Author's Note: The first time I uploaded this, the bolding of the words was off, so it was hard to tell if it was Shadow or Chara who was speaking in the italics. I have gone back through and fixed that! Shadow's thoughts are in bold and Chara's are not. Sorry for the inconvenience!

--

I woke up the next morning still on the couch. Lily had told me the day before that she didn't need to be protected..., but I knew how scared she was by my genocide. And she knew how scared I was of my genocide. Though, she didn't know it was my genocide... All we knew was that we had to stick together. Somehow the television was turned on and once again, Mettaton's news broadcast was playing.

"Attention, monsters! Find safety immediately! The killer has made it through Snowdin Forest and to Snowdin! Everyone is IN DANGER!" Mettaton shouted urgently. I quickly shut it off. Monsters were going to come... Legions of powerful monsters...

We have to get out of here...

Frantically, I shook Lily (who was sleeping on the far end of the couch away from me) awake. "Lily! Wake up! We have to go!" I told her. I'd would find Sans and Papyrus later. For now, we had to run.

Lily groggily woke up with a confused expression. "Huh...? Sabon...? What's the rush...?" She sat up and rubbed her eyes exhaustedly. Suddenly, she remembered what happened yesterday and stiffened. "Wait... Don't tell me that--!"

"The killer is in Snowdin!" I blurted. Yes, we are in danger. But not from what you expect.

She instantly hopped to her feet with a frantic expression. "But... NO! It can't be! I need to defend them!" she shouted running towards the door. Her eyes blazed menacingly.

I grabbed onto her hand firmly and yanked her back to me. "Lily, we need to run! You can't save them!"

"But I can't leave them! THEY'RE MY FRIENDS!! LET ME GO I--!" she paused and looked back at me. "But... nobody was here yesterday... The dust plague... Your hands..." She looked down at my dust-covered gloves with an expression of pure horror. I knew... She knew... A moment passed of silence.

"You're... the..." Her voice caught in her throat a moment. It didn't take her long to regain it... In an instant, all of her frustrations were launched at me. "YOU TRAITOR!!"

I didn't move when she ran me through with a shining blue sword summoned with her powers. I wasn't doubting she would kill me. In fact, I hoped she would. Because... I have something she doesn't know about. Determination.

--

You know, she's not an idiot. I knew this would happen, Shadow.

I stared through the blackness seeing Chara's ghostly figure drifting before me. Knowing very clearly what she meant, I reflected on my mistake. I gave her the information needed for her to determine that I was the killer... That could only mean...

I just wasn't careful enough. If I play my cards differently, she will still never figure it out.

Chara's outline sighed. Clearly, she was getting tired of me keeping Lily with me in the dark. As clear as crystal, Chara wanted more than ever for Lily to be dead.

All right... Just be sure to kill EVERYONE in Waterfall... That includes Undyne.

Undyne?

Yes. I know you two were chummy in the old timeline, but that doesn't exist anymore. Now... You are mortal enemies. Don't fail me, Shadow. I'm still relying on you.

... Yes, Chara.

With that, I went back to the save point.

--

I woke back up on the couch again from that morning. Lily was still asleep and the TV was once again broadcasting the news of my destruction. I jumped to my feet unsure of what to do.

"I need to make my past actions seem more like the actions of something else... But how?" I asked myself.

I remembered how Lily's gaze went straight to my dust-covered hands. That'd be where I'd start. Running outside, I heard the sound of rushing water. Much to my displeasure, I knew that water would be very cold... But freezing for a few minutes would be better than getting impaled again. So, I ran towards the water.

"How suspicious... The water's not as cold as I thought it would be...," I noted as I stuck my hand into the water cautiously. Looking to the left, I saw a small platform with a conveyor belt. No ice was coming out... I forgot. I killed the Ice Wolf yesterday.

With a shrug, I dove into the water. Drenched in water, I quickly remembered my Olympic training. Battling against the rushing current, I noticed the dust fade from my fur. As fast as I could, I hauled myself out of the water. Just as I had suspected, cold slapped me harder than the current had.

"Back to the house! Now!" I shouted to myself as I ran through the snow towards the house.

It took another few minutes to dry off and make sure I looked good as new. As soon as that was done, I sat down wondering what my strategy should be to convince her that I'm not a serial killer.

"Obviously, there really aren't any hedgehogs that look like me who I can pass the blame to... So..., therefore, I have to make up someone. Someone who doesn't have to be real, but looks like me... Someone who looks like me..."

A shadow of myself.

"Mephiles. My shadow... We look the same. Even though she's never met him before, it still wouldn't be far fetched to believe that I have a brother... I ran away from the Ruins when my brother went crazy and ended up in Snowdin! If I say that Mephiles is doing it, then she can hear a description of me and think it's... my brother." I nodded, pleased with my story. Not to mention, Mephiles really is my shadow. Therefore, telling her that Mephiles caused the havoc, it wouldn't be a lie. He did cause havoc. Just not mine.

Finally having my story in place, I ran over to Lily to wake her up. Even if the story didn't work, I could always try again. And again. And again. Suddenly, I froze.

Shadow, she'll still find out. Lily will still run outside to save everyone in Snowdin. You need to think of something else!

Like always, Chara was right. I looked down on Lily's calm, unmoving body. Telling her Snowdin was under attack was not going to happen. I couldn't just ask her to abandon Sans and Papyrus's house either to go with me. She'd never agree to it. I also couldn't simply ask her to come with me to prevent the possibility of the killer coming. She'd evacuate the rest of Snowdin as well. Everything that came to my mind would result in myself being discovered... All but one idea.

I don't have to get her consent.

Oh? Do you have an idea?

Yes. If I take her to Waterfall without waking her up, she'll assume that I saved her and won't return to Snowdin. I'll tell her everyone else died and that there's nothing to return to.

That'll break her heart... I love it~!

Alright, then...

I felt guilty about having to lie such a terrible lie to her, but I couldn't think of any other option. Lifting her gently into my arms, I noticed a small pouch in her hands. Curious, I looked inside to find...

This... This can't be! I would've known if it was!

What? What is it?

It's a chaos emerald... I almost forgot they were scattered throughout the Underground... I haven't been able to sense their presence, but maybe that's because I can't. After all, I was never able to figure out Lily had one this whole time...

What's so special about this emerald? And why is it called an emerald when it's blue?!

I'm not the one who named the chaos emeralds. But I think it's because they were made from the Master Emerald in the past and were once all the same color because of that. It's just a hypothesis, though.

I literally understood none of what you just said.

You don't have to. As for what's so special about it...

I grabbed onto the chaos emerald with a smirk on my face. Holding the sleeping Lily in one arm and raising the chaos emerald with the other, I said the magic words.

"Chaos control!"

Colors went flying past me, and in only a moment, we were in Waterfall. Completely past the cold of Snowdin. I was amused by Chara's silent reaction to what just happened.

. . . Ohhhhhhh... I see why you like those things so much!

Exactly.

I lightly set Lily beside an echo flower to sleep. Gently, I whispered into the echo flower: "I'll be back here soon to explain. Just stay here, Lily."

After I made sure that Lily didn't move, I ran into a familiar face. Monster Kid.

"Yo! Are you from Snowdin?" he asked curiously.

I nodded without any verbal response. There really wasn't any reason why I was associating at all with Monster Kid. I didn't need to kill him. He wouldn't give me any EXP. Mostly because killing him would be so easy. Plus, I wasn't interested in killing kids unless if I had to.

"Cool! You're a survivor, aren't you?!" Monster Kid demanded with an amazed expression. "I heard about the massacre over there and went to find anyone who might've survived! Now that I've saved you, I can be a hero like Undyne!"

I continued to the next room with Monster Kid still on my heels. He wouldn't stop following me.

"I should take you to the Capital with my parents where it's safe! My parents live here in Waterfall, so it wouldn't be any trouble because they're leaving to evacuate to the Capital anyway!" he told me.

So, there will be fewer monsters here as a result of Mettaton's broadcast... But clearly... Waterfall is far from empty.

We'll change that very soon...

"Listen, kid. If you know what's good for you, you'll run home," I told Monster Kid seriously. He looked hurt for a moment, but of course, it didn't take him long to recover.

"But why should I?! I'm trying to become a hero!" he protested.

"Heroes always get themselves killed."

...

Monster Kid suddenly looked intimidated by my expression. He inched backward slowly before running away. "On second thought, maybe I'll go now! Sorry, dude!" With that, he ran away.

Finally, I was alone. I went to the next room with my knife drawn menacingly. Once again, my mission was set.

Nine left... Six left... Four left... Three left...

I looked around. There had to be some more! I wasn't done yet! Three enemies... While I was roaming around, I looked behind me to see Lily starting to wake up... and at the worst possible time! If she woke up, how was I supposed to kill the last three monsters?!

She woke up in a confused daze. Everything around her was different... Why? When she sat upwards, she figured out where she was. "Waterfall...? How did I get here...?" She then coughed because of all the dust floating around. "Why is it dustier here than in Snowdin?! There can't possibly just be dust all throughout the Underground! Blech!"

I frantically looked around. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a line of Moldsmal. Three of them. Making sure I was out of earshot and eye range, I lunged towards them violently. With one simple slice, they were nothing more than jello globs on the ground. Satisfied, I ran back towards Lily.

"Lily!" I shouted as I ran back to her. But as I crossed the bridge seeds... One of the seeds weren't secure.

Ker-sploosh!!

With that, I noticed all of the patches of dust from those monsters disappear. I had forgotten that dust likes to cling to my fur... Thankful I had fallen into the water, I quickly climbed back out and raced over to Lily.

She heard me fall into the water. I knew because I heard her rapid footsteps come towards me. Sure enough, I saw her appear around the corner with a worried expression. "Sabon!" Worriedly, she pulled me to my feet. "Are you okay?!"

I coughed up a mouthful of water and nodded. "Yeah..., I'll be okay..."

Lily placed her hands on her hips. "So, you do talk! I thought you would never speak to me, but boy! You sure surprised me yesterday, Sabon! Or is that really your name?" she asked.

"I'd prefer that you continued calling me Sabon. Maybe one day, I'll tell you my real name," I answered. Truth be told, I did like the name she gave me. Maybe I just wanted to be Sabon around her... because Shadow was simply too horrible for her to ever know.

"Alright... Sabon, how did we get here? I mean, I know from your echo flower message that you took me here, but why...?" she questioned. I noticed that when she asked why she gave a longing glance back in the direction of Snowdin.

I heaved a sigh knowing that I had to lie to her. "The killer came to Snowdin..."

She gasped in horror and immediately began to run back towards the town of Snowdin. In an instant, her icy blue swords appeared once more- one in each hand.

I ran after her knowing that she would be devastated if she went back to see the town... exactly the way he left it. "Lily, no! Everyone there is already dead! I took you to Waterfall because I knew that if I didn't, you'd die, too!"

Lily didn't stop running. She had a frantic expression in her eyes. But... the truth became undeniable. She could barely see the town..., and she knew already it was true. The dust blowing through the air caught in her throat... She realized it wasn't dust with horror.

"Snowdin... The forest! THE RUINS! Waterfall, too!! This killer is killing everyone!! And... AND I DID NOTHING TO SAVE THEM!" she shouted in frustration.

I stood behind her with a grim expression. Somehow... vowing to protect her after all of this... I felt worse than I had before I decided to keep her alive... Because I had to watch her suffer. "Lily..., I'm sorry..."

Lily fell to her knees on the snowy ground with grief. She heaved a sob for her friends who had allowed her to stay in Snowdin... All the monsters in the forest... The monsters on the streets... Everyone. "I... I can't believe this could ever happen... WHY?!" she demanded.

See, Shadow?! She's complicating our mission! Get rid of her!

No...

YOU IDIOT! I SAID GET RID OF HER! DON'T YOU KNOW SHE'S RUINING MY--!?

"Sabon...," she mumbled sadly to me as she stood up to face me. I didn't know what she was planning on doing, but whatever it was, I wouldn't object. Her face looked mournful. Her soft voice trembled. "Sabon, why are you protecting me...? Why do I deserve to live more than them...? Why did you take me to Waterfall and not let me die with the others...?"

Each question was a vicious stab in the heart. I knew that she didn't know I killed them, but the way she was talking to me... Chara suddenly seemed amused.

Hm... It seems that killing everyone is giving you more power and making her suffer. How cute~ I'm kind of glad you spared her! Don't get me wrong. I'm definitely angry. But enjoying this oh so much at the same time.

You're despicable... She shouldn't have to feel any of this.

Which is why you should have killed her in the forest, Shadow.

...

As I had my internal dialogue in my head with Chara, I at the same time didn't respond to any of Lily's questions. I doubt she was expecting an answer, but I did feel compelled to say something. Just because I was compelled didn't mean I spoke, though.

After another moment, Lily suddenly ran over to me and clung to my chest tightly. "And now I'll never see them again... S-Sabon... Even though... I know that's not your name..."

Surprised by her sudden action, I at first didn't know what to say. Then I realized that I didn't need to say anything. Slowly, I hugged her lightly. I looked down towards the ground unable to look at her. Again, the horrible guilt overflowed my senses.

Chara... I'm not sure how much longer I can deal with this...

Oh?

It hurts...

That's fine, Shadow! Besides, by the time you get to Hotland, you'll lose all of your emotions again... Like how you were feeling in Snowdin Forest BEFORE we met Lily...

But I'm--

SHH!! What's that noise?!

Suddenly, I became alert to the sound of metallic stomping. Somewhat worried, I pulled Lily close to me and prepared myself to find a dangerous enemy. Sure enough..., I came face to face with the most dangerous enemy in the Underground...

The metallic stomping stopped as an armored figure paused just a few feet away from us. They seemed to examine us and came slightly closer. The figure then removed her helmet before us with a serious glare in her eye. I knew that face. I knew that face very well.

A very angry fish lady was blocking our path.