Chapter 3: Heartache

You learn something new every day. The purple kid had been right about that. On that particular day, Chara learned two things: For one, eating flowers on their own is hard. That, however, can be easily solved with leftover cinnamon butterscotch pie and some hunger. Which brings us to the second interesting information: Poison can be way more effective than one would think.

Thanks to that second new finding, Chara now experienced what cramps felt like if your insides were on fire. Combined with the painful blisters around their mouth and face, it was not exactly the nicest experience in the world. But Chara didn't care even a single bit. They've had worse. Besides, if it bought them one more year with their family, then they would gladly do this a thousand times over.

But as mentioned, buttercups work very well, too well.

"Psst... Chara? Are you awake?" Opening their eyes was hard, moving was even harder. Even so, they still enjoyed Azzie's voice. "Please, wake up."

"I am awake", but their lips would not move. They were so tired, so very, very tired.

"I-I don't like this. Please, Chara, if you can hear me, wake up."

They wanted to, they really did, but their limbs would not respond. Maybe… maybe this had been a bad idea.

The world drifted by without Chara being able to tell if it was day or night. At times, they would feel soft fur against their skin, or hear a distant voice, though they were never sure if it wasn't just a dream.

For how long had they been asleep? Were they even awake now? Were the games over yet?

Drifting like that their breathing grew slow. The world felt fuzzy and warm, pain growing steadily like a roaring fire.

They imagined a hand grasping theirs, a distant voice calling. "Chara! You have to stay determined! You can't give up! You are the future of humans and monsters..."

Sorry, dad. Guess they failed at that too.

The thought of finally going to sleep filled them with… gratitude.

Slowly but surely they let themselves fall down into an endless void.

Lacking a body is strange. You want to draw a breath, yet there is no air. You want to move, yet there's no option to act. In the end, there was just that familiar red glow.

Actually, Chara was kind of disappointed. There were also other emotions swirling through their soul, though they did not want to acknowledge their existence. It was far more comfortable to just focus on the burning annoyance within. After all, death seemed rather dull.

At least they were finally free. In death, no capitol would be able to punish them anymore. As selfish as it was, Chara couldn't help but feel happy about that. No nightmares could haunt them now. They would be able to finally sleep in peace.

There was no big light though, no tunnel, nothing, just that endless void all around. Not the kind of way Chara would have imagines it. No, wait, there it was. A bright flash ignited, shining in a soft golden light. Why was it yellow, though? Before they could mull over the fact, they more felt than saw a strong red glow in the distance. A soul hovered not too far ahead, filling out the outlines of a small body with its glow. Chara knew that soul.

What the… Frisk?

The red child reached out a hand and the world ground to a halt.

"…this year's tribute from district 12 is… CHARA DREEMUR!"

Chara stumbled, disoriented. Gosh, it was bright, far too bright all of a sudden. White forms danced around them, moving in small ways. The child shut their eyes, breathing heavily, as they tried to calm themselves. Something was wrong. Words floated around them.

"Tribute"

"-the next tribute"

"Oh no, not Chara"

"That poor human"

Right, their name was called. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no. Dread settled into their bones as Chara glanced up at their name dancing on the screen in golden letters; dread, but no shock. A small voice at the back of their mind wondered about that little fact. Of course, this had been a pretty likely possibility, but shouldn't they at least feel the slightest bit of surprise? Yet, it felt as if they knew this fact all along.

A voice nearby compelled the child's head to wipe around. "hey kid. standing around won't conTribute to anything good, don't cha think? So, why don't we get this over with?" Sans.

No, something was definitely wrong. The human took an unconscious step back, to which the monster just raised an eyebrow. Sans' jokes were bad, yes, but he rarely told that one, and not in this context, at this place. Chara was sure this didn't happen before, never directed at them at least. Yet this very moment felt far too familiar, like a movie they just watched repeated again.

Something was wrong and Chara would find it. The world flushed with color as Chara willed white shapes into existence. Nothing twirled or drifted suspiciously. They could spot no attack patterns, yet there was cold anxiety churning in their stomach.

"heya Frisk? What about you? Care to join?"

Frisk. Chara twirled around to face the other human, a suspicion nudging at the back of their neck. And sure enough, there was something very wrong about that child. Chara's fists balled as they took in the world hidden from most. Red radiated from Frisk's chest, just like Chara's own did. But what concerned the first human was the single, shining golden star hovering in front of Frisk, small tendrils of light reaching for that red glow.

Frisk, oblivious to Chara's realization, trotted over with a neutral face towards were Sans' outstretched hand was waiting.

Chara fought the burning rage welling up in their chest. They weren't sure why exactly they were this enraged by the event. Yet, a small pang of hurt coursed through their soul. Memories that didn't happen flickered through their mind. They had been free. And it had been ok. It was their will. But Frisk erased all of it, erased their choice just like that.

A growl rose from Chara's throat, as they trotted over toward the human child and monster, gait quickening with every step.

"Uh, kid…?!"

"It was you!" The impact was rough. When had Chara started running? It didn't matter. Fingers forming claws, they slammed into the other child, knocking both of them over with a dull thump. Chara didn't care. "It was you! You did something, didn't you?!"

Chara's eyes flashed a fierce red, arms pinning the fellow human to the floor, who looked up at them with enraging passiveness. "All those days…" they spent suffering in the darkness of their room. "Every choice…" and the final decision that lead to Chara's big gamble. It didn't work out, yet it was their fate. They were determined to be free from the capitol's grasp. "You just erased it, didn't you? Erased it all."

Chara's fists locked onto the striped blue and purple sweater. Mom made it. Frisk didn't deserve it. Somewhere, in the distance, monsters were shouting. Chara couldn't hear it, their rushing blood drowning out everything else.

"I saved you." The words were no more than a soft breeze, spoken by the small child pinned below. Chara thought they saw a slight crease between Frisk's eyebrows. Maybe they just imagined it.

The yellow striped child trembled. "Saved me?" A chuckle escaped them, turning into a cold laughter. "You really call this saving? Oh, let me thank you then, dear friend." They yanked Frisk up by their sweater, still kneeing over them. "Thank you for making me leave my family." They slammed the child down, hearing more than seeing Frisk's head connect with the floor. Chara lifted them back up. "Thank you for making me suffer longer!"

Slam.

"Thank you for letting them turn my death into entertainment!"

Slam.

"Thank you so very much!"

"Chara!" Screams flooded around them. The world was red, dark copper stenches decorating the floor in the light of cheerful magic balloons.

Their body was freed from gravity, forcefully ripped away from the still human beneath them. Familiar blue energy danced around their soul. Chara's gaze landed on the skeleton below and they smiled through their rage, showing their teeth. That took him long enough.

"Kid, calm down. You don't want to cause any more suffering than you already have, do ya?"

Chara twisted and turned, trying to break free. "So what?! It's not like you'd care! You never do. Besides, I did them a favor! I did…", their gaze finally landed on the body down below, their blind rage finally subsiding a bit. Shaggy, dark hair covered parts of a slag face, their head twisted slightly at the wrong angle. Red had splashed around the fallen child, oozing slowly over the pristine tile floor. Chara used to play at this very spot when Azzie and them were little. Oh no.

A sickening feeling twisted their guts as they gazed down at their work. This couldn't be true. How… how had they lost control like that?

A sob cracked through the hall like thunder. Heads turned as a tall, white furred monster pushed their way through the crowd, a bigger one not far beyond.

Mom. Dad.

Chara had messed up, again.

They watched as their mother dropped to the floor next to the child she had only known for a few months. Bright fur stained white as it moved towards the wounds, magic twirling in a desperate attempt.

"No, my child. Don't… Please don't leave!"

"Small one, you have to stay determined!"

It was wrong, it was all wrong. This was a nightmare. And Chara was the true monster.

The sobbing grew weaker with Toriel's slowing hands, which finally rested on the child's chest. Her head turned and Chara flinched at the sight of fresh tears streaking down their mother's cheeks. Toriel's gaze was empty as she raised her head to look at Chara, who was still suspended by Sans' magic.

"I am sorry, my dear. Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you away from the surface. Not you... But them."

"Mom…?"

No one ever cared, no one but them. Monsters took Chara in, raised them, and loved them. And how had the child repaid them?

Chara truly didn't deserve to be around them. In the end, all they were capable of was hurting others. It seemed like that never changed.

"I-I'm sorry, mom, dad, e-every…" Why? Why, why, why?

But nobody cared.

Not even Chara themselves. If they had, maybe they would have realized the glow sooner. But as it was, they were busy drowning in a wave of all consuming despair. It felt like the world collapsed.

Too late Chara realized that it actually did.

"…this year's tribute from district 12 is… CHARA DREEMUR!"

That was the third time.

-o-

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Howdy and welcome to everybody new who discovered this story! And also a big welcome back to everyone who's already following along!

Some of you may have noticed that the update schedule changed from once every month to every two weeks. That's mainly due to my lack of patience and currently large amount of pre-written chapters. I may regret this at some point in the future, but meh. That's for future me to solve! So for now, there are twice as many updates. Yay!

Reviews are also much appreciated. But just seeing you guys reading this story makes me happy enough.

That's enough rambling for today.

Till we meet again!