Strange Ones: Volume 3

Hiding Chara

"Oh my gosh! Chara?!" The figure behind the young girl exclaimed, and immediately, she knew who it was.

"Alex..." Chara said, her voice becoming shaky. "I...I...I..."

"What..." Alex slowly approached her. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the base?"

"Alex, please!" The young girl placed her flat hands together. "I'll tell you everything! Just, please don't tell anyone else that I'm-"

Chara was suddenly cut off when both girls heard the bathroom's door swing open. Both heard two sets of footsteps walk in and they immediately saw their sources. It was only Nona and Clarissa. While Nona slightly jumped after finding Chara, Clarissa, holding a cold soda can in her right hand, widened her eyes and spat the liquid from her mouth so show her shock. With that, the red-haired girl wiped her mouth with her left hand before exclaiming, "What is Chara doing here?!"

"I..." Chara struggled to get the words out of her mouth.

"Okay," Nona massaged both sides of her head. "Things are starting to get weird around these parts. First, Bendy faints in the middle of battle. Second, Atlas soldiers are surrounding the entire coliseum. Now, we see Chara standing in one of the coliseum's bathrooms and we don't know why."

"Oh, man!" The young girl let out a cry of despair. "I should've thought this through ages ago! I just came here to find my past and Frisk is the only one who can tell me! Now that Atlas soldiers are here, I'll find nothing if they find me!"

Meanwhile, all three teenage girls flinched at what Chara said.

"So, what Zane predicted was true..." Alex said.

"Huh?" Chara looked up at the blue-haired teen.

"You're just here for Frisk, aren't you?" Alex got a nod from her. "Well, she is here, and for some reason, she hasn't been acting like herself lately. I've been seeing it on her face whenever she'd walk by."

"Oh..." The twelve-year-old looked down at the floor. "It must be because of me..."

"Uh," Nona got attention from the others. "Should we tell the boys about this or..."

"Maybe, it's best if we keep no secrets from them." Clarissa nodded with agreement.

"Wait," Chara said before any of the teenagers could walk out the bathroom. "Before we do that, you all have to promise me one thing. You can't let Ironwood and any of those Atlas soldiers find me here."

"How are we going to do that?" The redhead folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I may have an idea." Nona said before grabbing the hem of her orange sweater and stripping it off the reveal a white tank top. "Chara, I need you to wear this. Yeah, it's big, but it could help hide you."

Chara didn't protest at the offer. The young girl quietly took the sweater before stripping herself of her jacket. After slipping the orange sweater on, she, Alex, Clarissa and Nona walked out of the bathroom. As they walked, the orange turtleneck of the garment covered Chara's face, but not her crimson eyes so she could see where the girls were taking her. Soon enough, the trio of girls have taken her to another hallway, where Ren and Michael were. Unfortunately, Jonas was nowhere to be found. Once they got closer, both boys noticed them and wore looks of confusion once they saw the girl who was hidden by the sweater's turtleneck.

"Uh, why is there a kid with you girls?" Michael asked, his finger pointing at Chara.

Looking down at the young girl, Alex went on one knee before pulling the sweater down so the turtleneck could fall off her face. Chara shook her head rapidly and looked up at the boys, who immediately let out yelps of shock. Ren even spat out some water that came from a plastic bottle he held in his hand.

"That was the same reaction I got when I saw Chara standing here in one of the bathrooms of this very coliseum." Clarissa pointed her finger at Ren.

"What is Chara doing here?!" Michael exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"We don't know!" Nona replied. "We just found her in one of the bathrooms."

"I guess Steven wasn't kidding when he said you rode Kuro in order to get here." Alex said with a hand on the young one's shoulder.

"Yeah," Chara admitted with a nod. "I did..."

"Oh, man! This is bad!" Ren grabbed his hair with both hands. "Atlas soldiers are now scrounging for this little bean and now that we found her, it's now our duty to make sure none of them find her! Not even Ironwood or Winter should find out she's here otherwise they will-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Clarissa yelled before taking in a deep breath. "I don't want to hear it." She repeated, shaking her head from side to side.

"So," Michael scratched the back of his head. "What should we do now that Chara is here?"

"I hate keeping secrets from our peers," Alex sighed. "But if protecting Chara is our top priority right now, then so be it."

"Wait, hold on..." Ren shook his head. "We're just gonna hide her in a public area like this one? Have you lost your marbles?!"

"Ren! I may or may not have lost my marbles now that a twelve-year-old girl like Chara is standing here in this coliseum during the Strange Games, okay? We can't let Ironwood or Winter know that she's really here!"

"And what if they do?" Nona asked. "Atlas soldiers are surrounding this area and they got Kuro off the roof. If they find Chara-"

"I know what you're trying to emphasize, Nona. I really do. But if what Ivor and the others said about her reason coming here is right, then we have to help her."

"Okay, what about Jonas?" Clarissa asked.

"Yeah! He needs to know about this too!" Michael agreed.

"I'll find him." Alex said. "And when I do, I'll tell him everything and I'll make sure that he will promise not to tell a single soul in this very coliseum. Not Asgore, not Toriel, not anyone we know. Just keep this between us, got it?"

With that, Ren, Michael, Nona and Clarissa nodded with silence, not questioning her decision.

"Okay. I'll go find Jonas right now. You guys watch over her while I'm gone."

Soon, Alex began to run away from the group in search for her stepbrother, leaving the others with a silent Chara who looked up at then. Then, the four humans looked down to face her.

"So, why are you even here?" Ren asked, squinting at the girl. "Zane said something about you looking for some key to your past."

"I am." Chara admitted as her crimson eyes looked at the tiled floor. "I'm looking for someone named Frisk."

The four just flinched in response.

"Frisk...who?" Nona asked, tilting her head, but all she got was a shrug.

"I don't know... Just Frisk, I guess..."

Soon enough, the humans looked at her curiously. Each of them had an idea who Chara was referring to, but if they were right, it was Frisk Dreemurr she was after.