Chara's Story (WIP) [TW]

The Truth [TW]

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter published! To be honest this has been finished for a few weeks, and I've just been too lazy to publish it >> I'll try to get chapters out on a schedule from now on]


Upon the arrival of Asriel’s home, Chara grew more and more nervous. Though Asriel had been kind to them, they weren't sure how his parents would react. Chara was certain that monsters did not take much of a liking to humans after they banished their species underground. Just remembering the story made Chara grimace.

Asriel and Chara approached the house’s front door, and Chara gathered enough strength to pull away from Asriel and step back a few steps. Their nerve turned into full out fear. Asriel gave them a confused look. “What's wrong, Chara? This is my home, you're safe here.”
“What if they hate me?” Chara’s voice was barely audible. They were convinced that if they went in there that they wouldn't come out alive.

“They won't hate you, I promise. I've never seen them hate anyone in their life!” Asriel promised, taking Chara’s arm again. “After we explain, I'm sure they can help you.”
Finally admitting defeat, Chara nodded and headed for the door once again. Asriel placed his paw on the handle, and turned it.

The first thing that Chara noticed is that it was distinctly warmer inside. There was even a scent of cinnamon in the air. Asriel led them to what appeared to be the living room. “My mom’s probably baking right now, so she's in the kitchen.” The moment after Asriel spoke, another monster entered the room. They resembled Asriel, being a white goat monster, but they were taller and were wearing a purple tunic with some sort of symbol on the front. Chara noticed that she was holding a tray with what looked like a pie on it.

“Welcome home, my child. You're back just in time for some--” The monster stopped when she noticed Chara. Chara braced for some sort of pain of an attack, but nothing happened.
“Goodness…” The monster uttered. She ran back into the kitchen and returned empty- handed. “Asriel, where did you--”
“They fell down the mountain, Mom. They're hurt!” Asriel replied, motioning to Chara’s twisted ankle.
“Oh, um, okay!” His mother replied, still in shock of the current situation. She shambled over to the main entrance room, and motioned for the children to follow. The woman opened the first door on the wall, and stepped inside,Asriel and Chara trailing behind.
The mother monster flipped on a light switch to reveal that the room they had entered was a bedroom, and by the look of it, it was a child's bedroom.
“Here, Asriel, lay them on your bed.” The mother instructed.
So this was Asriel’s room! Chara pondered.

Asriel led Chara to the base of the bed, and the child crawled onto the mattress. They rested their head on the pillow, exhausted from the trek there.
Asriel's mother lifted Chara’s leg slightly, inspecting the injury.
“Hm,” she began. “I believe it is just a sprain, my child. You should be fine in a few days.” Chara did a double-take. Did she just call them...her child?
“Just to be sure, I'll get some bandages to wrap it around. You two stay here, and I'll be back in a--” The door outside the room clicked, and she paused. “Oh.”
She stood up, and walked to the door. “It seems your father is home, Asriel. I will go have a talk with him. Please stay here, you two.” With that remark, the monster opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her.

Asriel sat at the foot of the bed, twiddling his thumbs. Chara tried to listen to the conversation of Asriel’s parents, searching for any sign of danger, but all they heard was muffled voices. After about a minute, the voices stopped. The two children waited in silence for a moment, and the door creaked open. Asriel's mother walked in first,  and trailing behind her was Asriel’s….. father? He was slightly larger than the former monster, but resembled her nonetheless. He bore a purple cloak, and nestled beneath his horns was a small crown. Chara could have sworn they saw a hint of pink within the monster’s cloak.

The father focused his gaze on Chara for a moment, a perplexed expression on a face.
He shook his head and changed his expression to a smile, taking a few steps forward. Chara instantly scooted backwards until their back touched the headboard, feeling their earlier fear return in a wave. The goat monster paused at the foot of the bed.

“I'm not going to hurt you, small one,” he promised, taking another cautionary step closer. He held up his massive paws in a gesture of peace. Chara hummed nervously, slowly scooting forward. The monster walked around the edge of the bed and stopped beside the human, holding his paw out. Chara, after feeling a weird sense of deja-vu, obliged and held the monster's paw, firmly shaking it.
“My name is King Asgore.” The goat stated, eventually releasing Chara's hand. The human felt their heartbeat increase. “King” Asgore…? Their eyes widened at the realization.

“You're…. You're the king of monsters..?” They asked in a shaky voice. It was more of a statement than a question. They stared intently at Asgore’s crown. The king laughed, his deep voice rebounding across the room walls.
“Why, yes I am.” He confirmed, lightly tapping said crown. His smile faded when he noticed Chara’s distressed expression, and he lowered himself to their eye level. “Is there something troubling you, young one? You should know now that you are safe here.”
Chara looked away, feeling tears starting to well up in their eyes once more. “Why are you all so nice to me?” They asked between sniffles. “I am a human. My kind hurt yours. Shouldn't you kill me?” Chara brought their knees to their chest and restrained a sob.

The mother goat spoke up this time, bounding forward with the bandages in her hold.
“Heavens no! We would never harm you, my child.” She rested a heavy paw on the human’s head. “You did not cause our banishment.” She used that opportunity to begin tending to their injury, gently wrapping the bandage around their foot. Chara winced slightly, and gave a pained smile.

“Don’t you realize that being nice to people...only gets you hurt?” They asked, feeling another tear run down their face. They sighed in relief as Toriel finished, and rested back into the pillow. Asriel ran up to them, a stubborn look in his eyes.
“Well, I'm not hurt right now, am I? So that can't be all true!” He held Chara's hand securely.

Chara stared at the goat child, admiring his determination. At the same time, it pained them to see him act like that. He was optimistically naive. Too nice. It reminded Chara of how they used to be: Innocent, too trusting, unaware of the dangers of the real world. They thought back to the times they would get yelled at for doing something wrong. Each time their parents called them stupid or a mistake left a little scar in their heart, until they grew so used to it that they turned a deaf ear to to the insults. Their parents didn't care at all about Chara, or how they felt. They thought back to the day where they had decided to leave home. Even as they ran away, a part of them hoped that their parents would run after them, begging for their child to stay home.
Of course, that was all wishful thinking. They were most likely celebrating at that very moment, glad to be rid of such a “waste of space.”
Chara thought of the hesitation they felt as they climbed Mt. Ebott. They knew of the impending danger that befell anyone who climbed the mountain, but they couldn't take it anymore. They just hoped that the fall would end it quickly.
They hadn't expected to wake back up after they jumped down the mountain. In fact, it horrified them. Was life really that unfair? All their life, they we're told they were a mistake. It was kind of funny, actually. They tried to die, and they couldn't even get that right.

They thought about when Asriel found them. He was so eager to help Chara without hesitation. Ironically it seemed that the monsters had more humanity than, well, humanity! Chara smiled cruelly at the thought. It was sickening, really, to be part of such a wicked species. Such a cruel, unforgiving species--

“Chara, are you alright?”

The human blinked and looked back at Asriel, who had a growing look of concern on his face. Chara realized that they had been staring into space for the last few minutes. They smiled and waved their hands dismissively.
“Oh! Yes, I am fine. I'm just tired.” They yawned unconsciously in confirmation.

Toriel nodded. “Of course, child. You must be exhausted. We will allow you to sleep.” She and Asgore headed for the door. Toriel turned to her son. “Come along, Asriel. Let Chara rest for now. You can sleep with us tonight, okay?”
The prince looked at Chara sullenly before obeying his mother and walking out of the room.

Chara was alone.