[video/text]

[fulllifeconsequences]

[Chara's outside. They have their device on the ground, propped up against a rock, so their hands are free. They're crouched down in the mud, on the shore of a pond somewhere - there's a bush of purple flowers in the background, mostly obscuring the maze of massive tree-trunks. They're out having some kind of childish adventure, presumably. Two things sit by their feet: a thermos of something-or-other and a freshly-gathered bouquet of white flowers.

They're washing that favourite old switchblade off in the water. Must have cut the flowers, not picked them. They flick it dry, click the blade shut, and pocket it. Pick up the bouquet, hold it up so their face is all but hidden by the lovely white blooms.]

Pretty, are they not? Narcissus. A member of the daffodil family. They get their name because... well, I'm not entirely familiar with the myth, actually. I know Narcissus was some guy who loved himself. He loved himself so much, he died.

[A very abridged version, and they might be wrong, but they think they've got the base details down. They shrug, smile, start to neatly divide their bouquet: a pile of flowers on this side, and they pluck all the leaves off and set them down on the other side.]

It is a tangent, Wonderland, but I wonder. Could you get me up to speed on what we know about the mirror side? Can we cross to that side if we want to? Can the mirror folk cross the barrier as they please? If not, is there someone or something in charge of the decision? I'm curious.

[Their flowers sufficiently... de-leafed... they pick up the thermos. Ginger tea, sweetened with honey. Good for queasiness. Honey makes it taste better, soothes a sore throat. They think, fleetingly, of Asgore. Because they think of Asgore, they think of Toriel. Don't... quite know how to approach the topic of Asriel. Don't want to talk about it. Don't want to think about it. Don't want to bear acknowledging they live in a world without him again. But is anyone else... checking on them?

...Couldn't hurt. Maybe. To just... maybe not about him, can't utter his name. To just... say hi.

They cut the video feed. Reach for their phone, type some texts out.]


[Private text to Asgore]

I was going to attach a picture. I've started work on a sweater - pink again, if that is okay. It's back in our room, though, and I don't think I'll be back there for a couple days.

I suppose I just wanted to let you know you'll have something to look forward to. =)


[Private text to Toriel]

I know it is unkind to gossip, but perhaps you ought to know that Sans took poorly at the end of this last event. I am aware he is a friend of yours, so I feel you should be aware. Perhaps he would feel better if someone came to check on him? Company always makes a hard time easier.

Here is a joke that the both of you might like:
Why did the pie go to the dentist? Because it needed a filling.

Comments

[fulllifeconsequences]

[Their chest burns with questions. Things that no amount of digging into the bones of the world fed them, because it always started and ended Underground.

Did he see the village near Mt. Ebbot? Was the flowerbed still there? Did they remember the day a monster appeared among them? Were any of them sorry?

Are... their parents still alive? Unpunished, unbothered by what they've done? Did they get a new kid and subject them to that life too? Has everyone there forgotten their name, just like the Underground did?

Was it as easy as Flowey promised it was? Did anyone ask about the other six missing humans? Did humans welcome monsterkind effortlessly? Were there struggles in getting identification, citizenship, legal personhood? Was getting custody of Frisk as hard as Chara fears, did they make Frisk go back to a household they never should have to be in?

Are they okay? Perfectly happy? Thriving as an ambassador? Did they ever show up with a flowerpot, because Frisk always fixes everything exactly how they want it to be fixed? Give Asriel the SOUL he deserved, somehow, in spite of all the odds? Wherever he is, however he is, does he get to be perfectly happy too?

...They don't ask. Clutch at their sweater, at the fabric hiding the locket. At the spot where a few broken, dull-red shards of a SOUL tremble inside of them.]

You only know about me because of that old story, right? Of the time the royal family kindly took in a fallen human.

Frisk didn't... they never said my name, did they? In those three months?

[mettatonvevo]

[It is painfully obvious that this question is a particularly vulnerable one for Chara. Mettaton wishes he had a better answer for them]

...Yes and no. I know you because of the story best, because it's one we've told for a long time. How tragic it was to lose both of the royal children in one fell swoop.

[He pauses for a moment, hesitant, but he presses on. They deserve the truth, after all.]

Frisk... tried to talk to me about what they went through in the Underground. Once. They wanted to share, but I... well. I wasn't that receptive to listening.

[Frisk, I know what you did Underground! I was there, after all! '...' Chara? Like that old story? Haha! Frisk, I already know that! I'm a monster, remember? '...' I'm sorry, but I gotta go. We can reminisce some other time!]

They mentioned you but I didn't understand. ...I still don't, actually.

[fulllifeconsequences]

["Mentioned you."

Sort of how it was Underground, too. A passing reference to a hopeful light in someone's eyes. No photographs, no headstone. Empty, dusty photo frames and a single potted golden flower in Toriel's room. A memorial fountain that isn't a memorial anymore.

They wonder what Frisk had to say.

Maybe they, too, wanted to share why Chara climbed the mountain. That they weren't really the greatest person.

Maybe they just wanted to share a memory. Maybe their head is quiet in that future, and it's a relief. Maybe they never even understood that the whispering voice with them was a person. Just thought it was strange how Asriel called them the wrong name, that's all.

Maybe Chara's still there, and it's been three months of being unseen, unheard, trying to be content with vicariously watching Frisk be loved. Maybe it aches, thinking Frisk tried to let them exist and nobody listened.]

Doesn't matter. It's not important.

[Of course it isn't. Mettaton's a monster, but he's still an adult. Adults don't care about anything children have to say. Not even children like Frisk. Saving everyone isn't good enough to have earned the right to be heard, huh?]

Guess that was a weird thing to ask, anyway.

[mettatonvevo]

[He raises an eyebrow at Chara's casual dismissal of themself.]

Are you sure about that? If it's important to you, then it's important. No if, ands, or buts.

[He's not the best at talking to kids, but hey. He's willing to give it a shot if he likes them.]

[fulllifeconsequences]

If it wasn't important when Frisk was trying to say it, then why would it be important now?

[He owes Frisk something. He likes Frisk, while Chara's just... Chara's not really anything at all. Chara's not the one who cries out for help and gets heard. Chara's just another kid for grown-ups to tune out.

So what's the point, right? They pick up their bouquet again, put a smile on.]

I won't bother you with it. I'll just whisper it to Narcissus, instead.

[mettatonvevo]

[Mettaton sighs a little, irritated by Chara's statement but. To be fair. It's a good pass at him.]

Because I'm a bit of a self-absorbed ass, you know, and can miss important details that relate to my friends and acquaintances.

[He grins a little bit after saying that.]

I suppose this is the part where I apologize for cursing in front of you. Though if you're whispering it to Narcissus, you definitely should be telling me. It's who I am, after all.

[He should probably read the story sometime. It follows him wherever he goes, so he might as well own it.]

[fulllifeconsequences]

Don't bother apologizing. I'm sure I know more swears than you do.

[It's sort of nice, being able to hide behind a bouquet. Confident, cunning, charismatic people aren't supposed to be camera-shy, but... well, the flowers are probably much nicer to look at, anyway.

They really don't think they qualify as either a friend or acquaintance, but if he's asking... from behind their shield of narcissus, they might as well try to speak on Frisk's behalf. Even if they're probably just guessing what Frisk actually meant to say. Even if it's just wishful thinking.

"I'm here."

"I exist."

It's me, Chara.]

I knew about your EX form, didn't I? I know about your NEO form.

I know you would have thrown Alphys away. You'd have thrown everyone away. Left them trapped in the dark with the broken body of a child while you sought the surface's spotlight.

I know everything Frisk knows. Every word. Every pose. Every blow.

I wonder... if you're Narcissus, then who am I?

[mettatonvevo]

[Mettaton thinks about protesting a little, saying something like "you still deserve the apology, you know", but he lets it slide. It's useless to say anyway, what with how tenuous their relationship is.

But then Chara continues speaking and Mettaton is... dumbfounded, to say the least. He feels the stirring of guilt in his chest at how his laundry list of faults are being laid out so succinctly, but he doesn't let it show much beyond a slight squirming that is hard to see over a video feed.]

By that logic, if you know everything Frisk knows despite not being physically there, then you would be Echo. A voice just floating in the air, with no way to end the matter. Doomed to eventually fade.

[He knows he shouldn't be speaking like this, it's definitely Rude, but honestly, Chara was rude first.]

[fulllifeconsequences]

[They just stop. Stare at the screen.

Burst out laughing.]

Holy heck, I just got destroyed. I can't even be mad. I'm just impressed.

[It's an apt description! They don't know what Echo has to do with Narcissus, since their grasp of the myth remains as rudimentary as ever, but they can tell that it's on-topic while still being absolutely ruthless.

And it works! It fits! They have no way to give themselves a happy ending, no way to be heard for themselves. They're just the few sentences others utter about them, nothing more than that! The "doomed to eventually fade" isn't quite right - god, but they'd get down on their knees and thank God by name if they were allowed to fade instead of persisting on and on - but they are, technically speaking, going to temporarily fade, right? They should have more than enough leaves picked to ensure that. Two days, if it's your second time going out. 48 whole hours. More than they've had ever since they awoke.]

It's even four letters long. It's short enough. I am Echo!

[mettatonvevo]

[Mettaton's own grin tugs at his lips, though he manages to calm it so it doesn't become a smirk. You shouldn't be taking pride in roasting kids, Metta.]

So was it really like that? Were you just... floating along with Frisk while they went through the Underground? What an odd phenomena to happen.

[If he thinks about it too long, it actually gets a bit disturbing, so after a second, he asks.]

Was it fun, at least?

[fulllifeconsequences]

[Was it fun, he asks. Was it fun?]

I awoke understanding nothing. I had not asked to be reawakened. I could not comprehend why I was denied rest.

I watched the few people I still had left die at my own hands. I was killed, again and again, and let me make it clear: it does not stop hurting after you do it once. I lost all grasp of who I was, who my partner was, where they ended and I began. If I was even a real person at all.

And it did. Not. End.

Again and again, we went back to the start. We died again. We killed again. We were told again and again that being struck down was our only chance at redemption, that we weren't welcome, that we were foolish because I had yet to learn the cutthroat, ruthless nature of the world, that we would be trapped, our deaths saved over again and again and again.

I asked myself, Mettaton. Why? Why had the world done this? What was the purpose to being put through this? Was I going to spend eternity with the dust of everyone I knew on my hands, entirely unable to have permanence, presence, or the ability to stop? Was this some sort of divine punishment?

You'll never guess what I concluded.

[mettatonvevo]

I'm guessing you decided you deserved this "punishment" or whatever it is.

[Goodness. The world just loves to mess with these kids.]

Though if you did conclude that, well, it's not really realistic. I don't think anyone deserves being toyed around with like that.

[fulllifeconsequences]

Gosh, not at all. I knew from the very beginning that what I get is what I deserve. That wasn't news at all.

[They don't buy what he's saying for a second, anyway. Empty, token sympathy. Fake words. Who cares, right? He'd be singing a different tune entirely if he knew the truth about Chara. Knew what everyone else had known in that dusty, dusty timeline: they aren't even human. They're the one big threat to everyone's happiness.]

I concluded that whatever had called me to this world had no intention of allowing me to "win." It just wanted to play with its toys. This was not going to end, because even if we found an ending that was fun enough to satisfy my partner, they would surely want to relive that fun. Experience the thrill of battles again. See if there was anything interesting they had missed.

They showed me that was what my purpose was. I existed to mold the world as we pleased. The reason for my existence was to conquer. Eradicate the enemy and become strong. And so, I decided, I would play their game. I would turn it all to dust.

I began to kill, Mettaton. I began to kill everyone. Not just the ones in my way. Every living thing in this wretched, meaningless universe.

If the world told me that I was not welcome. If the world and I could not coexist. If I could not return to my rest, could not end myself. Then what other solution could there be? Instead of throwing myself into the void, I would create a void around myself.

I would simply get rid of the entire world.

[mettatonvevo]

[It's like a light bulb goes on in his head at Chara's words, suddenly nodding in understanding.]

You're talking about those timelines where everyone dies, yes? You found a way to not only kill everyone but also the world?

[Ok, then they definitely got magic from the Dreemurs. Or maybe it was that human magic they were talking about earlier?]

This is a fine conversation and all, but I feel like this would be better done in person, though I do appreciate you explaining all of this. Where are you? I'd like to see you. On more than video, that is.

[fulllifeconsequences]

[Golly, he's awfully blasé about quote-unquote those timelines, isn't he? Those are the other Mettatons' problems, maybe? He's from a good one, so who cares?

What an attitude! Must be nice to be willfully ignorant.]

Nice try, but I'm having myself some alone time. No robots allowed. You'll just have to settle for admiring my dazzling wit from afar.

[mettatonvevo]

[Willful ignorance is wonderful and you should try it sometime, Chara.]

Really now? That's a shame. I've missed seeing you.

[He's not even lying. Chara's special brand of trouble is oddly endearing.]

[fulllifeconsequences]

[He's definitely super lying. Nobody would miss an absolute twerp like Chara.]

That's too bad for you, then. Somehow, you'll have to fill the Chara-shaped hole in your Chara-shaped heart elsewhere.

[And, with that: they abruptly and rudely hang up.]