The world grew more and more hazy over time. Chara was not giving her much power over what they did. Rain continued to look at things as if in a dream. Everything was discolored and she felt like she was trying to look at things taking place at the other end of a long, dark tunnel. The only time she managed to regain some semblance of control was when Chara slept.

They had hunkered down under the arc of a a small stone bridge. Not too far ahead a series of wooden bridges and scaffolding stretched out across a huge canyon. The water beneath had just enough glowing algae in it to illuminate the piles of trash and debris that had built up against the shoreline and coves down below.

Rain slipped back into her body. Chara had been muttering in her sleep, causing some of the nearby echo flowers to emulate her. There were quite a few in the immediate area. Their blue petals swayed in the gentle breeze along with the tall grass as they whispered soft nothings to each other across the distance.

Rain rubbed at her heavy eyes and sighed. She knew she was in trouble for more reasons than one.

She knew this was bad but the lingering effects of being shoved into the back seat of her mind was taking a while to wear off, making her feel dull and sluggish.

She closed her eyes. That felt good. They were so heavy and strained that they hurt. Closing them felt so nice. Maybe Chara had the right idea. Maybe she should just sleep.

She rested her back against the curve of the bridge’s underbelly. It felt nice to have her body back but she wasn’t sure if she was in any condition to use it.

At least her wounds were already healed. Since monster food was magical the benefits of eating it were instant. The more accustomed to this world She became the easier it was to use that instant energy to help her heal. Chara’s growing strength had something to do with it too.

Most of their wounds were crusty old scabs or puckered scars by now; still tender but fading fast.

Rain was falling asleep now too. She pulled the hood of their stolen cloak down over her eyes. Her body felt heavy. What was the point of having retaken control anyway? She would just have to hand the reigns back over to Chara sooner or later. Otherwise Undyne would kill them.

Rain felt a stab of anger at the thought of the Captain. Killing her would bring the other fallen humans to justice, right?

Voices began to drift into her dreams. They muttered pointless things. Stupid little snippets of conversation that did not matter and were soon carried off by the soft sigh of the wind.

The sighing grew louder. Closer.

They stirred in their sleep. The wind sounded like a voice if they thought about it; constantly hushing them.

“Shhh.”

“Shhh.”

“Shhhh..”

“Shut up Rain.” Chara muttered, causing them to roll over and pull their hood down even lower.

The wind continued to get closer. Or was it a snake? A snake sliding through the grass. Closer and closer. Louder and louder.

“Shhhhh.”

“Shhh.”

“Shhh”

“Rain, I said shut up.” Chara grumbled again.

In a brief moment of shared control Rain managed to mutter, “It’s not me.”

“Shhh”

“Shh.”

“...Behind you.”

Their eyes snapped open, both stumbling over each other for control. For several seconds neither one of them understood who was in control but Rain came out on top in the end. They sprang to their feet, gripping their fire iron and whirling around.

They both came to the same conclusion as their eyes locked on to a nearby echo flower.

“Behind you.” It repeated, its voice vaguely familiar and trill, sounding amused. A few feet away another flower said the same thing.

A little ways off, other flowers where repeating their mumbled conversations to each other now, carrying their words off into the darkness.

“Shut up Rain.”

“Rain, I said shut up.”

“Shut up Rain.”

“Shhhh.”

“Shhhh.”

“Behind you.”

“Shhh.”

“Ssshhut up Rain.”

“Shhh.”

Their conversation collided with the hushing sound and consumed it in a messy game of telephone as the message drifted through the field.

“Oh no.” For once Rain had the foresight to think the words instead of opening her mouth.

There was a blue flash of light and a blinding spike of pain. A spear had shot out of the darkness and pinned their hand to the side of the bridge. Rain howled in agony and the nearby flowers echoed her suffering.

Their first instinct was to pull away but that only hurt them more. Gritting her teeth, Rain gripped the spear in her good hand. Chara chanted orders and encouragement as she struggled to pull it out.

Another spear shot out of the reeds. Chara forced her way to the front of Rain’s mind and pulled them aside just in time.

“Very clever!” Chara called, trying to stall for time while they continued to work together to free themselves. A thick trail of blood was oozing down the stone. “Using the Echo flowers to pinpoint us. I knew you had to be dangerous to be a Captain but I forgot that they made sure you had brains, too.”

A voice chuckled. “Forgot? You make it sound like we already know each other. And there’s no way I would have let something like you live long enough to forget I was dangerous!”

The Echo flowers were creating a field of verbal static now; bits and pieces of their words intermingling.

Rain screamed when they pried the spear loose. It was a messy removal. The wall bore a bloody hand print with a crack down its center.

“But I guess it doesn’t matter. I will gladly remind you just how dangerous I really am!” Two more spears shot out of the reeds, much closer than before. How she had managed to creep up on them in armor was a miracle.

Rain and Chara flung themselves to the ground. The spears sank deep into the stone above them and peppered them with rubble.

Chara pushed them to their feet with their good hand. “Run.” She ordered, picking up their weapon.

“Coward! Come back here!” Undyne bellowed, bursting forth from her hiding place as they scrambled up a slope and back on to the main road.

“Faster! Faster! Run faster!” Neither one of them was sure who was speaking anymore. All they knew was they had to run.

With ever-mounting dread they both realized that their only option would be the series of maze-like bridges and platforms crisscrossing the ravine up ahead. Many of the pathways were too high up to have enough adequate lighting to see where and if they connected to another path later on so there was a very real chance of getting stuck in a dead end.

“Do you remember which way to go?” Rain demanded.

“No. Keep running. It will come to me.”

The bridge swayed with their weight and rattled against the rhythm of their footsteps. Behind them Undyne had leapt up the slope they had come from with a crash. With a furious battle cry she sent several more spears after them.

“Seven!” She bellowed.

The first two came up short and harpooned the planks just behind them, sending a spray of splinters through the air. The next two landed just in front of them and they had to squeeze past their cumbersome poles.

Undyne gave chase. The whole bridge swayed under the force of her pursuit. “Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king will become a god!”

The bridge ended on a stone platform that acted as a way point between the path they had taken and a much narrower one waiting off to the side. Its smooth surface was slick with moisture. They gasped when they slipped against the sudden change of footing and they landed on their hip with a painful thump that reverberated all the way down their legs. They covered their head and rolled as spears came crashing down around them half a second later, their blue glow giving off just enough light to warn them of their approach.

“With that power, our king will be able to shatter the barrier and finally retake the surface back from humanity!”

They pushed themselves back up to their feet and skidded onto the next bridge. It was short but rickety. It swayed dangerously and the ropes creaked. They only made it a few yards out onto the new bridge before they had to lunge for the next solid platform when the sound of spears whistling through the air warned them of the impending consequence of staying put.

With a snap the ropes gave way. They barely managed to skid to the supposed safety on another smooth platform of rock.

“Then,” Undyne chuckled, “Then we can finally repay all the humans like you, for all the suffering they have inflicted upon us.”

They pushed themselves back up to their feet, leaving a thick trail of blood behind them.

Undyne Snarled at them across the gap. “Six!” Another spear ripped across the darkness and caught their cloak.

The lost their balance and stumbled forward. Rain let out a shrill, “Oh no!” As they lost their balance and stumbled forward in the middle of a sharp turn. They slipped on their own blood and found themselves sliding off the ledge. They clawed at the slick stone with bloody hands but it was no use.

“That’s how many we have collected thus far.”

Chara had realized what was happening just a split second before Rain and instead of wasting her time clawing at the ledge, she was figuring out a way to fix things. They were held in place by their snagged cloak for little more than a second before it tore under their weight. Yet the delay had been all Chara needed. She pushed their feet up against the rock face and looked down. There was another bridge just a few yards below.

When the cloak ripped she pushed off and propelled them towards the next bridge. They rolled, taking the majority of the impact in their shoulder.

Above them Undyne’s teeth flashed in a fit frustration. She jumped off of her bridge in pursuit.

Rain and Chara took off running again.

Undyne was too far off to land on the same bridge as them. They saw a brief flash of red hair as she fell past them and landed with a loud crash several yards down below. When looking over the guardrail they could just see Undyne looking up at them from the platform bellow.

“Understand, human?” She barked, summoning another attack.

They saw the lights approaching from the slits between the wooden planks. They leaned to one side and a series of spears shot up through the floor; their jagged tips narrowly missing them. They pressed up against the railing and flailed wildly, nearly careening over the edge before Rain managed to grab the handrail with her good hand and steady themselves.

They continued to run, splinters erupting from the floor half a step behind them.

“Isn’t any of this looking familiar yet?” Rain gulped.

“Not yet.” Chara panted, veering to the left at a crossroads and ducking into a short elbow-bend tunnel.

“After everything you have done, this is your only chance at redemption. Death is your only redemption!” A single spear embedded itself in the mouth of the tunnel.

When they came out the other side Chara looked around, eyes wild as she searched for a path that would lead them away from the Captain.

“Any time now Chara!”

“Shut up, I’m thinking!”

“Look out!” Rain hit the floor, another set of spears narrowly missing them. She groaned. Her hand was throbbing.

“Wait, I think I remember something. This way.” Swerving to the side and pressing their back against the slick wall, Chara darted down a set of stone stairs and up onto another bridge. This one was a little wider and more stable.

The wood was splintering in rhythm with their footfall now; bright flashes of light cropping up just a few feet behind them at every turn. Undyne continued to call to them. “So if you have any shred of honor in that black soul of yours, you will give up on this pointless endeavor of escape.”

The area in front of them broke into splinters and they fell through the newly opened gap. They landed on another short bridge that connected two rickety platforms. They looked up just in time to see Undyne barreling towards them, just a few yards away and closing in fast; her battle cry drowning out the sound of the roaring water down below.

Chara forced them back up, shrouding their pain in a numbing shadow as they limped away. It was a pitiful and painful attempt. Even in all that armor, Undyne gained on them like all this had been nothing more than a jaunt out to the mailbox for her.

“Rain, give me full control.”

“I don’t want-”

“Do it!”

It felt like a hand had yanked her back her by the hair and shoved her underwater. The world became discolored. She felt like she was falling, then drifting.

Chara knocked away Undyne’s next barrage with her own weapon but still ended up taking a few nasty hits. “Piss off, you stupid fish!”

“So that’s how it is.” Undyne cackled. “Good! After what you did, I will enjoy ripping your soul from your body the hard way!”

Chara was not sticking around to see if Undyne would make good on that threat. She got a running start and flung herself from one platform to another. “Heal me.” She grunted, grinding her teeth against the ever constant pain from their growing list of injuries and the jarring impact of one fall after another.

Rain did as she was told. It felt like she was diving deep underwater to retrieve something and pull it to the surface. Her entire existence focused on finding their wounds and willing them to close.

Undyne descended upon them like a meteor falling to earth. She was right behind them again in a heartbeat.

“It’s this way. I know it is. I’m remembering- this way!” Chara assured, not caring if anyone bothered to listen.

They staggered on in the dark, deflecting a stray spear now and then. Behind them Undyne continued to shout at them.

They could see an exit now. A platform made of wide wooden planks leading up to a series of scaffolding and stair steps. After that they would be out of the ravine.

“Oh no you don’t!” Several arrows whistled through the air. Two of them pinned them down by the cloak again. While they were trying to free themselves another attack pummeled the scaffolding in front of them, causing the support beams to crumble. Chara watched the destrution unfold in front of her, cutting off their only way out. The walls were too steep and slick to climb.

Undyne stalked up to them; a spear lowered towards their heart. “Seven.” She repeated.

Chara looked at her then looked at the spears lodged in the platform in front of her. The wood was splitting.

“Seven human souls. That’s all we need.” Undyne lifted the spear high above her head.

“Rain?”

“Yeah?”

“Hold on.”

“-and now, that’s exactly what we have.”

Chara burst into a run, heading straight for Undyne with a furious battle cry. Undyne lashed out but at the last second her attack became defensive as she took a step back in alarm at their unexpected rush.

The attack came up short- Undyne had not been Chara’s target.

Chara jumped up into the air as high as she could. She pulled her legs up under her and kept her arms close together so that all of her weight was in one spot. When gravity pulled her back down again she slammed into the planks with zero regard for Rain’s body.

For a brief moment Undyne and the human just looked at each other. Perhaps a little shocked and confused.

The sound of cracking wood kept time with Chara’s growing smirk.

Undyne realized what her plan was all too late. She stepped forward to try to stop them but it was already over.

The platform crumbled.

Chara fell.

Rain was in total disbelief. They were tumbling through the air, head over heels. Through a messy blindfold of her own hair Rain watched the glowing water below and the eternal crystal-speckled darkness above spin in and out of view.

What had she done?

Up above them Undyne watched in disbelief as the human tumbled into the abyss bellow; cackling like a mad woman the whole way down.

“Well would you look at that!” Chara exclaimed, not a care in the world. “It’s Raining! Hahahaha! Get it?”