Echotale

[Dylaria]

Okay, disclaimer time. Yes, this is an Undertale fanfiction/Alternate Universe type thing and yes, there are spoilers galore. So with those warnings out of the way, please put away the torches and pitchforks. Oh and this is going to be a bit longer of a project than usual. So its actually going to be more than one post. (Hey, that's different for me anyway...)

Edit: The numbers at the top of each post are just for my reference so when I go back I can see differences in my writing and stuff. It doesn't mean anything.


Anywho, next post will be actual story. Just needed to get this out of the way because I'm weird.

[Dylaria]

1.

The emptiness of the void made every breath echo as Frisk stood there, staring numbly at Chara. The one who had guided them along this path to genocide. In the end she had won, she had made the world “kill or be killed” and had killed them all. It was too late to stop her or even reset.

“You really want this world back don’t you?” Chara laughed as she stared down her partner in mass murder. “Even after helping me destroy it. I’ll do it, but only because you still have something I want.” Chara’s eyes glowed bright red as she made her offer. “Your soul, for another chance in this world.”

Frisk jumped at the chance to accept the offer and make things right but Chara interrupted. “Remember, what we’ve done can never truly be erased. You are not above consequences.” Chara’s smile opening into a mouth of dagger like teeth. “You still accept? Fine. It is done. Do what you will, but we will not meet again.”

Before the reset hit, Frisk could see Chara swing her knife into the void. She vanished with her new soul and determination. Frisk could only lay on the bed of flowers for a moment and wonder where she had gone, and what she had meant by consequences. As the hollowed out timeline began to consume itself they understood. Chara had reset the world, but in her leaving left it to die a slow death anyway. Suddenly Frisk didn’t care so much about anything anymore.

Chara found herself back in the garden, surrounded by yellow flowers. She passed through quickly, not wanting to think about her memories here. The hallway to the barrier just ahead, it had worked. With a soul, enough LOVE and determination she could survive killing a timeline and be moved to another. She couldn’t SAVE or LOAD in this timeline but there were so many, there had to be one where her plans would work.

Voices in the barrier corridor broke Chara from her musings. She listened for a moment are recognized them both. One was Frisk, the other… him. Chara began smiling even as she turned to pass through the doorway. This was going to be quite satisfying.

She watched as Flowey stood broken before Frisk. Chara’s walk slowed to a near standstill, wanting to watch, not interrupt. She was unsure what exactly had happened but the pile of dust implied a lot and just for a moment, her smile faltered as she passed. Chara continued her shambling gait even as Flowey shouted angrily. “You think I’ve learned something from this? Ha! Not at all, killing me is the only way to stop me.” As Frisk spared Flowey. This time however he looked past Frisk, straight at her and started laughing. “Even now, you really are an idiot.” He was sure of it now, that dusty sweater, those rosy cheeks and of course, the locket. Chara, his best friend had returned to avenge him. “You’re about to see, I’m not the only one who knows its kill or be killed!”

Frisk turned around to see what Flowey was talking about when they felt the knife in their throat. It was an attack out of nowhere, and one hit was all it took. The blood spray soaking Chara’s dust covered sweater, the warm green and yellow splashed with gratuitous amounts of red. Frisk died seconds later.
Flowey couldn’t stop laughing. Even after such a humiliating defeat, he had won and while it wasn’t seven human souls, one was still a prize. As he stood ready to absorb Frisk’s soul, Chara opened her locket. She gently caught the soul as it left Frisk’s body inside of the locket, as if wanting to make sure it was comfortable before sealing the locket once more. Her smile warping into an unnatural expression as it closed.

Flowey stared at Chara, aghast at that creepy face she was making. The creepy face only she could make. “Chara… We are still inseparable after all this time. It’s me, your best friend…” Chara cut him off as if he had offended her. “You aren’t Asriel, not really. You’re just a useless shell who couldn’t even stop a single child. No, you are just in my way, and as you said ‘it’s kill or be killed.’”

Chara’s knife strokes were a mix of artistry and barbarism as she cut Flowey into so many pieces that one would have had a hard time telling there had ever been a whole flower there. With a hateful sigh, Chara stared at the barrier. She didn’t have the power to break it and with at least Asgore dead for certain, this timeline had been ruined for her before she had even arrived. Yet there was something different in this timeline, she wasn’t strong enough to simply destroy the timeline and move to another. That only meant one thing, she had to become stronger. As Chara walked back into the castle her smile returned, her desire to leave and find timeline she needed filled her with determination.

[Injin]

Ah yes, Ye Ol' Fashioned Bad Ende. Fanfiction is kind of different than most creative writing, so I'll be brief. This is pretty awesomely written and it feels...properly themed? I mean, of course, there are some issues if I wanted to point out canon bullshit, but really, I liked it. Good job!

[Dylaria]

First off, thanks for reading Injin! Glad to hear I'm not making a total mess out of this.
So far as canon goes. I'm trying not to shatter it but I'm going to be making use out of a lot of teeny tiny holes in certain explanations. So, yeah. that's a thing too.

Secondly. This took -way- longer than I would have liked to but lots of dialogue plus this chapter didn't really excite me to write. (aka boo setup, I wanna do the actiony parts) Oh well, one good thing out of this is that I have the next part sketched out pretty well so that shouldn't take too long (hopefully).

2.

It was a beautiful day in the kingdom of monsters, the sun was shining with barely a cloud in the sky. Frisk could smell Toriel baking a pie from his room where he was working on today’s issue of Junior Jumble. Sans and Papyrus were supposed to be coming over today and he really wanted to have the puzzle solved to show Papyrus. It was something of a game for the two of them, Frisk would solve the jumble and Papyrus would solve… something. Frisk had to hold back a laugh as he remembered how last week Papryus had finally “solved” the horoscope.
A knock at the door was all Frisk needed to grab his mostly completed puzzle and dash to the living room but Toriel had beaten him to the door.
“Knock, knock” came a familiar voice through the door.

“Who’s there?” Replied a delighted Toriel. Frisk could only prepare for the barrage of bad puns those two were about to embark on.

“Orange” the voice answered, not missing a beat.

“Orange who?” Frisk could see the smile on Toriel’s face widen as the joke was nearing the punchline.

“Orange you going to let me in Tori?” the voice finished even as Toriel turned the knob laughing perhaps more than most people would.

“Sans, it’s been a skele-ton of time since you and Papyrus last came by. Speaking of which, where is your brother? I know Frisk has been looking forward to sharing his Junior Jumble with him.”

Sans, still chuckling himself responded with a shrug. “I dunno. Undyne fished him out of the house earlier this morning. I think she mentioned cooking but I’m not sure when they’ll be done.

Frisk couldn’t help but feel a little bummed out that Papyrus wasn’t coming over but he really didn’t want to be involved in any more cooking where Undyne was involved. Besides, Toriel had all but forbidden it. Frisk still felt a little bad about Undyne’s house in the underground burning down after their one and only cooking lesson. At least Alphys and Mettaton had provided Undyne with a fire-proof kitchen in her new home.

Sans looked over at Frisk as he stepped inside, sporting his usual blue jacket and slippers along with black shorts and white shirt.

“Hey kid, sorry Papyrus is gonna be awhile. Say, you wanna head over to Grillby’s while we wait? My treat. I have something I wanted to talk to you about anyway.” The grinning skeleton asked.

Frisk gave a “yes” without a thought, but then looked up to see if Toriel was okay with it. It had been awhile since they had all left the underground but she was still very protective of him
.
Toriel simply gave Frisk a nod and was pleased to see the smile on his face as a result. “Just remember to be home by nightfall. Sans, you and your brother are both welcome to stay for dinner when you bring him back.”

“Thanks for the offer Tori, just be warned. Papyrus has been making his spaghetti bone dry lately.” With his goal of making Toriel laugh at his bad joke accomplished he turned took Frisk’s hand.

“Let’s go kid, I know a shortcut.” With a snap of his fingers Sans and Frisk were gone.

Grillby’s was bustling as the two of them appeared just past the front door. The move topside had been a boon for Grillby, with his new restaurant being closer to the capital it was busier than ever. However there always seemed to be room available whenever Sans would arrive.

The two of them took their seats up at the bar and placed their orders. As they waited for their burgers to arrive, Frisk wondered what Sans wanted to ask him about, and how many bottles of ketchup Grillby would have to replace. Usually these one on one chats were about something serious. The problem being that things had been going great since they all got to the surface, what was he worrying about?

“Hey kid.” Sans’ tone losing all the usual bad humor as he spoke. “I know you’re wondering what I have to ask, so here it is. Have you done anything weird with the timeline lately, say in the last day or two? I promise I won’t be mad if you did. I just wanna know why.”

Frisk looked at Sans stunned. He hadn’t reset since they had left the underground, there was no reason to. Yet Sans had that look in his eye like something had happened. One of those space time things only he ever seemed to really understand.

“Sans, I haven’t done anything. I promise. Everybody’s happy, why would I want to change that?” Frisk almost pleaded his answer. Whatever Sans thought was going on, it wasn’t his fault.

“Don’t worry kid, I believe you.” Sans could see Frisk wasn’t lying. Besides, what had happened wasn’t like anything the kid had done before. It didn’t feel like a reset, more like an intrusion. Like something that didn’t belong had forced its way in and his first guess at what would want to do that was… impossible. The mere thought of how he could do that was haunting.

“If it wasn’t you though. Can you do me a favor? If you see someone, or something that seriously looks like it doesn’t belong here. Will you throw me a bone and let me know as soon as you can?”

Frisk couldn’t help but laugh. That Sans was back to his normal self was a huge relief. “Of course Sans, but, what would I even be looking for?”

“Don’t worry about it kid. You’d know it if you saw it.” Sans replied as Grillby placed a fresh burger in front of each of them. Plus an extra bottle of ketchup for Sans. “After this, wanna check up on Papyrus and Undyne? I’m sure they’ll be cooking up some form of trouble.”

Frisk nodded happily right before he took a bite of his burger. “I’d love to.”

[Dylaria]

3.

This did not make sense.
The same one thought had been bothering her since she had arrived in this timeline. Chara had been wandering the underground for hours, and found no one. It was almost as if she had gone back to her own timeline except for the subtle differences. There were no piles of dust, no echoes of fighting or evacuation. Homes were empty of belongings as if everybody had just calmly moved away. From Snowdin to the Capital it was the same. The only place she had left to check was the castle.

The searching wasn’t hard. Even with everything empty, the core was still providing enough power to provide some lighting. Still, like everywhere else, the castle was empty of people and most things. The kitchen had been completely cleared out, as had the living room. Even mom’s reading chair was gone.

Then she came to their room, her’s and Asriel’s. Chara’s hand paused for a moment before opening the door. What if the room was empty? What if it wasn’t? Even though erasing two entire timelines and invading a third, how much time had passed since she and Asriel had died was unclear. Had they been missed or had they been forgotten? Mustering her determination Chara pushed the door open and found… everything. It was all still there, their toys, her drawing, even their beds and clothes. She could feel the pain and rage cascading within her. They had been forgotten, abandoned and left to the void.

Chara accidently glimpsed into the mirror and wished they could see her right now. She wasn’t smiling, or even doing her “creepy face.” Her eyes were merely glowing red embers shining in their sockets, leaking a black fluid she couldn’t feel even as it flowed down her cheeks. Her mouth was shut tight but she felt ready to scream, to curse the world and everything in it. Then something else caught her eye. On her bed there were two items. A dried golden flower and a chocolate bar. As the realization hit her, the emotions ebbed and Chara was calm again. Mom and Dad hadn’t forgotten them, this was their way of remembering.

“Even you couldn’t rest in your grave anymore, huh Chara?”

Chara swung around to where the voice came from. There on Asriel’s bed was a potted flower, instantly she knew what was going on. “I should have known you’d be following me. What did you do with them?” Chara replied neutrally. She refused to let him know anything until she had her answers.

“Really, I didn’t do anything with them. They’re all free Chara. A human fell down here and he freed everyone. Mom, Dad, everybody is on the surface now and I got to be me again Chara. Even if every day I feel myself slipping back. Becoming Flowey.” Asriel wistfully told the tale of how the barrier had been broken and everyone moved to the surface.

“Wait, Chara, why are you covered in blood? Are you hurt? I’m sorry, I should have noticed…”

Chara cut him off, a slim smile creeping on her face. This time something was different, she had found the real Asriel. She’d found her brother and only friend. “I’m fine you big crybaby. I came a long way to be here Asriel, and the trip wasn’t… pleasant. You’re right though, I really should change. Give me a minute.”

“Okay, just say when you’re all set Chara.” With that Asriel popped into the soil, vanishing to who knew where.

Chara dug through the closet and found a replacement sweater and pair of shoes. She could only find Asriel’s shorts so she settled on a matching skirt and tights instead. A couple minutes later she looked good as new.

“Alright Asriel, you can come back.” As soon as she spoke the words she saw him pop back out of the flower pot.

“Howdy Chara. So, what happens now? I can’t go to the surface like this and I know you’ll want to see Mom and Dad but, can we play together just a little bit first? Please Chara?”

Chara was taken back by the desperation in Asriel’s voice. “Do Mom and Dad even know about you?” She’d never bothered to ask in the other timelines, where Flowey had been a living insult to her brother’s memory.

“No, and I asked Frisk, the human not to tell anyone. If I’m going to be unable to feel again, I’d rather not be able to hurt them you know?”

Chara picked out her next words very carefully. Asriel had always been naive about such things and while he’d eventually be forced to figure out that love was pain, she’d spare him that for the moment. “I can help you with that Asriel. Just promise me first that you won’t ask questions about it.”

“You know I hate when you do this Chara, especially when you’re making your creepy face. But, if you really can do something. I promise.”

“Perfect.” Even as she spoke Chara took off her heart locket and held it over Asriel’s flower form. “Now catch.” She opened the locket and ever so gently, tapped the soul out. She watched as Asriel absorbed the soul she had taken for him, unable to contain her satisfaction. The transformation was almost instant, gone was the potted flower. Instead stood Asriel Dreemur as if they had gone back in time before their failed plan to break the barrier had ever happened.

“Chara you, you really did it. You found me a soul. I don’t know what to say. We have to let Mom and Dad know! Oh, and I can introduce you to Frisk. I know you don’t like humans but he’s a good one Chara, you’ll like him.” Asriel jumped off his bed and hugged her. All the suffering the outcome of her plan had caused, he happily forgave her for everything.

Chara couldn’t help but go rigid for a moment when Asriel hugged her. Still this one time she could forgive the discomfort. She was less thrilled however at the mention of Frisk, the human she had effectively killed twice over. She knew what he was really like and if he had hurt her family Chara would flay him alive and cast his soul into the void personally.

“Let’s go.”