Now that the fight with Undyne was over, and the calm had settled in, I had a chance to take it all in. Being back in the... real world, I supposed you'd call it. No that sounds kind of strange, somehow.
Nevertheless, it felt strange being here. It was so familiar, but I knew something had changed. What happened to Girard, the previous Captain? Who was Papyrus? Why was Gaster no longer the Royal Scientist?
Gaster led us down into the valley, towards his house. Frisk looked around in wonder.
"Enjoying seeing new places," I asked.
Frisk nodded in response.
"Well, you might like our home. It's not much, I imagine, but it's cozy."
Gaster scoffed at this.
I glared at him. "Is something wrong, Wingding?"
"Nothing," he replied. "Nothing you should concern yourself with."
That meant he was hiding something.
He sighed. "Chara, things have changed... since you were gone."
"Well, that seems pretty obvious. New Captain of the Royal Guard. And... what happened to your position as Royal Scientist? Also, who-"
"What I mean is..." Gaster interrupted, "some of those you knew... they aren't around anymore. Some..." he shook his head. "As for your question, I quit when the CORE was finished. And I abandoned our original plans. It's simply a generator now, powering the Underground.
"Wait, why?"
"When I lost you... I knew the project was a mistake. It cost me much." He stopped and turned to me. "Whatever happened to you, Chara... somehow..."
"Yes, Gaster?" I said, switching to back to his other name.
"It was like you ceased to exist. In fact, I think you did. No one remembered who you were after you fell. Not my father, not your friends, not even the king. Somehow, I was the only one who did."
I took this all in. No one remembers who I am. Not even Asgore? Then... he knew why Asriel died... how does he... he could he explain...
"Chara," Gaster said, snapping me back into reality (figuratively). "What happened to you, anyway?"
"...I..." I started, back what do I say. "I fell into the area between dimensions. The empty space between entire worlds, universes. I suppose you'd call it... the Void."
"How, that doesn't make sense."
"Spatial manipulation, I guess. That's what we were working on."
"...So I was right."
"You really abandoned the original CORE project."
"Yes... the cost wasn't worth it. Come, we're close."
The old house came into view, a two-story building with a tool shed on the side. It has seen some wear over the years (at least I assumed it was years), but was still in good enough condition. The blue paint was faded and peeling off, though.
Gaster led us inside. I could see the familiar dark blue walls and gray coaches of the living room.
"Chara, would you like some tea?"
"...Um, yeah sure. Frisk do you want some."
Frisk was hiding behind me, but she nodded. Gaster's expression changed to one of annoyance, but he said, "very well. I have some Golden Flower Tea. I know it's your favorite, Chara."
"Yeah... Hey, Gaster, I..." I tried to think of what to say. "How long has it been?"
Gaster's gaze went black, the white dots in his eyes disappearing. "Two decades. Chara, it's been twenty years since you fell."
"Twenty... twenty years!" I replied.
"Yes, though if it's any comfort, you haven't aged a day, it seems," Gaster said.
Well, time didn't really pass in the Void, but I would've liked to be taller. And still, this knowledge really wasn't much of a comfort.
Gaster left into the kitchen without another word, preparing our tea. Frisk and I both sat down on one of the couches, while I tried to process what he just told. I knew things had changed, but so much?
After a few short minutes, Gaster returned and gave us both our tea. He started taking sips of his own, while me and Frisk slowly started drinking ours.
After a few sips, Gaster put down his cup, and said, "So, I would imagine you have questions?"
I finished my sip of tea, and while putting it down, said, "Yeah, I do have a lot of questions. You said a lot of my friends were gone. Also, they didn't remember me. What about the assistants?"
"That's your first question? Well, I suppose we should start slow..." Gaster responded. "They also ceased to exist. I found out when my father didn't remember I had any personal assistants. I went to their families, and they didn't even know what I was talking about. I couldn't even give them a proper apology for their loss."
"Do you know where Girard is, now? Can I see him?"
"I retired around the same time I quit my job. I remained friends with him after which, all the way until he... he fell down."
"Like, 'fallen down', not ...fell from a high place," I asked.
Gaster nodded.
I knew what that meant. Monsters get depressed, and since they can't emotionally maintain their form with that kind of sadness, they enter a comatose state. Monsters call this "fallen down". Usually, they don't wake back up.
"Is he... is he still...?" I tried to ask.
"No. I was at his side when he turned to dust, alongside his son and daughter," Gaster answered. "They lost their mother years earlier, too, so they were alone. I took care of them, with my family, until the son found a way to sustain themselves. They live in Snowdin now."
"Okay... And how long has this Undyne person been Captain?"
"Only a few years. Both the roles of Captain of the Royal Guard and the Royal Scientist... Asgore took a long time to fill those roles once they were empty."
"Okay, what about the ghost family. How are they doing?"
"Unfortunately, most of them had left now. I think many of them wanted to find bodies."
That made sense, ghost monsters could possess inanimate objects, and use that a physical body. But if most of them had gone...
"What about Blooky and Hapi?" I asked.
Gaster's gaze lowered. "Napstablook hasn't left. He still takes care of the Snail Farm. But he is the only one left. And Hapstablook... from what I've heard, she's moved to New Home. Don't know what happened to her since then."
"You mean she just left Blooky!?" I cried out. "When she promised to take her friends with her to become performers together! How dare she!"
"It may not be that simple. I don't know the reasons as to why she left."
"But you said all the other ghosts left to find bodies."
"Yes, but Hapstablook's leave was... I didn't hear much about it, so I don't know."
I crossed my arms. How could she? How could Hapi betray her cousin like that? I was angry, but I calmed myself down. There was one more set of questions I had to ask.
"How's Pristina? And Semi? They still live here right? I haven't seen them since I got back." I took a moment to think about something. "They wouldn't remember me, would they?"
"Chara... I..." Gaster paused for a bit. "Yes, they didn't remember you, but that's not the issue here. They're... not with us anymore."
"What do you mean...?"
"They... died... over a decade ago. They were together, shopping I believe... I got there too late. All that was left was their dust."
I was stunned. I couldn't believe it. The man who raised me when my previous family abandoned me, and one of my best friends and practically sister. They were gone...
Everyone I knew was gone.
I just began crying. How could this happen? I lost so much. I came back, and yet, I still lost everything.
Gaster walked over, and put me in his embrace. "It's okay. I still here."
"But everyone else is gone. And they didn't even remember who I was. I couldn't be there for Pristina."
"I know. But I promise, I will still be here."
"Okay... Wingding, I have one last question."
"Yes, Chara."
"I heard you mention a 'Papyrus'. Who's that."
Gaster pulled back. "Papyrus is, or was, someone... special to me. My son. But..."
"So, you do have a kid."
"Yes, but... the human child..."
"Frisk? what about her?"
"You can't trust her." Gaster got up, and turned to her. "I recommend you leave now."
Frisk nervously started getting up, but held her down, saying, "no, you stay there." I got up and stared Gaster down. Well, as best I could, being much shorter than him. "What's your problem!"
"I told you, this is nothing you should concern yourself with. I..." He stopped, his eyes wide, as if he just realized something.
I took advantage of his pause to speak out against him. "I know you're hiding something. Not about Pristina and Semi, but about Frisk. What's going on."
He turned away. "You won't believe me."
"I just walked out of the Void, where nothing exists. Try me."
He took a deep breath. "...She can reset time."
I was quiet as I took that in. He was right, it was hard to believe. But I've never known Gaster to lie. So I turned to Frisk. "Is this true?"
She looked down, and signed, when I die.
"When you... die?"
"Chara," Gaster responded, "every time she dies, time rewinds back to a certain point. What that point depends on the person. For me, I am in the middle of research. The child is also not the only one to have shown this ability, she is merely the latest. A Reset, a simple name for this ability, as I have come to hear it be called, though from an anonymous source."
Gaster stepped away, and turned back to us. "The thing is, Chara, no one remembers the reset, what happened in the previous timeline, before time turned back. There are a few exceptions, including me. I believe it may be related to how I was able to remember you, Chara. A superior Preservation trait. I remember every timeline, and I've what she's done."
His eyes switched to the similar red right and purple left, his Soul vision, for effect. "Every monster she's come across... every monster she encounters... she kills. She leaves a trail of dust behind her. Papyrus... dead. This timeline is no different. Each timeline, some monster kills her, and slowly but surely, she keeps making progress."
Again, I was stunned. I turned back to Frisk. "Is this... please don't say this is true."
Frisk didn't make a movement for a while, then, her hands shaking, signed, I'm sorry. They hurt me. I... don't want to die. But they hurt me and I have to fight back.
I couldn't believe it. She seemed so innocent. There was no way I would guess she killed monsters, or anybody.
But as I took a good look at her, I noticed tears in her eyes. I thought about what she said, and I realized something.
"You don't know what to do," I said.
"Excuse me?" Gaster replied.
"Wingding! She's a child! She doesn't know what to do! All she knows is that... monsters keep attacking her. Maybe she could try to get away, but they keep coming, and after a while... she... snaps, I guess. So, she has to fight back. And they die. She doesn't know what they're thinking. She only knows she must survive!"
"Even still-"
"NO!" I yell, interrupting Gaster, "she doesn't know what she must do to pacify monsters. She's scared, Wingding. She's scared." Tears start forming in my eyes now. "I know you hate humans, but if you wanted to stop the killing, when killing her only resets time, you should have befriended her. Shown her what to do."
I turned to Frisk, and gently grabbed her hand. "Frisk, we need to go. I'll help you. No more killing. Papyrus will be fine, as well as everyone else."
She looked me, a little unsure, but nodded, and got up, letting me guide her back outside.
"Chara," Gaster calls out. "If she resets, you might-"
"Disappear," I reply. "I came back, and now it will be like it never happened." I thought about that, and then said, "I feel like... that won't happen. Now that I'm back, I'm here to stay." Then I exited the house.
I guided Frisk over to the Clearing, a private place we could talk, alone. Unless something has changed since I fell, no one really knew about this place.
I had Frisk kneel down, and I knelt down with her. "Frisk, I need you to do something with me."
What? she signed.
"I... want you to Reset, and I want to go back with you."
But I have to die, I-
"Frisk," I say, "I think you're thinking about this wrong. Think of it like... magic. I can use magic, and I know, it comes from you're Soul. May I?"
She didn't seem to know what I was talking about, but she opened up. I then pulled her Soul out of her body.
I saw a red heart. She had Determination, perhaps more than I've ever had. But something was also off about it. There was something... fragile about it.
I brought out my own Soul, and said, "together. Now focus. Think about going back, and taking me with you, okay? Can you do that?"
Frisk was still for a bit, then nodded. She raised her hands over out Souls, and I followed by resting my hands on top of them.
I could feel power come from her Soul. Then, a bright white light appeared from it, growing brighter, and engulfing us, as my consciousness faded...
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Now alone, Gaster was left to think about what Chara said. Frisk... that's what Chara called her. She was just a child. Could she really be held accountable for all the death behind her? Should he have helped her?
Gaster reached into his pocket, and pulled out his phone. He put in a number, and held the phone to the side of his head, where an ear should be, and waited as it rang.
When his call was answered, Gaster said, "hello, Sans. I feel that we don't have much time before another we have another Reset. There is something we need to talk about, quickly..."
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Author's Note: The final chapter for Book 1! At the beginning of the next book, we'll be starting the main story.
As for this chapter, we now have the setup. We know Chara's past (at least in the Underground), and we know Frisk's past. The stage has been set for the new story.