The next day, Royal Guardsmen unlocked their cell. Lucida entered. She grabbed Chara and dragged her outside, and then she locked the cell door again.

Frisk grabbed the bars of the door. "Lucida! Please! If you're going to kill her, just kill her! Don't you think she's at least earned that?"

Lucida didn't say a word. She just kept dragging Chara away.

In case this was the last time she would see Frisk, Chara smiled at him. She wanted her last look at him to be at least a little happy. With great difficulty, Frisk smiled back.

Thank you, Frisk.

Chara was pulled around a corner, and Frisk's smile probably disappeared as soon as he was out of her sight. Lucida took Chara to a courtyard and chained her to a wall.

"I hope you enjoy this," Chara said. "No, really. You're right. I deserve this."

"Oh, I won't be the one doing it," Lucida told her.

"Some expert then?"

"No, yet I can't think of anyone better."

"Who…?"

Several people came into the room. This crowd consisted of both humans and monsters. They formed a line in front of Chara. They were so many of them that the line had to extend beyond the courtyard.

Chara's eyes widened.

"Yes, Demon," Lucida said. "For your punishment, we've invited anyone and everyone who wishes for revenge against you. Whether they've lost someone dear to them or just want you to suffer for what you've done, they will all be given a minute to do whatever they want to you. As you can see, there is quite the line."

"They'll kill me in seconds…" Chara muttered.

"Sorry, Demon, but you won't have it that easy. You will be watched by several expert healers. The human army was even kind enough to supply us with some liquid determination, so they really can do just about anything they want without fear of ending you prematurely. You will constantly be pushed to your limit, but every time you feel the sweet release of death approaching, it will be denied. You are going to feel the pain of every last person you have hurt."

Even Chara, who had witnessed so much death, was impressed.

"…You really hate me that much?" Chara asked. "Ah, who am I kidding? Of course you do. I tried to make you hate an entire race, and now all that hatred is rightfully focused on me. No torture you can come up with will be enough to make up for what I've done."

"We shall see." Lucida gestured towards her guardsmen. "Let's get started. Do make sure she doesn't die just yet. This isn't even the best part…"

The first person was an adult human. He brandished a knife in his hand. "Hey, Demon. I heard you like knives, so… yeah."

The human stabbed Chara in the gut. She winced as the human twisted the knife inside her. Once he was satisfied with that, he pulled out the knife and rapidly stabbed her in the chest several times. Chara felt several warm streams trickle down her body, and she already started to feel her SOUL breaking.

"That's enough!" a guardsman yelled. "Thank you, sir. You've done your part."

"Th-thank you for this opportunity!" The man tried to look grateful, but he was clearly shaken by the experience.

The guardsmen healed Chara's wounds, and she quickly recovered. Although her wounds had healed, the pain was still there.

"Next!"

Another human was next. He pulled out a pistol and aimed at Chara's head.

"DIE DEMON!"

Lucida sent him flying into her, and she grabbed him by the neck.

"Its life is not yours to take."

Lucida threw him into the wall. "Get him out of here," she ordered. The assassin was forcefully removed from the courtyard.

"Next person who tries that gets arrested!" Lucida announced. "How did he sneak that in?!" she asked her guardsmen. "Be more careful!"

"Yes, Captain! It won't happen again!"

"Anything they want, huh?" Chara commented.

"Shut up!" Lucida yelled.

"Aw, you do care," Chara quipped.

"NEXT!" Lucida shouted.

The next person was a monster. It was Tsunderplane.

"It's not like I… no… I'm not Tsunderplane anymore. I'm Yanderjet!"

Yanderjet drove its tip into Chara's stomach. She coughed up blood as metal drilled into her.

"Excellent, Tsunderplane," Lucida commended. The guardsmen prepared Chara for the next torturer.

"Next!"

Chara was tortured by dozens of humans and monsters. She knew what to expect from the humans. Many of them brought knives, but some opted to simply beat her. The latter was probably the wiser choice. Most of the knife wielders looked sick afterwards. It must have been hard to still see her as a demon after cutting her open and making her cry out in pain, despite her best efforts not to.

The monsters were a different story. Their magical abilities made for a much different torture experience. Chara was subjected to every kind of pain imaginable. She was burned, frozen, electrocuted, bitten, mauled… the monsters had just about everything. Chara didn't know monsters could be so cruel. For the first time, monsters seemed like monsters in the traditional sense, like savage beasts. That said, most of them did look just as shaken up as the knife-wielding humans afterward, if not more.

The pain was excruciating. Chara still felt the connection to Frisk's SOUL. She considered retreating to it.

...No, she couldn't. These people had a right to revenge. Chara had to face the people she hurt, and she was going to feel all the pain she had caused.

"Next!"

From above the courtyard, Napstablook…

No, they weren't cowardly little Napstablook right now. He was Robin, the brave and strong knight who was going to change everyone's mind about Chara.

From above the courtyard, Robin watched Chara get tortured. Chara's entire body was soaked in her own blood. Robin had never before witnessed anything so barbaric. It wasn't justice. It was just pure hatred, and nothing good would come of it.

"This is wrong…" Robin said aloud.

The other guardsmen shot him dissenting glances.

"Careful, Robin," a middle-aged knight known as Guardsman 76 warned. "This pro-Demon attitude of yours is going to get you in serious trouble."

"Look at her," Robin commanded. "What do you see down there?"

"A demon being brought to justice," 76 answered.

"All I see is a fourteen year old girl being beaten near death over and over. Not even a demon deserves that."

"That massive line of people seems to disagree."

"Are you sure? Look again."

The next would-be torturer got sick simply by looking at Chara. The sight and smell of all that blood grossed him out so much that he couldn't do it. After a harsh scolding from Lucida, the man forfeited his place in the line and ran into a corner to vomit. It was so bad that the guardsmen had to thoroughly clean Chara to prepare her for the next torturer.

"But… that thing… killed people… and made us kill each other. Why would anyone be sickened by its suffering?"

"Don't you see?" Robin asked. "Chara brought out the demon in all of us. By doing this, we are no better than she was."

Chara screamed as the next torturer burned her with fire magic.

"Remember that locket you took?" Robin asked. "Did you see what was written on it?"

76 pulled out Chara's locket and read the inscription.

Best friends forever.

"…Why would she cry over this?" 76 asked.

"Because she's not a demon. She's a person, just like us," Robin answered.

76 looked at the agony on Chara's face.

"…You're right…" 76 conceded. "We're all demons now."

"Yes," Robin said. "We can't blame everything on her. Chara may have killed six people, but the hundreds of others was our own doing. And when she dies, what's to stop us from killing even more?"

"...I'm not old enough to have fought in the first war," 76 said. "But I do remember when Chara and Asriel died. We hated humans so much after that happened. Even after imprisoning us underground, the humans took everything from us. If we could have broken the barrier right at that moment, it definitely would have been war. I think some of that sentiment never truly died. If we had harbored no hate for humanity, Chara's plan never would have worked."

"Thank you," Robin said. "I know that was a hard thing to say. It can be so much easier to blame others than to blame yourself."

76 chuckled. "You know, Robin. People have been saying that you're really Napstablook just because you're both ethereal monsters who defend the Demon, but I know that's impossible. You have way too much backbone to be Napstablook!"

"…Yeah," Robin said.

Chara continued to endure her torture. It seemed to get easier. It wasn't because she was getting insensitive to the pain, but rather it seemed that the torturers were getting gentler. The longer the torture went on, the more uneasy the crowd became. They couldn't stomach it much longer.

The next torturer, a young adult human, knelled down to Chara's level.

"Why did you do it?" he asked.

Chara was surprised. None of them had wanted to actually talk to her.

"YOU HEARD THE RULES!" Lucida shouted. "No sympathizing with it!"

The human knocked Lucida to the ground with magic.

"Captain!"

With a swipe of his hand, the human sent all of the guardsmen in front of him flying. The rest cowered in fear. No wonder the monsters couldn't take a single human SOUL in the first war.

"I asked you a question," the human told Chara.

"I… I wanted monsters to conquer humanity," Chara answered.

"And why is that?"

"You just demonstrated exactly why."

"Heh, I suppose I did. Yes, we've slaughtered and imprisoned monsters once before. Who's to say we weren't going to do it again?"

"Exactly… but I don't think that anymore. The war actually showed me the good in humanity. There were many who fought hard to stop the war, and they did."

"Yes, the two races are extremely different, so it's understandable to be wary of conflict. But, we should always hope for peace. I don't condone your actions, but I think I understand you and why it made sense to you."

The human turned and began walking away.

"Th-that's it?!" Lucida asked.

The human exited the courtyard.

"Whatever! Next!" Lucida shouted.

"I… don't want to anymore," the next person in line said.

"She's suffered enough," another person in line said.

"Just kill her already."

"She's just a kid."

"Not even she deserves this."

"My brother wouldn't have wanted this."

The people in line started to disperse. The vast majority left. Only the most hateful remained.

"W-well… get on with it!" Lucida said.

These people were among the most brutal of the torturers, but it would be over soon.

The next person was a monster. She looked familiar. She was orange, had spikes on her head, and did not have any arms.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked Chara.

"…Your Monster Kid's mother, aren't you?"

"Very good."

"I murdered your son personally. I can't imagine how much you hate me."

Monster Kid's mother gave a polite yet sinister smile. "I happen to be a teacher, and I know all about your time underground. I know that Asgore once suffered an 'accident' where he was poisoned by buttercup flowers in a pie. Heh, that was no accident, was it?"

"N-no, it WAS an accident! I swear! I really thought that was the recipe! I didn't know they were poisonous!"

"Well… in any case, you suffered an illness shortly after, and the symptoms of this illness were awfully similar to Asgore's buttercup poisoning."

"…You're right about that. Yes, I poisoned myself so Asriel could take my SOUL. I had to make up for almost killing Dad! I had to get more SOULs to free everyone and fulfill my destiny!"

"Well, aren't you a little angel?" Monster Kid's mother said in a condescending tone. "You must have gone through a lot of pain for our sakes. I don't think you'll mind reliving it for me."

Since she didn't have arms, a guardsman came to assist her. He was carrying a buttercup flower.

N-no… please… not that…

"One flower won't kill you," Monster Kid's mother said. "But it's just enough to make you suffer for killing my innocent child."

The guardsman shoved the flower down Chara's throat, and she began reliving an agony that extended far beyond the physical pain. It was a bitter reminder of the moment she decided to put her own family in danger for what she mistakenly thought was for the good of all monsters.

Monster Kid's mother gave her polite smile again. "Good day, Chara!" She left the courtyard.

The rest of the torturers were nothing compared to that.

Frisk sensed it. Through the connection their SOULs shared, Frisk sensed all the pain Chara was going through. He collapsed to his knees.

"Frisk? What's wrong?" Asriel asked.

"She's suffering, Asriel. I can feel it."

"Frisk, don't be so dramatic."

"No, I'm not talking about some stupid romantic sixth sense. I'm talking about the very real and literal connection our SOULs have. I can feel all the pain she's feeling."

Asriel didn't know what to say.

Lucida entered the chamber and unlocked the cell.

"What are doing to her?" Frisk asked.

"Don't you know, Frisk? It's almost time for the Monthly Address. We're just making sure she looks nice and pretty for you. You're both invited."

Frisk had almost forgotten about the Monthly Address. Why was Lucida taking them there? Perhaps getting caught was exactly what they needed.

"Alright then. Let's go."

Royal Guards escorted Frisk and Asriel to a massive auditorium. Hundreds of monsters had gathered there. The Royal theme music was playing. It was called… King Description.

Damn it, Asgore.

On the stage was Lucida, Sans, Papyrus, Monster Kid, and several Final Froggits. In the crowd, Frisk spotted Asgore, Toriel, and the others who were captured with him.

Lucida began speaking.

"Just two Monthly Addresses ago, our future never looked brighter. We were building a prosperous city above ground and were forming a peaceful alliance with humanity. Just one month later, the Demon destroyed that alliance, but now, we have a chance to rebuild."

Chara was brought onto the stage. Frisk was heartbroken at what he saw. Chara's body was covered in all types of trauma imaginable. She was bruised, cut, burnt, and even looked ill.

"Today," Lucida announced. "The Demon will be brought to justice. Yet, I recognize a valid concern. What is to stop us from continuing the war once our common enemy is dead? When the Demon shattered our alliance, she took away our hero. We need our hero back."

Lucida looked right at Frisk. "Frisk Dreemurr, if you perform one small task for us, you as well as everyone charged with defending the Demon shall be granted a full pardon."

Frisk knew what that task was.

King Description played louder.

"Frisk, prove that you were never on the Demon's side. Prove that you never betrayed us."

"Execute the Demon."

"Execute Chara."