Soft Reset

[buttercup_eater]

As everything fades away when they die, coming back to life is like seeing everything fading into existence again.

The first thing they're aware of is light, and that they can see, rather than seeing anything in specific.

The second thing they're aware of is sensation, the weight of their limbs pressing into a smooth, stone surface.

Where are they, exactly?

Chara tries to focus, blinking a few times in the hopes of clearing their vision. An empty stone hallway, rather like the one they last died in, with high windows flooding the area with sunlight.

They take a deep breath and try and push themselves into an upright position, only to be hit with a wave of sudden dizziness and have to flop back onto the floor. Okay, that's not good. What happened?

They can remember their SOUL shattering, and laughing so hard their sides were aching. Sans. Bruises. Blood. Theirs? No, not at first. Chasing the other child down unfamiliar hallways. Messy. No EXP increase, no LV.

No partner.

Chara waits a moment, just in case any input is forthcoming, but even after several minutes they remain alone. Once again, they're going to have to do everything themselves.

They manage to sit up with only a minimal amount of dizziness, then lurch to their feet. Minus the dizziness, it's rather like the last time they died and woke up again.

The knife is nearby, again, and they pick it up, again. Their locket is also still hanging from their neck, and they can still feel it faintly beating. But there's also a strange weight in their pocket, and when they slip a hand inside to check- oh. Right. An... alternative version of their locket, they guess.

Gripping the locket tightly, they set out to find their purpose once again.

[As with Frisk's post, this is set three days after their death.]

Comments

[dustless]

Chara will feel their breathing and pulse thundering against their arm. Sans will probably hear their breathing, in fact, since every exhale sounds ragged and growling.

This shouldn't be happening why is he here this needs to stop they can fix it fix it how can they fix it there has to be a way but Sans' words are distracting and the knife is distracting and their own head is filled with foggy rage and fear (the latter not for Frisk).

Their lips draw back, teeth bared. Their eyes aren't on Sans, more staring coldly in a middle point between him and where they can feel Chara's hand. "Stop..." It isn't clear who they're talking to, voice small and weak and not matching their expression or emotion in the least.

Determination.

Except their determination's just leaving them with their thoughts spinning out of control.

[buttercup_eater]

And what Chara does is... watch Sans.

They watch him, with a silent, flinty stare.

They watch as he blinks himself forward, as he winks at them and pleads in the other child's defense, as he threatens to kill them endlessly through power of spite alone. They watch Sans while the other child's voice, asking to stop, echoes weakly in their ears.

They wonder if Sans's plan would even work. Even leaving aside the issue that going without sleep and food forever is highly improbable, Chara isn't even sure if they'd revive in the same location as their body. After all, the other child had said they'd both been buried, but Chara hadn't needed to dig their way out of their grave when they were revived.

They don't let Sans in on their musings, however. There's another catch that they decide to address.

"Sans. Do you know what I think?

"I think it doesn't matter if I spare this kid or not. Because you want me dead regardless. You will kill me regardless. I think you'd love to kill me over and over. You want to live off of spite. You want revenge, and if they die-" Chara tilts their head, ever so slightly, towards the other kid, "-deep down, maybe you'll even be happy. Because then you'll have the perfect excuse.

"So. Bearing that in mind. Why should I accept your offer, when the outcome remains the same?"

And they continue to watch Sans. Steely. Expectant.

[sansational]

What Sans does in that moment of silence is watch Chara. It's not an easy thing, to meet their gaze. But he makes himself do it, searching that face intently of any sign of what's about to happen. He doens't succeed, before the words catch him like a circle of spears, enough to make Sans visibly flinch. His expression is briefly stricken, before it hardens again.

Oh, he liked things so, so much better when Chara didn't talk. Now that they are, they're proving to be distressingly eloquent. And even then, the sheer shock at having that voice addressed to him makes this even more distracting and difficult.

Sans grinds his teeth for a moment, considering his next words very carefully, before he answers.

"people showed up at your funeral. people i care about, even if they're way too nice." Even Sans had turned up for a little while, to think. But somehow, he doubts that will be seen as a kindness. It hadn't been meant as one. "i'll make them sad again, if i have to. but i'd like to not have to. and if you really thought it wouldn't make a difference if frisk was alive or dead, if you really thought there was no way i'd let you walk out of here, you'd have killed them already. but just because you 'can', that doesn't mean you 'have to'. if i have to keep going off of spite, that's only because it's all you left me with!" His voice rises, and then breaks on a sob. A few tears escape his eyesockets. There's no echo of power or menace behind the words, this time. Just the hopeless, helpless anger of a fragile and breaking spirit, a soul on its last few percentages of HP.

Sans' shoulders slump. The lights in his eyes are dim almost to the point of nonexistence, even if the tears are bright. It looks as though it's a genuine effort for him to even keep holding his hands up. "...i was just starting to forget that when you showed up here." Now he looks in those eyes, and he can't think of anything but dust and red. He looks in those eyes and sees all the people that should be here instead of him.

"and i have killed you over and over again. i lost count. and i hated every damn second of it, because i knew the minute you finally gave up would be the minute i lost all of them for good. so mostly? what killing you makes me is tired. but i'm just that little bit more tired of having to watch all my friends die just because i'm a coward, or i don't care hard enough."

With a sudden surge of energy, Sans spreads his arms wide, unguarded as he ever is. Maybe it's an offer of peace. Maybe it's an invitation. Maybe three days of death will be like three days of sleep. "but if you've got a better idea now that we're talking to each other, i'm all ears. metaphorically speaking."

[dustless]

Their ugly anger is building and building and building at how helpless they feel, at how badly this is going, and Sans is crying, and it isn't that surprising but isn't helping anything--

They are who they are, and so tears start burning in their eyes, too. They're trembling like a leaf in Chara's grip.

Sans shouldn't have done this, but he shouldn't be dealing with this, either. Not dying, not killing, not losing everything again even though he was stupid.

Frisk's cracked breathing turns into choking, barely-muffled sobs. Because that's what happens when they see people cry, that's what happens when they're frustrated to their limit.

Their eyes slip shut.

And they're so, so angry--they hold onto their last shreds of patience as tightly as they can, but it's a losing battle.

...The next time Chara says anything remotely insulting, slightly provoking...

Frisk doesn't care about the blade against their face; they'll throw themselves backwards, trying to get them off by shoving them against the wall.

[lightofthestars]

She does not know how, but that scoff kindles her rage to new heights. The child will be able to feel it in the leashed tightness of her body. She does not act against them, and nor does she speak further.

At last they reach the top of the stairs. There is a level part of the floor, and ahead is a solid wooden door. Her goal now is clear.

[lostinmyway]

Grune doesn't answer them. Instead, a moment later, she focuses her gaze on the child. Light surrounds her as a blue sphere with a white core, and she speaks:

"Aqua Laser."

The light vanishes, she stretches out her hand, and two waves of holy water, cresting fully seven feet in the air, race down the corridor toward Chara.

2/2 sorry about that!

[mediadarling]

It had taken too long for Mettaton to get Sophie somewhere safe. Carrying her hadn't taken much time at all, especially with the jets Alphys had built into this body. Getting her to stay there had been another matter.

He'd found Tauriel, but arguing her into watching Sophie instead of going with him to rescue Grune had taken still more time. In the end, it had been Sophie herself who had won the argument for him with her sobbing. If he'd ever wondered what a hollow victory felt like, well...now he knows.

As fast as he can, risking a crash with every corner he took, he flies back to Grune. If she's hurt--if that child has killed her--

There's light ahead down this final hallway, too bright to be sunlight. He can't make it out; he's too focused on getting there, until--

"Oh, my god!"

What did Grune just do?

[buttercup_eater]

The stoicism of Lucas is definitely starting to raise a metaphorical eyebrow with Chara. Maybe he's not merely a mellow person, they think spitefully, maybe he's out and out dull.

"Useful," Chara repeats. "You could say that." They tilt their head a little, thinking over his words. They actually haven't thought much about leaving the castle, not in the way that Lucas phrases it. They tried to make Frisk RESET so they could resume their previous goal, but now they wonder if it wouldn't be simpler to just work on their goal from their current location. And they wonder what Lucas's goal is.

"Hmm," they say. They move closer, again, waiting for him to flinch. They're getting close enough that they can make out his blonde eyelashes. "Are you hoping to use me to escape the castle?"

[buttercup_eater]

Brief as Sans's stricken expression is, Chara's still watching him intently enough to catch it- and they're surprised to feel a strange thrill actually run through them. Even after eradicating all but the most powerful monsters in the underground they haven't quite felt this sort of power before. Knowing that Sans, an adult, an adult who hates them no less, is being forced to listen to Chara. Is affected by their words, no matter how much he hates it.

But as for the words Sans addresses to Chara, well... they don't have as much of an effect on them, even when he mentions their funeral, or that people bothered to show up for it. Chara supposes a normal person should feel something at that, but that's not a category they've ever fallen into, is it?

No, it's Sans who's reacting like a person should, him and the other child, who Chara can still feel trembling in their arms. And Sans is standing there, the picture of submission, eye sockets glistening with wet tears, his arms spread wide open. Unfortunately for him, Chara knows better than to put any faith in the gesture- a few tears don't change anything, and arms that open up only do so to trap you.

They hear a choked sob slip out of the other child's throat, and suddenly they feel such a wave of strong disgust that it's all Chara can do not to shove the other child away.

Instead, they speak up, their voice icy: "My first suggestion is that you two cease crying. It's pointless. And pathetic."

chara has a vivid and violent imagination.

[buttercup_eater]

Chara does indeed catch onto the significance of Tauriel's tension, and stares intently downwards. They watch as the steps level off onto a landing, and tilt their head slightly to get a glimpse of a wooden door nearby.

They wonder, dully, how Tauriel's rage is going to manifest once they're outside. Killing Chara may still be on the agenda, though it seems odd that she wouldn't have done so earlier. Perhaps she intends to torture Chara, breaking their bones and beating them black and blue, without allowing them to die. Or maybe she intends to administer justice by slicing off Chara's hands or gouging out their eyes, so they can't swing their knife around or see to aim at a target.

np~

[buttercup_eater]

Chara's eyes snap shut at the light and they take some quick, nimble steps backwards, reopening their eyes just in time to hear Grune call out the name of the spell and to see the waves form.

Such a shame I never learned to swim, they think, and gulp down a rapid mouthful of air before twisting on their feet and bolting down the hallway and skittering around the corner.

They hear Mettaton's voice, but don't really register it- Chara's slightly more focused on not drowning, above anything else.

[sansational]

The sob gets Sans' attention, too. He hadn't even realized until that moment just how hyperfocused he'd been on one child, even to the exclusion of the one he's trying to save.

Even then, in the midst of everything, the thought occurs to him that this has perhaps been something of a theme these past few days. But he looks at Frisk then, and Sans realizes that he's never seen them look like this. He's never seen them look this sad and scared. They should never have to be. Not Frisk.

It's gonna be okay, Sans wishes he could say, but he's had enough of breaking promises. And besides, those are words that should stay between them.

He has to save them. Sans feels his resolve strengthen just a bit to do just that. He's not alone in this. He has someone to lose.

"too bad. so is fighting you. i did it anyway." He does wipe at his eyesockets with his sleeve, but mostly for the sake of keeping his vision clear. He doesn't look away while he does it, and looks back at Chara when he's done. "and trust me, you have not even begun to see how pathetic i can get. my brother? he was the cool one. never got the chance to finish learning from the best."

"but otherwise, looks like we're right back to my whole 'end of time' suggestion. and one that's way more boring than my plan. you won't let frisk go, i won't let you go with them. so from where i'm standing, we're...well, uh, we're basically stuck here, yeah? stuck standing and staring at each other. and if you really don't want to look at me bawling my eyelights out, well, that's your own fault.

you're not prepared to believe that i won't kill you. but the fact that you haven't gone ahead and killed frisk tells me that there's still something you want in exchange for them. not to mention the fact that this is both the most words i have ever heard you string together, and the longest i've ever seen you wait to try to kill someone. so. cards on the table, before your arm gets tired. what is it? if the fact that i'm still talking isn't a sign that i'm listening, then i don't know what is."

[dustless]

More wracking sobs tear from their throat instead of a spoken response. There was something they were trying to say--another attempt at 'stop' might be caught--but they can't keep their throat clear enough to be intelligible.

Frisk only sort of tries to muffle it. They do want to know what Chara might want, might want from Sans properly. But...they do have a flicker of spite in them when they're furious, and if they want Frisk to be quiet, they're not sure if they really want to be.

And. If they're sobbing and shaking and sounding terrible to their ears...maybe they won't feel Frisk slowly start bracing their feet.

Their eyes keep closed; it's easier to tell what's going on with Chara when they're not being distracted by the sight of Sans anymore.

Good lord, child.

[lightofthestars]

She reaches out and turns the handle the heavy door, which opens into two small rooms. In the first is a bed, a table, and only a few other small things. The second is a privy. The window is barred, and that is what first made her think of this use for the tower.

Tauriel walks to the far end of the room. She stops and breathes in. Then she pulls the child from her shoulder, sets them on the ground, and bolts for the door.

Few are fleeter of foot than an elf, but she is taking no chances.

[lovetheme]

Closer still; with that sort of expression on Chara's face, watching for his reaction, Lucas can only assume it must be deliberate by now. (Probably deliberate from the start, really.) Chara would be searching in vain for any sort of flinch--Lucas still doesn't give any ground whatsoever. But, should Chara still be carrying their knife with them, his eyes might slowly shift to consider the blade for a long moment, with that same faint curiosity.

Either way--even he has to admit that, though there's no fighting to be had yet, this is probably exactly not what Frisk wanted him to do, in an encounter with Chara. If something did happen now, they'd be really mad at him, and he wouldn't really have an excuse. He ought to have started moving away the moment Chara showed up, instead of staying and offering oranges. He ought to be moving away right now, probably.

But Lucas doesn't, despite himself. He couldn't really bring himself to be scared even if he wanted to be, meeting Chara face to face like this now. They call themselves a demon, but he still sees and hears another kid--with every passing moment, it seems, someone completely unfamiliar and yet increasingly more oddly familiar in ways he can't yet really explain. But he wants to know...

And until today, he hadn't expected to ever get a chance to know at all.

His glance shifts back to their face, meeting their eyes directly. Chara's words bring about that subdued impression of surprised confusion, again, as if the assumption they air now is an entirely new and unexpected idea that hadn't been along his own line of thought at all. (Which would be about right.)

"No." 'Use them'? Like a sort of tool, they mean? That's...almost a little presumptuous, isn't it? Lucas frowns. "I was wondering if you wanted to leave the castle in the first place. There's some people here who would rather stay..." And his expression does shift to something almost troubled now--but it's troubled about something else, evidently, very far away from their present standing. Lucas's eyes move to briefly consider something distant and slightly to one side of Chara. "It's alright here. But I'd like to get home. I was in the middle of something important. ...Haven't found any way back yet, though."

[mediadarling]

Mettaton just...stands there and watches the waves as they roll down the hallway after the human. That is...that is really not what he expected to be happening here.

A wide grin fills his face. Suddenly, his desperation is gone.

This is going to be simple.

"Keep running, human!" he calls out and throws a few bombs after them. It doesn't matter that most of them are put out by the water Grune summoned. It's the thought that counts.

[lostinmyway]

Grune follows her waves. The sound of her high heels echoes down the corridor in their wake as they collapse and the water washes the stones. She stops when she's standing in front of Mettaton.

"Please leave, Mettaton," she says. He's smiling, but--it's an ugly smile.

He stops with a bomb in hand. That's good.

"Are you kidding me, darling? With the two of us working together, that human won't stand a chance!"

"I don't want to hurt them. I'm going to stop them."

She begins another spell. This time, the lights beneath her feet are black and purple.

suicide tw i guess?

[buttercup_eater]

Chara's eyes narrow as they listen to Sans talk. His brother? Chara briefly remembers a skeleton who shouted too much, and whose head fell off. Was that Papyrus?

And then Sans will see a visible flicker of hesitation on Chara's face. What do they want, really? They actually have to take a moment to think about it, wrapping their arm tighter around the other child's neck as Frisk starts sobbing louder.

They think... They think... They think they want Sans to go away. But how do they accomplish that? Chara's gaze flicks briefly towards their knife and all of a sudden, an idea comes to them.

"What I want," they say slowly, meeting Sans's eyes once again, "Is for you... to die. But. You are correct. As of right now, I have no reason to trust anything you say."

They let that sink in a little, then add: "Still. There is a way for you to get us both what we want.

"There is a common proverb that goes 'actions speak louder than words.' If you want to show me that you're in good faith, all you have to do is use your magic on yourself."

Chara smiles at Sans suddenly, wide and warm.

"You only have one HP, so it shouldn't take long. And in return, I swear..." they pause, wondering what a suitable thing would be in this situation, something that Sans would take seriously, before it occurs to them, "...I swear on the blade of this knife, that I'll never willingly harm Frisk again."

They even tilt the blade away from Frisk's face, as a demonstration of their own good faith.

[sansational]

Sans' eyesockets go dark for a moment with shock, ugly and raw enough to tear at his soul. It probably shouldn't, this should probably be the least surprising thing to hear Chara say to him. But it's one thing to guess as much about a person, and quite another to hear it. Especially accompanied by that smile.

There are so many things he could say in reply to that. He could point out that "using his magic on himself" doesn't have to involve killing himself. He uses it to fake flying all the time. He could point out that once he's dust, then Chara has absolutely no reason to keep their word - especially if they get it into their head that there's someone else in their head again. Once he's dust, he really has no way to keep Frisk safe.

...but what has he ever done to keep them safe while he's alive, either? Being alive is how he got them into this mess in the first place.

It's better this way.

So in the end, Sans just laughs. He tries not to. He presses his teeth together hard enough that they ache, presses a hand over his mouth. But his shoulders still shake with slightly hysterical amusement. "man. and here i was going to go ahead and offer to let you finish the job instead. but, hey. this'll probably hurt a lot less." It could even turn into quite a fascinating little experiment, if he remembers it later. And if he actually does come back in three days.

Well. Only one way to find out.

Sans holds up a hand, and a blaster flickers into existence over one shoulder. It doesn't happen quite as smoothly as Chara might be used to seeing - rather than spinning and twisting itself into being out of thin air, it seems to flicker and waver like a heat haze, growing slowly and painfully more solid. But in the end, it appears, and for a moment it stares at Chara and Frisk with blank, sightless eyes and gaping jaws.

Then it swivels in the air to point at Sans instead, and light starts to crackle and bloom between its teeth. It takes a second or two longer than it normally might, to charge up the blast. But given how visibly weak he is, that probably isn't too surprising. Indeed, if either of them think to *CHECK him, now that he's nearby and standing still, they might see that he does not, in fact, have one HP.

He has half a point.

Even so, Sans has blaster hold itself back for a second. He addresses what he says next to Chara. "hey, uh, you mind turning the kid around for this next bit? i mean, c'mon. even i can't kill you with one shot to the back." And he doesn't think he should have to point out that he's not going to run.

[dustless]

Raw shock keeps them still for almost too long but Chara won't get the chance to answer him before Frisk explodes.

Screaming coming from a ruined throat does not sound at all pleasant, nor does it feel it. As if that matters. They scream and scream and scream and they don't stop even as they fling their body back against Chara, cracking their heads together hard.

They are furious, but they don't want Sans to die. Nobody was supposed to die today. He shouldn't agreed to that, stupid stupid idiot they've died to so much worse they'll come back he might not idiot they won't let him they won't let him.

They can barely see the blaster between the stars and tears in their vision, but they do their best to launch themselves at it anyway. Their screaming resolves into a chant of "No no no no NO NO NO--!" If Chara's arm or hand gets anywhere near their face, they'll find it suddenly full of Frisk's teeth.

[buttercup_eater]

Chara can't get as good a look at the room as Tauriel does, although they get the impression of an austere little living space, much to their confusion. What, they wonder, is Tauriel looking for here? Then Tauriel comes to a stop and Chara realizes that, whatever it is Tauriel intends, it's going to happen right now.

They feel themselves slip off of Tauriel's shoulder and their feet settle onto the ground, and immediately Chara scrambles back against a windowsill and raises their arms in front of their face.

They're so prepared for a FIGHT that it actually takes them a second to realize what Tauriel's really doing. Red eyes widen, and Chara sprints clumsily after her- but their moment of confusion has given the already sprightly elf a head start.

[systematicsupport]

"...Why are you talking about Frisk? What did you do to them?"

He shivers, eyes flickering as his magic gets more intense. If anything happened to them again, if he failed to protect them when he said he would...

[buttercup_eater]

Chara's watching Lucas intently enough to catch the way his eyes shift towards Chara's right hand. It isn't much of a reaction, but it's definitely a start, something Chara's very careful to file away for later.

They shake their head, still smiling, in contrast to Lucas's confusion and frown. Maybe he thinks he's being honest, Chara suspects, but they're sure he's looking for something from them, even if he hasn't put it into words- someone powerful, to help him escape, seems like a likely desire. They'll start off by playing a little nice.

"It appears as though we have something in common," Chara says. "I, too, was working on something important. But. In my case, it may not be necessary to return to where I was. And so, I don't much care if I stay, or if I leave." They shrug, to emphasize their point.

And speaking of points...

Chara falls silent for the next few moments, before slowly raising their knife until it's nearly eye level with Lucas. "Didn't this catch your eye earlier?" they ask conversationally. "This is the same knife I killed Frisk with, you know."

[buttercup_eater]

Most of the bombs are extinguished, fortunately, but the ones that do go off send shockwaves through the air and the water. The water splashes around Chara's heels, soaking into their shoes and shorts (75/92), the sound of the waves and little explosions echoing in their ears. They cough and shoot a glance over their shoulder at their pursuants, even as they keep running forward.

Stupid Mettaton, they think. Does he want to blow up the castle alongside Chara?

Then Grune stops in front of Mettaton, and the high heels duo pauses to argue for a moment. Good, even if it's only a brief moment. There's a door a few feet away. With a burst of adrenaline Chara darts towards it and flings it open, ducking inside and kicking it shut behind them.

There's a window on the other side of the room that's been left partly open, so Chara weaves through wooden furniture and past a grandfather clock, making their way towards it.

[lostinmyway]

Chara closes the door just in time: they may not be able to hear the words Grune speaks ("Bloody Howling"), but the roar of the void she summons just outside is perfectly audible.

Grune looks about, but she can't see the child anywhere. She does hear running footsteps, though, and so she begins walking forward, slowly, but inevitably.