VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 88

Somebody was calling her name.

Who? They sounded so familiar, yet so . . . alien. Her eyes scanned the void that had swallowed her whole, and she felt a tingle run down her spine, as though she were being watched. Frisk realized she in fact was, as she turned on her heel and came face to face with a smaller figure in front of her, staring back.

It was Chara.

They shared a gaze for a moment, Frisk initially surprised at how young the girl looked before realizing that, while she had grown, Chara never had. She was merely a spirit.

But why was she here?

Chara didn't seem to know either, as she opened her mouth to speak. "I'm here," she stated, breaking the silence between them. "But your LOVE is stagnant and pure. I . . . shouldn't be here. Not like this."

Frisk didn't say anything. What could she say? So Chara continued.

"You've grown, Frisk. A lot since we last spoke," Chara's eyes drifted over Frisk for a moment, before she looked off into the distance. "More than in appearance. You've kept your promise to me, and I am thankful. My presence here . . . it can only mean one thing."

She paused, Frisk waiting with bated breath, still saying nothing.

"Someone with Determination has killed."

At this, Frisk's mind raced, thinking of everyone with Determination. Undyne, while unconventional, was capable of it, yet she hadn't killed yet, as far as Frisk knew. And Flowey, but she'd learned a long time ago that a SOUL was needed for Chara's spirit to connect onto, and Flowey didn't possess one, so it couldn't be him . . .

But what about the person controlling the timeline? Flowey had brought that up, but Sans dismissed another SOUL like hers existing, but could he be wrong? Whoever this other person was . . . perhaps they'd killed. So why was Chara with her and not them?

When Frisk woke, her head was spinning and her mind was racing. Her stomach felt like someone had tied a knot in the middle of it, and every inch of her body ached, like she'd just had the workout of a lifetime. She could feel moving, like the floor underneath her was constantly shifting around below. It wasn't until several achy minutes had passed that her vision began to return to her, and she started to panic. What had happened after she'd passed out?

She was in a car; no, a van, a big one, sitting in the backseat with all the windows rolled up. A trembling Truck sat across from her, eyes closed, head tilted down. He looked cold.

In the front seat sat two familiar faces, though they'd both seen better days. Asgore was still missing half of one of his horns, and from the looks of it, he was still unconscious, slumped back in the passenger's seat. A shaken up Undyne was driving, vision lasered onto the road ahead. Around them, smoke rose, Frisk saw several cars crashed into each other, and people scurrying about, some even armed with guns as they busted into shops and looted stores in all the confusion.

"Undyne . . . what's happening?" she asked, swallowing the lump in her throat.

The monster struggled to reply, taking nearly a full minute before putting it into words. "Voxis City isn't safe anymore. It never was."

The drive, aside from the chaotic, almost apocalyptic scene outside, was relatively uninterrupted. Undyne was taking back roads, alleys, whatever she could to keep off of the main streets. As Frisk struggled up to look out of the window, she was greeted by more devastation. On top of the rare body that appeared quite . . . dead . . . that was here or there, a thin layer of dust seemed to hang in the air . . . something Frisk knew all too well, there was no mistaking it.