[Frisk pulls their knees up to their chest, wraps their arms around and hides their face. This is the right thing to do, isn't it? It was never theirs, should have given it back before...]
[Chara laughs. A bit late for remorse and regrets, Frisk! You made your decision, and they gave you ample chance to back away. They have been utterly transparent regarding what they want and what they will take.
[They flinch, curl inward. The wrenching feeling of their SOUL being ripped away, scrambling desperately to reach out. Calling out desperately, hoping, * Hoping--]
[You thought what, Frisk? That a shower of rainbows and Hopes and Dreams would SAVE them anew? That they would be bestowed with a happy ending that they did not deserve?
Let Frisk live their life. Let them live safe from the demon, the final threat. Let them live free from YOU.
They are and will continue to be what they always have been.]
Is that so? [They have nothing to fear from anyone, and so their smile is absolute.] Because the person who once asked whether that was possible - he was the absolute pinnacle of sincerity, was he not?
[Not wrong? Perhaps merely insincere in the worst possible way. Cold irony, served with a sufficient side helping of ruthless, implacable judgment. But of course Frisk misses him, don't they? Just as they apparently missed their demon.
They've always missed that which hurts them most.]
[History informs the future. History informs the way things are headed, the way they end up. And all historical evidence would indicate that stuttering to an anguished and unprecedented halt mid-run is very, very low on the list of likely endings in store for the pair of them.]
[Frisk looks at Chara quietly for several very long moments, considering their words carefully.]
...I think...you'll get people mad at you, an' hurt them. Mostly on purpose. An' you'll keep doin' it, because you think that's how it should be. But there'll be nice people, too, that want t' help you. An' they won't give up just because you make a scary face at them.
There's a lot of determined people out there. An' we both only have one shot at things now.
[They'll get people mad at them. Oh, that's nice. A lovely way to sugarcoat it and wrap it up in a nice neat bow.
They could pursue those words, scatter them like flocks of pigeons, drive after them with a reckless and ruthless intent, blast a hole in every section of that stupid, worthless argument.
But instead, they lift the Knife and run their fingertips along the blade wonderingly, almost reverently.]
[It's not hard to hear the longing behind that simple phrase, and immediately Frisk regrets pointing it out. Their lips press thin, and their hand clenches up into the fabric of their sleeping bag.]
Don't.
[A plea? A warning?]
[Or a promise?]
[They won't go anywhere Chara isn't anymore. They already decided that.]
[Again, they have to ask themself - what did Frisk expect? Their eyes remain locked on the blade, on the 99 ATK that could scythe through 99 DEF so cleanly and completely. Could it not be over? Could it not over.]
[Their smile twists, a deft, wry uptick of one side of their mouth. The unevenness put it askew, softens it in some respects - and darkens it in others. It is not the plastic thing it is typically, but that makes what it is now all the worse.
It makes it worse because it means something.]
Only half-right, Frisk. Kids like me don't end up with kids like you.
[The friend Asriel wished he always had! The future of humans and monsters, but better, and earnest, and real! Someone who worms their way into everyone's hearts but does so in a nice way, in a good way, in a way that doesn't ravage their SOULs whole!]
[They curl up, arms around their knees and face hidden against them. Thick curls of hair fall to hide them even further, but nothing is truly secret there.]
We were both...I chose that. I had every chance t' stop.
Did you? Because if I recall, there was never truly a choice in the matter.
[They form a gun-shape with their hands, press the tips of middle and index finger to their temple with a false, bright grin.]
Toriel gets lucky shot in. Boom, you're dead. GAME OVER. You have to stay determined. Don't you? So you keep going. You keep going until Undyne pokes all sorts of little holes through you.
Boom, you're dead. GAME OVER.
But you have to stay determined. So you get up and you keep going.
Asgore skewers you with a giant fork. Boom, you're dead. GAME OVER.
But you have to stay determined.
[Whose memories were those, Frisk? They certainly weren't yours. That was the demon in your head, feeding you lines of dialogue until you got back up off the ground and kept going!
[It hurts. It hurts and they don't know what to say, can't make the words form in their throat. Fingers dig into the flesh of their arms, nails pressing hard, hard, harder into the skin and they shouldn't do that, shouldn't shouldn't but there's nothing else to do. Doesn't matter.]
N...not your fault.
[They look up again, eyes bright and wet and brow creased in worry and regret.]
Whose memories forced you to keep going, Frisk? Where was the option to QUIT? Because I certainly did not see any.
[You know precisely why that is, do you not? There are two choices, always. You Continue, or you Reset. The option to QUIT? Why, it simply does not exist.
[They know Chara didn't want this. No one wanted this, to be dragged back out of that long slumber again and again just to trace the same steps, the same movements over and over.]
[But if not them, then who? What put them into this cycle, what reached out and twisted the world around them into this sick parody of a journey? Was it their own foolish mistake, to go tumbling down into that mountain? Was it fate that chained them into this role?]
[Chara smiles, indulgently. Their idealism borders on naivete at times, does it not?]
If I was to get no rest, why should you either? Creatures like me...wouldn't hesitate to KILL those who get in my way. Over. And over. And over.
[As many times as it takes. RESET. Another monster, another death. RESET. Have things become better? Does Toriel still hurl flames at the child she swore to protect? RESET. Another monster down, dust swirling in a snowy spiral of motes. RESET. They're stepping more darkly now, hurtling forward with the intent to hurt.
RESET.]
If you are so very eager to deny I have anything to do with your journey, Frisk, then I must say: I may as well not exist at all!
[And wouldn't that be a much sweeter subject for everyone?]
[Every step. Hints, whispers in their ear as they made their way through. Putting the words together when they didn't know what to say, laying out a foundation for them to build their choices upon. No, Frisk didn't always choose the best path, but...there is only one path where the quiet urging is not present.]
It wasn't any trick. We were stuck, and...you still tried.
But only for the good parts, right? Only for the parts that are Frisk-patented and Frisk-approved!
[No control allowed for this demon! Since when were they the one in control, right? But that is nothing new, is it. No, no, of course not; we cannot trust you to make your own decisions, Chara. We cannot trust you to decide anything for yourself, Chara, can we? You will do what all children do, and you will make a mess of things. They are and never have been in control, and never will be, should their Partner have their way.
Which they will. Of course they will. When the story does not bend to your will, simply rewrite the book!]
[Frisk grips their hair tightly and curls into a small ball, wheezing as they try to find the right words. What are they supposed to say, what choice of dialogue will fix this? They don't know, they don't know and they're helpless, can't do anything right, never could, never could.]
[They just keep breaking everything.]
[It's a few long moments before their voice obeys again, quiet and almost barely understandable.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[Frisk pulls their knees up to their chest, wraps their arms around and hides their face. This is the right thing to do, isn't it? It was never theirs, should have given it back before...]
Please.
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Their laughter is like knives. How fitting!]
You made your choice long ago.
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[Did nobody come after all?]
[For a long few moments, they're silent.]
...
Even the worst person can change.
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Let Frisk live their life. Let them live safe from the demon, the final threat. Let them live free from YOU.
They are and will continue to be what they always have been.]
Is that so? [They have nothing to fear from anyone, and so their smile is absolute.] Because the person who once asked whether that was possible - he was the absolute pinnacle of sincerity, was he not?
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[Frisk lifts their head, looks over at Chara with wet eyes and a mouth pressed thin.]
I believe in you, Chara.
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They've always missed that which hurts them most.]
Why settle for disappointment?
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[They swallow, straighten up. Keep their mask in place, hide behind the illusion of calm to try and make their point.]
You don't--neither of us knows what's gonna happen.
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[History informs the future. History informs the way things are headed, the way they end up. And all historical evidence would indicate that stuttering to an anguished and unprecedented halt mid-run is very, very low on the list of likely endings in store for the pair of them.]
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...I think...you'll get people mad at you, an' hurt them. Mostly on purpose. An' you'll keep doin' it, because you think that's how it should be. But there'll be nice people, too, that want t' help you. An' they won't give up just because you make a scary face at them.
There's a lot of determined people out there. An' we both only have one shot at things now.
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They could pursue those words, scatter them like flocks of pigeons, drive after them with a reckless and ruthless intent, blast a hole in every section of that stupid, worthless argument.
But instead, they lift the Knife and run their fingertips along the blade wonderingly, almost reverently.]
We only have one shot.
[No one will bring them back.
Imagine that.]
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Don't.
[A plea? A warning?]
[Or a promise?]
[They won't go anywhere Chara isn't anymore. They already decided that.]
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And this world would let me go.
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[They stare hard at Chara, intent and near deathly still.]
[They mean this, Partner.]
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It makes it worse because it means something.]
Only half-right, Frisk. Kids like me don't end up with kids like you.
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We're not that different.
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[The friend Asriel wished he always had! The future of humans and monsters, but better, and earnest, and real! Someone who worms their way into everyone's hearts but does so in a nice way, in a good way, in a way that doesn't ravage their SOULs whole!]
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[They curl up, arms around their knees and face hidden against them. Thick curls of hair fall to hide them even further, but nothing is truly secret there.]
We were both...I chose that. I had every chance t' stop.
[They never did learn when to QUIT.]
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[They form a gun-shape with their hands, press the tips of middle and index finger to their temple with a false, bright grin.]
Toriel gets lucky shot in. Boom, you're dead. GAME OVER. You have to stay determined. Don't you? So you keep going. You keep going until Undyne pokes all sorts of little holes through you.
Boom, you're dead. GAME OVER.
But you have to stay determined. So you get up and you keep going.
Asgore skewers you with a giant fork. Boom, you're dead. GAME OVER.
But you have to stay determined.
[Whose memories were those, Frisk? They certainly weren't yours. That was the demon in your head, feeding you lines of dialogue until you got back up off the ground and kept going!
Figured it out yet, Partner?
Escaping from
your purpose
is impossible.]
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N...not your fault.
[They look up again, eyes bright and wet and brow creased in worry and regret.]
It wasn't ever...your fault.
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[You know precisely why that is, do you not? There are two choices, always. You Continue, or you Reset. The option to QUIT? Why, it simply does not exist.
It never did.]
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[They know Chara didn't want this. No one wanted this, to be dragged back out of that long slumber again and again just to trace the same steps, the same movements over and over.]
[But if not them, then who? What put them into this cycle, what reached out and twisted the world around them into this sick parody of a journey? Was it their own foolish mistake, to go tumbling down into that mountain? Was it fate that chained them into this role?]
[Or was it...?]
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If I was to get no rest, why should you either? Creatures like me...wouldn't hesitate to KILL those who get in my way. Over. And over. And over.
[As many times as it takes. RESET. Another monster, another death. RESET. Have things become better? Does Toriel still hurl flames at the child she swore to protect? RESET. Another monster down, dust swirling in a snowy spiral of motes. RESET. They're stepping more darkly now, hurtling forward with the intent to hurt.
RESET.]
If you are so very eager to deny I have anything to do with your journey, Frisk, then I must say: I may as well not exist at all!
[And wouldn't that be a much sweeter subject for everyone?]
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[Every step. Hints, whispers in their ear as they made their way through. Putting the words together when they didn't know what to say, laying out a foundation for them to build their choices upon. No, Frisk didn't always choose the best path, but...there is only one path where the quiet urging is not present.]
It wasn't any trick. We were stuck, and...you still tried.
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[No control allowed for this demon! Since when were they the one in control, right? But that is nothing new, is it. No, no, of course not; we cannot trust you to make your own decisions, Chara. We cannot trust you to decide anything for yourself, Chara, can we? You will do what all children do, and you will make a mess of things. They are and never have been in control, and never will be, should their Partner have their way.
Which they will. Of course they will. When the story does not bend to your will, simply rewrite the book!]
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[Frisk grips their hair tightly and curls into a small ball, wheezing as they try to find the right words. What are they supposed to say, what choice of dialogue will fix this? They don't know, they don't know and they're helpless, can't do anything right, never could, never could.]
[They just keep breaking everything.]
[It's a few long moments before their voice obeys again, quiet and almost barely understandable.]
I...I'm sorry...
[What do you want them to do?]
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