When the Dawn Comes

By Nicolle

Disclaimer: Undertale is copyrighted to Toby Fox. This story is copyrighted to me.

Chapter 1

Asriel was a blur of white as he sprinted ahead of Chara, making for the garden of golden flowers in the Ruins. The proximity alarms had gone off a full thirty minutes earlier and both made a mad dash to get to the flowers and whatever had fallen into the Ebott Prison first. Dodging random pillars along a flower filled path, the goat monster and his human brother, both still in green sweaters and brown slacks from their last royal engagement, they both silently thanked God that no monsters were currently on the garden paths that made up the Ruins. Skidding to a stop just outside the gate that led into the one place they'd discovered had some entrance high above to the surface, mostly because Chara was the first one forced down it, and took a moment to look inside.

A girl in a loose, sky blue sweater and pale, linen shorts, lay in the middle of the garden, the golden flowers having broken her fall. Seeing no monsters having reached her first, Chara rushed in, dropping to his knees next to her.

Asriel played look out at the gate. "Is she alive?"

Chara took her pulse. "Yeah. Her heart rate is steady too. That's a good sign." He began checking her for injuries and found minor scratches and bruises, likely from the kidnapping that saw her tossed into the prison. He pulled out a flashlight, gently opening the girl's eyes to check pupil dilation. "That's an interesting pair of blue eyes," he muttered, before checking for broken bones. "She doesn't appear to have any broken bones or a concussion."

Chara sat back a moment to look really look at her, his fingers gently brushing soft brown hair from her face. "She's really pretty." Something caught his eye on her shoulder and he moved the collar of her shirt to have a look. "Oh fuck."

Asriel spared him a quick glance. "What?"

"She's an Everdawn!" Chara jerked his bag open, nearly snagging the zipper, and dug through it for a bottle of liquid foundation. "She's got the family tattoo on her shoulder." He quickly wiped the foundation across the tattoo, blowing on it to help it dry quickly.

"Everdawn? As in, 'family of wizards who made the prison' Everdawn?"

Chara nodded. "It means her soul is particularly powerful."

Asriel snarled at a noise. "The royal guard is almost here. We're out of time. There's no way we can get her to the safe house without going past them."

Chara frowned. "All right. Switch to Plan B."

Asriel rushed over to the girl, gently lifting her. "Do you think we can pull it off?"

"Your dad said I deserved a reward and she looks to be my age. Run it like she would be a new 'pet' for me."

Asriel nodded. "One royally spoiled brat, coming up!"

They smiled at each other for a moment before Chara dashed away, hiding in the garden. The girl in Asriel's arms moaned, eyes fluttering open. He could see the guard making their way to the gate.

Leaning in a little, he put his snout near her ear to whisper, "Whatever you do, don't fight and don't say your name."

She blinked at him and he smiled softly, nuzzling her cheek with his nose.

"Don't say your name."

The guard came to attention in front of Asriel.

Captain Brine, a vicious looking, dark green, lizard monster with a white face, stepped forward, his armor clanking. "Please give the human to me, Your Highness. It could be rabid."

Asriel snorted and lifted his snout. "Oh please. I know better." He gave the girl in his arms a soft smirk. "I like this one. I'm keeping it." He marched past the Captain.

"Your royal Father-"

"Will have a lot to say about it, I'm sure. But Chara and I could use a pet and this one is very likely to have a," he paused dramatically, giving the Captain a raised eyebrow "particular appeal for my brother."

The Captain folded his arms over his chest, using one hand to point at the girl. "I doubt Lord Chara will be interested in that."

Asriel waved it off, continuing away with the girl. "Oh yes. We all know how much my brother hates humans, which is exactly why he'd be interested in a female one."

The girl shivered against him and he gave her as comforting a squeeze as he could manage, before snickering at the Captain. "Then again, it would be a lot of trouble for you, if I just made off with it. I'll drop it in the prison under the palace and bring it up with my Father."

He stopped dead and looked over his shoulder, eyes glowing a bright and dangerous violet. "But if you kill this human before Chara's had a chance to look it over, it won't go well for you." He marched off into the flow of gardens beyond the gate.

The Captain growled. "That damn kid. He always acts like he's making my life easier and I should be grateful for all the damn trouble he causes."

"Shhh!" one of the fully armored guards hissed. "You don't know who's listening!"

Captain Brine frowned, which had the effect of revealing several sharp teeth. "Fall in. We're going to New Home."

Once the guard was far from sight, Chara came out of the garden, making a mental note of the guardsman who'd been wise enough to call for silence. He'd have to go, and Chara had become very good at arranging the kind of trouble that would end a guardsman in a pile of dust.

After looking up at the darkness above, he grabbed a stone and threw it as hard as he could past the proximity sensor, setting off the alarm. He rushed out of the garden to hide in the Ruins, waiting for the guard to pass. Once the Captain and his cronies had slithered by, he dashed out of the Ruins and down the stairs into Old Home. He slowed to a walk, hands in his pockets. The monster citizens of Old Home gave him waves and hellos and he returned them with warm smiles and soft greetings. He ducked into the craft shop on Old Home's main drag, picking out new yarn and giving himself plausible deniability.

He'd worked hard over the past ten years to produce a set of specific habits that would always shield him from accusations of indiscretion. One of those habits was a well known love of yarn and knitting, which helped calm his thoughts, but also gave him a reason to be in unusual places since the shops tended to be in unusual places. The other was setting off the proximity sensors on a frequent enough basis that the royal guard took their time getting to the Ruins. So when humans actually fell, he and Asriel had the time to find them and get them to safety.

So far, they'd managed to secret away twenty humans in Old Home, Snowdin, and the surrounding forests with a very small and very loyal group of monsters. All of whom worked vigorously to teach the humans how to look and act like monsters and thus stay safe. The ones they hadn't gotten to in time… Chara shivered as he thought about them, the three human souls that quivered in their vessels, hidden away in the palace.

He purchased some yarn and headed to the dock in Old Home and a boat ride back to New Home so he could have a quick change of clothes. If he and Asriel were going to pull this off, he had to look the part.

Back at the palace, Chara sat at the table in the family dining room, sipping a cup of tea and knitting so as not to appear like he was waiting for anything. Queen Toriel sat next to him, quietly reading a book, and occasionally taking a sip of tea or a bite of candied snail. The family dining room was small, compared to just about any other room in the palace and each wall was covered in paintings of monsters in a very Raphaelite style, edged in gold flourishes. The ornately carved, cherry wood dining table would only seat six at the most and made evening meals very familial, provided you understood that your family might one day stab you in the back and harvest your soul for its power.

He'd changed into a blood red button down, black pants, and long black coat, knowing that it'd make him look intimidating with his red eyes. Chara liked to look intimidating for anything involving the royal guard, to remind them that he was always the one with the power, even if he never said as much. He'd taken to keeping his hair short, to accentuate the sharpness of his features, a shorthand for keen edge of his sword. Where the guard looked at Asriel as a long haired, barely adult nuisance, they quietly feared Chara, which was yet another thing he'd carefully cultivated over the years with a few brutal acts of dominance.

It wasn't long before King Asgore swept into the room, a large and overwhelming presence that Chara had long gotten used too. And one he'd come to ignore as the goat had gained weight around his stomach over the last five years. "Asriel would like to give you a present, though I doubt you'll want it."

Chara raised an eyebrow. "There is no gift Asriel has ever given me that I have not wanted."

Asgore smiled a bit too widely. "He proposes to give you a human as a pet."

Toriel's eyebrows went up, but she said nothing.

Chara looked back down at his knitting. "Go on."

Asgore looked to Toriel for a moment, and not getting a response, shrugged. "Unlike the others, this one is female. Asriel assures me that you'd think it an amusing diversion."

"And you didn't just kill it then?"

Asgore frowned, but not in an unhappy way. "Your brother was quick to remind me that I promised you a reward for your part in putting down disloyalty in the guard. So I stayed my hand."

Chara shrugged and stuck his bamboo knitting needles into the skein of yarn on the table. He stood and made for the door. Toriel smiled and took a sip of tea.

Asgore's eyebrows went up. "What? No arguments? No protests?"

Chara stopped and looked up at the king. "If my royal brother is of the opinion that I'll want something he knows I'd otherwise abhor, I will always humor him. As earlier noted, there is no gift Asriel has ever given me that I have not wanted."

He continued out the door and Asgore turned to follow. Seeing that was the case, Chara paused and bowed, letting Asgore lead the way to the prison under the palace. The way to the prison was not hidden or complicated, but it did mean descending into a dark and gloomy place of monotonous gray stone cells. They stopped at the first cell in the line.

The girl was fully awake now and sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. Asriel stood on the other side of the bars, with a member of the royal guard, watching the girl with an interested smile, and Chara hoped his brother had managed to prep her. Asriel caught sight of his brother and smiled widely, his short tail wagging where it stuck out between his sweater and slacks..

Asriel held up both hands toward Chara. "Before you say anything, give it a real look. Unlike the others, this one is female and has been very docile." He looked over at the girl. "Come on. Stand up. Let my brother get a good look at you."

The girl slowly rose to her feet, one hand grasping the elbow of the other arm, and staring at the ground.

Chara watched her for a few moments before looking at the guard. "Open the cell."

The guard bowed and unlocked the door, holding it wide. Chara strode up to the girl forcefully and she backed up quickly, caught between him and the wall. He leaned over her hands in his pockets, his nose nearly touching hers.

"We're being watched," he whispered, "stay docile. Do not defend yourself against me."

The girl gave the barest of nods, and his hands came out of his pockets; his right cupping her cheek, turning her face up toward his while his left hand snaked up under her sweater. She inhaled sharply, jaw clamped tight when his hand groped her breasts, finding them larger than her clothing had suggested. Her eyes squeezed shut.

"Look at me," he commanded.

Her eyes snapped open and she shivered when his left hand slid down her side to grasp her wrist. Chara turned his head, leaning in to inhale her scent and immediately wished he hadn't, his pants suddenly feeling tight.

He stood up and stepped back, hands sliding back into his pockets. "You will do as I tell you, exactly as I tell you. Is that understood? Say, 'Yes, Lord Chara.'"

Her voice came out soft, but clear, "Yes, Lord Chara."

"When I tell you to follow me, you will walk behind me dutifully. Follow me."

"Yes, Lord Chara."

He turned around, striding out of the cell and the girl followed, head down. Asgore's eyebrows rose and he looked to Asriel. The goat prince smiled.

Chara looked up at the king. "I'll take her."

Asgore chuckled deeply. "Very well. You'll be responsible for her."

Chara nodded once and turned, walking out of the prison, the girl following behind.

Asriel smiled widely at his father. "I told you he'd want it." He turned and followed after Chara, missing the small smile on his father's face.

Chara went to the servants quarters and knocked on the first door. A rabbit monster with orange fur in a simple, light blue uniform smock and blue pants, opened the door and on seeing Chara, gave him a smile and a bow.

"Hello, Lord Chara. How may I be of service?"

"Hello, Isadora." Chara nodded to the girl. "Take her measurements and buy her clothing. She'll need a full wardrobe including undergarments. Use my expense account." He looked over his shoulder at the girl. "I want her to look pretty." He turned back to the rabbit. "I do not expect you to complete this task in a day, but I do expect pajamas and a change of clothes for her at the very least by this evening."

Isadora bowed her head, which had the effect of her ears falling forward in her face. "Yes, Lord Chara. She looks like she could use a change of clothes now." She waved the girl into the room. "Come in and disrobe."

The girl froze. Chara put a hand on her back and pushed her into the room, before leaning against the door with his arms folded over his chest. The room was a spacious lounge for the staff with tables, chairs, sofas, beautiful paintings, and a comfortable atmosphere; and the girl stood in the middle of it trembling. The room was empty but for the four of them.

Chara frowned. "Undress."

The girl looked up at him, and finding no mercy, shuddered. "Yes, Lord Chara." She lifted the sweater over her head, revealing an ample chest in a shear, underwire bra. When she turned to face away from Chara, he cleared his throat. Huffing, she turned back around, and finished stripping, a blush spreading across her face.

Isadora took the girl's measurements, noted the sizes of her clothing, and disappeared into a closet for a moment, returning with a red blouse, black skirt, and undergarments.

"This will hold you for the afternoon. You'll need toiletries. What scent shall I choose, Lord Chara?"

Chara lifted his nose. "If you have a preference, now's the time to say something."

The girl held her arms over her chest, cheeks burning red. "Rose."

Isadora looked to Chara and got a nod of approval. The rabbit disappeared again and returned with a travel sized soap and shampoo. "Do you wish her bathed?"

The girl's eyes narrowed at him over her red cheeks, and Chara smiled.

"No. She can bath herself back in the suite." Chara held out his hand for the clothes and soap, and the rabbit gently laid the blouse and skirt over his arm. "Have her wardrobe match mine in color." He nodded to the sweater and shorts. "Get dressed."

The girl knelt carefully to retrieve her clothing. Isadora bowed before disappearing again.

Asriel poked his brother's arm, having watched the scene with interest. "Want me to grab some food from the kitchen?"

Chara nodded. "Please. I missed lunch and I'm sure she could use some. We'll meet you back at the room."

Now dressed, the girl waited on Chara.

He sighed. "Pay attention as you follow me through the palace. It's not a confusing layout, but it is large and a few of the rooms are overwhelming enough with decoration that you can get lost just looking around." He turned, heading for the suite he shared with Asriel, stopping briefly to gather his knitting in the now empty dining room.

The suite was large and luxurious, decorated in luscious blues and golds. The living room was filled with plush, royal blue seating around a gilded fireplace that currently stood clean with fresh kindling sitting on a metal grate. A few logs placed to the side. Asriel was setting down a tray of food on the gold edged coffee table when the door to the room shut behind Chara.

The girl rounded on Chara, slapping him hard across the face, arm swinging around for a second strike.

Asriel rushed over, his hand closing over the girl's wrist, the other around her waist to pull her away from his brother. "Don't hit him!"

Chara groaned, rubbing his cheek. "Let her go, Az. I deserved that."

The girl seethed, blue eyes hard like glass. "Don't you dare touch me like that again!"

Chara grimaced. "Unfortunately, I might have too."

The girl shook Asriel off, getting in Chara's face. "I will not let you treat me like-!"

Chara's eyes narrowed. "I didn't spend ten years cultivating an asshole persona just to throw it away for your comfort. In this room, we can relax." He pointed to the door. "But out there, with a few very specific exceptions, it's kill or be killed. And if you want to live, you'll play the faithful pet."

"Did you have to molest me?!"

"Yes." He held up three fingers to tick them off. "For three very important reasons. First, I have to maintain the persona. Second, we were being watched and your discomfort was to our advantage. And third, was Asgore. Most of the monsters down here have no understanding of how humans make babies, but Asgore does. By molesting you, I was solidifying for him that I was an absolute bastard. It puts our relationship above suspicion."

Chara sighed. "Listen, if we ever get back to the surface and you want to press charges, go for it. I'll willingly go to the executioner's block. I won't be dodging it anyway with half the shit I've had to do down here to save the others."

Frisk blinked. "Others? There's more than just me?"

Asriel gestured for Frisk to sit. "We're at, what now? Thirty-two?" He nodded. "Yeah. You're the thirty second person to be dropped into the prison."

Chara nodded as he rested the clothing over the arm of a chair and dropped his knitting in a basket next to the couch. Sitting down, he tossed her the toiletries and she caught them easily. "We've managed to save twenty so far. They're pretending to be monsters and living far from New Home. Seven died in the fall and their souls moved on before the guard could retrieve them. Three of them were captured because the guard got to them first and were brutally murdered on the spot."

Frisk sat down in a chair away from Chara. "So why aren't you dead?"

Asriel waved his hand, his tail wagging. "Oh, that's all me! I found him in the Ruins and took him home."

Chara sighed. "Luck."

"And me? You obviously found me before the guard."

"Yes, but not fast enough to hide you away. This is the contingency plan."

Asriel poured a cup of tea and handed it to the girl. "The uh… 'bumpy' meeting aside… Howdy! I'm Asriel and this is my brother Chara."

The girl took the tea. "I'm Frisk Ever-"

"Stop!" both said at the same time.

Frisk froze.

Chara let out a breath. "Never say your last name. Keep your family tattoo covered with makeup, even if your clothing is covering it. I have a bottle of foundation in the bathroom and I carry one on me if you need a quick cover up." He covered his mouth with one hand, eyes moving back and forth as he thought. "Frisk is an unusual name."

Frisk snorted. "And 'Chara' isn't? I'm named after the most powerful human wizard who ever walked the Earth."

Chara's hand dropped and he glared at her. "What I'm getting at is that as a 'pet,' I'll be expected to name you and 'Frisk' works. Just flub answering to it on occasion."

"I'm not wearing a collar."

Asriel frowned. "What's a collar?"

Chara pointed at the goat prince. "As noted, that's not a thing down here. Now to figure out dinner."

"No worries on that front." Asriel handed Chara a plate with a sandwich. "I saw mom in the kitchen and she said she won't expect us for dinner since we'll probably be too busy with our new friend."

Chara sighed. "Thank God for small miracles." He paused. "Wait. Friend?"

Asriel nodded. "Friend. I said pet, but she was adamant about not calling her that."

Chara frowned and then shrugged. He motioned to the rest of the suite. "The next room over is the study. Beyond that, the bedroom. The bathroom is connected to the bedroom and to this room so the whole apartment makes a loop. If you want to get cleaned up, the door to the bathroom is right there."

Frisk frowned. Putting the tea cup down, she stood, walking over to the study door to look in on a veritable library of books and seeing the bedroom beyond with it's two, large, four post beds. "Where will I sleep?"

"With me," Chara stated flatly.

"Excuse me?"

Chara looked over the sandwich in his hand. "The bed is more than big enough for the both of us and it will be expected. Pets sleep in their master's bed."