Strange Ones: Volume 3

Her Search

As Kuro flew through the clear blue sky, the young girl riding her back looked around as she held on to her purple feathers. While she rode the owl's back, Chara was already seeing herself getting farther away from the Delta Base and the nature that surrounded the cluster of ten buildings. She did hope that no one was following her, nor did she want to think that her caretakers found that disappeared. Finding Frisk at Strange Coliseum was all that mattered to her now. After all, Chara did assume that she is the key to her past.

As the journey progressed, she fell asleep. Then, Chara was now stuck in a dream where she was walking into a forest at night. She was searching for something. But then, she stumbled upon a dark cave. Out of curiosity, she approached it until she was in it's mouth. She looked around the stone walls as she walked through the cave. Suddenly, a red glow stuck in a stone caught her eye. Chara raised an eyebrow and walked up to the stone. Once she was close, she grabbed the source of the red light and began to pull at it. At first, it refused to come out, no matter how much strength she used. She became exhausted, but she took in a deep breath of determination. Placing one foot on the stone and both hands on the source of the red light, she used all of her might to pull out the source of the red light.

With enough strength, Chara was able to pull it out of the stone. She fell onto her rear and looked at the stone again, only finding the red light gone. When she looked at her right hand, she found it holding what seemed to be a ruby-red knife that was revealed the be the source of the light. She eyed the knife's blade curiously. But when she looked at her reflection in the blade, everything went into static and her reflection was replaced with a dark silhouette bearing red eyes and a crooked smile.

That dream was enough to disrupt Chara from her slumber. With a gasp and a jolt, she was wide awake, beads of sweat running down her forehead while she was catching her breath. She let out a sigh of relief, for she figured that nightmare was all in her head. But, was it really a dream? Could it be a remnant of her origins? It appears that she may never know if she didn't find Frisk. Before she could lay down, she looked at Kuro, who suddenly made a quick way down. With a yelp, the girl on the owl's back gave her back feathers a tight grip. After the owl was flying smoothly again, Chara looked up to find an airplane fly above them.

"What was that?" Chara mumbled. "That looked nothing like a bird. It was made of metal." She looked at the purple owl again. "Kuro? Where are we?"

The big owl didn't reply. So, Chara went to her head and when she did, her crimson eyes widen at the sight of a big town below her. Cars were going up and down the streets and parents were walking with their children. She could see other people looking through windows to watch the screens of TVs that were on display.

"No way." The girl said in awe. "Kuro, what is this place?"

Kuro didn't even let out a response. She didn't stop flying until she landed her feet on the building of a gigantic coliseum with a big screen displaying a battle between two groups of four. It was also labeled as Strange Coliseum, so it had to be the place where Chara sought to be. After the young girl slid off the owl's back, she searched for a way inside until she spotted a metal hatch on the roof. She walked up to it and grabbed the lever, using all of her strength to pull it to the opposite side. However, it didn't budge until Kuro intervened by pushing the younger one out of the way to pull the lever herself.

After the big owl was finished, she opened the hatch and turned to Chara, pointing her head at the now opened hatch. Though she was hesitant, the young one slowly walked up to the now-open hatch and swung her legs into it. Her feet landed on what seemed to be one of the bars of a white ladder. As soon as the soles of her boots climbed down three more, her handed grabbed the first one she stepped on.

"Kuro," Chara looked up at the owl, who was about to close the hatch. "Thank you for bringing me here."

With a nod, the purple owl closed the metal hatch before the girl continued her way down the ladder until her foot reached the bottom of the other end. She let go of the ladder and looked around at her dark surroundings, finding herself on a catwalk. Suddenly, she heard an explosion from behind her and one she turned around, her ruby eyes widen. Below her and the catwalk, she was seeing a big audience surrounding a battlefield that consisted of eight people that fought each other. Chara also found a hologram that had profile pictures of the eight people, but they were all split in four groups.

USA: Sans G., Petra J., Weiss S., Bendy D.

Austria: Aria L., Leo H., Mylia O., Biroki K.

Chara raised an eyebrow at the hologram before she looked back down at the battlefield. She watched as the short skeleton in a blue jacket jumped to avoid a swing from a green-haired woman holding an axe. Once his feet hit the ground, his left eye shone blue and two big dragon-like skulls appeared behind them. Once the skulls opened their mouth, bright beams of energy flew out of them. But before the beams of energy could hit her, a dark-skinned man with yellow hair jumped in front of her and summoned a yellow shield to block them.

The girl covered her eyes from the bright light of the white beam. But when the skulls disappeared, Chara pulled her hand away from her eyes. But then, her eyes suddenly noticed a snow-haired girl in a white dress and a gray shrug and heels holding a rapier clashing with a pink rabbit with a pair of kursarigamas that she swung around. The young girl with the rapier landed on the floor and swung her weapon around until she summoned a glyph below here. Then, a glowing copy of a creature that took the form of a hornet appeared above her head, leaving the crowd in awe.

"Oh, look at that!" A male voice exclaimed from the coliseum's speakers. "Looks like Ms. Schnee knows how to make a battle more dramatic!"

That was when Chara fell into awe. A smile suddenly appeared on her face as the battle inside the coliseum became more intense. She leaned on the barred barrier of the catwalk and grabbed the top bar to watch the battle more clearer. But then, she remembered her only purpose in the coliseum. Breaking away from the barred fence, the girl shook her head.

"No!" Chara said to herself. "I can't let any distractions in my way! Frisk is somewhere in this place, I just know it!" She pounded her head with a fist. "Keep it together, Chara! This is your only chance to find Frisk! She must know who you are and what happened to me!"

So, the young girl continued her journey on the catwalk. She jumped from one to another until she was close to getting to a door. Chara looked at the gray door, then at the next and final catwalk. She nodded, knowing that she was almost there. She jumped to the next one, but due to misfortune, her foot slipped and she fell. Not before she grabbed on to the side of the catwalk's barred fence. Chara breathed rapidly and looked down at the audience, hoping she didn't draw any attention. With a sufficient amount of strength, she was able to lift herself on the catwalk.

She let out a sigh of relief and stood back up. Then, she hopped to the platform where the door was, grabbed the knob and twisted it. Once she opened it, she peeked into what seemed to be a set of stairs going down to another door. She let out another sigh, for there was no one climbing up those stairs. She entered and closed the door, walking down the stairs until she got to the other door.

"Here goes nothing..." Chara said before she grabbed the doorknob.

Once she opened it, her red eyes widen when she was met with crowds of people walking up and down the hallway. She stepped away from the door and closed it by pushing it with her foot. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket, she began to walk down the hallway. She was already dumbfounded by the amount of people in the hallway that surrounded her. From what her eyes were seeing, some were human, others were either Faunus, Monsters, Gems and other categories of Strange Ones.

So, this is what the inside of this place looks like? Chara thought, already feeling her soul pulse with anxiety and surprise. Frisk is somewhere in this giant of a building and this is what's inside? Where am I?! What is this place?! Who planned this while I was asleep?!

Suddenly, her thoughts were disrupted when she heard a young, female voice behind her back saying, "Chara?"