It was… a human.
His emerald green eyes stared for a long moment at the limp form before him, laying in a bed of flowers. Cautiously, he started to move out of the cover of the pillar he'd been hiding behind, eyes never leaving the being before him. The fur that covered his body was milky white, and possessed the fluff of a young Goat Monster. Young enough that his horns had yet to sprout.
Asriel Dreemurr blinked, taking step after step forward. He knew it was a human, he'd heard about them. His parents had told him a lot about them.
It was a girl, and she was hurt. The moment Asriel saw that, his fear evaporated, replaced immediately with concern as he rushed to her side, gently shaking her arm. She stirred, but didn't wake. Blood ran down her scalp.
He glanced upward at the hole she'd fallen from, sunlight streaming down. There was nothing going on up there. Why had she fallen down here?
Slowly, he tried to wrap one of her arms around his neck, hoisting her gently up. She stirred again, moving in semi-conscious steps as he brought her up and began to help her away from the garden, headed home.
She mumbled something, but he couldn't understand what she said.
His parents acted with initial fright when they saw the dazed, bloody human he was helping through the Violet City back to his house. His mother clasped her hands over her mouth as his father stared in wide-eyed horror for a moment.
"She needs help!" Asriel told them, earning another incoherent mumble from the girl. Asgore was apprehensive, whereas Toriel moved into action, immediately taking the girl from her son's arms and bringing her inside.
The human was laid on Asriel's bed, where Toriel began to apply healing magic as she looked the girl over. At what she discovered, she had Asriel leave the room to speak with Asgore in hushed whispers.
Asriel stood at the closed door, his floppy ear raised up as he pressed the side of his face against the wood.
"These wounds aren't from the fall," he could hear his mother state.
"She's too young for battle. Perhaps her village was raided?" his father replied quietly.
"Asgore…" Toriel's voice was hushed at this point. There was a tense moment of silence before a few heavy footsteps sounded, his father beginning to pace the room.
"She's… suffered a great deal," he commented, his voice breaking at the end. Whatever they had seen had clearly rattled them.
"Great deal? Asgore, she's been-"
"He could be listening," Asgore immediately interrupted. At this, the two fell silent. Asriel bit the inside of his cheek, and after a minute or two with no words shared between his parents, he made his way to the living room, sitting down upon the couch and wringing his hands.
The girl didn't wake until a couple days later. She had moments of brief consciousness before then, but it wasn't until now did she fully wake. Her eyes slowly opened, struggling to do so for a moment as her head throbbed somewhat painfully. Ignoring this, as she was fairly used to pain by now, it was the creature beside the bed she laid upon that gave her some concern.
She looked back with momentary wide eyes, fully awake at the sight of it. It was like some kind of humanoid creature covered in white fur with big, floppy ears, and piercing emerald eyes. It smiled at her when she looked back at it. No, he smiled at her.
"Howdy!" he grinned widely. She continued to stare back, before glancing around the room. This wasn't her father's house. The room was much too large, this bed was much too comfortable. All she could remember was… falling. Why was she here? Was this supposed to be heaven? Had she succeeded?
When she didn't reply, the monster boy continued. "My name's Asriel," he greeted, still grinning widely. "Asriel the uh… monster, if you didn't know what I am," he scratched at one of his ears a bit nervously. "What's your name?"
Her gaze landed upon him once again, a somewhat blank stare. Surprise registered on his face when she did reply, though her voice was incredibly small and meek. Small enough that he had to lean in just to hear her.
"Chara. The… human…" she stated.
This seemed to excite him. "Really? That's a nice name! Does it start with a 'K'?" he asked, and she lightly shook her head. He cocked his own to this side with a frown. "Oh… how do you spell it then?"
She pursed her lips, but before she could reply, the door to the room opened, and only now did she realize they'd been talking in the dark. Light streamed into the room, casting an orange glow from the well-lit hallway behind a towering figure that stood at the doorway. It was similar to Asriel with its white fur, but much larger and clearly feminine, nubs of horns sticking from her forehead.
"Oh my," her voice was soft. "You're awake, young one."
"Yeah, she just woke up," Asriel stated, his tone proud for whatever reason. Maybe he assumed his presence had awoken the human.
"You're supposed to be in bed," his mother replied, her words stern but her tone still gentle.
"I don't want to sleep on the couch again tonight," he complained, and it was now that Chara realized this was his bed.
"Oh… I can go," she replied, her voice still very small. She made to climb out of the bed, but was swept down upon by the motherly monster, who carefully leaned the human back against the bed.
"Do not worry, young one. You're safe here. What's your name?"
"Her name's Chara!" Asriel answered. "But not spelled with a K." His mother smiled at the human, and Chara felt a strange emotion overcome her.
Something she'd never experienced before, but she couldn't quite place what it was. "What a lovely name," the monster said warmly. "My name is Toriel. Queen of the Underground."
It was here that another figure appeared at the doorway, this one much larger and much wider than even Toriel. He had massive horns curling over his head that forced him to duck down in order to enter the room without damaging the door frame. He even had to turn his body at an angle just so he'd fit through. "Is she awake?" his voice was a deep, soothing rumble, like rocks in a stream. Well, maybe that wasn't accurate, but that was the analogy Chara drew in her mind.
"Yes, my love," Toriel answered. "Her name is Chara."
"With a K?" Asriel's father asked. At this, Asriel giggled, prompting Toriel to chuckle. The massive monster, however, looked clueless to their reaction. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked innocently.
"No, no," Toriel assured, looking back toward Chara, who remained very quiet, unsure of how to feel about any of this.
"Hm. Well, howdy Chara!" Asgore greeted heartily, smiling warmly down upon her. "My name is Asgore."
He gave no secondary title as the others had. Chara stared at him for a moment, though her eyes remained wide. Her mouth a thin line.
"Perhaps we should let her adjust before we all overwhelm her. That means you too, Asriel," Toriel stated. Her son pouted, but complied, following his father out of the room. Toriel smiled down at Chara again, before reaching her hand out.
Chara flinched away, bringing her hands up to her chest, eyes widening slightly. Upon seeing this reaction, a sadness seemed to enter Toriel's eyes. "Do not worry, little one," she assured. "I know you must be confused, but we only wish to help you. Are you hungry?"
At this question, Chara could feel her stomach give a low rumble. Timidly, she slowly nodded her head. "I'll make you something to eat. You must be famished. Wait here until I return, and I will answer any questions you may have. Be good, will you not?"
When Toriel left the room, she shut the door softly behind her and Chara hugged herself beneath the covers of Asriel's blanket. This was all so strange… but now she could put a word with the feeling she'd felt. The feeling this family of monsters had made her feel. A feeling she never even knew existed until tonight.
Comfort.
Days turned into weeks within the Dreemurr household. Chara mostly remained in Asriel's bed for the beginning of it, but soon began to venture out to explore the house when no one was looking. The family didn't seem to mind, however, and even encouraged her curiosity. They were kind, something she wasn't used to in the slightest.
Her mind often traveled back to her life on the surface. The things she'd endured… the things she thought every little girl had to suffer until now. Now she saw that the issue was humanity, not her. A hatred began to grow within her every time she thought about that. About her dad. The things he'd do… her stomach churned at each thought. At each memory. She could still sometimes feel the pain he inflicted.
But the monsters down here? She'd never known such kindness, never thought it possible. Sometimes, she couldn't help but cry herself to sleep. Not out of grief, but out of relief. It came in waves as she grew more and more accustomed to the idea that this was her life now. Not the sorry tale that had been told up above.
Yet, she couldn't move on. Her mind would always go back to that horrible past. She even found herself sometimes daydreaming about returning there one day with her new family. Slaughtering the village where she'd lived—though that was out of the question. She knew that the monsters couldn't leave, she'd been told as much. Besides, the Dreemurr's were far too kind to do such violent acts, though she knew she wasn't.
After a month or so, she began to become accustomed to life here, and even began to spend time with Asriel. She began to talk more. She even started to smile. Was this what happiness was? A loving family? A wonderful brother? Good food, a warm bed… it was more than she could have ever wished for.
Outside of the family, she began to explore other parts of the underground. She met many monsters, and found that it wasn't as secluded as she'd believed. There were thriving communities down here. She became fast friends with the Royal Mage, Dr. Gaster- though he referred to himself as the 'Royal Scientist' now, which made sense. He didn't seem to work with magic as he did with science and math stuff.
She found herself often dragging Asriel to Gaster's lab to watch him work. Asriel found it incredibly boring, but Chara loved it. Especially when Gaster would explain how something worked. He taught her about chemical reactions, about conducting electricity, and he even showed her how the CORE worked. She was impressed to learn he'd built it by himself. It was a massive hunk of complex metal that powered the entire underground, and with that power, Gaster had invented many things.
Chara eventually discovered one of these inventions in an old box in Asgore and Toriel's room called 'Stuff Box'. Asgore had probably been the one to label it, he wasn't good with naming things. Within was a strange black box, and when she'd shown it to Asriel, he recognized it as a 'video camera'. They began to play with it, even recording themselves a few times, though they often forgot to take off the lens cap.
They brought it to Gaster, who confirmed he'd created it, and even made some tweaks to it. It wasn't long after when Chara began to refer to Toriel and Asgore as 'mom' and 'dad'. This surprised them initially, but they quickly warmed up to it. Toriel would bake and cook the most wonderful of meals, and Chara would always get the largest portions. This was due to the fact that monster food was magical in nature, so it was less filling to her. That just made it better because she got to experience more of the food. Toriel tried to teach her some cooking techniques, but Chara didn't really care for that. Asriel, on the other hand, took to his mother's teachings with verve. Chara found this incredibly boring, so would often spend the time he used learning to cook at Gaster's lab, where she continued to expand her knowledge. Through the scientist, she learned more about the barrier that trapped them down there. Seven human SOULs were needed to break it, but nobody was planning on using hers according to him. She learned of another way to pass the barrier. It wouldn't break it, but if a monster absorbed a human SOUL, that monster could pass through the barrier without consequence, and vice versa.
There were times she attempted to learn how to cook with Asriel, and they even tried to bake Asgore a butterscotch pie- though they confused buttercup flowers as being an ingredient.
It was too late when Asgore ate the pie and fell deathly ill. The children confessed to their mistake, and Asgore recovered soon. Aside from a harsh talking to, they weren't punished too severely, enforcing Chara's understanding of how contrasting the two worlds she'd lived in were.
Armed with the knowledge that buttercups weren't to be trifled with, she simply decided to forgo learning to cook, as it had ultimately been her decision to use the flowers in the first place.
Asgore, when he wasn't doing his kingly duties, whatever that entailed, was often at home trying to play sports with his children. Asriel liked to play catch, but Chara preferred soccer. It was something she took competitively, and Asgore was quick to the idea of making it an official sport underground so that she could compete.
Despite their differences, Asriel and Chara were almost inseparable unless one was cooking and the other was learning. While she still didn't talk much, Chara was no longer afraid of speaking as she had been. Her voice had risen past its small, meekness and was now proud. Healthy. Happy.
The soccer thing turned out to be a success, as the monsters underground quickly attached to the idea of sports. Teams were formed, leagues took place, and Chara had fun. She loved it here, it was perfect in every way.
But that past of hers… it continued to hang on, refusing to be forgotten. She found herself often waking in cold sweat, believing she was back on the surface, hearing the door fling open as her human father entered.
She couldn't handle these demons. They needed to be silenced. Slowly and articulately, Chara began to develop a plan. A plan that would ensure she could sleep easy, and ensure that the monsters would no longer suffer underground.
So one day, she had Asriel meet her in the garden outside of the Violet City, the same patch of buttercups that she had fallen upon a year ago now. He appeared confused as he followed her to the beam of light, where she came to a stop, looking up to the surface that was too distant to actually see.
"Why'd you bring me here?" Asriel asked, scratching at his ear. It was a habit of his to do that when he was anxious. "You're not gonna try to convince me to play soccer again, are you?"
"No," she replied, her voice calm. "Asriel, I'm happy here. I love you. I love mom and dad. I love the monsters. But up there? On the surface? It was horrible."
Asriel fell silent now, understanding what was about to happen. Chara had always refused to talk about her life above ground, making this his first time hearing it.
"The people up there are full of hate, fear, and cruelty. They hate each other and themselves, and a lot of them took it out on me. Especially my human father," she closed her eyes, soaking in the sun's rays as she paused, gritting her teeth for a moment at the memory. "I don't want to talk about what he did, but… I didn't fall underground by accident. I jumped down this hole because I wanted to die."
Asriel's eyes widened at this, yet he remained silent, allowing his sister to continue. "I escaped one night after… a brutal experience. I'd had enough. I wanted the pain to end. The nightmares. So I jumped. Instead of dying, I met you, and everyone else. I found a happy home. A home I never want to leave."
At this point, Asriel found his voice, moving to stand beside Chara, staring at her. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked quietly.
"Because the…" she bit her cheek. "The pain did end, but the nightmares haven't. I'll never be able to forget what they did to me, and there's only one way I can make this right."
At this, she turned to Asriel, her scarlet eyes gleaming in the sunlight. "To pass through the barrier, a monster needs a human SOUL. That power can make a monster God-like, Asriel. With that power, this monster can take the necessary SOULs and destroy the barrier."
"B-but… I don't… what's going on?" Asriel asked. He was often smarter than he acted, but he no doubt wasn't understanding her scheme all that much yet, so she continued.
"Asriel. I need you to absorb my SOUL. I need you to pass through the barrier, take my body with you so that I can be revived after. I need to end these nightmares, and we can free our people along the way."
Asriel wasn't exactly on board with the plan, but he couldn't say no to Chara. What she told him next made him sick, as she detailed her plans to consume buttercups and allow the sickness to kill her, where he would then absorb her SOUL and pass through the barrier with her body. Once on the surface, his goal was to destroy the village where she'd once lived and collect the SOULs of the dead there to shatter the barrier. He was then to give her back her SOUL and revive her, using another SOUL to maintain his God-like form.
It was a very specific plan. A plan he hated, but she was dead set on it, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her.
The fateful day arrived only a week later when Chara took him from the Violet City, leading him to the Capital. The castle here was where Asgore often was when doing his job, so the kids would sometimes stay here when Toriel brought them, but today, their parents were back in their other home, leaving virtually no obstacles in their path.
Once in the throne room, Chara wasted no time in consuming several buttercups, and it was several minutes later when she collapsed and fell still.
Asriel watched in horror as her chest stopped moving, and her scarlet SOUL appeared above her. He was terrified and unwilling… but he pushed on with her plan, grabbing what remained of her being and absorbing her SOUL into his own.
The transformation was instantaneous. He found he had gained an adult-like form. He stood tall, horns of his own curling over his head, and the power surging through him… he felt like he could do anything. On top of that, he could feel he wasn't alone. He could feel Chara in the back of his mind, her voice like a whisper in his ear.
"Let's continue, partner."
Scooping her body up in his arms, he left the throne room and approached the barrier. He'd seen it a time or two before, but now it seemed insignificant. Inconsequential. Calmly, he paced forward, and was bathed in light as the next moment he found himself standing on solid ground. Dirt beneath his paws. The sun in full was beaming down upon his fur with a warmth he'd never experienced before. It was different in so many ways from just standing beneath a hole that sat meters above your head…
Chara pressed him on. He could feel how eager she was. It was here that he started to register her presence more, as well as her emotions. He could feel a glimmer of that pain she'd told him about. The trauma she carried with her. Above all else, however, he could sense a bloodlust that he never really saw in her on the surface.
She seemed to sense him prodding around her emotions, and urged him onward again. He obliged, making his way down the mountainside, following a path directed by Chara. They weaved through the surrounding forests, and Mt Ebott began to fall behind before the village appeared.
Filled with anxiety, Asriel pressed on, holding Chara's cold body tightly to his chest. What happened next… was chaos. He could see the humans out there, working in their fields, talking to each other, children playing outside of a house…
He couldn't follow through with this. He wouldn't.
It was here that his control was suddenly stripped away. It was like watching through a telescope as he felt any physical feeling leave his body, Chara taking full control. Through a lens, he watched as she piloted his body, marching into the village. Eyes turned on them, staring in fright at the sight of the monster holding the dead child in his arms.
No longer was it his choice. He couldn't allow Chara to follow through with her sick plan. He wouldn't.
Fighting back, Asriel could feel his senses returning as he strong-armed for control. It was here that he could hear shouting. Screams. For a moment, he thought Chara had succeeded- but he realized he was the one in control. His partner had retreated into the recesses of his mind as he felt the strikes and blows. The humans of the village were attacking him.
Holding Chara's body tightly to his chest, he struggled a smile out at the humans attacking him, trying to let them know he didn't mean any harm. He didn't intend to scare them. This failed to work, and he could feel his body threaten to break beneath their blows as they fought to kill him, yet even still he didn't raise a finger against them.
This was all sorts of wrong, but he wouldn't take a life. He couldn't. He wouldn't.
He never did manage to survive. Chara's plan had failed, and it had cost them both of their lives. He stumbled his way back through the barrier, his tears falling upon his dead sister as he limped into the throne room, where he collapsed to the ground.
Before the world went dark, he could see his parents rushing in, screaming his name… and that was it.
Asgore and Toriel watched in horror as their son turned to dust before them, his SOUL rising into the air, pulsing with crimson energy before it shattered. His dust covered Chara's body, who lay limp on the ground.
The King and Queen were forced to draw their own conclusions, grieving their lost children after burying Chara beneath the garden she'd landed upon when she'd entered their lives. The underground seemed devoid of hope after this. Everybody simply stopped playing soccer, or even going outside for a time. Asriel and Chara had been the love of the underground, and with them both gone…
Asgore made an announcement, blaming humans for the deaths of his children. He was enraged, unable to release that anger. He wanted vengeance, but had no way to achieve it, so he promised his people he would collect seven human SOULs. That they would break the barrier, and that monsterkind would destroy humanity once and for all once on the surface.
This provided the underground with a new, darker hope. It wasn't ideal, but Asgore was aware that without any hope, their kingdom would fall apart.
Disgusted with his actions, many monsters closest to Asgore abandoned him in his greatest time of need. Toriel sealed away the Violet City, not even telling her husband goodbye. Gerson hid away in the caves. Gaster seemed to be the only one willing to stand by him, and here, the King promised his greatest friend that humanity would suffer for what they'd done. He promised to take the SOULs personally, become like God, and annihilate their enemy.
Yet even in death, Asriel and Chara's stories were far from over.