"Chara? Are you sure about this?" Flowey asked as he watched Chara gather up some of the flowers. He remembered everything from that day, how the flowers made him very sick. Chara couldn't get out of bed and was just in a very horrible state, and he didn't know if he could see him like that again. "Isn't there another way to fix everything?"
Chara shook his head no. "Not that I know of. Gaster only told me about this, and even if there was another way, I don't think I can do it by myself." With that, he took a deep breath before stuffing his mouth with the flowers, poisoning himself. He couldn't help but feel weak as he dropped the remaining flowers he had in his hand on the ground, coughing. "Be-besides, I deserve this. I... deserve to die."
"Chara?!" Flowey called out, not liking what he saw. He knew the plan, knew what he had to do, but he couldn't help it. It was just like he was watching this for the first time in his life all over again. He watched Chara die once, and as if falling into old habits once again, couldn't help but get as close to him as he possibly could to help him. He just didn't want to watch his best friend die thinking that everything bad that happened to him was his fault. "I told you before that this wasn't a good idea! Why are you doing this? This wasn't your fault!"
"Yes, it was!" Chara shouted back as he fell to his knees. He felt sick to his stomach now, and became very dizzy. He remembered how last time it took Asriel to help him get back home. This time, he wasn't going to wait all night to die. Once he was sure that Frisk was alive and well, he'll end it for himself. After all, what use is he alive. "It's my fault. It's all my fault that you're stuck like that. It's my fault more than half the underground is dead. It's my fault that I ruined this peaceful timeline, and I'm going to do whatever I need to to fix it again."
Flowey shook his head no as he leaned closer to Chara. He watched his friend as a pained look came across his face, but couldn't help but notice how calm he was being. Chara was dying, and he wouldn't make a sound, or complain about it. He just looked determined to see this out to the end. Last time he saw this look, Chara was gone for a long time.
"Flowey, no, Asriel. Everything was my fault. I was the one who started this mess all those years ago. I was the one who let my hatred control me. I brought Player here, and I let him control me." Chara gave him a weak smile as he knocked over Flowey's pot unintentionally, letting the soil spill out among the flowers to release him. "Brother, I can still hear him. He's in my head, and he's screaming at me. I can't let him out again. I just can't. I'm not strong enough to stop him myself."
"I can't watch you like this. I don't want to watch you die again!" Flowey said as he started tearing up. He couldn't help it. He's seen enough death to last him a lifetime. "I love you, Chara. I don't like watching you die, knowing I can't do anything to help you."
Chuckling a bit, Chara said, "I know this is probably the worst thing I could ask you to do, but thank you. I'm not going to die right away, so how about checking on Frisk? See if he's alright for me?" He couldn't help but gently touch one of Flowey's petals before saying, "take care of him for me, okay?"
"Okay," and with that, Flowey was gone. He moved into the ground and traveled all around, hoping to find the other boy. It wouldn't take long for him to find Frisk, not since he was no longer bound by the flower pot. Flowey could search for him anywhere now and was determined to find him as soon as possible.
Chara looked up at the sky above him as he felt around for the familiar weapon in the flowers. "Looks like it's game over for us, huh, Player? We had a good run together, but the fun has to end sometime..." Tears began to fall down his face as Chara couldn't help himself. He was going to die, and even though he wanted to stay with the others, was determined to never return. He didn't want to interfere with this timeline anymore than he already had. It's time for him to return to his own home...
Meanwhile...
Papyrus had carried Frisk in his arms silently, deciding to bring him back home in case he came back to treat his own wounds, before noticing a small yellow flower appear out of nowhere. There was only one monster in all of HOME that looked like one, and that was Flowey the flower. Honestly, Papyrus just couldn't believe that Flowey was allowed out of his pot.
"Flowey? Wha-what are you doing here?" he asked as he stopped in front of the flower. "Have you seen Chara? We have a score to settle, but he ran off like a cowardly human."
"Since when were you into fighting? Nevermind, forget about that," Flowey said as he looked up at Frisk in his arms. Despite his confusion with the skeleton, there was other matters to discuss. Chara wasn't going to live forever, and he wanted to go back to his side as soon as possible. "How's Frisk?"
Of course, those words didn't settle well for Papyrus. Without a second thought, he fired a bone at the flower, purposely missing. His only intent was to scare the flower into giving up wherever Chara was hiding. If anyone were to know where to find that evil creature, it would definitely be Flowey. "Where's Chara?! Where is he?!"
"You don't scare me! I've seen your attacks." Flowey glared at the tall skeleton before saying, "besides, there's nothing you can do to me that will make me betray him. He's my brother, and I'll stand by him forever!"
"Brother? You call that murderous monster a brother?" Papyrus couldn't help it. He squeezed his eyes shut as if to prevent the tears that he was ready to shed. He gestured to the child in his arms before saying, "wasn't Frisk your brother? Family doesn't mean anything to a thing like Chara! He... He took away everything from me. I can't let him get away with killing my brothers!"
Flowey stared at Frisk in his arms, noticing how the bruises began disappearing from his skin. That's when he realized something. As Chara grows weaker by the minute, Frisk is getting stronger. That had to be the only explanation for this. Chara did say that everything would be fixed if he dies for good this time.
"Chara is not a thing! I know he did some bad things before, but it wasn't his fault. That thing inside him is to blame for everything. Even now, Chara is fighting him... Fighting him until his very last breath." Just then, he noticed some movement from Frisk before saying, "Chara is literally dying, trying to make everything right. He wants to fix everything, and bring back your brother. He's going to make sure that Player never comes back to this timeline by destroying himself."
"... N...O..." Frisk squeezed his eyes tightly before moving a bit in Papyrus's arms. He weakly opened his eyes before looking down at the flower below. "W-we have... We have to save Chara. We can't let him go through with this..."
Papyrus looked down at Frisk before hugging him tightly, glad to have someone back. Tears fell down his face as he said, "human! You're okay! Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Papy. How long have I been out?" Frisk asked, only to get a confused look from the other two. "And where's Chara? We have to find and save him. Killing himself is not the answer. There has to be another way to stop Player from coming back."
"Chara is home. He went back to the castle, towards the flowers. You're too late to save him, Frisk. It's just like last time. He's dying just like he wanted to." Flowey waited until Frisk was placed on his feet before saying, "you should hurry. I'm sure he wants to see you before he goes."
"Thanks Flowey." With one look at Papyrus, Frisk said, "don't blame Chara for this. He couldn't control his body." With that, Frisk ran off after Flowey. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, only to realize that he was being followed by the bigger skeleton. He gave Papyrus a quick smile, glad that his friend was coming along before looking back in front of him.
When they got to the castle, the three of them watched Chara talk to who they could assume was Player. A sad look was on his face as he coughed a harshly. It wasn't hard to tell, but they were almost sure that Chara had coughed up a bit of blood there too.
"I don't need your approval anymore, Player. I'm doing this because I want to. You're not going to hurt anyone anymore." Chara picked up the knife in his hand and brought it to his chest. His tears finally slowing down as he stared up at the sky above him. The clear blue sky filled him with a sort of comfort as he took a breath. "We're not going to hurt anyone anymore."
"STOP!" Frisk shouted, running over to Chara's side. He grabbed Chara's wrist, pulling the knife away before bringing him into a hug. "I don't want you to die. I can't let you do this."
Chara shook his head no before saying, "you have to. This was the only way to save you... I killed them again, Frisk. I killed mom and dad. I killed Sans and Undyne, and you. I broke our promise."
"It wasn't you. I know it wasn't you," Frisk said as he pulled away to look at him. He made sure to lock eyes with the other boy, letting him know the truth that he believes. Chara was never at fault. Maybe the whole being rude and sarcastic was all him but that was part of his charm. The Chara he knew was not a liar and would definitely never break a promise. "I know you, Chara, and I know you wouldn't break it on purpose."
Chara looked over at Papyrus staring down at him with hatred in his eyes. He knew it was only fair that he got to see the dirty brother killer get what's coming to him. After all, to him, he was nothing but a demon. Vengeance is best when the person involved is weak anyways. It was better he do it to himself than to allow Papyrus to get his innocent hands dirty.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have a choice." He took the knife back from Frisk and placed it down beside him. "Besides, you shouldn't hold this. You're the one who saved all of them, so don't let them see you with my knife. You don't want to end up becoming a demon like me, do you?"
"You're not a demon," was all Frisk could say as tears came to his eyes. He didn't like the way Chara was talking to him. It was as if he was truly saying goodbye. He could see it all over his face as well. Chara was really determined to never come back, just like Flowey said. "Please, stop this. We can fix this world together. We can reset it and start over."
Chara shook his head no before saying, "that won't work. If we reset, Flowey would be stuck as a flower, and Player would still be inside me. This is my only retribution. My death will bring back everyone who's lost their lives. Besides, I owe it to you and Papyrus. I'm sure Papyrus doesn't mind that I did his job for him. He's too nice, just like you. I can't let him gain LOVE."
With that, some light began to shine all over the small flower, making Flowey wonder what was going on. Chara made a pained face at that moment before smiling up at his brother. A tear fell through the corner of his eye before he wiped it away.
"I... I'm me?" Asriel said as he looked himself over. Mixed emotions filled him as he looked back over at his brother. Of course, he was overjoyed to finally be himself again, but not at the cost of the one he grew up with. "Chara, thank you for this."
"Everything is going back to normal. I guess it's time..." With that Chara picked up the knife and brought it back to his chest. Before Frisk could stop him, he plunged the knife deep into his heart. Chara could hear the screams from his head as Player cursed his name. It began to grow quieter and quieter until he suddenly couldn't hear him anymore. "I did it. I'm free."
Frisk couldn't help but tear up as he saw the stain of blood grow on Chara's shirt. He knew it must be painful, but the thought of losing someone like this made him sad. Chara had scared him at first as he wrapped his arm around him in their first meeting, but now, seeing him like this, ready to die for everyone was too much for him. Chara had came a long way in such a short time, but no matter what Frisk could possibly say to him, there was no way to help him now. He was surely going to die.
"Hey now... Why the hell are you crying? You should be celebrating, idiot!" Chara couldn't help but smile, feeling light for the very first time in a long time. "You just defeated the demon. You finally have your "happy ending."
Frisk shook his head no, wishing he wouldn't call himself that. He couldn't bring himself to look at him, not like this. If he wanted to remember Chara, he wanted to remember him as his usual self, not bloody and dying. He will always picture Chara as the person he wanted to be. Not mean, or anything like that, but the way he was when they were together. Chara was strong, even when he didn't need to be, and brave. He was kind to him, even to the point of protecting him. He just couldn't picture him dying like this, ending up alone again for the sake of the others. He didn't want to picture his friend alone and scared anymore.
"You're not a demon..." was all he could bring himself to say.
"Frisk... Ha ha ha, you are too kind... I don't deserve it." Chara chuckled a bit before frowning. His vision was getting fuzzy as his body began to fall back. He didn't have the strength to stay up anymore. Any second now, he was going to die. "Thank you for everything." With that, he closed his eyes.
Frisk opened his eyes, and took Chara's hand as he saw his friend's chest rise for the last time. He shook his head no, sobbing now as he called out for Chara to come back. He wanted his friend back. They were supposed to stay together forever. They promised. Hugging his friend now, Frisk continued to cry as he pulled out the knife and threw it to the side. Even Asriel and Papyrus couldn't hold back their tears as they saw the boys right there.
"Goodbye, Chara. I'll never forget you." With that, the world turned black around them. With one look, Frisk understood what was happening. Chara was resetting the timeline, but this time, he wouldn't be apart of it. "You're finally free."