Chara had another dream. Another memory.
The sun was setting, and Felicia was running in the flower field. She was fleeing from something. Chara could hear her panting breaths, and she could even feel Felicia's growing exhaustion. Felicia heard her pursuer's footsteps getting closer. Despite her body's protests, Felicia desperately tried to keep up her speed. Sweat poured down her forehead, and she gasped for breath. Felicia was running for her life! After a while, her body couldn't take it anymore, and she slowed down. Whoever was chasing her finally caught up to her. Chara winced as she felt Felicia's pursuer lay a hand on her back.
"Tag!"
What...? Oh...
Felicia turned around and looked at a boy about her age, somewhere around twelve. He had shoulder-length blond hair and yellow eyes, and he had a triumphant yet tired expression plastered on his face.
To Chara, something about the boy looked oddly familiar.
"F-finally got you, Felicia!" the boy said through heavy breaths and a wide grin. "You're as determined as they say! But nothing can keep me from you!"
Felicia laughed. "Ah, Nate."
Two more children ran up to them: Jacob (It felt weird to think of him as 'Malcom' here), and a girl with shoulder-length blond hair and purple eyes. The girl looked like she was related to the boy, Nate. She looked about a year or two older than Felicia and Nate.
"Finally got her, little brother?" the girl asked, confirming Chara's hunch.
"Yeah," Nate answered. "It wasn't easy, though."
"Well, what do you expect from the one and only World Master?"
Felicia seemed embarrassed. "H-how did you find out?"
"Your parents told our parents!" Nate answered. "Our parents got really upset when they found out, knowing your stance on the monsters!"
...Damn, new suspects, Chara noted. She sighed. Nothing's ever simple, is it?
"Umm... sorry," Felicia apologized.
"Don't worry about it!" Nate told her. "You know I can't get mad at someone with such pretty red eyes!"
...That sounds so much nicer when Frisk says it...
Felicia laughed. "Nathan...! Don't you think you're a little young to act like that? At least wait until we're, like, fourteen!"
Nate winked. "Alright, then!"
Felicia blushed. "Uh... umm..."
"So..." Nate said. "How do we know you're really the World Master? I suppose there's only one way to find out for sure."
Felicia cocked her head. "And what's that? Are you gonna take my DT sample?"
"No, that's no fun," Nate answered. "That would be far too easy. I say, you should show us!"
"And how should I do that?" Felicia asked.
"How about this," Nate began. "I'll think of something for you to do, and then you'll create a SAVE point. Then, I'll tell you what to do, and then you'll RESET and do that thing before I tell you what it is!"
Chara was a bit annoyed. RESETs shouldn't have been used for such childish things. The power to RESET was not a toy. It should only have been used when necessary. Careless use of RESETs angered Chara. Thank God that Frisk was responsible. Chara didn't want to think about what she might have done if Frisk hadn't had so much control over himself.
Felicia smirked. "Why am I afraid of what you might ask me to do?"
Nate's sister snickered. "Yeah, I'm worried too."
"Alright! I've thought of something!" Nate announced.
Felicia created a SAVE point.
"Ready?" Nate asked.
"Ready!"
"Would you kindly punch Nora in the face?"
"H-hey...!" Nate's sister, Nora, exclaimed.
Felicia clearly wasn't the kind of person who would do that. "What? Why?"
"For justice...!" Nate cried out with a wide smile.
"I'm not doing that!"
"Aw, man! Now I have to come up with something else."
"Oh, let me do it!" Nora interjected.
Nora walked up to Felicia. "We need something completely random." Nora closed her eyes. "Okay, I've thought of something."
Felicia saved.
"Ready?" Nora asked.
"What should I do?"
"Do a jumping jack."
Felicia RESET and did a jumping jack.
"Wow..." Nate swooned.
Nora was visibly disturbed. "O-okay... that's terrifying."
Felicia was confused. "Huh? What's wrong?"
"What's WRONG?! You have control over time itself! Don't you realize how dangerous that is? That kind of power... nothing about it is right!"
Finally, a human who makes sense! Chara thought. I like Nora! Uh, no offense, Frisk!
"Don't say that!" Jacob shouted. "My sister is NOT a threat to anybody!"
"Yeah!" Nate agreed. "Felicia's a great person! She won't do anything bad!"
Nora scoffed. "She wants to free an entire race of people who have the power to destroy us all!"
Never mind. Nora sucks!
Felicia clenched her fists. "What we did to them was wrong. We should have freed them a long time ago."
Nora's purple eyes glared at her. "That's not your decision to make."
Even as a passive observer, Chara could feel the tension emanating from Felicia and Nora.
"...Oh! Would you look at the time?!" Nate interrupted. "It's almost time for dinner! Come on! We don't want to be late!"
"R-right," Felicia said.
Felicia, Jacob, Nate, and Nora left the flower field and headed for a manor in the distance.
#
Chara woke up. She checked the time. It was past 10 am. Frisk and Toriel had probably already eaten breakfast. Chara got out of Frisk's bed (Frisk was too nice. Would he ever sleep in his own bed again?) She looked around and saw Flowey planted in his pot on the nightstand.
"Morning, Chara!" Flowey greeted with his signature smile.
"M-morning, Azzy," Chara groggily responded.
"A great morning person as always!"
Chara smiled. "Shut up." She wiped the morning gunk out of her eyes.
"Anyway, Mom has breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen," Flowey informed her.
"Thanks."
Once Chara was ready, she picked up Flowey and brought him with her to the kitchen. As she walked down the hall, she saw Frisk run through. He looked sick. His hand was covering his mouth like he was going to puke. Chara gasped. "Frisk! What's wrong?"
"T-Toriel..." Frisk wheezed. "Sh-she made..."
Toriel ran into the hall, following Frisk. "My child! I thought you liked snail pie!"
Chara beamed. "SNAIL PIE!" She sprinted past Frisk and Toriel and ran straight into the kitchen. On the table, Toriel had left a slice of snail pie just for her. Next to it was a half-eaten slice. It must have been Frisk's. Chara bit into her slice and savored its snaily goodness.
"I'll never understand how you and Mom can eat those things," Flowey said.
"Well, it's an acquired taste," Chara replied with a full mouth.
"Since when is the taste of dirt an acquired taste?!"
Chara swallowed. "It doesn't taste like dirt! It tastes like... snails!"
"Exactly!"
Frisk walked back into the kitchen. He looked like a small child about to see the dentist. He sat down and, after a considerable pause, continued eating his slice. Chara gave him a sympathetic look. "Frisk, I know you don't like snail pie. You don't have to eat it if you don't want to. I'm sure it won't hurt Mom's feelings."
"N-no, it's fine!" Frisk insisted. He took a bite, and his face twisted with disgust. He looked like he was eating poison, and Chara knew exactly what that was like...
"Frisk..." Chara whispered. "I didn't realize you hated it that much. Why didn't you say something?"
Before Chara's resurrection, Toriel occasionally made snail pie for Frisk. Chara could tell that Frisk wasn't a fan of it, but he never seemed to hate it. He never looked like he was going to throw it back up.
"B-because..." Frisk answered. "I knew that you liked it, but now that you're not in my head..."
Chara's heart swelled. "Oh, Frisk... you didn't have to do that for me." She smiled. "As long as I get my chocolate, I'm happy!"
Frisk smiled back. "I didn't mind. Like I said, I'd give anything to make you happy."
That was exactly what she was afraid of.
Just how much did Frisk care about her? Ever since her resurrection, Chara had been growing increasingly suspicious about something. Did Frisk... actually have a crush on her?
No, no! How conceited could Chara get? That was just how Frisk was with everyone! Frisk was pretty much the greatest person in the world! He would have given anything to make anyone happy, not just her! Back underground, he even would've given up his own life to save the monsters if he had to. The only reason he didn't was because of what Asgore planned to do after shattering the barrier. He had to make sure freeing the monsters wouldn't result in a war. Otherwise, he would have gladly allowed Asgore to take his soul. Frisk just selflessly loved everyone!
Even all that flirting was just another one of Frisk's quirks. From a plane to his own future adoptive mother, the list of people who Frisk had flirted with was very long, and very weird. He went on a date with Papyrus. He hit on Undyne, and he didn't feel the need to correct Alphys when she thought Undyne's love letter was from him. Frisk had an... interesting sense of humor, as Toriel had put it. All of Frisk's flirting with Chara was just Frisk being Frisk!
But... what if it wasn't? What if Frisk was serious? Chara... liked Frisk a lot. Frisk was everything that Chara should have been. Because of Frisk's actions, the monsters finally went free. Unlike Chara, Frisk really had become the future of humans and monsters. Frisk... was far too good for Chara. Chara didn't deserve someone so nice, so brave, so funny, so cute, so perfect...
Yeah, Chara didn't deserve Frisk... but that didn't stop her from wanting him...
Chara sighed and took another bite out of her snail pie.
Toriel entered the kitchen. Frisk gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Mom. I never really liked snail pie. I only ate it because Chara liked it. When she was in my head, she could sense whatever I sensed, so..."
Toriel smiled back. "Ah, I understand. You are very kind, my child."
Frisk had another nausea attack.. "Sorry, may I be excused?"
"Go ahead."
Frisk left the table and headed for his room. Poor Frisk, but at least he had the day off. He didn't have any ambassador work that day, and it was still summer. Chara wondered what he would do with it. On a related note, what should she do today?
Well, for starters, she had snail pie to eat!
Toriel sat down with Chara and Flowey at the kitchen table. She looked at Chara fondly. "My child, I still cannot believe you were there with Frisk this entire time."
Chara smiled back. "Sorry about that. I thought it would be best if you didn't know." Her smile turned into a frown. "The same went for Asriel."
Toriel frowned too. "My children... I know that recent events have not been... ideal, but it will be okay. Chara, no matter what anyone says about you, I will still love you. And Asriel, even though you lack your SOUL, you are still my son."
Chara smiled again. "Ah, Mother. You're going to make me cry again."
Flowey was silent. He had probably already heard everything that Toriel could say to comfort him.
"Asriel," Toriel said, "I know you are also not fond of snail pie. Shall I prepare you something else?"
"Don't worry about it," he said. "I don't need to eat."
Toriel blinked. "You... do not need to eat?"
"I'm a flower. I eat soil."
"Oh... I see how that could be an issue for physical food, but surely you can still consume magical food."
"Sure, I can, but it's unnecessary."
"Well, if you say so..."
The room was silent for a while.
"... my child," Toriel said. "I am sorry for calling you a 'miserable creature.' Had I been aware of your situation, I would have been more understanding."
"Don't worry about it," Flowey replied. "You can't hurt my feelings. I don't have any feelings to hurt."
Toriel whimpered. "My child..."
Flowey crawled out of his flower pot leaned close to Chara. "Don't you see why this was a bad idea?" he whispered. "I can't be the son she remembers. I tried. I tried so hard, but no matter what she did, she could never make me feel like Asriel again."
Yeah, this was a very cheerful family breakfast.
"...Frisk wants us here," was all Chara could say.
"...Yeah," Flowey said. "I guess I at least owe Frisk that much. If it weren't for him, I'd still be tormenting the underground for my entertainment."
Chara sighed. "I guess we both owe Frisk everything."
Chara finished her pie, and talking about Frisk made her eager to see him. She put her plate away and headed for Frisk's room. His door was closed. Chara could faintly hear his TV running from inside. Chara knocked on the door.
"Frisk...? Can I come-"
Chara felt a familiar sensation, like being pulled.
FILE LOADED
"CHARA! WAKE UP!"
Wh-what...?
Chara opened her eyes. She felt extremely groggy, like she had just woken up. She was... lying down, on something soft. What was going on? What had happened? How did she get there? Wasn't she standing outside Frisk's room just a moment ago? Chara tried to focus her blurry vision, and she saw Flowey looking over her, with an exasperated expression on his face.
That quickly woke Chara up. She looked around and realized that she was in Frisk's room, in Frisk's bed. She checked the time. It was almost 8 am.
"A-Asriel... what's going on?"
"Frisk reset!"
"What? Why...?"
"I don't know! He just ran out of the room without saying a word!"
Chara jumped out of bed. What was Frisk doing?! She ran out of the room. She found Toriel in the foyer, looking very confused and very worried.
"Mother!" Chara shouted. "Where did Frisk go?"
"I... I do not know," Toriel answered. "He just ran right out the door, and I was going to make him some snail pie..."
Frisk, what's wrong?
Chara grabbed her phone and dialed Frisk's number.
He didn't answer. Chara grimaced.
What happened...?