A/N: This is a sort of head-cannon thing for Chara's story before they fell down Mt. Ebott. I used a lot of things from a mix of sources: the game of course, a bit of stuff from Glitchtale and some stuff from my Grouptale fanfic as well. Essentially I'd say this is where Chara came from if we're talking about the Grouptale/Firstale universe. If you have no idea what I'm talking about that's fine, read on ahead and just enjoy. :3
Also, Happy 3rd Birthday Undertale! YOU'LL BE GOING TO SCHOOL BEFORE YOU KNOW IT
Happy reading!
...
Pure Soul: any soul trait that is a pure soul is the strongest of their soul trait, and most of their personality comes from that soul trait. They can endure much more magic and damage than ordinary souls. Pure souls can either be born with powers or earn them. Such beings are characterised by their eye colour - a pure soul's eye colour will be the same colour as their soul.
...
The man wiped sweat off his brow. He looked out into the distance, his short, reddish-brown hair flowing around his face. His eyes glowed red.
"You can't go," the woman pleaded, placing a hand over her pregnant stomach. Her skin was faintly yellow, and she had long, dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail. Her eyes appeared to be closed. She was wearing a purple dress. "I'm due to have our child soon, you know it!"
"I'm sorry, darling…" the man replied, sighing. "I don't have a choice. This war could get so much worse if I don't go." He paused. "And besides, I have to save her. You know I do."
The woman pursued her lips. The man smiled at her, reassuringly.
"I love you," He said. "Goodbye, my beloved." He turned away, running off into the distance. The woman stood there, tears building in her eyes. Then she collapsed. She knew it was time.
Time to have the baby.
The man clambered onto his horse, holding out his glowing, red sword. He looked ahead, almost shivering out of fear. He pushed his worry down and focused on riding. The horse's footsteps pounded the Earth and the wind raced through his hair…
He saw her, standing there. A twisted smile was on her face. She looked different, but he knew it was her.
...
The woman breathed heavily as she was surrounded by midwives. The pain was overwhelming. She tried to think of her husband. He'd arrive home safely.
He had to.
...
"It doesn't have to end this way," the man pleaded, lowering his sword. She smiled sweetly at him. She opened her arms.
"Oh, sis…" the man chuckled. "I knew you weren't all bad!" He raced over to give her a hug. She kept that sweet smile on her face.
…
The woman tried to imagine having a happy family as best as she could. She couldn't focus on the pain. Just the joy…
And the thought of having a powerful heir.
…
The man smiled as well. He knew his sister would come to terms. She was, after all, BRAVE enough to bring herself back to her old self.
He was wrong.
She stabbed him through the heart with her spear. Normally he'd be able to reset or heal, but the feeling of the betrayal…
He fell to his knees, his eyes now grey.
It was over.
…
"Congratulations, ma'am!" the midwife held a screaming baby into the air. "It's a-"
She was interrupted as someone else burst into the room.
"I'm… I'm so sorry, madam…" the young messenger breathed, shivering. "But… he's been killed… your husband… is dead."
The woman screamed.
...
"A red soul…" the woman looked over her child's soul. "Just like your father. You look like him as well…" She looked at their eyes. They were brown.
The woman frowned. "But… you're not a pure soul. Your power is… weak."
The baby made a gurgling noise.
"This cannot be," the woman growled. "You have to be a pure soul." She shook her head. "You are only very young. Perhaps it will come in time." She paused. "You aren't worthy for a name yet… or an identity. Not until you gain a pure soul. You are nothing right now. You are useless. You do not deserve any titles."
The baby began crying. It was as if they understood everything the woman said.
"The world will know the power of the red soul," the woman said. "The world will fear us. We'll show those idiots who has the real STRENGTH." Her eyes glowed yellow for a moment.
The baby continued crying.
A FEW YEARS LATER
The woman slipped a green shirt with a pale lime stripe onto her child. Their short, reddish-brown hair reached the back of their head and covered their face. Their cheeks were flushed.
"We'll show them all," the woman chuckled. "They'll fear us."
The toddler stared at their pudgy hands.
"Come on," the woman said, grabbing the toddler's arm. "Be a good child."
...
"Hmm…" the medic observed the toddler's soul, frowning. "No… it's not a pure soul. A red soul, yes, but not a pure soul. Not that powerful at all, even for a normal soul-"
"That's a lie!" the woman barked. "This is the child of the king! They have to be a pure soul! They have immeasurable strength!"
"Ma'am, please…" the medic sighed. "A child born to a pure soul will not necessarily be a pure soul themself. It's luck. Two normal souls could give birth to a pure soul. You never know."
"He was the king…" the woman growled.
"His status doesn't make it any different." the medic replied. The woman gritted her teeth, giving the medic a harsh glare. She walked over to her child and grabbed their arm, dragging them out of the building.
"He's wrong," she grumbled. "You will be a pure SOUL. I'll make you into one if I have to."
The child looked back at the golden flowers growing around the entrance of the building as they were dragged away.
…
The woman frowned as she and her child walked into town square. The kid had their eye on some golden flowers in the center of the town.
"Mom," they asked. "Can I look at the flowers?"
"Absolutely not," the woman grumbled. "I don't want to risk you interacting with anyone else here. Unworthy scum."
"I won't talk to anyone, I promise," the child promised. "I just wanna look at the flowers."
The woman gritted her teeth. "Fine. But if I see you talking to even one other person… then you're sleeping in the closet for the rest of the week. Understand?"
"Yes, Mom…" the child said. The mother left them beside the flowers. The child stared at them, occasionally sniffing them. The flowers were so beautiful, so-
Suddenly, something whammed against the child's cheek. They looked down in shock; it was a rock.
"Sorry!" a boy said, running over to them. "I wasn't aiming at you. I was aiming at someone else."
The child didn't say anything as the boy collected his rock.
"Who are you, anyway? Never seen you around before." the boy asked.
"... why?" the kid suddenly asked.
"Huh?" the boy asked.
"Why would you wanna hit someone with a rock?" the child asked.
"This annoying old geezer yells at me and my friends sometimes, so we figured we'd get back at him." the kid replied, smirking.
"You wanna hurt him just because he yells at you?" the child asked. "You're… you're sick!"
"Say what?" the boy asked, narrowing his eyebrows.
"Mom was right, you guys are all horrible!" the child yelled.
"Well at least I'm not some weirdo who just creepily smells flowers all day!" the boy argued. "Do you even have any friends?!"
The child flinched. Their anger seemed to vanish and was replaced with hurt.
"CHILD!" their mother yelled. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SPEAKING TO PEOPLE?"
The child didn't move as their mother grabbed their arm and dragged them away. They kept staring at the boy, who glared back at them.
"Mom…" the child looked up at their mother. "Can I have a garden?"
"No," the woman answered. "You won't have time to look after a garden. And it's pointless, anyway. We don't need one."
The child pouted.
…
One day, the child snuck into town with a pocket full of coins. They headed over to the florist, where sure enough, golden flowers were being sold. The child grabbed a bunch of them and went up to pay.
"You look… familiar," the cashier said, observing them.
"My mother says you're a filthy scum and I shouldn't talk to you." the child replied.
The florist wrinkled her nose. "Now I know why. You're that kid."
"That kid…?" the child asked.
The florist handed the kid their flowers, then gave them a harsh glare. The kid left, biting their lip.
...
"Try again." the woman ordered her child. They held out their hand, concentrating. Sweat pooled down their forehead.
"I don't feel anything…" they said, taking in a deep breath.
"THEN TRY AGAIN." the woman demanded.
"I am, Mom…" the child whimpered. "But… it's not working…"
"You worthless child," the woman snapped. She walked over to her child and slapped them harshly. "This would be much faster if you were actually useful."
The child fell to their knees, cupping their cheek.
"You will be powerful." the woman growled. "You will be PURE. Until then…" She grabbed them by the ear and dragged them upstairs. They yelled out, the pain killing them. The woman shoved them into the closet and locked the door.
"This will teach you," she growled. "Work harder!" She stomped away.
The child sat in the darkness, feeling cold… and lonely. They stared at the ceiling, which was faintly visible.
They pulled a bit of the carpet up, revealing a knife.
Worthless.
Their knife they used to cut weeds away from their secret flower garden.
Unworthy.
Now they would be cutting something else.
Punishment…
The next morning, the woman found her child hiding their arms. Splatters of red were on the floor.
Once again, the child and their mother went into town square. Their mother kept a tight grip on them as she entered the grocery store. The child looked around them, and saw a woman giving her crying daughter a hug. The girl sobbed in her arms.
"I love you, Mommy!" she squealed.
"I love you too, sweetheart." the mother replied, wiping her daughter's tears away.
Our child sat there, unable to move. Their breathing grew heavy as they watched the scene.
They felt something new. A bitter, cold feeling. Hatred.
It wasn't fair.
The child clenched their fist, bowing their head. They glanced in another direction. They saw a mountain in the distance.
Mt. Ebott…
The mountain of monsters.
The child wondered if life was any better for the monsters. Or maybe not. Humanity made them suffer too.
Their mother's voice pierced through their thoughts. She dragged her child home; they slumped their head for the whole journey. The bitter feeling was still brewing in their SOUL. They kept their fists clenched.
…
The child was feeling this… bitter feeling more and more. Every time their mother abused them, it grew. The child was… angry. Why weren't they treated like other kids? Why were they the freak?
Their father was murdered by his own sister...
The child realised...
Humans were… awful.
Their soul turned black for a moment.
They weren't even worthy enough to be given a name.
Their mother was running out of patience.
"You still haven't gotten anywhere," she grumbled. "That's why I've thought of my solution. If you can't grow your own power, I will give some to you."
She grabbed their arm and pulled them into a room. The room was securely locked, with no windows. A single candle lit up the whole room.
The woman held out her hands; her faintly yellow soul appeared there, glowing.
"We'll show them all." she said. She unleashed some of the energy in her SOUL out, and directed it towards her child. The child screamed as the energy enveloped them, then entered their SOUL. The bitter feeling of HATE increased.
Everything their mother had done to them… tormented them, tortured them…
Everything everyone had done to them…
Not even worth a name.
The child screamed out, pain everywhere. They then fell to their knees, their heart pounding. Their mother was giving them a strange look.
"Child…?" she asked.
You are nothing.
The child suddenly stood up. They stared directly at their mother, black goop dribbling out of their eyes. They were giving her a disturbing smile, black goop also coming out of their mouth.
"Wh… what happened to you?" their mother screamed.
"Who said you were the one in control?" the child asked, their smile growing. They laughed darkly, as they ran towards their mother, their lucky knife in hand.
The woman jumped out of the way, staring at her child. "You… you're not human!"
"I am HATE," the child responded. "I will destroy you. Then we'll see who's useless."
The woman held up a gun, and aimed it at her child. They kept smiling.
"You will never destroy me," they said. "I live inside EVERYONE."
The woman screamed, "I NEVER WANTED HIM TO DIE! I JUST WANT JUSTICE FOR HIS DEATH!" She adjusted the aim of the gun at her child, who kept moving towards her. She held back a sob.
"I'm sorry, Chara…" she said, biting her lip. "I let you down."
She fired the gun. The child fell over, black goop everywhere.
...
The child was bound up in shackles in a dark room. Only a small window was at the top, letting in pale light. The kid thought they'd died, for a moment…
They were not that lucky.
"Hello?" the child called out. They struggled against the shackles, but their attempts were fruitless. "Is anyone there?"
They bit their lip, then called out again. "Mom! Mom, are you there? Mommy, please, I'm so sorry! Mommy!" They were almost in tears. "Anyone, please, help! Help! Help me!"
But nobody came.
The child began to laugh. It was a bitter laugh. They laughed loudly, a big smile on their face.
"I'm… I'm such an idiot!" They laughed. "Everybody hates me! Why would anyone come to save someone as worthless as me? In fact, they're probably the ones who put me here in the first place!"
They kept laughing. "They… they all hate me! They think I'm insane! My own mother thinks I'm nothing! Of course they'd want me dead!" They paused. "If that's really what they want… then I will give them what they asked for. I will die. I will kill myself. I'd rather die than be with them. Humanity… I hate them too. I HATE them."
Their soul glowed black. They thought of Mt. Ebott.
"Monsters must be better than humans," they said. "They have to be."
With this newfound power, the child broke out of their shackles. The things laid at their feet, completely destroyed.
"It doesn't matter," they laughed. "I'll die where the humans put everything they hate."
The child, using their knife, clambered up to the small window. They sliced through the metal bars, black goop dripping out of their eyes. They squeezed through, landing on the other side. They landed on soft grass. They remembered their flower garden. They hoped it would grow while they were gone.
The child briefly looked back before they began running. They ran and ran, strangely, filled with determination. Determination to end it all.
"Mom, why don't I have a dad?"
"He died."
"What… how?"
"... a wizard from a different SOUL clan killed him. His sister. Don't ask anymore questions."
"What? My aunt… killed him…? … w-wait… at least tell me… what was his name? So... I can remember him a little better..."
The child felt their breathing pick up as they kept running. They soon approached the mountain, the place of monsters. They ran up it, plants scratching and pulling at their clothing. They kept a grip on their knife.
"His name…? ...alright. His name was…"
The child didn't know how much longer they could keep running. Their hate was a burning rage that kept them going for a little while longer. But it wouldn't last forever.
Then they reached a cave at the top.
"His name was Chara."
The child glanced back once. No going back. They entered the cave.
"But… why don't I have a name? You said I was a lot like my dad..."
The child stared at a huge hole in front of them. They felt their heart race increase.
"You only look like your father. But you are nothing like him. Unlike him, you don't deserve a name."
"W… why?"
The child took a cautious step forward, only to suddenly trip on a vine.
"Because, right now, you are nothing."
"You're wrong, Mom," they laughed, though fear was in their voice. "I am something. I'm gone."
The child gasped as they tripped, falling into the darkness.
As they felt the end come upon them, they decided one thing.
They would honour their father's life.
They would honour their father's life by naming themself…
Chara.