Disclaimer: See summary.

A/N: What's up, everyone? So, with my last big project, Fates Rewritten, finally done, and my other projects going on temporary hiatus, I think I'd get back to Mercytale, seeing as I can dedicate more brain power to working on it. That said, I'll need to focus on schoolwork, which means that updates will be spread out more.

Now, to address the reviews left by my wonderful fans and readers:

ievuxs1: Yeah, this darn website can be a real stickler about what types of symbols it will allow. I can't even remember what it was I originally wanted to write. I'll have to work on a code I can use to effectively substitute Wing Dings.

Alyce DreamEater: Yeah, glad to see such enthusiasm. Sorry it took so long to get back to this.

MaluDiasdi: Well, a true writer doesn't reveal all his secrets at once. But Hope was a good guess.

Dragonsrule18: Well, it's always nice to see authors I admire praising my work, as short as the story is so far. Balance was a good guess, but I cannot yet divulge the nature of the Rainbow Soul trait just yet. You'll have to stay tuned and see.

Random guy: Thank you for the compliment, man. Yes, I've heard of Deltarune. Who hasn't at this point? However, I can't say that it will be relevant to this story. Thing is, Deltarune isn't the post-Pacifist run Undertale sequel many (myself included) were hoping for (not that I'm criticizing our boy Toby for anything). I'm pretty sure Deltarune takes place in an alternate reality where there was no Monster-Human war, meaning the Monsters were never sealed underground. I know this because several monsters we know and love from Undertale live very different lives in Deltarune. My OTP Alphyne doesn't even exist in Deltarune because Undyne reveals that she doesn't know who Alphys is.

But I digress. To put it simply, no. I'm afraid Deltarune won't play a role in this story.

Also, it's getting harder and harder as I keep writing to stay in present tense, but screw it, I'm going to try not to mess it up too much.

With that said, let's get back to the story.

The Goat lady Toriel is pretty nice, I guess. She certainly has that sweet, motherly vibe about her. But I glance down at my companion, Frisk, she said her name was, and I could tell she's thinking the same thing I am; Nice doesn't equate good.

"I must say," Toriel begins, breaking us out of our thoughts. "It has been a while since someone has fallen from the Surface. What could motivate someone so young to come down here?"

Frisk seems reluctant to answer. "I'd...rather not talk about it, Miss Toriel." She says in a small voice.

"Oh," Toriel says, her face falling. "I understand, my child. I will not pressure you to explain your story if you do not wish me to."

"Thank you, Miss Toriel." Frisk replies, her features softening.

"Toriel is fine, my child," Toriel smiles. Then she turned to me. "And what about you, dear?" She asked.

I furrow my brow. "Uhh," I begin. "I really don't know. I think I might have amnesia or something. But from what I can gather, I saw Frisk here climbing the mountain and tried to save her. Anything before that is blank."

"I see," Toriel contemplates. Then her crimson eyes fall on me again. "And you left home without putting your shoes on? That seems rather unhealthy."

Wait, what? I glance down at my feet, and sure enough, I am barefoot. Huh, how did I not notice that before? And why did I leave the house without shoes on? I glance at my companion, but she only shrugs. Clearly, she didn't notice either.

"Well," I reply. "I guess I don't remember that either."

"Hmm." Toriel says. "I suppose it is no serious issue. I am sure I can find you something to wear."

"So," Frisk asks. "Where are you taking us, Toriel?"

"I am going to help you navigate the ruins, my children." Toriel replies.

"Why are they called the Ruins, anyway?" I ask. "Is it because they were ruining the atmosphere of this place?"

My cheeky attempt at humor earns a furrowed brow from Frisk, and a half-suppressed snort from Toriel.

She chuckles, before turning to face me. "That was clever of you, dear, but no. They are called the RUINS because this is where the Monsters lived when..." She pauses, as if recalling some tragic memory. "When our kind was first sealed underground. But since then, the Monsters have spread to many other parts of the Underground. Although, as you will see, some Monsters still live in the Ruins."

Frisk suddenly looks back the way we came, and I can tell she's thinking of something. "So, do you know that flower that attacked us?" She asks.

"Yeah," I agree. "And how did you know to be there in time to save us?"

Toriel sighs. "I have, unfortunately, seen that flower several times." She explains "He tends to stay near the bed of flowers where...where you fell. As for how I knew to be there in time to save you, I make regular trips through the RUINS, and I happened to hear that terrible creature talking to someone, so I knew I had to do something."

"And for that," I say, exchanging a look with Frisk. "We are both incredibly grateful."

Toriel smiles, before something occurs to her. "If you'll excuse me, I need to look ahead for a moment." She says. "I will not be long." She pulls out a small device and hands to Frisk. I quickly recognize it as a flip-phone. Holy stars, that's some ancient tech. "You may use that to contact me if you need me." With that, Frisk and I are on our own.

I turn to the younger girl and she looks up at me. "So," I say, sitting down next to her. "What's your plan, sport? Do we trust her, or run for it."

"Honestly," Frisk says, shrugging her shoulders. "I thought you'd be the judge of that."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed," I argue. "I have no memory of who I am or how I got here, and I apparently left the house with no shoes. I'm probably not the best person to ask about that."

*I would suggest you trust her.

The heck was that? Frisk and I look around for the source of the voice. Then it calls out to us again.

*Over here.

Frisk and I look back towards where we came from and both our eyes widen. A girl is floating towards us, a smile on her face and her hands behind her back. She has a green and yellow striped sweater, maroon pants, and dark brown slippers. Her pale skin is accompanied by two bright blush marks on her cheeks. Also, she's see-through.

*Greetings.

"Who are you?!" Frisk shouts, jumping to her feet. The ghost girl smiles wider.

*I am Chara. It is truly nice to meet you two.

"Chara?" I repeat.

*Yes. Short for Charalyn. Or Character. As in, I care-a lot about my name, so don't mispronounce it.

"You're..." Frisk gapes. "You're a ghost." The ghost girl Chara's eyebrows drop.

*Yes, thank you for noticing.

"What happened to you?" I ask. The smile fades completely.

*Let's just say I didn't stick the landing.

"Well, that's dark." Frisk says.

*I'm over it. Anyway, what are your names?

"I'm Frisk." Frisk says, cheering up. "Nice to meet you."

*Likewise, dear Frisk. What about you, miss? What's your name?

"I honestly don't know." I reply. "I can't remember."

*Hmm...I'll just call you Red.

"Red?" I ask. "Why that?"

*Your red hair, dummy.

"Oh," I say. I'll have to check later just to make sure I actually do have red hair. Am I really a ginger? I guess I'll find out later.

*Anyway, so you two are new here, aren't you?

"Yeah." Frisk replies. It makes me wonder if this ghost girl knows Flowey. I guess I might as well ask.

*Well, I guess that settles it. I'll help you two through the Underground.

"Really?" Frisk asks, her voice full of hope. Chara shrugs.

*I mean, it's not like I have a choice.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

*As far as I know, Frisk's Determination is what awakened me.

"My Determination?" Frisk asks.

*Of course. Didn't you see your Soul's color? It was red, wasn't it?

"Yeah." Frisk recalls. "What does it mean?"

*The color of your Soul is indicative of your most dominant trait. In red Souls, that trait is Determination. The will to see your goals through to the end, regardless of the obstacles in your way.

"How do you know this, exactly?" I ask. Something in the back of my still throbbing head is telling me there's more to this than she's letting on. She just smiles at me.

*I used to have a red Soul. I assume that it means that someone of a matching trait could bring my consciousness back to existence, or some crazy thing like that. I don't know for sure. But nonetheless, because it was her Determination that reawakened me, I am essentially stuck following her around. How you can see me, I do not know.

My face scrunched up in thought. "Maybe it has something to do with my Soul."

Chara seems to stare at me for a few minutes. With some effort, she manages to call my Soul forward, and once again, we are met with the Rainbow colored heart shape.

*Interesting.

"What is it?" Frisk asks.

*I can't remember seeing a Rainbow Soul before. They must be the rarest trait out there.

"So you don't know what it means, do you?" I ask. Chara shrugs and shakes her head.

*No, I'm afraid not.

"Well, do you think someone down here might know?" I ask. Chara takes a few minutes to ponder this.

*You know, I think there is someone who might know. He lives in Hotland, and he's likely the smartest person in the Underground.

"Okay." I say. Then something occurs to me. "Wait a minute, how would you know that? I thought you said you died when you landed." A bead of sweat, almost like a sweat drop animation, trickles down the ghost girl's forehead, somehow.

*Well, I don't want to talk about how I actually died, okay?

I sigh. "Alright." I relent. "But please at least say that next time instead of lying to our faces."

*Alright, partners. I'll do my best.

"Hey," Frisk interrupts. "About what you said, about you being stuck with us. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Chara turns to face the other girl.

*That remains to be seen.

Okay, that was cryptic.

*Hey, don't worry. I know the Underground. If anyone's going to help you two lost humans through the realm of the Monsters, it's going to be me.

"Thanks, I guess." I say.

*You're welcome, Red.

Then the phone Frisk got from Toriel starts ringing. I make a note for some reason that Chara gives the device in Frisk's hand a weird look. Frisk answers the phone. "Children?" Toriel asks on the other end of the line. Again, for some reason, I decide to make a note of how Chara tenses at the sound of Toriel's voice. "Are you two alright?"

"We're fine, miss Toriel." I reply.

"Oh, good." She answers. "I am ready for you two to join me."

"Well," I say as the line goes out. "Let's do this."

*Your desire to face what the Ruins have in store, fills you with Determination.

A/N: Okay, not much to say about this. I mean, the game's been out for so long, that many of my readers will probably know the general idea of what's going on.

Anyway, yeah, I'll be including a list of head canon voices at the end of each chapter, but each list will only include characters in the chapter they debut in.

Also, it's one of my pet peeves with the Undertale fandom that people mispronounce Chara's name so much. It's not car-a, or char-a, its care-a, as in Character. Get it right, people.

As for why our mysterious new character is barefoot, it won't make too much of a difference in the story, but the reason for it being the case will come up by the second half of the story.

Anyway, next time, we get more shenanigans in the Ruins, the trio meets our favorite introverted ghost boy, and the two girls learn more about the Underground's residents.

Until then, please read, review, favorite, and follow, and I'll see you all next time. Peace out, and may the Force be with you. Always.

Voice Actress:

Chara: Anndi Curzon (Cera, The Land Before Time TV series)