Chapter Text

Chara groaned and looked around as they tried to scramble back their bearings. The air was stale but tasted vaguely of metals, thick with chilled dust. Their name was Chara, Chara the... Human. They lived in Snowdin Town with their brother Asriel, and before they had blacked out and woke up here, they were...

They were...

Chara stood, one hand on the long bench table that sat beside them to anchor their balance, and drew their trademark green jacket tighter around themself. It was cold. A cold that felt familiar and foreign at the same time. They exhaled and watched as their breath condensed into mist in front of them.

The room they were in was small, more or less a third of the dusty space altogether taken up by a weird machine that didn't look like it would be turning on again any time soon. Chara noted down the fact that they woke up in front of it, at the foot of what looked like a small alcove made into the metallic, wiry-strewn mess. It was the only thing they could see that wasn’t completely covered in dust. Chara didn't know what to make of it. Their eyebrows knitted together in distress.

A long, low and very bare science bench (Chara recognised one when they see it from their fair share of sneaking into Dad's lab) ran the distance of the narrow rectangular room. There were drawers, and out of habit Chara budged them open with small grunts of effort. What they found inside did nothing but make them more and more confused.

They knew the Underground had a strange way of crowning their king and deciding whether someone should stay in power but...

So King Sans used to be a scientist, huh? Chara thought about their own father becoming king and gave a small laugh at the thought. Dad wouldn't be able to pass laws and make hard choices like King Sans did. What a ridiculous thought. No way.

Which begs the question, where were they?

There was a door to the side of the room. Chara took a step towards it and hesitated, hand hovering over the doorknob. From under it, shone soft bluish light, diluted and sleepy. Just like... Home.

Possibilities started running through their head, ranging from hopeful to downright horrifying. Chara had no recollection of anything before they woke up here, apart from waking up that morning and doing the ol' routine. Anything could've happened between then and now.

Maybe King Sans had found them to be too dangerous to allow anymore and had captured them, and was just keeping them alive for now because Mum wouldn't allow him to kill them for their SOUL just yet. (Was his idea of a prison a lab storage area? A more coherent voice chimed from the back of Chara's head) Maybe they had been kidnapped (But the doorknob turned beautifully under the pressure of their hand). Maybe, just maybe... Asriel had decided to plan a party for them with the rest of Snowdin and didn't want Chara to see before it was finished (But it wasn't any time near their fallday).

Maybe a battle was waiting on the other side of this door.

They took their hand off the slightly rusted handle and strangled out something between a sigh and a groan, zipping up their jacket to keep slowly numbing fingers busy. It felt colder than usual, and that didn't make sense because Snowdin, where they lived for almost two years now, was the coldest place in all of the Underground, with consistent snowfall and the occasional baby blizzard. And yet this chill was seeping in through their admittedly thin jacket, creeping up on the back of Chara's neck and making the hairs on their body prickle and stand up on end. It was unlike anything they’d ever felt before. But what place could be colder than Snowdin?

They couldn't stay there forever. There were no winds but the room's darkness acted like a freezer and sooner or later Chara would need to move.

So they shoved their right hand into their pocket, biting out regret about not having brought gloves with them that morning, bravely pushed open the door with more strength than they should've, and tumbled unceremoniously onto some snow.

It was the back of their house.

The little wooden cabin in Snowdin where they and Asriel spent every morning and night in, and every midday and afternoon wordlessly avoiding. The one they shared for their training. The house that was without Mum's homely cooking and without Dad's gardening. The house that was not their home.

Yeah, except that house didn't have a back storage room.

There were other differences too. Differences that were not so glaring, and probably wouldn’t have been noticed if Chara hadn’t been delaying their progress for as long as possible. Like the fact that the pine tree they had carved their initials into had completely healed over, or that the wood of the log-covered exterior looked older and more worn, as if it had been lived in for much longer than just a couple of years. The multicoloured flowers along the landing were gone and replaced with some green vines and tiny yellow blossoms. A scorch mark marred the space beside the strange back door they just came out of.

Chara inched along the length of the bac walkway at a snail’s pace, taking in every little thing in their line of sight as if it was all new. They stared at the Snowdin Town before them, eyes wide and uncomprehending.

It was Snowdin… and Snowdin had turned into a ghost town.

In broad daylight, at least some townies should’ve been out and about. Snowdin was a small village-like establishment alright, but usually lots of the inhabitants liked to dawdle outside, making it at least seem lively and tight-knit.

Suddenly it struck them. The reason it felt colder than usual, why their lips were already going blue even though it’s been less than five minutes standing outside when Chara clearly remembered once falling a asleep with Asriel outside in a pile of snow after building snow figures.

Mum's magic -- the soft flames that kept both them and Asiel warm without heavy snow-proof clothing hindering their movements -- was gone.

Chara took a deep breath and grunted as they circled their palms out, then together, creating a small red fireball that floated in front of their chest like a candle without a wick. Their hands shook as they carefully pressed the flame inside their shirt, where it melted into their skin as seamlessly as if it wasn't even there.

Face scrunched in concentration, it was all they could do to keep their hiss and growls of pain from mounting in volume. When Chara peeked under their collar, the pale skin over their heart was red and raw, but at least now they were less likely to keel over from hypothermia.

"Asriel was always better than me at this..." Chara whispered to themself quietly, taking a deep shuddering breath. More than the physical cold, barely repressed panic chilled the back of their neck like a bucket of iced water. The short-term problem was gone now, but there was still the lingering feeling of wrongness permeating the air.

Now that that was over, the first human continued on their mindless wander around Snowdin. Eerie, empty Snowdin.

Right, this was just like one of those mornings when Chara would wake up feeling weirdly depressed. All they wanted now -- all they needed now -- was to reaffirm to themself that Asriel was fine, and then they could go back and ask Mum about King Sans’ secret history later. Because as long as their family was fine, Chara’s world would continue to spin.

They saw the Mirror first.

Frisk was standing right at the very west side of Snowdin, quiet as always. All Chara could see of them was their stripe-clad back.

"HUMAN!" a strange, tall skeleton spoke from far away, just on the other side of the small plateau separating the winter wonderland from Waterfall. He was dressed in a weird outfit, as if to him everyday was Halloween and dressing up as his favourite comicbook character was cool. Chara supposed it was. The wind blew cold and white, making his tattered red scarf billow behind him like a cape. "I BELIEVE IN YOU! PLEASE! I KNOW ANYONE CAN BE A GOOD PERSON IF THEY JUST TRY!"

Chara thought long and hard and came to the conclusion that no, they did not know this person. They recognised the voice but... That monster was far calmer, more jaded and... Did not act like Asriel.

Frisk took a step forward, cutting off further thoughts.

"Mirror?" Chara called, usually laid-back tone now sprinkled with an edge of wariness to it. Today had been a long day. "Mirror, are you done having that 'date' with Asriel already?"

They snorted at their own words, trying hard to ignore the itching fear gripping their spine.

Frisk didn't seem to hear them. The other monster, however, took notice.

"HMM?" he said, bending his spine as he peered over Frisk's shoulder to look at them. He looked confused.

Chara returned the sentiment. "You know, you really remind me of a voice that I know."

Frisk stepped forward, towards the scarf-wearing skeleton. Without really thinking about it, Chara followed them, keeping the space between them the same.

"TWO... TWO HUMANS IN ONE DAY?" Even from a distance, Chara could see the skeleton’s eyes dart off to the side as he spoke some semblance of a murmur, “(I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AND NOW…??!!)”

Frisk took another step. Only now did Chara noticed the strange way they lumbered forward, with their toes unsteadily pointing together as if Frisk hadn't exactly learnt how to walk properly yet. Chara plastered on an easy-going smile on their face and approached the other human, at the same time getting closer to the skeleton so they didn't have to shout as much.

"That's us. What? Are you a tourist? My name's Chara and this is my pretty mirror image, Frisk," Chara slung an arm around Frisk's sweater-clad shoulder. Frisk tensed the moment Chara started speaking, but did not meet their eyes. They were acting weirdly. Chara resolved to ask them about how they were doing later. For now, they winked at the skeleton. “If you're new around here, I can help you learn the ropes pretty quick."

He blushed heavily, looking furious. At who, though, Chara couldn't quite tell.

"NO, I AM NOT A TOURIST," he announced. "IT IS YOU WHO MUST LEARN HOW THINGS ARE RUN DOWN HERE! YOU ARE A HUMAN, AND SO... I... I..."

He looked confused, yet again.

"YOU, DEAR FIRST HUMAN," Chara pointed at themself and mouthed Me? The skeleton shook his head. "I, DESPITE MY DUTIES, WAS ABOUT TO GIVE YOU MERCY."

His eyes looked down, his teeth rattling. He looked torn, and though Chara barely knew this monster, they did feel sorry for him. It was obvious that he must be someone working for King Sans. His big heart was getting in the way of his duties.

And yet, despite Chara’s doubts that anything was actually going to happen, the fight began.

It went Frisk, the monster, Chara. They never seriously took their turn though. Whenever it came up, Chara would shrug and turn up their hands and go,”Eh, not feeling up to it. You go first, mirror.”

Which would for some reason anger the skeleton.

Chara did little more than watch, occasionally making comments about how aggressive Frisk was being. Really, it did no good in the fight. They should realise as much as well since unlike the monster, Chara knew Frisk at least had some capacity for good reason, and particularly noticing that their fight was going nowhere.

Every time that skeleton would get close to seriously injuring Frisk, he’d stop himself so Chara didn’t have to. Every time Frisk swung their toy knife around, Chara would stop them from landing a fatal hit. Very, very subtly, of course.

They’ve just fallen down, the first human reluctantly gave them the benefit of the doubt. They must not know how monsters work; how fragile they really are.

“Hey mirror,” Chara called out, the weight in their stomach feeling heavier and heavier with every swing they had to block or redirect with distant flashes of red magic. “Why don’t we all give this a rest, eh?”

No response.

“Careful with that thing. Even though you think it’s just a toy, you might seriously hurt someone there.” Chara left their hands in their pockets; seemed like Frisk knew what they were doing with those bone attacks. But then Frisk’s turn came up and the need to intervene came back. Chara’s eyes flashed crimson as they took control of the monster’s SOUL and floated him out of harm’s way.

He finally seemed to notice. “H-HEY!” he shouted so loudly that it made Chara jump.

The green jacket-clad human quickly let go of their stance and looked away, whistling innocently.

“YOU! OTHER HUMAN! STOP THAT!”

And Chara just looked at him and kind of went, “...N-uw.”

The monster stomped their foot on the snow, so very much like Asriel. Chara had to shake their head to neutralise their expression again.

“the kid’s got a point, bro. well, the other kid’s got one too but, you know.”

Their smile melted faster than a snow decahedron in Hotland. Chara felt their heart sink lower than the soles of their feet.

“K-King Sans!” they stammered uncharacteristically, whirling around to properly greet (and possibly assess) the Monster King.

Chara had never seen the King up close before. Toriel had never let them in fear he would do something rash. But… They didn’t remember anyone saying Sans had a thing for hooded jackets too. In the past, they would’ve stored the information as a possible common ground. They tried to imagine how that conversation would go. It didn’t seem very fun.

“king, huh?” The lights in Sans’ eye sockets flickered to the side. He looked… wary.

They could feel eyes on the back of their head, but that was nothing compared to the impending weight of Sans’ first impression of them. This skeleton must be a captain they had never heard of before. Someone close to Sans -- someone close enough to be called a ‘bro’ by him. Did they do the right thing in interfering with their battle, or did Sans arrange it on purpose to train the tall skeleton and Chara had just completely ruined their spar?

“that’s… weird, kid. you must be making a royal mistake there.”

Huh. They didn’t recall anyone saying he had a thing for jokes either.

Laughing weakly, Chara peeked into the state of Frisk’s SOUL to make sure the toy knife-wielding human couldn’t attack while they were distracted. It was right where they last saw it. Good. Frisk struggled to regain their breath, meeting Chara’s wary yet taunting gaze with their own half-lidded, blood-coloured eyes --

Chara froze, eyes widening. But Sans was in their line of sight now, hiding Frisk from view.

“aw c’mon. not a fan of puns?” he asked, looking genuinely interested.

“...I’m more of a puzzle person.”

“PUZZLES?” the tall skeleton stalked forward and grabbed their hand in one big red glove, like an oven mitt, and suddenly Chara was confronted with the sight of a brightly grinning skeleton. His eyes even sparkled -- like Asriel’s did when he got excited, a small voice chirped from Chara’s head. For an unexplained reason, a pang of sadness hit them like a firetruck, as if remembering a goodbye. Chara couldn’t think of why. “ARE YOU A FELLOW PUZZLE LOVER?”

Chara shook the emotion away and smiled lazily at him. “You bet I am.”

“WOWIE! I MUST SHOW YOU OUR HUMAN-PROOF PUZZLES SOMETIME! THEN, YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT MY PUZZLE-MAKING ABILITIES!”

“i don’t know about that, bro. if that human came from the ruins then this human must’ve as well. they might’ve already done all our puzzles just to be here and see you,” Sans winked. Chara stared at him weirdly. This wasn’t the fearsome, merciless King Mum had led them to believe in. “that reminds me, kid. i’m a sentry in that area. how’d you walk past without me seeing you? ...unless you didn’t come from the ruins at all.”

“DON’T BE SILLY, SANS,” once again, the taller skeleton’s voice made them jump in surprise. “YOU WERE PROBABLY SLEEPING WHEN THEY MADE THEIR WAY TO SNOWDIN. OH! THAT WOULD MEAN… HUMAN! FORGIVE ME! YOU HAVE BEEN SO NICE AS TO GIVE ME YOUR NAME THAT I FORGOT TO GIVE YOU MINE! I AM THE GREAT, THE MAGNIFICENT, PAPYRUS! NICE TO MEET YOU.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Chara winked, then realised what they did and a deep dusting of red bloomed across their cheeks. “I did it again,” they muttered while Sans merely grinned, walking around them to stand next to a blushing Papyrus and nudge his humerus with an elbow.

“oh my god that’s cute.”

“HUMAN! DID YOU JUST...”

Sans just cracked up even more.

“Your highness, with all due respect, please shut up.”

And then, disorientingly, the moment of goodwill was gone.

Chara couldn’t exactly pinpoint the feeling. It wasn’t like if they were suddenly moving without their consent, because they weren’t. The first human knew what they were doing and knew they had to stop.

But the pull was unmistakable.

The world had slowed itself down to a third of its speed. Chara felt their magic flare up, eyes alighting as they suddenly found themself floating, the soles of their boots three feet off the ground, with no visible means of support. Papyrus was at their back, Sans somewhere to their seven o’clock and from the corner of their eyes Chara could see flashes of glowing blue activating in his right eye socket --

It was surreal because Chara hadn’t been completely joking about the uncanny resemblance between them and Frisk. Apart from the color of their skin, hair and eyes, looking at Frisk was almost like looking at a mirror image. But there were differences, for sure; so why, in that split-second stillness --

was Chara completely convinced they were looking at themself?

--

The tip of the knife slashed a neat line across their chest.

They fell unceremoniously into an ungraceful heap in the snow, splattering red all over the beaten-up path. Their ears rang. It drowned out the world.

Someone yelled and Chara was vaguely aware of the other human’s soul turning blue and slamming against the ground, about twenty feet away. They couldn’t move from there.

Lips drawn into an empty smile, there were ominous shadows under Chara’s eyes when they looked up from clutching at their wound, panting. Shudders of pain wracked through their entire body. All hope gone from their eyes. Chara knew what was in that dagger. They had felt it before. It was Hatred, and it hurt.

“Wow…” They swallowed thickly, and grinned. Cold started seeping into their skin now that the magic maintaining their body temperature had been drained off for the teleportation spell. “You’re… Really different from my Frisk, aren’t ya?”