Wilt

I never thought I would become the adopted child to goat people.

I never expected to find such a colorful world when the entrance lingered with death.

I never considered to have someone to call my brother.

These thoughts ran through my mind as I sat among a garden of flowers. Pinks, blues, whites and purples all around me, waiting to be pulled, plucked, petted and smelled. I had a small basket of flowers just lying atop one another in between my legs, while the beginning of a flower crown rested in my right hand.

A needless task, but it passed the time.

This area was the only place in Hotland where flowers grew, hidden in a small garden in the castle; my home. It wasn't grand like the rest of home, yet it held its own simplicity in the highest regard. In the middle of this small garden was the fountain father decided to place, designed with many different types of monsters for the rim. The main sculpture, where water flowed freely up and down into the base, was of father holding mother dearly in his arms. In the middle of them was Asriel, the true son of mother and father, who placed their other hand on his head in love while he happily smiled up to them. Above mother and father, crawling from behind was me, albeit my head, shoulders and arms. My arms rested atop mother and father's shoulders, with one arm raised in the air where the water came from. My smile was pure.

I was their joy. I was their hope; that one day the monsters and humans could come together once more for everlasting peace.

They looked to me with love and adoration. They believed that there was more of me above the surface.

The thought alone made me giggle.

"There you are." I took a moment to gaze down at my flower crown before over to where the familiar voice came from. Standing at the foot of the door to the garden was Asriel, who had changed out of his ceremonial robes from the earlier meeting. An event we were always forced to attend. I decided to stay in my purple robes baring the Delta Rune and white pants. Though if mother saw me with them on here she would surely throw a fit.

He was dressed in his bright green shirt with yellow stripes and brown pants. Shoes weren't a necessary accessory for this family with their big, fluffy paws, muzzle, sharp teeth, horns, though Asriel lacked those and long ears. To put it simply, they were goat people.

Asriel silently closed the door behind him, which piqued my interests. "Is the meeting still going on?"

"Yeah." Asriel hesitantly turned to the door, as if he expected someone to come outside and scold him for being too loud. "But mom let me go to find you."

I smiled. "You found me."

Asriel took the small path into the garden, stopping just as he reached the meadow of flowers and where I sat. I noticed he was looking at the trampled flowers over to where I was. "Mom would get so mad if she saw you crushing all the flowers."

"Why? They're just flowers." I purposely set down my flower crown on my knee before leaning back, allowing the flowers to cushion my fall while they rustled in retaliation.

Asriel frowned as to what I was doing, but I simply smiled back. "Mom believes that all living things are precious and should be protected."

"Do you?" I crossed my arms behind my head, staring up and at Asriel. The thought of protecting all living things made my stomach churn.

Asriel seemed caught off-guard with the question, a light blush coming to his cheeks as he hesitantly brought his hands up. I couldn't help but laugh.

HIs blushed worsened. "What's so funny?"

I decided not to reply quickly; instead I sat back up and took up my flower crown again. "You."

Before Asriel could get any more upset I outstretched a hand towards him, cocking my head slightly to the side. "Come sit with me."

Asriel leaned back when I suddenly stood, keeping my hand out for him to take. I knew he would eventually give-in, which made my smile only grow when he placed his soft hand into mine.

I gently pulled him over to where I was before sitting back down, bringing Asriel along with me. He looked back over to the path behind him but finally fell down into the flowers with a huff. "I'm going to have to heal these flowers before mom finds us."

"You were worrying over nothing." I decided to focus on my flower crown, picking up a few more flowers from my basket to weave into the other stems. "Why worry about such insignificant life when you have the power to heal it?"

Asriel sat up and crossed his legs, furrowing his eyebrows. "Well, that's one way of looking at it."

I didn't feel the need to continue the conversation. Instead I simply went back to my work, content that I was a third of the way done.

Asriel decided to break the silence and the trickle of water. "We talked about a lot of things after you left."

"As expected." I didn't turn my head to look at Asriel. He knew I was listening.

I could hear his mood lighten when he spoke again. "The monsters at the meeting were so happy to see you there again. They all talked about how they were excited to go to the surface and interact with humans again. You know, before the war and stuff."

My fingers felt the need to stop their work, but I made them press on. I had kept my head low to look at my crown easier, but now it was kept low for another reason. I told myself to stay silent, but my mouth disobeyed. "Azzy, what do you know about humans?"

"Huh?" I heard his confusion in his voice but I dared not let him look at my eyes. I could feel my anger withering inside me like a snake awakening. "Well, I know you, Chara. And I know that you're really nice and kind, even if you pull some bad pranks." I could hear his smile at the end of his sentence.

My voice left my mouth quicker than I would have liked. "Tell me, Azzy. If the first monster I met was cruel and hurtful, would it be right of me to judge all monsters that way?"

"What? No." Asriel sounded a little hurt with my question, and during that moment I allowed myself a glimpse of him. His eyes were upset but confused, his mouth slightly open as if the thought of closing it meant the end of the conversation.

He sounded to be fumbling for words. "All monsters are different, they… just because you meet a nasty monster, doesn't mean they're all nasty."

I could hear flowers crunching beside me, Asriel had shifted his weight. "Chara, why do you ask?"

"Well, aren't you doing the same?" I trained my eyes on my flower crown, using it as the tether tying me to this moment and away from my anger. "You've only met me; you can't judge the rest of humanity off of who I am. The surface isn't as nice as you all think it is."

I could feel my fingers tense, the skin on my face tightening. "They are all hurtful and cruel. You might think I'm being unfair to judge them all that way, but I've seen that they all are. They won't accept you back with open arms… they don't deserve your kindness."

I hadn't noticed how far I had come in my crown, around three-fourths done. Asriel was silent for a moment, but I could hear his voice stop and go back into his throat a few times to try and say something.

Then, a thought occurred to me.

"Azzy."

I must have scared the poor goat by swinging my head towards him, but the anger inside of me had blossomed into delight. I grinned at him. "Let's restart the war."

"H-Huh?" Asriel looked frightened when I declared my idea. His mouth hung open and his hands were up in defense, but I couldn't blame him.

I moved my head back to give him his space again, setting my crown down for the moment. "It's all so simple, Azzy. We know that the humans will never take monsters back. They will just hurt us and try to kill us if we leave for the surface. They don't deserve anything but death, so let's give it to them. Let's leave the Underground together, kill seven people, then take their souls and let everyone out."

I probably looked like I was staring at the back wall of the garden, but really my mind was on the happy thought of destruction and chaos. I could see the barren, flame-engulfed fields; I could see the dead bodies of humans. "We could kill anyone that tries to stop us, or hurt the other monsters. We can cleanse this world of its sin and make the humans respect monsters again. We can make them all understand."

I almost started to giggle at such a happy thought. Why hadn't I thought of this before? If the war between monsters and humans could reignite, then-

"Chara, that's a terrible idea!"

It took me a moment to remember that I was still in the garden. I idly turned my head over to Asriel, who was seething. There were signs of tears about to start in his eyes, and his fangs were bared like he was ready to fight. His little, soft hands were balled into fists.

He took me by surprise.

"I would never do that! To reignite the war would mean countless deaths on both sides! The humans would easily overpower us and probably kill us all!"

"That's right!" I felt my voice rise as I pushed my hands onto the ground, leaning forward. "In this world, it's kill or be killed! But that's why I'm here! With my determination, we could-!"

"NO!"

I flinched back. I had never heard Asriel shout so loudly, but that concern in his eyes. I've only seen that once, and that was for his father. But not me.

He lightly sniffled as he wiped his snout, eyes gazing away. He now sat on his knees. "No, Chara. That's wrong. I'm not-we're never going to restart the war."

Slowly I felt my delight and passion morph back into raw anger. I solemnly turned my head away, focusing on my flower crown again. He didn't understand.

"I-I don't know what happened before you came here. I don't know your life. But I'm sorry the humans were so mean to you, I'm sorry you weren't treated right."

I didn't expect him to grasp my hand, or make me lift my head over to him. Even through all that hurt, all that concern, he still smiled. "But we can't fight anger with anger. Even after all the bad the humans have done to us, we still want to treat them with kindness. Even after the war, we still want to live with them again. And I know that if we keep down this path…they will change."

He smiled so sweetly to me. As if he expected me to smile back.

I took my hand out of his before noticing that my crown was done. Asriel was about to speak again but I quickly placed the crown atop his head.

"Huh?" He took a moment to look at the crown upon his head, lightly touching it and feeling the petals of the flowers. By the time he gazed down at me again, I was smiling. But my eyes said something else.

"You're a fool."

I expected him to act hurt, but he surprised me again when he furrowed his eyebrows and nodded his head. "And I'll always be one."

"Asriel?" We both turned our heads over to the window near the door to the garden. It was father's voice. "Chara? Where are you two?"

"I'm sure they're in their rooms playing." I blushed lightly to hear mother's voice. It was soft and tender, a voice I didn't grow up with.

Asriel gasped, then whispered urgently. "The flowers!"

I simply gazed down at them just as Asriel got up and ran back to the path. He wiped his eyes quickly before giving me his attention again. "I'll go and distract them, you run to our room!"

He acted as though our discussion never happened.

With a small smile, I nodded my head in understanding while he gave me a determined thumbs-up before running over to the door. I waited until he left before flopping back down onto the flowers to stare up at the holes in the ceiling where light streamed in.

He didn't understand. None of them did. To go back to your enemy with open arms would only mean death, they would all be slaughtered.

I clutched my chest at the nightmarish thought of a field of dust. Mother, father, Azzy…

I had to make them understand. I had to show them that war was the only option if they wanted to live happily on the surface. I had-

Me.

I, could do something. I, could show them how humans truly acted. I could show Asriel just what the surface was like, and together we could finish what the humans started.

But that would require Asriel obtaining a human soul. I sat back up with a light huff, surveying my options. They were few and far, with all of them leading to drastic assumptions. No, Asriel would need a human soul to pass the barrier, he would need a guide.

I gazed at my hands.

Never before in my life had I ever thought of doing something for someone else. Never before did I consider it an option. This world needed to burn and I thought that all should perish.

But he, they show me something worth fighting for. They showed me what I needed to do.

Could I be… the angel?

Their prophecies spoke of an angel from the heavens that would come and set them free. Even now, I turned my attention to the mosaic windows on the wall behind me, bearing the Delta Rune. I now felt a calling I hadn't noticed before, rising to my feet.

I am their angel. I would set them free.

I felt an evil smile spread upon my lips when I noticed the row of buttercup flowers just beneath them. They were extremely poisonous to anyone who ate them, a fate father almost touched upon when we accidentally baked him a pie with them in it. I couldn't help but laugh at the time, but then again I've always had a nervous laugh.

But this time, they would not be eaten on accident.

Oh yes, I could feel the idea coming together in my mind. I barely noticed nor cared to know how I had gotten so close to the mosaic window. I pressed my hand just beneath the angel, and with it a warm, powerful sensation coursed through me.

I would be their angel. I would lead my people free. But I will not be the angel of mercy, or forgiveness or even kindness.

No, to the humans, I would be their angel of death.

I know why Chara climbed the mountain.

It wasn't for a very happy reason.

...I'll be honest with you. Chara hated humanity. Why they did, they never talked about it. But they felt very strongly about that.

Maybe... the truth is... Chara wasn't really the greatest person.

...When Chara and I combined our SOULS together...The control over our body was actually split between us. They were the one that picked up their own empty body. And then, when we got to the village...They were the one that wanted to... to use our full power. I was the one that resisted. And then, because of me, we...

(This is based off of a discussion I had with one of my followers. We had very differing views of Chara, so instead of trying to explain what I thought, I decided to write it out. This version of Chara will be used for Accepting Darkness, and I might do a few more one-shots of Chara because dang, they're pretty relatable when it comes to revenge. Hope you guys like it! But please remember that this is an interpretation. )