A/N: This story is currently undergoing revisions. If there is not a (V#) in the chapter title, it is old content that may not match perfectly with the current iteration of the story. Feel free to read it anyways, I left it up for a reason. If you are a returning viewer, please PM or Review me on what content you see that you'd like to have remain.

Your name is Chara. You are twelve years old, and you don't know if this is heaven or hell.

It began, of course, with the fall. That was for certain. But wherever you had been before, whatever you'd been doing to bring you here, was lost to you. All you know is that of all the reasons you came here, none of them were...particularly pleasant. The emptiness you feel when you try to recall the past reeks equally of not wanting to know as it does of not knowing.

"Chara?!" you hear a voice cry in surprise. "How-?!"

You turn over, a bit too quickly for your broken wrist to deal with, and cry out. Before you sits a bright, golden flower with a black face etched into its center. It leans over you, a disturbingly wide grin growing by the second.

"H-hi!" You say between gasps, fighting the urge to clench your fists because that would only make it worse. "W-what are you?!"

"Ah. Yes." The flower leans back a little. "I sure have changed a bit since we last met Chara! Y'know...back when you got me killed!" The grin twists, and the eyes hollow out into black pits, the tiniest gleam of red in the center. You curl up weakly, too broken to even crawl away properly.

"D-don't hurt me."

"D-d-d-don't t-t-tell me w-w-what t-t-t-to do!" He shouts, pressing his forehead against yours. "What happened to you, huh Chara? You were always so tough! Remember? 'Big kids don't cry,' right? You idiot!" A vine slaps you across the face, and you jerk your arm to cover it only to scream as the movement sends lightning through your wrist and fingers.

"I don't know you! Leave me alone!" You sob, and, rather miraculously, the flower does.

"You don't...you don't know me..." He whispers. "You were my best friend, how do you not-"

"I'm not your friend!" You snap, using your good hand to get to one knee, grunting as the movement disturbs your wound again. From here, you can see the size difference, and are suddenly much less afraid of the flower. It's large, of course, larger than any goldenflower has any right to be, but it only comes up to your waist. "I don't know you! And I'm pretty sure I hate you!"

"Oh, dear, what is the ruckus?" Another voice echoes from behind you, and you turn, locking eyes with a...cow? No, a goat with human proportions stares at you from across the clearing, having emerged from a gap in the rocks. You glance behind you, but only a mound of dirt sits where the flower had once been. "Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you?"

"Y-yes," you say stiffly. "I'm sorry I annoyed you, please leave me alone."

"But you're hurt! And just a child, I could never." The woman smiles, and steps towards you slowly. You move back, holding up your good hand, and she stops. "I'm not trying to hurt you, my child. There are others," she grimaces, staring at the mound of dirt at your feet, "that are less charitable, but not I. Please, I can help you."

"How?"

"I can fix your wrist. It's broken, or at least sprained, is it not?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then it would be much better for me to fix it now than wait for it to heal improperly and have to break it again."

Come with me or I'll definitely hurt you. You think. That's what that means.

"Alright," you say quietly. "We'll do it your way."

"Splendid!" She approaches you again, and gets on one knee. "Let me see it, then." You reveal the injury cautiously, and she takes your arm in one paw, your hand in the other, keeping the wrist stable. It only hurts a little bit when she gently tilts your hand upward, then down. The shattered bones press against your skin and writhe, and you look away before the chills get to you. "Hm...very broken indeed. No odd bruising, so you didn't cut anything open in there yet."

"Yet?"

"If you carry on like this, the shards may nick something important. I'd be happy to fix it now, if you like."

As if I really have a choice. "Okay."

Green flames leap from the monsters hands, and you jerk away from their heat. She holds you back, keeping the limb level despite the strain. You shut your eyes, expecting the heat to turn into a searing burn, but it never comes. The warmth...it hurtsba little, but its like taking a hotter shower than usual. You can see green light pulsating in your arm, and where it goes brings terrible itching followed by relief. It travels up and down your forearm, then fades, returning to the source of the fire. A prickling numbness sets in as they pull their arm away, and you flex it slowly. Feeling begins to return, and the monster beams at you.

"See! All better. Well, not exactly. Some of that tissue will be, well, 'newer,' so you should be careful with it for a while. Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Toriel!"

The world seems to tilt, and its not until flower petals are poking you in the eyes that you realize you've fallen over. Distantly, you can hear the monster -you can hear Toriel- panicking and calling your name.

I never told her my name, you think sleepily, and wake up.

The flowers are gone. The prickling in your eyes continues, and you wipe at them and feel grit, like dust and ash smear away. You stand, the dizziness that overtook you forgotten. Your wrist hurts again, but not as badly as before. You look to where Toriel was standing. There's nothing there. The gap in the rock looms ominously, and you notice that you're a bit higher up than you should be. You can still flex your wrist, and the golden sunlight from above has been replaced with the moons pale blue.

"Do you remember what you told me last time?" A voice whispers. "That I was not above consequences."

"Who is this? What is this?!" You shout fearfully.

"This world has been corrupted. I need you to fix it for me."

"How? Who are you?"

"Something from the Dark. Someone willing. And you?"

"I am Chara."

"The Demon that comes when their name is called."

"What?"

"I said...are you alright, my child?!"

Your eyes snap open again, and again are assaulted by the petals of gold flowers You push yourself up, feeling a slight ache in your wrist, but nothing more. Toriel is sitting next to you, arm wrapped in more of that healing flame she used earlier.

"I'm fine, I don't-"

"Oh, my sweet, I'm so sorry. I should have known better, I just wanted to help. You were shouting so loud, and I didn't think to...I apologize. This is my fault."

"What?"

"Healing is a delicate process. I sped up what should have taken months into a few seconds. I'm sorry, I did not lend you enough of my energy to complete the process. Come now. We must get you food and rest, before you have any more accidents."

This time there's no room for debate, she simply takes your hand and leads you through the Your name is Chara. You are twelve years old, and you don't know if this is heaven or hell.