Bad End Friends

Puppets on Strings

The creature was gone now and so was the Player's poisonous presence yet the world keeps falling apart on Chara.

At this point, they just wanted to curl up and cry. They were so tired. Tired of living, of existing, of messing up everything they've ever loved.

They wanted to run, to kill themselves, to just stop existing but they knew this wouldn't solve anything. The lantern-bearer that took them in, the so-called Beast of the Woods would never release them. It was like the Underground all over again except this time the Beast can see and destroy any attempt at a SAVE point. They can't quit, load, save, or reset.

They were stuck in some new fresh hell with the daily reminder of their failure.

Because despite all the things they've done, Asriel (dear, pure Asriel) still looks to them for guidance. He seemed to think it was his fault for getting them killed, and for becoming soulless flower.

Chara wanted to laugh, though there was nothing humorous about the situation. 

Look what you've done, they tell themselves bitterly. You've ruined a perfectly good person, is what you've done. Look at it, its got trauma!

They inhaled a few stuttering gasps, belatedly realising that they've been sitting in the middle of the woods crying; and, like a placebo effect wearing off, they began sobbing in earnest. Big soulful cries, tears they've never allowed themselves to have because they didn't deserve to mourn, after everything they've done.

They've broken Asriel, broken the Dreemurr family's hearts. Murdered, and killed the monsters of the Underground for no reason other than the Player told them to do so because the Player wanted to know. They've caused so much unwarranted pain, and sullied another pure soul; they've tarnished Frisk, because they were selfish and afraid and an absolute waste of space.

Why am I still here? Is this my divine punishment? To live through everything they've done? Chara cried harder. Haven't I suffered enough?

"There you are," said a voice, mournful and quiet. If Chara had any energy left to jump back, they'd have done so. It was Finn, one of the older kids that 'took care' of them. He looked human but, like the others, weren't really. There was a power gap there that Chara could sense but can't describe though they were sensible enough to tell that they didn't hold a candle to its enormity.

Everything about Finn was pale. Pale skin, pale blond hair, pale hat-thing, and pale blue eyes with some sharp angles thrown in to make him look like some kind of dangerous elf. The only spot of colour on his person was the red rubies decorating the golden crown he wore. 

Chara watched him take a seat beside them, and they sat in silence. 

With intense effort, Chara reigns in their crying. They didn't want to show these people their weakness, though that point was already moot. "What are you doing here?"

"I like it here," Finn replied simply, he absently pulled at the grass they were sitting on and gazed unseeingly to the trees. "It's near the river, and if you stay still long enough, you'll hear the frogs sing."

Chara stared at the from the corner of their eye. Finn didn't give any sort of indication that he was bothered by their attention. The silence continued, less tense than before. From the distance, Chara could hear the faint strains of music, and laughter.

They hummed in surprise. "You weren't lying."

Finn smiled. "I told you."

They spent the rest of the afternoon in comfortable silence with the occasional music from the riverboats. If Chara had felt any less hollow and sad and tired they might've been unnerved by how at peace they were with this stranger's presence. As it was, they've decided they'd enjoy this brief moment of tranquility. If only for a little while.