fulllifeconsequences

[Creatures like us, he tells them, wouldn't hesitate to kill each other if we got in each other's way. And he's right. Thorny vines, lasers, bullets rip them apart over and over, rapid-fire, saved and reloaded in such rapid succession they can't even keep count of the times they die.

Each time you die, your friends forget you a little more, he tells them. Your life will end here, in a place where no one remembers you, he tells them. And he's right. Nobody but him says their name. They die and they die and they die, until their name is nothing more than faded letters on a coffin that doesn't even contain anything but a few old bandages. They die, and nobody in their village remembers that the bed of golden flowers was their favourite. They die, and Asriel forgets them too, finds what he was really wishing for all along.

You've probably heard this a thousand times already, he tells them, even though it's the first. He's not right, but he is right, isn't he? They will hear it again. They will do everything he thinks they will. They won't let go, won't let anyone be happy, because people like them will NEVER be happy.

Some timelines, they choose Fight over Mercy. They impose that painful, pointless fate onto him, too. Forget him a little more. End his life in a place where nobody remembers him. Attack, because he stands between them and escaping. His smile is resplendent with glee as he crows that he knew they had it in them. He doesn't beg for his life. He's only afraid when it's... when...

They do not allow themselves to look away. They sear those words into their brain, even when their hands shake too badly to read clearly. This is different from those timelines. This is the timeline where he's sure it's them. No other timeline matters. Nothing anyone has said to them here matters. Nothing in the world will ever matter except for the four words that stare up at them until the phone clatters uselessly from their hands, bounces off the floor.

This is what you really are, Chara.]

[There is no message sent in response.]

just so you know

max knows about resets.

[He's doing this on purpose. He has to be. He never tells anyone anything. He wouldn't tell his own flesh (ha) and blood (ha ha) about resets, wouldn't tell Alphys, wouldn't tell anyone.

But hey, sure. Suddenly, Max knows. The first human here who was actually sort of nice to them, and the first human here to become afraid of whatever dangerous, inhuman thing they really are. And she knows right at Chara's most vulnerable moment.

They sort of don't want to respond. Be pointless to. Easier to tune it out, not emote at all. The more they let things in, the more they crack at the edges.]

Ok.

[There. A response. He can have the satisfaction.]

[That's not good. The delay. The response itself. Not good.]

i

got nothin

no excuse this time

but she doesn't know about you or frisk

i'm sorry.

[They're so sick of I'm sorry. It's starting to feel like a taunt at this point.]

I don't care.

[Whatever. Changes nothing. Who cares.

They want to ask "why her," want to ask "why now." Nothing to gain by it, though. Ask why, and you're getting curious, digging a little deeper into the world, building up an emotional stake. It doesn't matter why.]

You must be so proud of your own progress. Look at you. Opening up to vague acquaintances.

[There's not a single thing he can say. A pun or a joke would be callous. An explanation would be an excuse. Denial would be defensive.]

[After awhile,]

just thought you should know.

Don't know why you bothered.

[They find out anyway, when people start warning each other about Chara. Maybe he just wanted to make them suffer. Maybe he's doing them a favour, because Max will definitely be scared off for good now that she knows the kind of frightening power their world has in it.]

didn't want you to be caught off guard.

[Chara is unpredictable when caught off guard. Plus it's been a rough few weeks for everyone. Chara doesn't need more surprises.]

Isn't catching me off guard your entire gimmick?

[Gonna have a bad time. Ever heard of a talking flower? Dead where you stand. Strongest attack first. C'mere, pal.

Why should it be different here? They keep hearing things are different here, but look at how things have turned out.]

maybe, but not here.

Which is why you consulted with the involved parties before you decided to tell a near-stranger all about a secret so crushing and incredible that you couldn't bear to tell anyone else in our world.

...you realize papyrus knows too, right?

i'm pretty sure alphys figured it out too. and obviously toriel knows.

max has some kind of experience with time travel. she gets it. she just wanted to know the technical details. which is why i left out the stuff about you and frisk.

[Toriel knows because Chara told her. Alphys couldn't figure her way out of a wet paper bag. Frisk told her. Or... Chara thinks so, anyway. Just guessed, to be honest. Papyrus... who knows? Who'd keep Chara in the loop, right?

...Sans, apparently, since that's what he literally just did.

Whatever. All of this is nothing but background noise, anyway. Doesn't matter.]

Max can time travel?

[Doesn't matter! Why are they even asking?]

i don't think so. she just knows about it. something happened in her world.

[First Dipper can remember SAVEs, now Max has some kind of experience too? She really doesn't seem very determined at all to Chara. Is this just a lot more common in humans than they ever knew? Maybe they never had to become an anomaly after all. Maybe if Frisk had just tried a little harder, they could get the hang of warping time without any team effort involved. Maybe Chara really could have changed their own story, they just... didn't want it enough.

...Don't think about that. Undo that line of thought. Useless.]

More common than I thought it was. Kids these days and their time travel.

yeah. kinda weird. all these universes where it just kinda...happens.

dipper mentioned once he'd time traveled as well.

[Maybe Wonderland is just a fan of time shenanigans. It would make sense, considering.]

[The itch is there, in the tips of their fingers. Curiosity. Eagerness to understand determination - understand themselves. He remembers SAVEs. Is it because he's time travelled? Maybe it's entirely unrelated to determination. Maybe Sans has time travelled too, and it just leaves a mark on people that lets them recall. Maybe...

Maybe they should shut themselves up. Don't get curious, don't get interested. Doesn't it feel stupid to be sitting here chatting away when they've got an unfathomable, spirit-crushing crime hanging over their shoulders? Must not be sorry at all, if they're so easily distracted from it.]

Funny, he didn't have to become an amalgamate to do it. Guess our world just sucks.

[Honestly he expected this to go much, much worse. It's proof that they've both sort of...made strides or something, that they're not verbally at each other's throats again. No chess game. It's nice. Sans doesn't think he could handle chess right now, anyway.]

it has its perks.

[Try as they might, they sure can't see any. Not now. Maybe not ever. ERASE that pointless world, move on to the next.

So they just... don't respond. Better to let a conversation come to an end while it's still relatively civil than drag it kicking and screaming into downer town, right? Nicer thing to do.]

I love you.

[Anonymous?? Is this...

Ha. Why would they ever get their hopes up?]

Sans, are you pranking me across time and space again? That isn't funny I'M LIKE 10 OR SOMETHING

kid, it's 3 in the morning.

And I'm a wretched, writhing pile of misery and spite who left the concept of sleep behind long ago. What is your point?

Is this really even the time for this, funnybones? Don't you have anything better to do?

time for what? what're you talking about?

Your stupid jokes!

I can't do another game of chess right now, so... just.. whatever. Drag me to the judgment hall. Tell your clever little punchline.

* It already knows no one will love them the way they are.

* IC Inbox

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