Underearth/Book 4/Chapter 8

A</span

**Want to read this elsewhere?**

Frisk's eyes slid open. He was back with the sea of glass, the great metallic beast of a thousand eyes towering nearby.

"AGAIN!" it declared.

Frisk didn't respond. His thoughts instead dwelled with Chara. Specifically, at her biting words, at how in his quest to save Humanity from a threat he had released by his own hatred, he had forsaken the Monsters he originally wished to save.

"AGAIN!" the beast repeated.

Frisk looked up at it. Its great form was focused entirely on Frisk, imposing its presence as if to intimidate.

"No..." he eventually mumbled.

The whirling of the beast's cylinders quieted for but a second, quickly followed by it simply saying "WHAT?"

"No!" Frisk repeated, louder and much more firmly.

The cylinders of the great machine sped, great bellows of steam erupting from its chassis.

"YOU WILL RETURN AND KILL THEM ALL AGAIN!" it demanded.

"NO!" Frisk shouted. "I'm tired of seeing my friends suffer at my hand! You say I need to kill everyone, yet it's their deaths, as well as the death of Humanity, that I'm trying to prevent! I will not continue to be a horrible monster." As he finished speaking, tears began forming in his eyes.

The beast spoke again, callous in its tone. "I DO NOT CARE. YOU WILL RETURN, AND YOU WILL DO AS YOU ARE TOLD."

Frisk stared up at the beast, defiance building up inside. "Or what?" he asked.

The beast didn't speak. Instead, the intensity of the light of its eyes grew, and Frisk then saw visions. Countless horrifying visions. Visions of pain, visions of suffering, of sorrow, of anguish, of agony, torment, and woe.

*This is it...* Frisk thought, collapsing to his knees. When his mind returned, clear of the visions from the beast, it brought forward a memory of his own, long buried by his time alone on the streets of Athens.

"Frisk." a kind, young, masculine voice echoed in his mind.

"What is it?" Frisk's own voice echoed as he fiddled with a small object in his hands.

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?" the voice then asked.

"That's easy. I wanna be *just* like you!"

The voice chuckled a bit. "Just like me, huh. Well, what if it turned out that I was a horrible, awful person? Would you still wanna be like me?"

Frisk looked up directly at the source of the voice. His form was heavily obscured in dark, repressing fog. "That's impossible." he said. "You're like a superhero. You could never be bad."

The figure laughed, ruffling Frisk's hair with his hand. "You're a good kid, Frisk. You're the real hero here. I'm just... well, me. Always try to make good decisions, Frisk. If you wanna be just like the superhero you see me as, then always choose to do the right thing, no matter what."

Snapping back to reality, Frisk found himself kneeling on the great sea of glass, staring at his broken reflection from the surface of the crystal.

"WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE, FRISK!? RETURN OR PERISH?"

Frisk looked up at the beast. Tears were running down his face.

"Do what you want to me. I will not be the architect of suffering to others any longer."

When he had finished speaking, Frisk closed his eyes, waiting for the first jolts of pain to arrive.

"THEN YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE..." the beast said.

Frisk continued kneeling. He waited, and waited, and waited. After some time, the agony of waiting for the pain began to get to Frisk, and he cracked his eyelids to see what was going on.

Directly in front of him stood a humanoid clockwork figure, around the size of an adult.

"CONGRATULATIONS." it said, stretching its hand out to Frisk.

Confused, Frisk slowly took the hand. Upon taking it, the machine lifted him to his feet.

"YOU PASS." it then said.

"Wh... what...?" Frisk asked.

"IT WAS ALL A TEST. YOU PASS. AS SUCH, I SHALL ANSWER ANY QUESTION RELEVANT TO YOUR WORLD THAT YOU WISH."

Frisk looked around the sea. The great beast was gone.

"YOU ARE IN MY REALM, FRISK. I CONTROL REALITY HERE, AND I CAN TAKE ANY FORM I WANT."

Frisk looked back at the clockwork figure. "Who... What are you?" he asked.

"I AM BUT ONE OF MANY TOOLS CALLED A 'TIMEPIECE'." The figure then brought an object in its hand up. "YOU MAY RECOGNIZE ME MORE AS THIS."

Frisk looked down at the object. It was the pocketwatch he had found when he first awoke within the Underground.

"Y—you're—"

"YES. I AM THE POCKETWATCH. YOU YOURSELF ARE INSIDE ME. YOUR SOUL, AT LEAST."

Frisk looked down at the ground. After a few seconds, he looked back up to face the Timepiece.

"You said you'd answer any question, right?" he asked.

"IN ESSENSE, YES."

"Why did you continuously urge me to return and murder everyone."

"TO GET YOU TO DECLINE."

"What?" Frisk said, stepping backward.

"THINK BACK TO WHAT STARTED YOUR EIDOCIDE IN THE FIRST PLACE. A FACELESS ENTITY URGED YOU TO DO IT WHILE YOU WERE IN A TRAUMA-RIDDEN STATE. BY DOING IT, LOV GREW RAMPANT IN YOUR SOUL, EVENTUALLY GROWING TO SUCH GREAT POWER THAT IT COULD USE MAGIC ALL ON ITS OWN. WHAT YOU, AND THE ENTITY, FAILED TO ACCOUNT FOR WAS THE FRAGMENTS OF CHARA'S SOUL CLINGING TO YOURS AND STEALING LOV AWAY TO USE ITS POWER AGAINST YOU AND, EVENTUALLY, ALL OF HUMANITY."

"Wait, there were fragments of Chara's SOUL clinging to mine?"

"YES."

"How did they get there?"

"WHEN YOU FIRST FELL INTO THE UNDERGROUND, YOU FELL ONTO A BED OF GOLDEN FLOWERS. CHARA'S ORIGINAL BODY IS BURIED BENIETH THAT BED. BECAUSE HER SOUL WAS TAKEN SO QUICKLY AFTER HER PASSING, A SMALL AMOUNT WAS LEFT BEHIND, ROUGHLY SIX PERCENT. WHEN YOU WERE REVIVED, THE FRAGMENTS INSIDE HER ROTTED CORPSE WERE FORCED ONTO YOUR SOUL."

"So, that Chara is really only six percent of the original?" Frisk asked, trying to wrap his head around this.

"NO. YOU ACQUIRED MORE OF CHARA'S SOUL ALONG THE WAY. THE CHARA YOU'VE BEEN FIGHTING IS ROUGHLY TEN PERCENT."

"What? Where'd the rest come from?"

"AFTER ASRIEL DIED AND HIS BODY SOLIDIFIED, A PIECE OF IT FELL OFF. THIS PIECE HELD A TINY FRAGMENT OF HIS OWN SOUL ESSENSE, AS WELL AS SOME FRAGMENTS OF CHARA'S SOUL, THE SOUL THAT HE ABSORBED. DURING YOUR GREAT BATTLE AGAINST ASRIEL BEFORE YOUR REIGN OF EIDOCIDE, YOU TWO CAME SO CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER THAT THE FRAGMENTS IN EACH OF YOUR SOULS MERGED, FORMING THE TEN PERCENT. IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME THAT CHARA FIRST DIRECTLY CONTACTED YOU. WITH HER SOUL NOW BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN YOURS AND ASRIEL'S, ALONG WITH ALL THE MONSTERS THAT ASRIEL HAD ABSORBED, YOU WERE ABLE TO DIRECTLY CONTACT YOUR FRIENDS AND FREE THEM FROM ASRIEL'S CONTROL."

"So, I was right..." Frisk mumbled.

"YES."

"So... that voice. The voice that pushed me on to save everyone from Asriel, the voice that I heard when I'd hugged Asriel... and the voice I heard in Asgore's home near the end of my eidocide... that was all Chara?"

"YES. AND THERE WERE OTHERS AS WELL. THE SORROWFUL FEELING YOU FELT IN ASRIEL'S ROOM WHEN YOU REACHED FOR THE LOCKET WAS CHARA. THE SHADOWS YOU SAW AS YOU ENTERED ASGORE'S HOME IN YOUR SECOND WORLD, YOUR SECOND WANDERING OF THE UNDERGROUND, WAS CHARA. THE EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN YOU FELT WHEN YOU SAW THE PHOTO IN THE LOCKET WAS CHARA. THE MAGICAL SHIELDS YOU SUMMONED DURING YOUR SECOND WORLD WERE ALSO SOURCED FROM CHARA."

"What about everything in the lab with the DETERMINATION?" Frisk asked when the figure stopped. "Like how I just... knew that there was an infirmary in there. Or how my arm just seemed to fix itself so fast after I splinted it. Or how I just knew how to reset the bone. Was that Chara too?"

"NO." the figure responded. "THAT WAS ME. YOU NEEDED TO GET MOVING, SO I HEALED YOUR ARM JUST ENOUGH TO STOP IT FROM BEING CRIPPLINGLY PAINFUL. AFTER TRANSFERRING THE KNOWLEDGE TO YOU SO YOU COULD RESET THE BONE, I ADVANCED THE HEALING TO REPAIR YOUR ARM AT A RAPID RATE, GIVING ONLY AN HOUR TO MEND IT INSTEAD OF MANY WEEKS. I DID THE SAME SORT OF THING WHEN RELIEVING YOU OF YOUR ACHES AFTER YOU'D FIRST WOKEN UP. I HAVE ALSO GUIDED YOU WITHIN YOUR THOUGHTS IN MORE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS."

Frisk pondered on what he had been told silently for a few minutes. The machine patiently waited. Eventually, Frisk asked his next question. "If that Chara only has ten percent of her SOUL, where's the rest?"

"HIDDEN SOMEWHERE IN THE UNDERGROUND."

"Where?" Frisk asked.

"THE ANSWER YOU SEEK TO THAT QUESTION WILL COME IN TIME, BUT NOT NOW."

"I see..." Frisk said, going back to his silent contemplation.

The silence lasted for a few more minutes, this time ending when the machine finally spoke again.

"THERE IS A WAY YOU CAN SAVE CHARA." it said.

Frisk snapped out of his silent contemplation. "How?" he asked.

"YOU MUST FREE THE SOUL FRAGMENTS FROM LOV'S CONTROL. TO DO THIS, YOU MUST FIRST CONFRONT CHARA, AS I SAID BEFORE."

"How? Every time I tried that, I died very quickly."

"YES. THE SAME WILL HAPPEN IF YOU CONFRONT CHARA ALONE AGAIN."

"Then how am I supposed to free the fragments of her SOUL from it?"

The machine didn't answer the question right after it was asked, instead opting to stay silent for just a few seconds.

"YOU MUST RECRUIT THE STRONGEST ENTITY WITHIN THE UNDERGROUND TO YOUR CAUSE." it finally said.

Frisk scoffed slightly. "Oh? And who would that be?" he asked.

"SOMEONE YOU HAVE SEEN BEFORE, IN A CLOAK." the machine said. "IN THE LAST FEW WORLDS, THIS ENTITY WAS CONDUCTING TESTS, SPECIFICALLY REGARDING YOUR DETERMINATION."

"What? Why? Why would that cloaked guy in Snowdin be interested in my DETERMINATION?"

"TO DETERMINE THE PROPER COUNTER TO YOU."

Frisk's jaw dropped. "Counter?" he said slowly. "What do you mean, counter?"

"DURING YOUR MULTIPLE EIDOCIDES, YOU MADE IT CLEAR TO HIM THAT YOU WERE UNSTOPPABLE; MORESO THAN FLOWEY, AS HIS COUNTERMEASURES HAD STOPPED FLOWEY FROM PURSUING SOME PATHS. THIS ENTITY HAS DETERMINED AN APPROPRIATE COUNTERMEASURE, AND UPON RETURNING TO THE UNDERGROUND, HE WILL BEGIN THE PROCESS OF MILITARIZING THE MOST POWERFUL MONSTERS WITHIN THE UNDERGROUND AND OVERSEEING THE EVACUATION OF NOT-COMBATANTS."

Frisk was at a loss for words. This guy, which he apparently needed to save Chara, was currently in the process of making it impossible to do anything.

"IN ORDER TO DRAW THIS ENTITY OUT SO YOU MAY COME TO FACE WITH THEM," the machine continued, "YOU MUST KILL ALL THE MONSTERS HE HAS RALLIED AGAINST YOU."

"NO!" Frisk shouted instantly. "I don't want to kill anyone else! I'm tired of all this death. You just said all that urging me to kill was to get me to say no, well here I am saying no!"

The machine simply stood there as Frisk yelled at it. When he finally stopped, the machine started speaking again.

"YOU CAN STILL SAY NO. JUST KNOW THAT THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO SAVE CHARA AT THIS POINT. IF YOU FACE HER ALONE, LOV WILL DESTROY YOU. IN ORDER TO HAVE A CHANCE AT VICTORY OVER IT, YOU MUST BRING THIS ENTITY TO YOUR SIDE."

"Fine!" Frisk said. "But I'll do it without killing *anybody*! I'll talk to him, convince him to help me."

"IT WILL NOT WORK. IF YOU FAIL TO CONVINCE HIM OF THE THREAT HE BELIEVES YOU ARE, HE WILL RETREAT BACK INTO THE SHADOWS AND RETURN TO THE PASSIVE ROLE OF OBSERVATION, FOREVER OUT OF REACH. IN THE TIME YOU WILL INEVITABLY WASTE SEEKING HIM OUT, CHARA WILL CONTINUE TO GROW IN STRENGTH, EVENTUALLY BECOMING POWERFUL ENOUGH ON HER OWN TO SHATTER THE BARRIER AND BEGIN THE GREAT BUTCHERING OF HUMANITY, AT WHICH POINT IT WILL NOT MATTER IF YOU HAVE HIM WITH YOU OR NOT."

Frisk collapsed to his knees again. Thinking for a minute, he eventually spoke up.

"How do I know you're not just trying to trick me, just like that voice...?"

"YOU DON'T. AND THERE IS NOTHING I CAN SAY THAT WILL CONVINCE YOU TO PUT ALL YOUR TRUST IN ME."

Frisk let out a heavy sigh.

"ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT, IF YOU SUCCEED, CHARA WILL BE FREE, AND YOU WON'T HAVE TO KILL ANY LONGER."

Frisk raised his head slightly. It was indeed true that there was no sure way that he could trust this machine, but, besides the vague urgings to commit eidocide, it presented no reason to not trust it, either. While thinking about it further, Frisk noticed that, during the times it was urging Frisk to commit to the eidocides, it remained hopelessly vague. This time, however, it gave elaborate reasons as to why this was the only way. Try as he might, no matter how hard he thought on it, trying to find the holes in its logic, he eventually had to accept that this was all too likely the pure, ugly truth. The only way forward towards his goals is death.

"What if I somehow develop LOV again?" Frisk asked.

"LOV CANNOT GROW UNLESS YOU HOLD A DESIRE IN YOUR HEART FOR IT TO. IT IS NOT A PROBLEM YOU WILL NEED TO WORRY YOURSELF WITH UNLESS YOU GAIN THAT DESIRE."

"I see..." Frisk said. He then looked up at the machine. "No more eidocides after this, right?" he asked.

"CORRECT."

Frisk stood back up. "Then... I guess we'd better get to it."

As he finished saying this, a chill enveloped his body, and the world around him vanished.