DISCLAIMER: I do not own Undertale or its characters, or the cover image. The artist for the cover image is "sasucchi" on pixiv.

The bedroom in Snowdin Town's inn was warm, cozy, and quiet. Frisk lay in their oversized bed, trying to fall asleep.

Something had been disturbing their mind lately. At first, they had paid little heed to it, thinking that it was just a result of their fatigue and dizziness. They had had a rough day since leaving Toriel's home. The snowy woods were cold and full of malicious monsters. Sans and Papyrus were nice, though, and they appreciated their company, even if all Papyrus did was challenge them to solve puzzles.

The disturbance had initially been no more than intrusive thoughts. Every time they encountered a monster, they would suddenly think of murdering it in a dark, gruesome manner. They became aware that these were not normal thoughts when they encountered a dog and thought instantly of butchering it, eating it, ripping out its eyes...

Of course, they had been able to resist this urge, and had chosen instead to pacify the dog so that they could spare it. But as the day continued, the thoughts started to become like a second voice inside their head. The speaker of the voice had a personality that was distinct from their own, and its tone was deep and menacing. It often told them to do things that they would never before have even considered.

The speaker seemed to have an insatiable desire for murder. It urged them to find ways to backstab their new friends, Sans and Papyrus, and even Toriel, if they could go back and do it. When they walked into Snowdin Town, the voice told them to slaughter everyone in sight. That had been the last straw, and they had decided to fight back. To suppress this voice, they had mustered up their determination and ordered – in their head – for the voice to back off and stop speaking to them.

To their surprise, this seemed to have worked, and the voice disappeared for a while. But, now that they were lying in bed, trying to sleep, the voice was back again. It was telling them to do nasty, fiendish things to the family of rabbits that owned this inn. Kill that child. Torture the parents with the image of their dead child, and then kill them. Throw their bloodied bodies out in the middle of town for everyone to see. Then, kill everyone else.

They would never do such a thing. And if, somehow, the voice started to take control of their body, they would fight – with all their determination – to prevent themselves from harming a single monster.

Frisk turned to rest the right side of their head against the pillow. They blinked a few times, hoping that the voice would go away soon. On their last blink, they thought they saw something at the corner of their vision. A shape. They reached up with their hand and brushed strands of dark brown hair out of their eyes. When the strands parted, they saw the top of a head peeking out from under the edge of their bed. Instantly, they sat up.

There was a giggle. Then, the head moved up to reveal the face of a young child.

In the dim light of the windows, they could see that the child looked remarkably similar to themselves. The child also had long and dark brown hair. Their eyes were wide and round, and perhaps slightly bloodshot, though it was too dark for Frisk to tell. Their face was pretty, with high cheekbones, a tall nose, and a round chin. The child's mouth was curled in a sly smile. Their hands gripped the edges of the bed, and they pushed themselves onto it.

"Hello," the child said. Their tone was flat and deep. "You're Frisk, aren't you? My name is Chara."

Frisk froze. For some reason, they couldn't find the will or determination to move. Something about the gaze in Chara's eyes caused them to feel as if their body was completely frozen. Those eyes were wide and piercing. Murderous, even.

"I know all about you," Chara said, leaning towards Frisk. "You know who I am, don't you?"

Frisk slowly shook their head.

"Don't be silly. You might not have realized it, but I've been with you all day. Following you. Speaking to you. Telling you to do things that you're too afraid to even think of trying."

Chara turned their eyes away, and their devilish smile softened. Now, they leaned their head against the bed's pillow so that they were only a few inches away from Frisk. At this distance, Frisk could see that Chara did look very much like themselves. They were about the same age, and coincidentally had nearly identical hair styles. In fact, the monsters – who were not used to seeing many humans – probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart if not for the yellow and green striped sweater that Chara wore, as opposed to the blue and pink one that they wore.

"You're afraid of me, aren't you?" Chara said, their voice dimming to a whisper. "In that case, why don't you run? Get out of here. Get out of this town. Run as far away from me as possible – though, of course, that means you'll have to find a way to break through the barrier."

Frisk tried to get themselves to move. Under Chara's gaze, they felt as if they were frozen inside a solid block of ice. Every part of their body was numb. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't even move an inch.

"You can't run," Chara said, raising their fingers to Frisk's cheek. Calmly, they stroked Frisk's face.

Chara's fingers were surprisingly soft. Frisk had expected themselves to feel some degree of pain. They had imagined that Chara would want to hurt them, and was concealing something within those hands. Perhaps Chara's fingers would be corrosive, and would burn the skin off their face. Or Chara had a knife hidden up their sleeve and would stab them suddenly. But Chara merely stroked their cheeks, gently, like a caress. It was oddly soothing.

"Don't be afraid of me, Frisk," Chara said. They started to grin. "I'm your friend, Frisk. We've always been together, and we should stay that way. You'll be scared if I leave. That's because I'm your determination. Without me, you wouldn't have the will to do anything. You wouldn't be able to survive in this world. But, together, nothing will be able to beat us. We'll crush anyone that stands in our way. Human, monster, it doesn't matter – they're no more than ants to us."

Nonchalantly, Chara moved their hand up to Frisk's forehead and brushed a few stray strands of hair away. Then, they swept their fingers lightly through Frisk's hair, before leaning in close towards them, so that their faces were almost touching.

"I know what you're like. You're the exact opposite of me – or, at least, you appear to behave that way. Like a pacifist."

Chara's grin grew wider.

"But, if you were truly dedicated to pacifism, to non-violence, then, why has my voice brought you such distress?" Chara moved their hand down Frisk's back, pulling them closer together. "You could just ignore me. You could cast me away, and claim to despise me and my intentions with every fibre of your being. But, if you did that, you'd just be doing exactly what I want you to do, wouldn't you? No. You're too much of a idealist. You think that everyone can be saved. You'll do anything to save someone, even if you know that they have nothing but hatred for you. That they would kill you the instant that they were given the chance."

For a few seconds, Chara was silent. Then, they turned their eyes away, and at that moment, Frisk felt their body being able to move again. It was no longer frozen. No longer held inside ice.

Yet, they didn't run. Perhaps they were afraid of doing so, of becoming locked in the prison of Chara's gaze again. It was also that they didn't feel uncomfortable being held in Chara's embrace. Somehow, they knew the truth behind every word that Chara had said. They had, for a long time, been together. Perhaps they had always been beside each other. Even if they hadn't been aware of it until now.

"You'll try to save me," Chara said, smirking. "And you'll do that, only because you have me – as your source of determination, as the resolve behind your every action. That's why you'll never let go of me. That's why, no matter how you try to ignore my words, you'll never truly be able to silence me. You just can't bear to throw me away. We'll be together – now, yesterday, tomorrow, and forever."

Frisk took a deep breath. It was true – every word of it. They couldn't throw Chara away.

Nervously, they moved their shaking hands up behind Chara's back as well. They locked eyes. Without thinking about it, they returned Chara's embrace. They held Chara tightly, as if to reassure themselves that Chara was there, and that Chara would never be gone. They wouldn't be able to survive in this world of monsters if they were ever separated.

A smile came over Chara's face. They leaned forward and kissed Frisk gently on the lips.

"I'll be here for you," Chara whispered. "Always."

They parted their embrace, and then Chara turned away, moving themselves off the bed. Frisk reached forward, opening their mouth, but found themselves unable to utter a word. In Chara's presence, words felt futile.

"I'll make sure that you won't forget about me," Chara said, making their sly smile once more. "No matter where you go, you'll be able to hear my voice. You'll feel my presence. You'll hear my words, and you'll feel compelled to act upon them. Perhaps, one day, you actually will."

They ducked and disappeared under the bed.

Frisk turned their head back to look at the clock that was in the room. To their surprise, only two minutes seemed to have passed since they first laid down on the bed. And yet, for some reason, they no longer felt tired or sleepy. They were completely rejuvenated.

Slowly, they got up and out of bed and grabbed the room keys to return them to the counter.