, flecks of blood trailing it through the air.
They do not feel it. Not the pain, at least.
They look up.
Their first thought is: That wasn't like Undyne's spears.
Their second thought is: Run.
Adrenaline (determination) roars through them, and they throw their entire body backwards, eyes fixed on Chara's.
Get away. Go. Talk later. Run. Go. Go.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-15 01:14 am (UTC)They weren't expecting the other child to bleed, and after the initial surprise wears off their first thought is... Are you an idiot? Of course they're bleeding, they're not a monster. They're just a human. A dirty, lying human.
Wide, empty red eyes return the other child's gaze. Chara raises their knife and rushes forward once more.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-15 11:37 am (UTC)The horseshoe falls from their grip only when they think to cover their wound. It takes a dozen steps to even start stinging, even if they acutely feel the warmth of blood spilling down their shirt.
Their third thought: Why? It's enough to get their mind rushing again.
A flicker of fear twists somewhere in their stomach, but the anger boils up behind where they were stabbed outclasses it by far. They don't want to die. They need to get to Tauriel, to S-4, to Toriel-- god, their mom, they can already tell this will be terrible--to get healed. They don't want to reset their progress, everyone's progress, they don't even know when they SAVED last.
"Stop it," they snap breathlessly over their shoulder.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-17 01:33 am (UTC)"Fix this, and I'll stop it," they call out. They're not sure what they mean by fixing 'this' either. RESET, maybe? Can the other child even do that without them?
Do they care?
"I wonder..." Chara says, speaking in sotto voce, "Just how much EXP a human is worth."
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-17 02:01 am (UTC)Chara will see them shake their head, angrily, desperately. There's nothing they can fix, they didn't do this.
Frisk abruptly staggers off to the side, hoping it's enough to throw them off a little, get in another dodge.
Help, they think. Even if maybe they don't want anyone to get in the middle of this anymore.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-21 04:00 am (UTC)...Killing another human isn't like killing a monster, however. The other child seems denser, somehow, and every time Chara's knife stab into their back the force seems to jar Chara's wrist in an unpleasant way. And it's slow, as if Chara could stab them a thousand times and not get anything out of it but some more whimpers.
The staggering does throw Chara off when they try and swing their knife at the other child again, causing them to stumble and throw their weight into a wall, which their shoulder smacks into with a nasty thunk. They press their hand against the wall in an attempt to propel themselves after the other child but their hand is wet and it slips, causing Chara to nearly fall, and leaving a dark red stain on the stone.
They grit their teeth, and silently keep going.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-25 09:02 am (UTC)Why is the hall so long? There's nowhere for Frisk to turn, except for into rooms, and they can hear Chara's footsteps between their own ragged gasps.
The blood is hot down their back, down their chest, enough that they're starting to feel it down their legs. They're crying, now, outright sobs rushing between their teeth, because this isn't fair--of course it isn't, but it's not fair to anyone what's going to happen next, that their promise is going to be broken.
It doesn't matter if it seems hopeless. Out of sheer determined horror, they'll keep going.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-26 05:15 am (UTC)Their heart is pounding in their chest. They need to finish this, they think- they can see the blood soaking through the other child's sweater and their hands are getting sticky and the air reeks of a wet, coppery smell, so different from that of dust. Dust is tidier, they think. Why do humans have to be so messy and disgusting in everything?
Chara takes a quick gulp of air, inhaling more of the blood scent. It's invigorating even through the messiness of it, and with a quick burst of energy they leap forward to tackle the other child to the ground.
welp i thought i replied to this ages ago, a+ me
Date: 2016-04-05 10:04 am (UTC)Frisk shoves their hands upward, one final effort to push Chara away.
They'll barely feel it. All they'll get is smearing handprints added to the stains on their sweater.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-04-14 07:39 am (UTC)Chara's heart races. It's The Locket.
Except the other child is wearing it- and their's is still around their neck, and- there are only two like it and-
"Where did you get that." There's a tremor in their voice. With their free hand, Chara reaches out towards the other child's throat. They don't feel they're in control, but it's different from the way their partner would push them.
"It's not yours." Ignoring any attempts at struggling that the other child might make, their fingers curl around the locket and they yank. But it doesn't come off, so they keep pulling and pulling and pulling, but the chain is strong, just like it's supposed to be...
"Give it back." ...but they can't stop themselves from struggling on regardless, tugging it this way and that way, anything to pry it away from the other child's neck, and the think they hear something crack but it still isn't moving-
"Give Asriel's locket back!"
-and then the chain finally snaps.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-04-14 08:15 am (UTC)Chara's voice is wrong they can tell even then, but there's nothing they can do. They feel like they're starting to float even with Chara's weight pressing them against the floor.
Asriel.
Brown eyes stare up into red, uncomprehending. They know who Asriel is, they recognize the name, but he isn't here.
Why is Chara talking about him.
Why is this happening. Why is.
Why.
The heart-shaped locket is a blur of gold, leaving a trail of itself across their vision.
Their arms drop, hands pressing flat by their sides.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-04-27 11:17 pm (UTC)Chara's gaze turns back to the other child when the light pushes and slaps suddenly cease. Their arms have dropped- are they...? No, they can still see the spark of life in the other child's eyes. Incredible, with how much blood there is everywhere, and yet they're still not done. How do they end this?
With a burst of determination, Chara digs their fingers in the other child's hair as tightly as they can while also holding onto the locket, and yanks their head back to expose their throat. Chara presses their knife against the pulse, and the blade slices through the flesh in a sharp jerk.
Blood splatters out of the wound and it's sticky and reeks of meat.
* You won.
Date: 2016-04-28 07:42 pm (UTC)But it doesn't hurt.
Blood sprays from the jugular over their already-soaking chest, wells up into their mouth from the inside, leaving what remains of reflexes to make their throat convulse.
There's one final effort they don't even feel. One final shove, hands flat cross the ground, pushing their body just a few inches.
Why is what is who is this is everything slides away.
They're falling again.
Frisk's eyes go empty.
It's...
peaceful.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-04 07:00 pm (UTC)There are good days where that golden hallway seems very far away. Where he can forget the child he killed so many times that he lost count.
Right now, all Sans is thinking about is varying his nap spots. Variety is important in life, after all. He's been here long enough to know that, at this precise time of day, the way the sun falls in through the high windows makes the sills quite pleasantly warm. If he tucks himself into a corner just so, he can look out on the gardens as he drifts off.
A small skeleton in a reasonably large hallway, he might not be immediately seen at first.
But he feels the child's approach, enough that his eyesockets suddenly fly open wide and dark even before Sans realizes why.
quick w for mentions of murder and violence.
Date: 2016-02-09 06:13 pm (UTC)Instead they walk, slowly and methodically, down the hallway, occasionally holding up a locket in their left hand and staring at it. The chain is broken, the metal smeared with the same blood that is coating their hands, the front of their shirt, and that had sprayed a little across their face.
The other child is dead now, Chara was sure of that. They'd stayed by their body, prodding at their chest and wrist and mouth several times just to make sure. But something must have gone wrong, because their EXP hadn't gone up at all. Chara was still stuck at LV 19, still not quite as strong as they had to be.
Was it only monsters that gave out EXP? It seemed possible; since monsters had purer SOULs than humans, perhaps killing them had more of an effect.
They let their left hand drop, the heart-shaped locket dangling by the broken chain, and glance absently about the hallway. Slowly, their gaze settles on the small skeleton waiting just down the hall.
Hope this is okay to start us off?
Date: 2016-02-09 07:16 pm (UTC)It's the smell of blood that alerts him. Sans is more familiar with that smell than most monsters, and this child is most of the reason why. His first thought is that that's his blood, but...no, he didn't bleed that much. Asgore or Flowey wouldn't have bled at all. Did they finally start in on the humans, before they arrived here?
And yet, any of that would be preferable to the cold fear in his marrow of what might have really happened. There are a lot of people who could bleed, here in this castle (Lucas, Sophie, Tauriel, Frisk...). A lot of them are his friends, and this wasn't supposed to happen (except he always knew it could), this has to be another dream (and he's never waking up)...
All these thoughts pass through Sans' head in a second or two, and he gives no outward sign of them. He's had practice at that, or maybe it's just that this child has left him dead inside too and he's only just remembering as much. Instead, the skeleton just takes a deep breath, and lets it out in a long sigh. Slowly, he slides off the windowsill and touches down on the ground. He looks up at the child, and the look on his face is only a smile by the most generous definition of the word.
"well, well, well..."
He holds up both hands, and it's like he never left the hallway. Two gasterblasters spin into existence out of the air, mouths gaping open, blue fire already blooming between their teeth.
"Let's just get to the point."
No speeches, no hesitation, no other warning. No mercy. More than anything, Sans doesn't want to make the same mistakes this time. So he launches right into his strongest attack.
Seems fine! And lemme know if this doesn't work for you.
Date: 2016-02-11 12:37 pm (UTC)The broken locket is stuffed into their pocket and they stand there silently, waiting for Sans to make his first move. They know where this is going, even before the Gaster Blasters spin into existence.
He doesn't disappoint. They have to leap in order to avoid one row of bones (92/92), but then they're slightly off balance when they need to slide through another, causing them to knock into several in a row (78/92) and the KARMA coursing through their veins means the pain continues to throb even after the initial blows.
The blasters fire this way and that way and Chara has to dash around and around in order to avoid the full brunt of the flames, but the sheer size and heat of the blasts scorches their limbs regardless of where they run. (58/92)
Still, they determinedly twist their way down the hallway between everything that Sans is throwing at them, the real knife held primed for swinging the moment they're within range.
Looks great!
Date: 2016-02-11 03:30 pm (UTC)Even if he'd just woken up, Sans is still awake enough to dodge. He had been last time, too, of course, but by then they'd learned to cheat. There's still a bad moment where he almost doesn't, because he's gotten soft and let old instincts get dull, but then time skips and slows and Sans simply slides out of danger. The knife cuts a glittering but harmless arc through the air, close enough for him to feel the displaced air but not close enough to count. There's a breathless moment where he's waiting for the next attack, but...
(1/1)
Sans retaliates by turning their soul blue and flinging them up hard at the ceiling, where a wall of bones will stab down a scant second later to meet them. Whether they dodge that, he skips time so that they're back down on the ground for another wall to stab up, and then he picks them up and tosses them at the nearest window. But he pulls them back in before they might fall out, though. No escape. No mercy.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-11 06:26 pm (UTC)The next instant they're flying upwards and they slam, hard, against the ceiling. Their knees buckle under the impact, slowing their reaction time when the bones stab upward (37/92), and then everything flickers and they're on the ground and another wall of bones is piercing through them (25/92) before suddenly they're lifted into the air once more and slammed into one of the high windows lining the hallway. (13/92) They feel the glass splintering around them and hear a loud crack when their head slams into the window- or is the crack from their skull instead?
Laughter bubbles out of Chara without their being aware of it, growing rapidly from light giggling into chuckling into full on laughter. When they slam into the ground and scramble onto their feet, they swing their knife towards Sans once more, but their shoulders are shaking too hard from laughter and the arc of the blade is wobbly.
(05/92)
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-11 07:18 pm (UTC)The visceral, bloody sounds of Chara being taken apart leave Sans sick to the marrow but it's coupled with a rush of something like elation at the prospect of safety, close enough to reach out and take at last - safety for his brother, for his friends. Even if they RESET, Frisk could RESET, too. He doesn't want to do this. He never wanted to do this but he hesitated last time and everyone died and he's not hesitating now and everyone will be safe it's worth it worth it worth it...
He watches them fall, and as the sound of their laughter echoes through the hallway, Sans has to fight the urge to laugh with them. He manages to hold himself in check, only because he's not sure he wouldn't wind up sobbing instead.
As they come stumbling towards him, limping along on their last dregs of HP, Sans almost pities them.
Then he starts off the list again in his head (Snowdrake, Chilldrake, Ice Cap, Lesser Dog...) and hardens his soul to finish this dance one more time. He isn't even sure if he has to skip time in order to dodge their attack, wobbling as it is. He does so anyway, just in case.
To finish the job, he sends two lines of bones arrowing at them from either direction, throwing in a few blue ones just to make sure, and just for his own bitter sense of dark satisfaction. If they'd only bothered to stop and learn about blue stop signs...
He's already exhausted, but his hands move steadily. His gaze never wavers from Chara's face once as he delivers the killing blow. This time, Sans wants to be sure.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-13 12:17 am (UTC)Chara lands- collapses, really- onto the floor and rolls inelegantly away from Sans. They come to a stop with a soft thunk against the far wall, where they claw their way into an upright position, even though it feels like their limbs are about to fall off. But it's a distant sort of pain, as if they're not really feeling it, but somehow observing someone else's. They still laugh, a little, but it's wheezy and quiet.
Time seems to slow as the bones arrow towards them. They actually manage to dodge between the first few, possibly out of an ingrained sense of determination. It doesn't do any good. An enormous blue bone flies towards them, too big for them to dodge, and it sinks right through them.
(00/92)
They can feel their soul S H A T T E R.
And then they're falling down again, and it feels as if they're drifting through something soft and deep and black, the hallway and the pain and the magic bullets surrounding them an indistinct impression compared to the sensation.
They've stopped laughing, and Sans will be able to see that their expression is rather like that of someone sleeping: a little serene, and mostly distant.