I was walking home alone, the cold air biting me harshly. Guilt had been eating me since I snapped with Frisk about a week ago. I still hadn't summed up the courage to go to him and check the damage I caused. Toriel hadn't even called to give me an update. Though it didn't happen often, I knew that meant she was upset. A heavy sigh left my lips, curling in the air.

My little spot had grown since I hurt Frisk. Layers of trees had fallen around it, scarring the ones behind them. I usually donated the knocked over timber to a business but I didn't trust myself around many people recently. I wasn't even sleeping at home with Toriel.

My phone blasted the tune of Castle by Halsey. I panicked and snatched it quickly, seeing a picture of Frisk appear. Quickly I accepted the call and pressed the receiver to my ear. "H-Hey buddy! Long time no see..." I greeted.

Frisk snickered. "That's kinda because you haven't been home Cherry." Frisk pointed out.

I laughed dryly and stopped to lean against a tree. "So what up Li'l' Nug?"

"I wanted to know if you could meet me at Sans' and Papyrus' house. We're all kinda worried."

"I'm fine Frisk, I've been staying... somewhere else. And I'm in Snowdin during the day so I'm not dying, I promise."

Frisk giggled. "Well I trust that! But everyone else is worried."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Okay, I'm on the way. Who all will be there?" I asked.

"Me, Skelebros, Undyne, Alphys, Mom and Asgore."

I grinned. "So the gang?"

"Yeah, basically."

"What are we doing? Movie night?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, we're just hanging out so far."

I shrugged and looked in the direction of Snowdin. I had walked far enough to see the lights from where I was. "I'm within walking distance. Fifteen minutes, minimum."

"Okay! I'll be waiting at the door."

"No! You need to be resting until your side is completely healed." I nagged.

"It was just a cut!"

"A deep one, and I have experience with those, so take it easy."

"Ugh! Fine." Frisk said, defeated.

"Love ya Frisk!" I said, ironically.

"Like ya too!" Frisk teased.

I put down the phone and started trudging through the snow. My leather jacket was unzipped and flapping around me in the January wind. The jacket had a fluff outlining the hood and the ends of the sleeves. I had a plain blue t-shirt on under my jacket with black skinny jeans and tall black boots. A turquoise scarf Papyrus made me was wrapped around my neck firmly and I wore fingerless gloves. Very badass looking.

It took a bit over fifteen minutes to get to the skelebro's home but I sighed in relief when I did. Tapping the door lightly, I yelled, "Frisk let me in! It's freaking cold today!"

The door swung open and I saw Frisk's smile face. "Sup Li'l' Nug! Let me in before I turn into a popsicle."

He laughed and opened the door more. Inside, it was dark and I smiled. "I'm guessing y'all went with movie night?" I guessed, stepping in.

"Nope!" Frisk said chirpingly, closing the door to complete darkness.

"Frisk w-"

The lights flew on, causing me to cover my eyes.

"SURPRISE!"

I blinked away the light spots and looked at the monsters in front of me. Everyone was there, from Grillby to Papyrus to Monster kid. I covered my mouth and squealed quietly. "Guys!" I grinned. "What's this for?"

Sans stepped forward, bearing a pink party hat. "Well, you told me you wanted a party and Frisk here told me your birthday was coming up."

My face fell. "My birthday?" I said quietly. "It's my birthday?"

"Yep! January 6th, am I right?"

I looked at the date on my phone and laughed. "It is, ha!"

"Darling, how did you forget your birthday!" Mettaton asked.

I shrugged. "Haven't had a birthday party since I was seven." I said bluntly.

"BUT HUMAN, WAS THAT NOT TWELVE YEARS AGO?" Papyrus asked.

I rubbed my head nervously and grinned guiltily. "Thirteen years now. Wow, I can't believe I'm twenty."

Toriel rushed forward and hugged me. "Oh child, I'm so sorry I hadn't called you sooner! Sans was afraid I'd 'spill the beans.' But in my opinion, I can keep a secret."

I giggled. "I get it, like a can of beans."

I hugged my mom back and she released me. "I baked a pie, but we also got a cake to celebrate. Chocolate of course, I remember it's your favorite."

Frisk tugged on my jacket and pressed a button into my hand. I looked at it curiously and flipped it around to look at it. In big bubbly little letters, I read the words: Birthday Girl.

I patted Frisk's head and pinned the button to the sleeve of my jacket. "Thanks Frisk."

"Welcome Cherry! Can we eat now?" He asked.

I raised a brow. "Y'all haven't eaten yet?" I asked.

"We had to wait for the guest of honor." Grillby said. "But catering is open now for all of your feasting needs."

Sans grabbed my arm and teleported us the front of the line. I looked at the fold out tables in awe. Grabbing a little bit of everything, I retreated to an armchair in the living room and dove into the food. Sans sat nearby drinking a bottle of ketchup. After eating for a bit, and clearing a spot on my plate, I magically yanked the bottle away from Sans. He gave me an annoyed look but I stuck my tongue out at him, and put some ketchup on the plate.

"You do know that was in my mouth right?" Sans asked.

"A) I don't believe in cooties or things like that.
B) I needed ketchup, you had ketchup.
C) It's not like you have a tongue or anything. You can't get saliva on it."

I tossed the bottle back to Sans and dipped a fry in the ketchup. He snickered and called my attention back to him. As I raised my eyes to look at him, I almost choked on my food. He stuck a fluorescent blue tongue out at me, saliva dripping from his tongue.

"What the f-"

"LANGUAGE, YOUNG LADY!!!" Toriel cut me off.

"You have a tongue!" I gawked.

"Well of course. How else would I taste?" Sans said matter-of-factly.

"But you're a skeleton!" I retorted.

"A magical one." He countered. "I can spawn body parts if I want to. Didn't you ever question the Gaster Blasters' tongues?"

I thought back to it and instantly felt embarrassed. "I guess I didn't." I said, defeated. Sans snickered and drank from his bottle again.

I ate happily for about an hour, monsters cycling through and wishing me a happy birthday. To be completely honest, having a birthday celebration was quite nice. It was way better than getting a burnt cupcake for half-off at the bakery and eating it under a tree at the park. The bakers were always nice about it, but they didn't want me to drive any business away. I understood.

I finished my food long before the flow of talking ceased. Monster kid kept reappearing, asking me questions and praising my 'awesome'ness. The kid made me laugh. When the flow had slowed considerably, I stood up and stretched. "Aw god, I'm stuffed. You sure are good at your craft Grillby."

Grillby chuckled and waved in acknowledgment. "WELL I HOPE YOU SAVED ROOM!" Papyrus claimed. "IT IS TIME TO CUT THE CAKE!"

Everyone seemed to get excited at the word 'cake' and I was pushed towards the table. Giggling, I looked down at the cake. There was a cake version of my drawings under the words 'Happy 20th' scrolled in red frosting. My eyes looked over the cake and I turned to the monsters.

"Thank you all so much! For my first birthday in over a decade, this is amazing. I couldn't have thought of anything better."

They all whooped and cheered, someone *cough cough* (Frisk) *cough cough* started a chant.

Cut the cake!
Cut the cake!
Cut the cake!
Cut the cake!

I took the knife in my left hand and cut a neat line down the side of it. After I cut off the first piece, I started handing it to monsters. When kid got excited about me cutting his piece, I giggled madly. Like I said, the kid made me laugh.

I cut another column, slicing through the writing for the first time. As the knife came away from the cake, I looked at it and my blood went cold. Red was smeared on the blade, and despite my knowledge, I felt something flicker in my gut. "Sans..." The word was little more than a whisper, but he still appeared at my side. "Sans, get them out." I said, getting louder.

"Get out..." I said, "get out!"

Everyone looked at me with concern. My entire left side felt limp and cold, but I could see it moving. The blade twirled in the hand maliciously. "Sans get them out of here!" I screamed, clawing at my left arm.

People started to rush out the door as my left side flickered. I watched in horror as even my clothes reacted. A sweater replaced my jacket, returning to normal seconds later, then repeating the process.

An evil laugh ripped my throat, the voice that once lived solely within me, now audible to the world.

"Brrrroooootttthhhheeerrrr! It's show time!"

The words spilled over my lips but I couldn't stop it. My own voice still filled the air. Sans, Frisk, Papyrus and Toriel all remained, witnessing the horror. I could hear the foundation cracking as roots broke the floor and took my body in a firm, thorny grasp. My right side still belonged to me, but terror still laced my body.

"GEt out BeforE I HuRt you!" I begged, my voice not my own anymore.

Thorns pierced my skin and I hissed in pain. Chara's laugh thickened the tension. "Look at you, being so brave now that you know you can't win!" Flowey teased, tightening his grip.

"You've almost made it too easy. Collecting so many monsters, letting Cherry cut the cake, red frosting... Tell me Sans, were you trying to make Cherry snap?" Chara mocked.

"Leave Cherry alone, before you both have a bad time." Sans growled.

Chara laughed. "And how will you do that without hurting your dear friend Cherry."

A clatter made me jump and I looked down to see the cake knife clatter to the ground, replaced by the damned blade that usually sat on my shelf at home.

"Here you go brother dear. Sans... Frisk, you'll remember this knife right? So many fond memories..." Flowey cackled.

"Go!" I sneered. "Get tO sAFety!"

"Cherry we aren't abandoning you!" Frisk called, tearing streaming his face.

"Chara, Asriel, please! Do not harm Cherry!" Toriel begged.

The two laughed in unison. "We're just chasing our dreams mother! We're going to be happy with Cherry here forever and ever and ever..."

"YOU LITTLE BASTARDS!!!" Papyrus screamed.

The part of my that was aware jumped in fear. Papyrus had always been shy and tender-hearted, despite his yelling. Hearing him curse, and with such anger too, alarmed me.

"I WANTED TO BELIEVE THAT YOU TWO CAN BE BETTER! BUT WHEN YOU'VE TAKEN SOMEONE I HOLD SO DEAR JUST TO TURN THEM INTO A VESSEL.... A WEAPON...... YOU-"

"What will you do? Low beings like you don't have the determination to do anything with your friend in danger. The only person here that can save you all has nearly given up." Chara said.

"Don't tell me you've all forgotten about Cherry's hope! So so low... I'm surprised it isn't gone by now."

The combination of Chara and Flowey's words dawned on me. I was the only person here who could act against the two, at least enough to make a difference. But I was too much of a coward to do so. I'm just an empty husk of someone that was supposed to be important. Somewhere out in the world, there was a soul that I abandoned. Maybe if I had a soul, I'd be able to fight back... Maybe I'd be useful.

My heart sank and I felt my control slip. Realizing my mistake, I desperately tried to grasp it back, but failed. My consciousness reappeared in my mind, kneeling in chains at Chara's feet. The child laughed wickedly and skipped around me.

"I thought you had more in you than that. I guess I'm better at my job that I thought." Chara teased.

I didn't try to respond. My words were useless, just like me. Chara chuckled and skipped away. Images flickered to life in front of me, and I saw my friends, all fleeing in different directions. My body and actions weren't my own. I reached to try and stop it, my hand remained at my side.

HP: 0/1