The screeching whistle pulled Toriel from her thoughts. She calmly got up and pushed through the pain in her side to go over to the kitchen. She poured hot water from the kettle into the teapot and was about to add the teabag when a thought crossed her mind.
She had it in her hands. It was insignificant really, hardly worth the trip. Yet Toriel felt like the small yellow flower held some importance. Maybe, If she just waited long enough then the answer would come to her.
She had visited the place Asriel told her about. The room where the human named Chara fell. In truth, she did not know why she decided to go there. Was it out of nostalgia for the ruins of the old capital of the monsters? Was it for something else? She just knew that this was important for something. Or, maybe not, and this was a waste of time. She did tend to just travel places aimlessly to think, she does that a lot.
She found the flower sticking out of a crack in the floor of the ruins. Maybe this was the purpose the whole time. To be used for tea. Probably not the best use of an entire day to create a single cup of tea, especially when she had important royal business to attend to, but it was too late to change things now.
While the kettle cooled down to a more reasonable temperature, Toriel went and did a few things. She carefully plucked the petals off the flower and set them aside on the counter. Then she took what was left, walked a short distance through castle to its' indoor garden, ground the remains of the flower up, and put them in a patch of dirt. If the tea turned out to be good, she could have more for later.
As it turned out, the tea tasted like hot water and grass. It had, in fact, turned out to be total and complete waste of time. Unable to shake the feeling of defeat, Toriel just sat back in her chair by the darkened fireplace. With the point of a finger, it welled to life, giving off a warming glow.
She was about to start reading a book she got from the one of the very rare libraries in the underground when she was interrupted. The door down the hall opened and her son, Asriel, stomped in. He wore an expression Toriel knew well. The one where he tries really hard not to look angry.
Toriel's expression darkened ever so slightly when she saw that Asriel was accompanied by the human. They wore one of Asriel's red and black sweaters, but more noticeably, there was a nasty bruise was set on their cheek. Chara kept their head down, but it was easy to tell they looked miserable.
"Hey mom," Said Asriel through clenched teeth as he marched over to Toriel. "I need you to watch Chara for me." He put the end chain in her lap. Chara now stood right next to her. "They're useless, now I have to go clean up after them," Asriel snarled before he turned around and headed for the foor.
"My child, what are you-" but Toriel was interrupted as Asriel had already slammed the door behind him. He didn't even ask if this was okay, or give the courtesy of a proper explanation. Maybe he could get away with this sort of behavior with Asgore but it was something she did not care for.
Chara was silent, shaking a little bit, trying to avoid eye contact. It probably didn't help that Toriel was staring. Toriel tried to move her hand for the chain, but she found she could not.
Her arm felt heavy, like a weight was strapped to it. She noticed her head seemed to be stuck to the cushion behind her. She was struggling to keep her eyes open. Why was this happening? She hadn't felt this way before she... the taste of grass in her mouth was terrible.
She was fairly confident Chara didn't pose a threat to her. However, she couldn't allow herself to be sure. This unknown sickness made her very slow, defending herself may prove difficult. She concentrated on her magic, and the fireplace burned subtly brighter.
That was the intent. She could still control her magic, but the insignificant task took more effort than it should have. She had to make sure Chara didn't threaten her while also maintaining the guise that she was not weakened in any way. Humans needed to be handled with extreme caution, even children. So she did what any sensible person would do: strike up a friendly conversation.
"Sorry dear, it's rude of me to stare. Would you like to sit down?" She offered.
"Sure," said Chara weakly. They still looked nervous.
"There's a chair over there, go ahead and get it." Toriel turned her head to a wooden chair by the table in the middle of the room. Chara, following her gaze, slowly started to walk. Emphasis on slowly, they barely moved at first until it was clear Toriel wouldn't grab the chain to stop them. More accurately, couldn't.
As Chara walked, she noted every detail of their movement. There was a very slight limp in their left leg. They either had recent damage to their legs, or they were from old injuries. Impeded speed and ability to dodge.
They carefully placed a wooden chair next to Toriel's and sat down. They tried to hand Toriel the end of the chain. This could be real obedience, but it could also be an act.
"No thank you dear, I trust you," Toriel said. Chara looked only slightly less nervous, still keeping their eyes trained on the floor. "Would you like a glass of water dear?"
"Y-yes please," they stammered. Toriel needed a second to process the word. 'Please' was a very uncommon thing to hear. She didn't let the politeness cloud her judgement.
"There's a glass in kitchen cabinet, above the knife rack. Water runs from the faucet." Chara finally looked into her eyes and gave a ghost of a smile. They must have thought she was being nice.
"Thank you," they said. Another word that made Toriel pause, but only for a moment. They shakily stood up and slowly made their way into the kitchen. The test had begun.
As soon as Chara came back into view, Toriel's eyes scanned the human intently. They held a glass of water in one hand, the other was not concealed. Their pants pockets had no jagged edges to them. They were approaching. Toriel checked the bottom of their sweater, near the hemming, it rippled unimpeded.
"Please sit." Toriel offered. Now for the back pocket. Toriel had a fire spell brewing in the back of her head. Chara sat down without hesitation. The kitchen knives were too big to fit in their shoes. It seemed the coast was clear. She let the mental incantation fade.
There was a long silence. Chara still refused to look at Toriel. They sipped some water and winced a tad. They gently rubbed the bruise on their cheek as if it would help.
"Are you hurt? How has Asriel been treating you?" asked Toriel. They said nothing. "Did he hurt you?"
"...I," they began hesitantly, "Don't really want to talk about it."
A part of her was disgusted with herself. It was obvious that this weak, hurt child was nothing but that: a weak, hurt child. Chara didn't like how her own son was treating them. Chara was miserable, and she was assuming everything they said could be a lie. Toriel the Mother would hate to see her own child in pain.
But the Toriel the Queen couldn't be sure. Humans could be very good at hiding their true selves. She knew that better than anyone. Even Asgore appeared to have forgotten. He didn't have the painful trophy that she did. For the sake of her, her family, and even monsters as a whole, she had to keep planning; keep feeding false information to a potential enemy.
It's a shame, Toriel would probably would have liked Chara if they were a monster. They were one of the only people who actually used the words "please" and "thank you" in normal sentences. She wouldn't have to be so weary of a sad and vulnerable monster child.
The reality is that Chara was a human. Even the very sight of Chara was painful; the constant dull ache in Toriel's side felt a bit sharper every time she looked at the human child. Old memories circled through her head over and over again.
It was a long time ago, before monsters were forced underground. An army of monsters were approaching the gates of the Human Capital. At the very back line of the formation, Toriel and Asgore themselves marched alongside the forces. Up to that point the war had not gone well. This relatively small army of fighters was the last of the dwindling monster army, and few towns and cities remained.
The humans had shown a lack of forces protecting the southern mountain pass to their capital. The main human forces were far to the east. It was a last ditch effort to take the human capital by surprise.
The day was cold and overcast. The massive walls of the city stood within reach of the monster Army. Just then a volley of arrows blacked out the sky. The humans knew the monsters were coming. Back then, she was foolish, she thought it shouldn't have mattered. The King and Queen had taken the bait.
Without saying a word Toriel and Asgore both combined their immense strength and summoned their fiery magic. The entire sky was ablaze in hot orange and yellow. The raise in moral from the army as a result from the grand spectacle was palpable. When the flames faded, all the arrows that covered the sky were gone, completely erased by the King and Queen.
Another volley of arrows shot through the sky and again the Royalty wiped them out. The army was getting close to walls, ready to use ladders and hooks to ascend and take control of the city's' outer defenses. When the third wave of arrows came, something happened.
The wind immediately picked up. It was like a hurricane had suddenly come into existence. The protective flames sputtered and blew away, leaving holes in aerial defense. A few arrows manage to get through, striking down monsters at random. The King and Queen now had to strain to keep the shield of fire intact, yet still it had many holes.
They let the flames die down, preparing themselves for the next volley. The wind continued to blow. The sky was getting darker. Water was trickling from the sky. Lights flashed and thunder boomed. The change in weather was so fast, it was almost… unnatural.
Light seared Toriel's eyes as a huge bolt of lightning cut through the army. The boom was deafening. When the spots in Toriel's vision faded, she saw a huge chunk of the arm had been reduced to dust and empty suits of armor. The remains were swept up in the powerful wind. She looked up at the walls and saw a figure that would forever be burned into her memory.
Even though they were far away, she saw a human wearing a cloak, covered in crackling arcs of lightning. Toriel made out a movement of some sort from the human and another explosion of blinding light and deafening crash cut into the remaining monsters. Up until then, she thought that humans wielding magic was a myth, and she was so very wrong.
The monsters hadn't even reached the walls of the city and it was obvious the battle was lost. The army was starting to lose cohesion and scatter. A flurry of cries of panic, sounds of rushing wind, and thundering booms overtook Asgore's commands at a uniformed retreat.
They turned and began to follow the fleeing monsters when she spotted a massive army of humans funneling through the southern pass, blocking off the exit. To this day she cursed herself for not seeing this coming. The realization at that moment made her so distracted, she couldn't even see the next wave of arrows.
Something sharp pierced deep into Toriel's side as more waves of monsters fell to the ground. She fell to the floor, clutching her side that now had a long slender piece of wood sticking out of it. The area began to break down forming an agonizing divot in her form. The area turned a soft gray, painfully fell away and scattering to the wind. It would never fully heal. She took one last look at the one who almost single-handedly destroyed an army and the monster race's last chance of winning the war.
She had to beg. Beg to the humans to spare her, her husband, and the few survivors of the monster race. She had to surrender everything. Not just her freedom, but the hopes and dreams of all the monsters that served her. It was the day the world learned...
Maybe Asriel could be trusted to hold control over Chara, but Toriel couldn't forget. To her, that day is the definition of 'humanity'. Every time Toriel looked upon Chara she automatically thought the same thing; it would be better if they never existed.
Authors Note: For earlier updates on future chapters, follow me *At* emeraldlazers on tumblr.