hara and Toriel went through the now depopulated ruins, the atmosphere now reeking of dust and dread. It was something Toriel have not seen in a long time, the normally colorful landscape sounded wrong without living monsters. She also remembered fighting other corrupt humans in the past, but none of them were as merciless as this one. She had met a few survivors who hid in the Licorice room since the boy had little use for monster candy.
They said he was around her daughter's age, with a similarly striped sweater. Their whole face melted as a dark power consumed them, and they never showed MERCY to any monster foolish enough to fight back. When Toriel asked how many perished, the surviving monsters started trembling again. Then, one Migosp stepped forward and whispered the news to her, shocking her further.
Nineteen.
Monsters who survived the war were around a couple hundred, and among those numbers, lesser are those who can aggro' and fight humans. Killing that many aggro'ers confirmed the human was going for genocide, having annihilated the monsters capable of retaliating.
Toriel's failure as a Guardian made her feel useless, so Chara went for embraces as her mother wept the loss of her denizens. Warm tears bloated her sweater, and gentle fur caressed her neck.
Maybe ASGORE was right about his gruesome task, or maybe not.
No, killing human children still sounded wrong to her.
It took maybe five to ten minutes for Toriel to calm down, but she eventually did run out of lacrymal fluid. Mother and Daughter passed through the empty Ruins without finding a clue about the killer, except for sparse monster dust here and there.
As both carefully ventured into Toriel's house, they found nothing suspicious either. All things were where they were supposed to be ...
Except for the kitchen knives.
Chara frantically looked for those, recalling a disturbing voice in her head ...
"NOW, MOTHER, WHERE. ARE. THE. KNIVES?"
... as well as Toriel fighting Chara and Frisk for some reason. Seeing herself turn berserk and trying to kill her mother made her shiver, but the worst part is her killing the child who went to protect Toriel. Her SOUL felt like tearing apart, bringing immense pain through her still-recovering body. Toriel, who found nothing in the rest of the house, ran to her distressed daughter she called her name. Seeing her suffer made the Guardian grab her and bring her to a bedroom in a hurry. There, Chara was forcefully bedridden despite her silent protest.
"You should rest while you can child, the human could be back at any moment. I do not want to lose you again either ..."
Toriel's voice trailed a few seconds before she resumed talking Motherly instincts told her to change the subject when she saw Chara's preoccupied looks.
"We will have Snail Pie for dinner, so please, rest for a while."
"Fine, thanks Mom." said a pouting Chara, she loved pie but not as much as her fugitive lover. She wanted to go and look for him, but her mother would not let her venture outside without a proper rest.
Chara took the opportunity of being left alone to process what happened up until now since nothing made sense to her so far.
"It is okay, Chara, I will help you figure it out."
Frisk, in her SOUL, spoke to her in that voice that made her heart all aflutter. Yet this time, something bothered Chara and ruined the pleasant feeling that passed through her.
"Figure out how to stop you from killing more monsters?"
The voice went silent, then answered in a very apologetic tone.
"I do not think 'that' would let me stop doing it, and I am longer in control of my body so ..."
Chara knew all of that, what she still did not know is ...
"So why are you doing this?"
"To save you."
He already did, or was she missing the point?
"I am saved, Frisk. As you can see."
"No, you are not."
Her being alive was not enough it appears, something wrong must have happened when they first met.
"Why is that?"
"Because I am rebuilding your SOUL."
"My ... SOUL? You mean that broken heartless thing that I ruined throughout my restless rampage?"
Why bother rebuilding that rotten SOUL? Unless it was somehow endangered, nothing should have pushed the boy to take this kind of shady deal.
"Unless I patch it up, you will die ... and so will I without you."
Frisk's voice disappeared abruptly, leaving Chara with hiccups and sniffles. Everyone she loved was getting hurt, and it was always somehow her fault. This human's love for her is far stronger than she thought since he risked his life to get her back. He even enslaved his own body and mind to keep her alive, which was far too high of a price for the pitiful existence she was.
"Wh-why? Why are you ... doing all of this ... for me?"
Tears haven't stopped escaping her red orbs, blurring her vision and rendering her unable to speak. She fell on her bed and tried to drown her sorrow in sleep. There, memories of Frisk holding her so she could rest started taking shape. She felt his gentle touch on her waist and being spooned never felt so good, as she slowly drifted to slumber.
Toriel had her pie ready to go, albeit still too hot for proper consumption. She left the kitchen to have the meal cool off and went to see her reborn daughter.
Yes, literally reborn.
Toriel wanted to meet the human that allowed this miracle and thank him properly, although they were now nothing else but a ruthless killer. Toriel pondered this as she was watching her sleeping child, slowly breathing as their chest moved in sync. The guardian could never be any happier, she always looked at her sleeping daughter since they took her in.
At first, Chara was wary of anything around her, so Toriel could only peek from the keyhole. She then slowly gained the trust of the Fallen human, and they grew as close as a real mother-and-daughter pair could. Chara seemed to have cried in her sleep too, but she was smiling now, and that reassured Toriel who went to check on the snail pie.
Strangely, a slice was missing.
No.
Something was in the house.
Toriel ran with another slice for Chara, climbing the stairs in a hurry to make sure she was still alive. The door was still open, and Chara was still there, lightly snoring. Toriel's raging heartbeat grew steadier at the sight of her daughter, she was not willing to lose another potential child.
Chara.
Asriel.
And the Six humans.
"No, seven?"
Toriel felt she had met another human recently, and they looked exactly like the killer's description. Nothing like what the Guardian can remember about this boy matched the gruesome depiction of the surviving monsters. They looked quiet, gentle, shy and a bit lost.
They were also very eager to cuddle since they could hardly speak a word. How they turned into a killing monstrosity remains a mystery, one Toriel intended to solve on behalf of their daughter.
The Guardian remained in the living room, hoping to reason with the human if it was possible. She looked at her aging paw, the cushion was a bit wrinkled and the fur a little fuzzy, but it was well-kept and still immaculate. She wondered if she could hurt a human with those old limbs, the same that failed to protect both monsters and humans. The thought lingered in Toriel's mind until she was startled by a noise, something coming from the basement.
Someone trying to escape the Ruins and forcing their way through the door.
It has to be him.
Toriel ran there while readying her magic. Come what may, she had to FIGHT the child. She went down the stairs, along the purple hallway, and looked at the distant door. There, a child around Chara's age was trying to open the sturdy door, but it hardly budged an inch. The human turned around and ...
" =) "
... Smiled.
A creepingly disturbing smile, one like those Fallen children had when they tried the bloody path. Toriel saw the corrupt child, widening her eyes at their broken SOUL.
Chara's.
Are they trying to keep it alive? Toriel hesitated to FIGHT now, she could hurt Chara if she tried to battle the child. Attacks would inevitably hit the SOUL, even if she did not go all out. There were no other options available, thus Toriel engaged battle mode and ...
Stalled for time.
She couldn't do it. She was not able to hurt her own child or the one that revived them. She just waited there, eyeing the approaching human. They looked oddly scared, trembling, their eyes almost shut with tears forming. They halted and gazed at a hesitant queen, clenching their fist as if they were also thinking things through.
Both beings in the hallway stood there without much told or a move made.
The child moved again, motioning for a hug, reaching with their shaking hands. They could hardly prevent tears from streaming down their faces, looking desperate and lost. Toriel was confused, but her instincts took over and she went to hug the child. As she closed the distance, something felt wrong.
The child stopped inches before them.
Toriel paused and looked into their eyes.
Frightening red orbs met her long-lashed eyes.
A sudden slash fell down, ripping the robe, hide, and guts of the nearly dead queen.
"Ha ... ha ... ha"
She still managed to hug the child, locking arms into them with dying warmth. They startled, dropping the knife and trying to hug back the fading monster.
The last thing Toriel could hear were awful cries and screams.