It takes a few more trips to get all of the various items up to the surface, but you get it done, carefully setting the last of the bottles down on the counter, along with some other devices that you assume are for cooking for people made out of fire.

Grillby gives you a thumbs-up before starting to sort all the things you brought and put them carefully away.

You look at Sans expectantly, but he's already sliding into the seat of a chair and leaning on the table.

"Sans," you say quietly. It's still… weird to talk in front of Grillby, even if you're comfortable around Sans. "Are we done?"

"Mhm? Oh, sure kid…" he says, resting his head on his arms. "Didn't… didn't we do enough, today?"

He's falling asleep.

He's… definitely falling asleep. "Sans?" you say quietly, not sure what else to do.

He doesn't answer you at this point. You think he's starting to snore.

Now's your chance! Get him!

With what? You couldn't do that.

Surely there's…

You look around the soon-to-be-restaurant. Nothing besides chairs and tables.

Chara grumbles in your mind. It's kind of weird to hear.

…Let's just go, Frisk.

You hesitate for a moment behind Sans, glancing at Grillby helplessly. You catch his eye, and all he does is shoot you a shrug in response. You wonder if this has happened a lot, at Grillby's.

You take a step back, then another, before turning around and heading out. Sans seems to be in good hands, and Grillby seems used to him. You really don't want to be stuck there all day—you had to find out where everyone else lived. And get a good grasp on the place, in general. You couldn't always rely on Sans' shortcuts.

Stepping outside, you have to blink a few times. It's a lot warmer than Snowdin, and it's the middle of the day—the sun's blaring light so cheerfully reminds you of that.

"Frisk?" A familiar voice calls, and you turn around to look, a broad smile settling across your face.

A tall skeleton runs up to you, wearing his familiar "jogboy" shirt. Your tall skeleton. "Frisk!" he calls excitedly. "I was doing my morning jog, passing by all the regular spots, and I was wondering where you were! I passed by her majesty's house, but I didn't see you there…" He trails off, looking incredibly thoughtful. "Anyway! Frisk, what are you doing all alone?"

"I was helping Grillby." you answer simply, glancing back at the place behind you.

"Oh! How hardworking of you, Frisk!" he says, and then pauses. "Are you done?"

You nod.

He brightens up. "Great! Want to join me?"

You nod again, a wide smile on your face.

He returns the smile, and starts heading off. He's jogging, but at a leisurely pace—you're sure he's keeping it slow so that you can keep up. It's hard, but you do, although you try to keep your breathing quiet.

"So, Frisk," he begins cheerfully, no hint in his voice of this being a strain for him. You're impressed, but not too surprised—after all, he probably does this every day. "How was visiting Toriel?" he asks curiously.

You wonder if you, too, start jogging every day, that you can become as strong as Papyrus. Or, maybe even Undyne. "It was good," you say between breaths. You really hope you're not panting too hard. "Saw Sans," you add.

Papyrus nods. "He did mention he was going to see Toriel." he comments. "They seem to be friends! I'm really glad, he doesn't seem to be close to… anyone!" he says cheerfully.

You don't really think it's a very cheerful thing to say, but you don't say anything. At this point, you're starting to get winded. You don't think you're able to say anything else—less than usual, even.

But you push yourself to keep running. It's fun, with Papyrus.

"But I hope he makes friends with more people… he used to be closer to Grillby, but lately he's been—" Papyrus begins, before noticing that you're starting to trail behind. He slows his pace down as well. "When you start getting winded, it's best to walk it off!" he says cheerfully.

You nod, relieved that he's slowing down, but wonder how someone with no lungs could get winded. You decide to just accept it. They're made of magic, after all. You don't think you'll ever understand.

You slow your pace down to a walk, still feeling exhausted. You're not much of a runner—you actually walked through all of the underground, as long as it took you.

He's walking in front of you, guiding you to who-knows where. You just follow. You don't know where you are, and you assume he does.

There are sticks on the ground.

You're tired.

You're holding a stick. You can't remember picking it up.

You should go jogging more often.

Chara sounds amused. You vaguely wonder why. You can't really feel your body, anymore.

"Frisk? What are you doing with that?"

He sounds confused, but innocently. Your vision is blurry.

You feel your arms now, swinging a stick down, at full force.

Vision clears. It missed. It was a bad swing.

"You should've told me you wanted to spar!" he says. Too cheerful.

I start to swing again.

You finally react. Feeling rushes back into your body, and you ruin my swing.

Grazed him. On the arm.

He flinches, still smiling. "Good one! But next time, you have to warn me."

You take a step back.

He's still talking, but you can't really hear what he's saying. You can only hear static, growing louder, and Chara, yelling at you.

No.

This time, it wasn't Chara.

You hurt him.

You take a few more steps back, before starting to run away.

You HURT him. Not that you hadn't done it before, but this time you knew him, and how much he meant to you.

You aren't familiar with the woods, but there's always one place that's easy to get to.

Chara is silent. This makes it worse. You hurt him. You can try to blame Chara, but you were the one that had killed him in the first place, hadn't you? All because…

All because you had wanted to die. But no, you hadn't—you made them all die, instead. You felt trapped. They were trapping you. The underground was trapping you. You hated it. You hated the surface world, as well. Everything you felt about them, about yourself, had been mixing together. You hated them, and most of all, you hated yourself. It was what made you decide to

erase everyone.

But not for real. You weren't a murderer. You could bring them back, you could reset.

And you did.

You idiot.

You wished Chara would kill you, too. But they can't. Neither can you.

Pathetic. You're pathetic. It's not even Chara saying it, this time. You. Are. Pathetic.

Shut up.

You blink. After being quiet for so long, now they–

Shut up. Stop whining. I don't want to hear this anymore. You're wasting your soul, running in circles like this.

Your initial surprise turns into one of sudden rage. "Chara, leave me alone!" you shout, to no one. "Let me die! Leave me alone! I'll save them–I'll save them from you, if I'm dead!" you add hysterically, not sure if it was a real solution, or just an excuse to finally die.

SHUT UP.

You ignore them this time, not slowing down your pace. You had to get out of there—get out of their lives before you could cause any more damage. Before Chara could hurt anyone. Before you could ruin things.

You already ruined things, idiot.

You're getting closer.

We made a promise! To destroy the whole world! To destroy humanity!

Chara's starting to sound hysterical. You had wanted that, too. But, now that better times have come, you realize you were just angry.

Quitter.

Chara sounds pretty angry themselves. You continue to ignore them, and keep running. The trees clear. You're not far, now.

If you won't do it—

The summit of Mt. Ebott sits neatly in front of you. It's almost nostalgic.

I'll do it myself.

Your whole body seizes up, and you can't feel anything but coldness, everywhere.

"Oh! Ha! I told you I didn't need a knife to do this!" You hear Chara say victoriously. They're moving your body around. They're starting to turn around.

No. They can't. They can't go back.

With the last of your ability, you make them take a step towards the mountain's opening.

"Your turn's up, Frisk!" they shout, grinning wide. They start to move away, but your foot is caught.

Chara's grin disappears, and they start to scream.

You're not cold, anymore, but what you feel now is none too pleasant.

There's only darkness, and gravity.

And then, pain. You feel everything—it's your body again—but you're suddenly not sure you want to feel it. You landed on the patch of flowers again, but it's still painful.

Slowly, you stand up. You recognize this place—it's the same one as the last time you fell. You start to walk.

You'd been meaning to talk to him, anyway. He was the only one that dealt with sharing a body with Chara, before. He would know how it is. Even if he couldn't help you out, he would understand. He would believe you.

You peek into the next room, your hopes sinking instantly. No sight of a little yellow flower. He wasn't there. Had he gone to the surface, after all? Maybe there wasn't any point in going down here, after all. Your shoulders slump.

See? You just wasted both of our time.

Great. Chara was back. Maybe you should take your time getting back to the surface.

But not here. It was kind of… creepy. You could stop at Toriel's house, examine every single thing in her house until Chara starts screaming in your head, or something.

I'll do it, if that's what it takes.

You head out of the room, passing the patch of flowers.

"I thought you were done carrying things up for people." A high-pitched voice sounds from behind you.

He was there.

"You know, it was pretty funny watching Smiley Trashbag make you his slave. Do you enjoy doing things like that?"

It was him! You turn around, starting to grin.

"Flowey!" you say cheerfully, walking back to him. Flowey—Asriel—had always been more comfortable to speak around. You didn't really understand why, but you assume it was thanks to Chara.

"I always thought you were stupid, but—hey! Wipe that stupid smile off your face!"

Despite his words, he looks pretty happy to see you, too. You can imagine pretty well how lonely it is to be stuck in a large place by yourself.

"I'm glad I found you," you say, beaming. "I wanted to ask you something."