Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: The Lovers, The Dreemurrs, and Frisk

Chara opened her eyes to the sight of the sky, fluffy clouds passing overhead. The human groaned as she sat up, eyes going wide at the realization that all the aches she was feeling required a body to be felt. She rapidly patted herself down, she was wearing the same outfit she’d wore when she’d died, her worn dagger tucked in its hiding spot. The human grabbed at her neck, letting out a sigh of relief upon finding the locket her brother had given her. At the thought of her brother, Chara tried to remember what had happened, she’d been following the last human “Frisk”, and they’d faced off against Asriel who had become the God of Hyperdeath, after that… she wasn’t sure.

It hadn’t been the first time Frisk had traversed the Underground; she’d given up counting once the runs had begun to bleed together. However, her being alive again was new, not to mention impossible. She’d died a long time ago, long enough for her corpse to have been completely decomposed, which meant that whatever had resurrected her possessed the power to reconstruct her body. A small flicker of hope filled Chara at the realization that, if she’d been resurrected, others might have been resurrected as well.

“Ooooow.”

Chara turned sharply to face the noise, knife drawn instinctively, however her aggression didn’t last long. The knife dropped to the ground with a soft thud as the human sprinted over to the fluffy monster wearing a striped sweater that matched her own starting to stand up.

“ASRIEL!”

The human all but tackled her brother, the goat monster not hesitating to return the hug. She could feel tears running down her face, but for once, she didn’t care. Chara wasn’t sure how it had happened, but she didn’t care, her brother was alive, she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

“Asriel I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Chara sobbed into her brother’s shoulder, “I should have listened, or tried something else, or done anything other than put you through…”

“Shhhh,” Asriel shushed her, “It’s okay.”

Asriel’s voice was gentle and comforting, a small part of her recognized that his voice sounded older, but that could be addressed later. It took a while, but eventually the tears stopped, Chara took a deep breath, feeling lighter than she had in a long time. Asriel sat next to her, comforting her with a smile as if nothing had changed, like she hadn’t gotten them both killed. As if it wasn’t her fault that he’d spent thousands of years’ worth of resets as a demented, soulless flower.

“Feel better?”

“Yes *sniff* I do feel better,” Chara admitted, “What about you?”

Asriel smiled sheepishly, “Honestly, I’m not sure how to feel.”

“Fair.”

Now that things had calmed down, Chara finally took a moment to take in her surroundings. The two of them were on a small hill, she could see a mountain range made of what looked to be ice with…faces, surrounded by snow. Off in the distance, what appeared to be a grand kingdom of some sort, a massive tree in the fields also catching her attention.

“Where are we?”

Asriel followed her gaze with a shrug, “Not sure, the last thing I remember is breaking the Barrier, next thing I know, I’m here.”

“That’s the last thing I remember as well,” Chara rubbed her chin, “We’re clearly alive as I refuse to believe any afterlife would look this…normal…not now Frisk…!”

Chara violently spun around to face the blank faced human that had poked her cheek, said human giving her a thumbs up. Despite everything, Chara couldn’t help but feel a sense of petty satisfaction that she was taller than Frisk. However, that feeling was swallowed by a flurry of other emotions she had about the bizarre human.

“Oh, howdy Frisk,” Asriel waved, “You wouldn’t happen to know how any of…this happened?”

Frisk said nothing, instead bringing their hands together and summoning their soul. The red heart missing two thirds of its content.

“Your soul!” Chara held her hand out, “Then that means…”

She summoned her own soul and sure enough, a third of Frisk’s soul rested within, a quick glance at Asriel revealed that the monster’s soul was tinged red.

“You broke your own soul into three pieces, just to give us a second chance?!” Chara ran her fingers through her hair, “Why, why would you do that for us? How did you even do that?”

Frisk shrugged.

“Fine, keep your secrets.” Chara sighed, “In the meantime we should decide what our next course of action is as…WHERE ARE YOU GOING NOW?”

Chara felt her eye twitch as Frisk casually started walking towards the kingdom in the distance, humming Papyrus’s battle theme as they did.

She turned to her brother, “Can you believe them?”

“I gave up trying to figure out Frisk a while ago,” Asriel chuckled, “But I’m sure they know what they’re doing.”

Chara sighed, retrieving her dagger and tucking it away, choosing not to bring up the staggering number of times she’d watched Frisk go through the Underground. A wave of nausea washing over her as she thought back to the human’s previous run. Frisk had killed every monster they could find, expressionless all the while, and the worst part, she’d enjoyed it. Every time the human’s LOVE had increased she’d felt a surge of power, feeling more and more real, it had been addictive. It wasn’t until Flowey begged for his life that she’d ultimately snapped out of it, watching that last piece of her sibling die...

“They won’t.” Asriel said softly, as if reading her mind, “I believe in them to do the right thing.”

Chara wanted to believe Asriel’s words, after spending so long hating humanity, hating herself, she wanted to have hope, but her worries refused to fade.

“I hope you’re right Asriel,” Chara whispered softly as they started walking in the direction Frisk had gone, “Because I don’t think we could stop them if they don’t.”

 

“Is everything alright Princess?”

Princess Bubblegum didn’t respond, instead continuing to star through the candy telescope at the trio of figures approaching her kingdom. Her initial shock at the presence of two more humans in Ooo was dwarfed by the sheer terror she’d felt upon seeing the pair traveling with a Ebottian monster. The last time she’d seen a monster like that was hundreds of years ago, during a part of her life she very much wanted to forget. The monster looked young, as did the humans it was with, but after nearly dying at the hands of the Lich, she wasn’t taking any chances.

“Peppermint Butler, have the banana guards ready on standby,” She ordered, “I will be down shortly.”

“Right away your highness.”

Once Peppermint Butler had left, she walked over to the wall and pressed a hidden switch, slipping through the small passageway that hadn’t been opened in centuries. She forced herself to remain calm as she entered the room, all that was inside was a dusty sword and a simple crown, the Deltarune emblem emblazoned on both. Retrieving the blade, Bubblegum hid it beneath her dress before sealing the passage back up, hoping she wouldn’t need to call upon the ancient blade again. After taking a moment to compose herself, she started down the stairs, of all the days for Finn & Jake to be busy.

 

Asriel had seen a great many things during his…existence? Honestly, he wasn’t sure what his time as Flowey counted as, not that he could really remember the majority of that time. He knew what he’d done, but the memories themselves were a haze, like trying to remember a dream after waking up. He glanced over at Chara, his human sibling firmly gripping his hand as they walked. Chara had never been a huge fan of physical contact of any kind, but he supposed being dead for the equivalent of centuries would leave anyone starved for it. They’d decided that they were both around sixteen in age, physically at least. Frisk, as it turned out, was ten, or at least they thought Frisk was ten, the human had held up their hands with all their fingers out when they’d asked. An overpowering smell of sugar hit the trio as they approached the gates of the city.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Asriel said, “We find whoever is in charge and figure out as much as we can!”

“Asriel,” Chara rubbed her arm, “I’m not sure that will work, we’re not really royalty here.”

“I know, but our other option is taking our chances in the wild.”

“But…”

“Come on Chara,” Asriel pleaded, “Trust me on this.”

Chara started to protest but stopped upon seeing her brother’s expression. Asriel had the same expression he’d had when she told him her plan to get the six souls. After several seconds of silence, she looked away with a sigh.

“Okay,” Chara whispered, “I trust you.”

Asriel smiled at her, “Relax, I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

The architecture of the city reminded Chara of New Home, the wall surrounding the city reminiscent of a medieval castle. However, the citizens of the city were what surprised the trio the most, all the people resembling different sweets and candy.

“Hey Chara,” Asriel leaned over, “Is it me, or does everybody seem oddly interested in you and Frisk?”

Chara looked around, noting that, while not hostile, the citizens seemed to be staring at them with mixed looks of shock and interest.

“Excuse me,” A massive cupcake with bulging, muscular arms walked up to them, “But might you be a human by chance?”

Chara narrowed her eyes as her hand moved to where her knife was hidden, faintly aware of Asriel’s hands curling in slightly, similar to how their mother did whenever she was readying her fire magic. However, before either of them could respond, Frisk stepped out and nodded.

“I thought you were!” The beefy pastry laughed, “But I wasn’t sure, Finn is the only other human we’ve seen after all.”

Chara forced herself to relax, “Finn?”

“That’s right!” A chocolate covered strawberry confirmed, “Finn the Human, he’s a hero who’s always helping the princess.”

“By goodness, the Princess!” Another candy exclaimed, “You simply must meet the princess, she’ll defiantly want to meet you.”

“What? Wait, hold on!” Chara’s protests were ignored as the three of them were herded towards the palace that sat in the middle of the city, a massive tree stretching from the top.

They were led into a massive hall, guards resembling bananas with chocolate on their heads lined the walls of the room, each one holding a spear.

“Welcome to the Candy Kingdom!” A vibrant voice filled the room, a woman with pink skin and even pinker hair walked over to them, a crown atop her head, “I am Princess Bubblegum.”

Chara wasted no time in forcing herself to become expressionless, stepping forward to draw attention to herself. The lessons of etiquette she’d learned from Toriel coming back to her like second nature.

“Greetings, I am Chara,” She gave a small, controlled smile as she bowed, “I too, am a Princess, and this is my brother Prince Asriel Dreemurr.”

Chara motioned her hand to her brother who had thankfully composed himself.

“It is an honor,” The monster bowed before holding out a hand to Frisk, “And this is our good friend…”

“Hey girl, are you candy?” Frisk asked with absolute confidence, “Because you got a sweet ass!”

The room went dead silent; the low murmuring of candy people having completely stopped. Chara slowly turned to look at Frisk who smiled confidently at the princess.

“Pfft-hahahahaha,” Bubblegum laughed, “Okay, I’ll admit, I haven’t heard that one in a while.”

The tension in the air seemed to evaporate as the candy people began loudly talking among themselves. The princess walked up to them with a smile, though Chara couldn’t help but notice the fearful flash in the pink woman’s eyes when she looked at Asriel.

“Why don’t you three join me for dinner?” The princess offered with a smile, “I’m quite interested to hear all about you kingdom.”

Chara wasn’t sure what it was, but something about the princess’s tone made her offer sound more like a command. As Bubblegum led them through the castle, away from the crowd, Chara risked being rude and checked the princess’s stats.

Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum – The reigning princess of the Candy Kingdom.

ATK: 120 DEF: 180

*Knows more than she’s letting on.*

She was immediately on guard, she wasn’t even aware someone’s stats could go that high. The highest she’d ever seen was when Undyne had fought Frisk during…that run, and her stats had only made it to ninety-nine.

“Chara.” Her brother whispered, “We need to get out of here.”

“Asriel, we can’t just bail,” Chara pointed out before a horrible realization crossed her mind, “Did you check her stats too?”

Chara knew that some monsters, mostly boss monsters like Asriel, could see things like LV and EXP among other things when checking an opponent. But for her brother to be this worried, the wall suddenly felt more oppressive.

“Asriel,” Chara’s voice waivered, “What was her level of violence?”

Asriel took a deep breath, Chara feeling her blood run cold as her brother gave an answer even worse than she’d feared.

“Thirty-two.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Acts of Kindness, Big and Small

 

“That was mathematical!” Finn remarked happily as the giant worm ogre crashed to the ground, “Right Jake?”

“Yeah sure,” Jake shrugged as he wiped slime from his body, “Could have done without the worm ooze though.”

“Ha ha, yeah,” Finn chuckled, “So what’s next on the list?”

Jake pulled out a comically long list, “Hm, looks like that was it, how about lunch?”

“We already had lunch.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jake nodded, “I’m talking about second lunch.”

“That’s not a thing Jake,” Finn suddenly stopped smiling, “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“…help…”

“SOMEONE NEEDS HELP!” Finn shouted, “Come on Jake.”

Without waiting for an answer, Finn rushed off towards the calls for help, reaching a small gorge where three bandits surrounded a girl in a stained apron, frantically swinging a burnt frying pan.

“S-s-stay away” The girl trembled.

“We will,” The middle bandit sneered, “After you hand over the goods.”

“Yeah!” Another bandit cheered.

“N-no, please,” The girl backed up against the wall, “I d-don’t have anything.”

“Sounds like a “you problem” toots,” The center bandit pulled out a jagged knife, “Oh well.”

“LEAVE HER ALONE!”

The bandits all turned to face him as he jumped down, drawing the root sword. The bandits drew their weapons with twisted grins as they began to slowly approach him.

“Back off schmutz,” The center bandit demanded, “This is our score.”

“You back off!” Finn fired back, leveling his sword, “Or I’m gonna make ya!”

“Very well,” The center bandit spread his arms, “Boys, skronk up his face.”

The two bandits rushed at him, one resembling a wolf swinging a club while the other, a freakishly tall goblin, whipped a chain around. Finn dodged the club, following up by slicing at the wolf’s waist, causing his pants to fall.

“Donk this!” The bandit abandoned his club, holding his pants up as he fled.

The other bandit lashed out with his chain, managing to hit Finn directly in the face. He was forced to take a step back; however, he was ready for the second swing, catching the chain by one of the links with his sword, pinning the chain to the ground with his sword. The human lunged at the bandit, using the bandit’s surprise against him to deliver a powerful punch to the face. As the goblin crumpled to the ground, a metallic clank came from behind him, Finn turned around to find the final bandit had grabbed the girl and was holding one of his knives to her throat.

“Drop the sword bucko,” The bandit ordered, “Or I’m sending the dame to the ninth dead world.”

Finn growled as he dropped his sword, the weapon clattering to the ground. The girl whimpered as the bandit pressed the knife against her throat.

“Good, now why don’t you toss over that bag of yours’ and I’ll--!”

The bandit was cut off as a massive yellow fist flattened him, Jake grumbling as his fist shrank down to normal size.

“Man, what was with that guy?” The dog stood over the now unconscious crook, “That was like…way more jacked up than what we usually deal with!”

The dog waited for Finn to comment, after several seconds of silence he turned to the human. His brother was kneeling next to the girl they’d just rescued, said girl not moving. Jake felt a rare twinge of worry beginning to fill him but forced a brave face for his bro.

“Hey Finn, is she good?”

“Jake,” Finn turned to face him, the human’s expression weirdly unreadable, “I…I think she’s a human.”

 

“When is she going to wake up Jake?”

“I don’t know BMO, now stop asking me.”

“Hey guys, I think she’s waking up!”

Hazel groaned as she slowly regained consciousness, wincing as she sat up, she was in a warmly lit room that looked like a tree was growing through it, a collection of assorted clutter covered most of the room.

“Where…?”

Hazel was suddenly aware that she wasn’t alone as a robot that resembled a handheld game console jumped on the bed.

“Hello, I am BMO, you are awake!”

“Uh…hi...?”

“YAY!”

“Knock it off BMO,” A yellow dog grabbed the small robot before turning to her, “How ya feelin kid?”

It took a moment for Hazel to register that she was being spoken to, her thoughts trying to piece together what had happened.

“Okay I guess, but where am I?”

“You’re in our treehouse, we brought you here after you passed out,” The boy in the rabbit hat explained, “Those bandits donked you up pretty bad.”

“What does that…ow,” Hazel winced as she moved, most of the cuts, scrapes, and bruises that she’d accrued were hidden beneath a plethora of colorful bandages, “Thanks…um.”

“I’m Finn, Finn the human” The boy introduced, “And that’s my bro, Jake.”

“Thank you for saving me,” Hazel thanked, “I’m Hazel, I’m also a human.”

Hazel could feel the mood shift as the room went silent, she caught Jake shoot a glance at Finn.

“I knew it,” Finn pulled his hat off revealing golden blonde hair, “I knew I couldn’t be the only human left.”

“Heeeeeeey Finn, Hazel looks a bit pale, why don’t you and BMO go get her something to eat?” Jake offered nervously.

“Great idea, come on BMO!”

She watched Finn grab BMO and jump down the ladder with an energetic whoop, after a few seconds Jake turned to her.

“We need to talk.”

Hazel felt a chill go down her spine, “What did he mean?”

Jake sighed, “I’m not going to beat around the bush, before you showed up, we were certain Finn was the only human around.”

Hazel struggled to process her thoughts, that couldn’t be right. Sure, she’d been stuck as a soul in a jar for a while, but surely it hadn’t been so long that humanity was gone.

“But that can’t be right!” She exclaimed, “It hasn’t been that long.”

“That long since what?”

“Since I climbed Mount Ebott!” Hazel ran her fingers through her hair.

Jake stared at her blankly, “Mount what now?”

Hazel tumbled out of the bed she’d been placed in, ignoring Jake’s startled reaction as she limped to the window. Her jaw went slack as she was met with a view of a colorful city off in the distance, a city she had never seen before.

“Where am I?”

“You’re in the Land of Ooo,” Jake responded, “And by your reaction, I’d say you’re new to the neighborhood.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“After that you showed up and saved me.” Hazel finished, “Um…the end?”

“Hooray!” BMO cheered, the robot’s excitement not shared by Finn and Jake.

“Wait, wait hold up!” Finn held his hands up, “You were attacked by almost every monster you met in this “Underground”, and then the king just…took your soul?”

“Accepted my soul, I gave it up willingly,” Hazel corrected, “It was the right thing to do.”

“A noble sacrifice for others,” Finn dramatically held up his fist, “That means you’re a hero, like me!”

“What, oh no, it wasn’t anything like that,” Hazel insisted, “I just…”

“DUDE!” Finn jumped up, “You literally died for people you barely knew, that’s like…textbook hero biz.”

Hazel felt her cheeks flush, “I…guess I never thought of it that way.”

“Man, that’s great and all, but I feel like we’re glossing over the fact that Hazel just appeared in Ooo, not to mention the fact she’s still alive,” Jake pointed out before shooting a suspicious glance at her, “Unless…she’s a zombie!”

“Dude, she’s not a zombie,” Finn groaned, “She was bleeding, zombies don’t bleed.”

Hazel smiled as the brothers went back and forth over whether or not she was potentially a zombie. She wasn’t sure how she was alive again or how she’d ended up in the Land of Ooo, but some greater power had deemed her worthy of a second chance, and she intended to make sure her second chance didn’t go to waste.

“Hazel?”

“Huh?” She looked down at BMO.

“I asked if you want to stay forever,” BMO repeated happily, “Then you can do human things with Finn all the time.”

“Oh, that’s…really nice of you, but I don’t know if Finn’s parents would be okay with that.”

“Nah, you can stay,” Jake retorted nonchalantly, “Our parents are dead.”

“………………what?”

“Yeah, mom and dad have been dead for a while,” Finn confirmed, “And I never met my human parents, so you can stay as long as you like!”

“You guys live here, by yourselves?” Hazel questioned, “But…Finn you don’t look much older than me.”

“Exactly,” Jake nodded, “Finn’s thirteen, he can handle himself.”

“But how do you pay for stuff like food?”

“With our treasure pile?” Finn responded slowly, as if the answer was obvious, “Here, I’ll show you.”

She let out a small eep as Finn grabbed her by the hand and led her to another ladder, pointing down at the first floor of the treehouse. When Finn had said pile, she’d imagined a pile, maybe enough to fill a small bag, but what she found instead was a literal hoard that looked like it belonged in a dragon guarded cave. The gold alone covered the floor and was piled up to the ceiling in several places, gems and other treasures of every kind littered throughout.

“Did you guys rob a dragon?”

“Yeah, last week!” Finn declared proudly.

“No, we didn’t,” Jake stretched down, “The dragon was two weeks ago, the hand falcon was last week.”

“Oh yeah.”

“The what?” Hazel stared at the duo.

“Hand. Falcon.” Jake said slowly, shaping a hand to resemble a bird, “Giant bird made out of hands.”

“What we’re trying to say is that you can stay as long as you want,” Finn gave her a kind smile. “We don’t mind.”

“Now hold on Finn,” Jake pulled Finn back, “We can’t just let her freeload because she’s a human.”

“But Jake,” Finn insisted. “She doesn’t have anywhere to go; we have to help her!”

“No Finn, Jake’s right,” Hazel agreed, “If I’m going to live here, the least I can do is pull my own weight.”

“Hazel…” Finn looked back and forth between her and Jake.

“I don’t have any money, but I know how to cook.” She offered.

“Works for me!” Jake shouted with a smile, “It’s about time I had a proper cooking buddy!”

Hazel hummed a tune with no name as she moved her burnt pan back and forth across the heat, comforted by the familiar sizzle of the stove. Behind her, Finn was describing the Land of Ooo and the adventures he’d had, meanwhile, Jake was standing next to her watching the food cook and offering useful tips.

“Oh boy, usually I’m the one who cooks dinner!” Jake’s paws formed into hands which he rubbed together as he watched, “It’s smelling good!”

“Pan-fried beef and mixed vegetables,” She declared proudly. “Simple but hearty.”

“Hehehe!”

“What?” Hazel glanced at the dog.

Jake continued chuckling, “That’s not beef.”

Hazel’s smile slowly faded as she looked at the slabs of meat, then back at Jake.

“What is it?”

“It’s meat from Meatman.” Jake responded, “Meatman’s meat.”

“Did it come from his body?” Hazel shook her head, “Actually, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”

Despite her mixed feelings about the origin of the mystery meat, it still tasted great. A sentiment that was clearly shared by Finn and Jake, both of whom clearly enjoyed the meal. Havel could help but feel a small sense of pride, she always loved watching people enjoy eating what she made. Jake stretched his body to grab the dirty dishes which he placed in the sink, before yawning.

“Alright, I’m heading to bed, goodnight, everybody.”

“Night Jake,” Finn called over before turning to her, “Tomorrow we’re going to the Candy Kingdom, you should come with us.”

“The Candy Kingdom?” Hazel tilted her head.

“Yeah, you gotta meet Princess Bubblegum!” Finn sighed with a small smile. “You’ll like her, she’s the best!”

“That sounds like fun.” Hazel agreed with a smile of her own.

“And you’re sure the couch is fine?”

“Finn, I’m not taking your bed,” Hazel retorted, “The couch is more than enough.”

“Well, okay then,” Finn climbed the ladder, “Goodnight.”

Hazel felt a small smile spread across her face, “Goodnight Finn.”

Hazel curled up under the blanket she’d been given on the couch, staring at the ceiling. The soft creaking of the tree swaying in the wind slowly rocking her to sleep.