WARNING: This story contains violence and child abuse performed by another child.

Thou hast been warned O_O

Chapter 1

Chara?

Chara woke from their sleep in an abrupt start, snapping their eyes wide the moment they were awake, then screwing them shut when they were assaulted by the brightness of daylight above.

It was... strange. Despite having a full night of dreamless sleep, their entire body felt fatigued, laden with weights that could not be seen. Their joints creaked like an old wooden boards being lightly stepped on as they stretched and moved. It was obvious that they haven't had a proper rest, and it's been a while since they hadn't; since they've began living with the Dreemurrs to be precise.

There was once a time when this was the norm for them, this feeling of insomnia, the constant lethargy that lingered in the back of their mind every moment of the day. It took them months before they could let themselves go enough to get a full night's sleep, and it was only after countless nights of crying and consolation from their new family that they've achieved it in the end. So why was it back now, when everything was finally starting to look up?

Having lost their bedsheets, Chara found that they were too wired from their experience to continue sleeping. They stood up to a sitting position, and swung their leg around to the edge of the bed.

They then stumbled a bit when their legs didn't find the edge of their bed, but a hard solid ground underneath instead.

Chara looked down at their bed to find that what they have been lying on wasn't a bed at all, but a patch of golden flowers that was growing on a mound of soft brown soil.

What? They quizzed, their mind unable to process the new information. They briefly wondered if they were still half asleep and were perceiving things in an odd manner, but how would one mistaken empty air with solid ground? They were definitely not on their bed. In fact, it was quite clear now that they weren't even in their room anymore.

"Chara?" An unfamiliar voice said from behind them.

Chara's arms swung back in a wide arc, and struck whoever was behind them with a powerful backhand. The being behind them yelped in both surprise and pain, and they distinctly heard them fall to the ground with a loud grunt.

Not wasting the opportunity, Chara used the momentum of their attack to spin around in place and leapt on top of their assailant. Luckily for them, the assailant was no larger than themselves, and had fallen face first to the ground, leaving Chara free to secure them. They sat on their lower back, twisted one of their arms, and placed a warning hand around their neck.

Caught, the assailant didn't struggle for long. They only twisted their body this way and that until they realised Chara had them in a secure hold, and they gave up trying to escape completely. Still caught in their adrenaline filled haze, Chara tried to identify the assailant with the numerous monsters they had had the pleasure to meet in the Underground.

The assailant was a child. Or at least according to the common monster knowledge they were a child. Wearing striped shirt was apparently a dead give away in this strange world, and Chara briefly worried that they may have gone too far against a kid. They quickly shook the thought away however when they remembered that, whoever this child was, they had infiltrated to the royal house and had kidnapped the child of a monarch, adopted as they may be.

The mop of dark brown fur growing on the child's head was long and silky, much like their own. If Chara had to name it, it looked a lot like human hair. Was it a mane? The child also had very human like arms. Was the child one of the Aaron clan's?

A quick glance behind them told Chara that, no, the child wasn't one of the Aarons. Aarons were mermens with horse heads, and this creature had two very distinct legs, and even from behind, Chara could tell that their head wasn't even remotely shaped like a horse. Wearing a blue top, pants and a pair of Adidas shoes, the child looked distinctly like a...

Something cold gripped Chara's heart, and they whipped their head around to look down at the child's foot with dangerously large eyes.

There, on the child's feet were a perfectly new pair of Adidas running shoes.

Of course, it wasn't entirely unusual to find human made clothes and technology in the Underground, but they always came from the garbage dump where careless humans came to dispose their garbage without repercussions. Everything monsters salvaged from there were at least five years old, worn with use and often in several pieces. There was absolutely no way that any monster could have gotten their hands on a pair of such a big brand shoes in such a good quality.

Chara whipped their head back to their captive and used their hand to twist their head to the side.

A twinkling brown eye came into view, and Chara almost lost their grip in shock, the cold chill gripping their heart intensifying until they felt numb.

They began looking around the room they were in, and found that it was no room at all, but a large cavern that didn't seem to have been occupied by anything besides molds and vegetation for years. There was only two exits from the cavern, one being the narrow path that could be seen in one corner of the oddly square shaped cave, and the other was high up in the ceiling, a gaping hole at the top of the cavern that provided a small window to the sky above.

It was a rare sight, and there was still one place in all of Underground that had such view.

Chara was back in the Pit. The one place that humans could enter the Underground from.

Horrid images of the Dreemurrs, surrounded by cruel humans, getting torn to pieces, and vanishing into dust, filled their mind.

"Mother?! Father?! Asriel?!" Chara yelled into the dark, hoping desperately for their family to respond.

But, despite their cries, nobody came.

They tried again, louder this time, using all the air in their lungs to call out to each of the Dreemurrs, hoping to reach them, wherever they were. Yet still, there was nothing.

Just before their third attempt, Chara choked themselves to stop, and peered down at the child, the human, below them, their breath trembling.

The child had relaxed their limbs some time ago, trying to garner as much comfort they could scrap in their position. They couldn't even see their captor with their face kissing the ground, but for some reason, they didn't seem frightened at all. In fact, the human was calm, like they were perfectly find with their position, like they knew that they were going to be captured and it was all part of some grand plan of theirs.

Their confidence terrified Chara.

"Who are you?" They growled into the human's ear, twisting their arm further at the same time.

The human grunted in pain only for a moment before they gave Chara a reassuring smile.

"I-It's okay, Chara. I'm not here to hurt you." They stuttered in a soft, almost friendly tone.

Alarm bells rang deafeningly throughout Chara's mind.

"Who are you?!" They yelled in panic, their breath becoming quicker and more shallow by the second "How do you know that name?!"

It was impossible. The human had called them Chara, a name that they had given themselves after they had reached Underground. It made no sense that the child would know that name. No human could possibly know that name.

So how did this kid know to call me that?

"Y-you told me. Before. It's a long story." The human explained in a hurry.

The answer didn't satisfy Chara at all.

With the hand around the kid's neck, they lifted their head a touch and slammed them hard back to the ground. The resulting grunt wasn't nearly as satisfying as they had hoped.

"Do you think this is a joke?! Have you any idea whom you are dealing with?" They hissed, but all the child did was groan in pain. Catching themselves and their temper, Chara breathed deeply, leaned in close and tried again. "Where are the others?"

"Wh… what others?" The human stammered out, and Chara scoffed.

"Do not think me for a fool, child. You couldn't have possibly brought me here all the way from New Home. You aren't here alone. Where are the other humans? Why are you here?"

"I-I think there's a bit of misunderstandi-" Midway through their word Chara tugged on the human's twisted arm, earning them an ear piercing cry as the child's arm was nearly pulled from their socket.

"Listen here you little shit." Chara hissed into the whimpering child's ear. "Do not even think of pulling that 'I'm just a kid' crap with me. I don't care how small you are or how cute your voice sounds. If you don't give me a straight answer now, I am going to kill you."

The child was suddenly silent for the longest moment, their body still as rock. When they finally opened their mouth, the words that came out of their mouth was probably the last thing that Chara thought they would say.

"You… you think I sound cute?"

Chara blinked, speechless.

Without a word, they gave a sharp yank at the child's arm, resulting in a loud, wet crack and a pop.

The sound was quickly accompanied by a gut wrenching scream.

Chara stood up, leaving the child to curl up on the floor, still screaming as they clutched at their now dislocated shoulder.

Chara brushed their hair away from their face, which had become a sweaty mopping mess in their adrenaline fueled rage, and let out a loud, but short huff. They then took a deep breath, and placed a calming palm over their forehead.

As quickly as they were up, they crouched back down on the ground, kneeling next to the softly crying human. With a gentle hand, they swept their dark brown hair away from their face, revealing a pair of tearfilled, bloodshot eyes that peered at them in fear.

"Oh dear, are you alright? Perhaps I have been too impatient." Chara spoke calmly, bright red orbs wide and unblinking. "I don't know where you grew up, but it seems you are having some difficulty grasping the situation you are in. Perhaps, a better demonstration is in order. This, I hope, will put things into perspective."

With a slow, deliberate motion, Chara reached out, and placed a hand on the child's shaking chest.

For a brief moment, their hand began glowing in a feint red glow, and in a blink of an eye sunk through the fabric of the blue sweater and into the human's chest.

The human gasped, gaping at the arm that was suddenly embedded wrist-deep in their body. Chara could feel the wave of chill washing over the human, felt it through the arm which connected them.

"Wha…?" The human gulped as they looked back into Chara's blood red eyes, but a distinct wiggle inside their body gave them pause.

"Ah, do not speak. I have only recently learned this skill. You do not want me to mess it up now."

The human didn't respond, but Chara wouldn't have cared either way. In a slow deliberate motion, they pulled their hand out, all the while watching intently at the frozen, almost hypnotised expression on the human's face.

When their hand finally retracted fully, a small red heart was in their magic encased grasp, and for a moment, they couldn't help staring in wonder at how small and delicate the child's soul was. How fragile it looked.

They looked back down at the soul's owner and found that they now had their undivided attention. Just as they were hoping for.

"Ah, you are paying attention then. Good. Do we finally have an understanding dear?" They asked with a kind smile, and held the soul up so that it could be seen better.

Again, the human didn't respond, and merely gaped at their soul with wide, tearstained eyes.

"Oh this?" Chara began, gesturing at the soul. "Why, this is your soul, child. The very culmination of your being. It is your entire life, held in a tiny, delicate encasing. One little slip..." They tightened their grip around the soul, just a little bit, and was delighted to hear the human's breath choke as though there was something wrapping tight around their neck. "... and oops, you're dead."

With a choked gasp, the human tried to speak out, "C...chara, please-"

"Shut up." Chara squeezed, all humour evaporating from their face. The child whimpered in both pain and fear. "We are long way away from the castle. How many of you are there?"

"There… There aren't anyone else. It's just me."

"Lies." Chara dug their nail into the soul, making the human moan. "Why are you here? Is this an attack? Have the humans finally decided to finish the job and kill the monster kind for good?"

"No. I would never-" Their words were replaced by screams of agony.

"Answer my question!"

"I-I-I'm telling you the t-truth, Chara! Please, don't do this."

Chara's grip became trembling, their pleasant faux smile all but gone, pair of blood red orbs flashing with rage. "Stop calling me that! How do you know that name!?"

The human gasped in short, uneven breaths, their life trickling away every second their soul was in Chara's hand. They looked pleadingly into the glowing red eyes, tears welling up once again until they began dripping drop by drop.

With trembling arms they reached up towards Chara, and Chara, though wary of them, knelt down and allowed the human to reach them. They had expected them to retaliate, to try and snatch their soul back with their whimpy arm, and was preparing to pull away just far enough so that it was hair's breath out of their reach. However, to their surprise, the human didn't reach for the soul. Instead, they placed their hand on Chara's cheek, gentle and soft, caressing them in a way no one but Toriel had done all their life.

"I… I just want to help you." They choked. "That's all I want."

Chara's red stared into their deep brown and saw the fear, the desperation behind them. They were telling the truth, or at least they were about wanting to help them. But there was something else there as well, something deeper, something that said the child knew more than they let on. The human had yet to reveal any information to them. They were still avoiding telling the truth.

Chara had to commend their bravery. For such a little kid, they had remained strong against pain many adults would have caved at, and held onto their secrets.

But that meant very little to them in the end. In fact, it solidified that they wouldn't talk.

The human was useless to them.

The grip around the soul became tighter, compressing until it became crushing. The child's eyes became impossibly wide.

"I do not need any help from a human, child."

Chara crushed their hand into a tight fist, and felt the soul within crack like a glass.

The child gasped, then their body fell limp.

And just like that, the world around them became black.

It's going to be okay.

Chara woke with an abrupt start, then blinked at the blinding light assaulting them from above.

Such a lucid dream they had had. For a moment they question their decision to eat the plate full of snail pie Toriel cooked for dinner. Even if they were starting to like the taste of the gooey creatures, it appeared their stomach was not yet strong enough to withstand them in large quantity. Perhaps they could try the stir fry next time. It would no doubt make Toriel happy.

Wordlessly, they swung their legs around to the edge of their bed, ready to start the day as they questioned whether Asriel was awake yet.

They then frowned when their legs were met with a solid dirt ground once again.

"Please don't do that again."

Chara swung their arm back in an arc, and felt their backhand be grabbed by a pair of child like hands. They immediately pulled back, spun around, and leapt away from their 'bed'. A familiar sight greeted them: a human child next to the patch of golden flower growing in the middle of a cavern just below the Pit. They were watching them, not a single bit of malice coming off their subdued form.

Their very much alive form.

"I-I know you're confused, but you have to believe me when I say I'm not here to hu-"

A fist struck them across their face, and the child fell flat on their back with a yelp. Chara stared at their knuckles with curious eyes.

Ah, so this is not a dream.

They leapted and sat themselves on the child's hips. Then, with a glowing hand, they reached into the human's chest and ripped out their soul once more, not minding the protests coming off of the child below. The protests died when they gave a tight squeeze of the little red heart anyhow, it wasn't that big of a deal.

What was a big deal was the soul itself: the shimmering, perfectly unblemished soul.

It was the same, meekly thing that glowed in bright red before they had crushed it to dust.

"P… please…"

Chara didn't even spare them a glance before they slammed the soul down on to the ground next to them, shattering it flat against their palm and the dirt.

The light in the human's frightened eyes dimmed, and the world turned black once more.

You don't have to be scared.

Chara woke with an abrupt start, and jumped out of their flower bed in a single hop. Without pause they kicked their leg out in an arc, but to their mild surprise, only struck the thin air.

Wordlessly, they landed their feet back on the ground. The human wasn't where they had been before. They were a few steps away, still close, but just out of reach of Chara's attack. They were learning. That and the fact that their eyes were much warier than they had been the previous two times, told Chara that what had happened before, did in fact happen.

They had killed the human.

Twice.

And then they came back.

"What is the meaning of this?" Chara quizzed, their neutral expression hiding the storm that was raging inside their mind.

"I know you're scared, but you don't have to be. I'm a friend. I'm here to help."

"I'm not afraid of you." Chara scoffed, but it was a lie. They didn't know how they have gotten here. They didn't know where their families were. A new human was here, and there may possibly be more. What would they do to the monsters, they wondered. A pair of Whimsalot that were supposed to be on guard duty tonight, had the humans done something to them? The thought made Chara's blood boil as well as terrify them.

"Good. Because I'm a friend." The child repeated calmly, and Chara assumed they didn't understand how creepy that sounded coming from a complete stranger. "I didn't want to get killed again, you know? It… doesn't feel too good."

They looked down at the palm of their hand that crushed the child's soul prior, and could still feel the tiny red heart shattering like a thin slice of candy in their grasp. They turned back to the human quizzically.

"How did you do it?" They asked. "That was no illusion. Humans haven't tapped into their magical potentials in decades. I fear that you may have drugged me, but the experience was far too clear for it to be so."

"It wasn't anything. You did kill me. We just came back afterwards." The child explained, like they were explaining to a caveman how a damn faucet worked. It was pissing Chara off to no end.

"If you are going to lie to me, child, please at least try to sound plausible?" They growled through their teeth.

"I'm not lying, Char-"

The child's words were cut off when they were, like before, struck from the side by Chara's fist. Unprepared, they fell flat on their front once more, and again, Chara didn't miss the opportunity to secure them on the ground by placing a foot on their back and pressing it down with a little more force than necessary.

"If you do remember what had happened before, you would recall that I have told you twice not to call me that, human. It seems you are not very smart. In fact, you are quite dumb." They spat, crushing their foot harder at the end of each sentence.

That was when they heard something that chilled their blood and froze their limbs in their place.

Please, you don't have to do this. We're in this together.

Chara's face blanched, their eyes widening at the human's voice echoing through their mind. Their first instinct was to look around, to find the source of the noise, praying that what they had just heard wasn't what they thought they were. But alas, they could not find anyone else in the cavern, and if that was not enough, the voice echoed in their mind again.

I'm down here.

Reluctantly, Chara peered down, and found the human calmly lying beneath their foot, their eyes closed with an almost serene smile on their rapidly bruising face.

See Chara? I don't want to hurt you. We're connected, see? The human's voice explained and Chara's insides dropped, leaving a cold, empty void that boomed through every inch of their being.

"W... we're..." They tried to speak, but found that they couldn't continue. Their throat had closed up as though a thick rope had tied around it. Trembling, they gulped and did their best to calm their drumming heart: They thought of New Home and the world they had gotten to know over the months, of the monsters they have met, and the innocence and kindness they all seem to inherently have. They thought of the Dreemurrs and the familial love that they had given them. They were the true bright spots in their short lived life, the first to show them the true meaning of love, and they drew strength from it, the strength to calm, the strength to not be afraid.

None of it worked.

Chara decided it was best not to speak, best not to think about this new revelation before they did what they were about to do.

They lifted their foot off the human, only to use it to deliver a swift kick to their side. With a pained yelp, the human rolled on to their back, and the moment they did, Chara swooped down and extracted their soul with their magic infused hand.

The human looked with frightened, but unwavering eyes. "I'll just come back. I always do."

You can't just keep coming back forever. Chara thought to themselves.

I have. And I will.

Chara didn't justify the comment with a response.

They dropped the soul on to the ground and stomped on it with their foot, shattering it instantly.

The squirming child let out a strangled gasp, then fell limp.

The world faded to black.

Please, don't-

They didn't roll out of the flower bed this time. Instead they reached out to the presence besides them, grabbed it by the hair and yanked them close. At the same instance, their other hand reached for their back, pulled out their father's dagger from their back, and plunged it deep into their stomach.

Chara watched the shock in the child's face with a cold, unfeeling gaze.

The human slumped forward, their life trickling away in a deep red ooze. Chara shoved them so that they fell on their back with a heavy thud, the hilt of the knife protruding from their abdomen.

"Ch..Chara…" The human wheezed.

Chara got up, only to step over the human's body and sit on top of them. They grabbed the knife and pulled it out, making the child twitch in soundless torture. A thin line of red splash on their yellow-green sweater.

Without warning, they brought the knife down again.

Again.

And again.

Each time, they went for a different part of the torso: the stomach, the abdomen, the chest, but at the same time, they were careful not to touch the heart, or any of the other vitals that would have killed the human outright.

Lungs flooded with blood, all the child could do in response was choke and gurgle the thick red liquid every time the blade entered their system, killing them bit by bit.

After the fifth stab, clothes and face marred with trails of blood, Chara threw the knife aside and stood up. When they looked down at their work, they found the human still twitching, their foggy eyes still watching them intently as blood frothed from their mouth.

Chara snorted.

"Come back from that, will you?" They growled, and began walking away to find their way back to the castle.

On their fourth step, the world faded to black.

Had enough?

Chara leapt out from their lying position to a stand with a single flip. They turned their head to the side and found the human standing at least three strides away from the flower bed, peering at them with a wary look.

The child appeared frightened, but who wouldn't be, in the face of their own murderer of four times over? It gave Chara comfort that despite their apparent immortality, they were still able to feel fear of pain and death. It was something Chara knew that they could use.

Behind the human, they saw their dagger, thrown far away from either of their reach. They smirked.

"Throwing my weapon will do you very little good. I never needed it before."

"I know you don't. But it'll make the experience lot less unpleasant." The child replied, their tone cold and clipped, very different from the warm, pleading ones they've used thus far. Chara couldn't blame them for it of course. After what they had just experience, anyone in their right mind would be a lot less happy.

"We shall see about that."

Chara dashed at the child at a blinding speed and swiped a glowing claw at their face, specifically at their eyes.

To their surprise however, the child ducked and dodged the attack with ease, even going far as to stare at their magic in wonder.

"Wow! Is that fire magic?" The human exclaimed at the white, ethereal glow burning around their hand. "I didn't know humans could do that. Did Toriel teach you?"

Chara scowled and tried to elbow them in the head, but again they side stepped the blow as well as the small ball of fire that burst out at the end of it.

"How do you know these things? How do you know Toriel?" Losing their patience, Chara roared and threw a wave of flames at the kid. It was never as complex or powerful as Toriel's or even Asriel's, and consumed a lot more energy than was safe, but it would have caught any other beings, human or monsters, by surprise. So it came as a complete shock to them when the child side stepped, almost danced through the flames with ease. They didn't get singed one bit.

"She's your mum right?" The child said, suddenly standing with their faces a nose width apart. "She's my mum too. Or she was. Or she will be?"

"Speak normally you little crap!" Chara punched, and the human hopped back, narrowly dodging it.

"I would if I could. Timeline jumping doesn't make much sense in normal words."

Chara mustered up a strength to throw another fireball, but they had already exhausted their magic and the ball turned out to be below average which the human stepped out of the way easily.

When the attack dispersed into the air harmlessly, Chara doubled over, sweating and heaving for air as though they've ran through a marathon. They glared at the human who was watching them with an apologetic smile. There was a distinct reflection of sorrow in their thin brown orbs that Chara could not comprehend.

"I'm sorry I'm not making any sense, but a lot has happened since you've went to sleep." The child spoke solemnly.

"How much could have possibly happened in a span of few hours?" Chara huffed.

"It hasn't been a few hours, Chara. It's been years. Decades." They explained, their gaze hard. "You died. And you've just been brought back to life years after your death."

Chara scoffed. "If you're going to lie, dear, please try a little better than that."

"It's not a lie. Toriel will be so happy to see you."

Chara scowled again at the human's flippant use of their mother's name, but lacked the energy to do anything about it. They did, however, notice a gleam of something small and metallic in the corner of their eyes, just a few step away from their reach.

It was their dagger.

The human must have noticed it too, because for a moment, their eyes shifted towards whatever they were looking at, then came back to their once murderer, wide and round as saucers.

Chara used the moment of shock to get a head start towards the blade, and in less than a second, saw the human legging it for the blade as well. Unfortunately for the child, being closer to the dagger, as well as being a few inches taller than them, it was inevitable that Chara would have reached their goal first.

As soon as the dagger was back in their grasp, Chara swung it in a wide arc towards the direction the human was coming from. The blade whisked through the air with malice, but the human had stopped in their track a step or so away from its reach. They took immediate steps back, adding a little more distance between the two with a pale face.

Chara smirked at the expression, drawing power from the sense of dominance it and the blade in their hand gave them.

"Aww, why, is the child scared of the little dagger? Scared that you're gonna get stabbed again?" They mocked, cooing at the human as though they were speaking to a toddler.

"You try getting stabbed multiple times and see how much you like it." The human snapped, their wary gaze never leaving the blade. Chara giggled at their angry tone.

"Oh I'm sure it was quite unpleasant dear, but that's what little shits like you get for lying you see?" Chara took a step forward, and the human took one back.

"I wasn't lying. I haven't lied to you even once so far." The child growled, finally ripping their gaze away from the blade to glare at Chara.

"Another lie." Chara shrugged, then smiled gleefully as they thought of an idea. "Oh, I know. How about we play a game? Every time you lie to me, I get to stab you. Since we just started playing I'll start with five stabs."

"Five?!" The child yelled.

"Well, I stabbed you five times over to kill you last time. I've got to beat my own record."

The human shook their head in disbelief. "You… You're still the same. I don't know why I expected you would be a better person when you came back."

"Still sticking with the 'you've been dead for decades' story? I won't count that one since you've used it before we started playing, but if you don't stop talking like you know me, I might just change my mind."

"I do know you Chara."

"And now it's six stabs. You know nothing about me, child."

"But I do." The human insisted. "We've traveled the Underground together before. We've talked. We were…" They paused, their expression scrunching up as they thought on their next word. "Friends?"

Chara rolled their eyes. Even without the questioning tone at the end, they could hear that "friend" wasn't exactly the term that the child wanted to use.

"Seven stabs. You've said I've just been resurrected, but now you're telling me that we've traveled together. Which one is it? Get your story straight, dear. It's getting hard to keep track."

"You weren't alive back then! You were this… ghost… thing that followed me around!"

"Pfft, really? So you're saying I've been haunting you after my death? You've got an excellent imagination. You should write a book." Chara mocked with a laugh. "It's eight stabs now, by the way."

"I know you're from Collingwood!"

In that moment, Chara's smile dropped like a brick, their eyes turning into ice as the name of their home town echoed throughout the cavern.

"... What did you just say?" Their words were clipped, so sharp and jagged that they could have murdered the human all over again by merely being spoken.

The human visibly flinched at it, but swallowed their fear and continued, determined. "You were born in a town called Collingwood, on November 30th, the last day of fall. You lived with your birth parents for the last twelve years of your life before you ran away and came to Mt Ebbot to… escape."

Chara's eyes gradually widened as they listed the facts out. They wanted to say something to stop them, but the child wasn't done yet.

"Your favourite food is chocolate." They went on. "You love to spend time reading fantasy in front of the fireplace on a cold night, and love to watch the royal guards training in the day. You received that dagger from dad, Asgore, for your first birthday in Underground. You started training with the royal guards after that." A small smile played on their lips. "Mum hated it, but she was supportive of it anyway because it made you happy. She's nice like that. It was the first time that you've realised that the Dreemurrs truly loved you, and you swore that as long as you were here, you would find a way to free them, all of the monsters, from the Underground."

Silence ensued after the human finally finished. Chara stared at them, their expression blank. Memories of recent past were flashing in their mind.

"How…?" They scowled. "How could you possibly know all that?"

"Because we've met before Chara. You told me these things." The child smiled.

Lies. Nine stabs.

"I know you. I didn't lie."

All lies. Ten stabs. Kill them now! Chara flexed the blade in their grasp and was about to march, when the human's voice echoed back.

You don't have to. They reassured. I'm not here to hurt you. I want to be your friend. I know you don't want to, but it'll be better. We'll be happier. I promise.

The child sounded so certain, so sure. They were distinctively how Chara was not feeling at the moment. Their grip around the blade tightened into a vice.

"... You know what?" They began, their voice low and dangerous. "Forget the game. I've decided I'm going to kill you. Right here, right now. And if you come back, I'll just kill you again, over and over, until you don't. How does that sound?"

They didn't even wait for an answer before they were lunging at the human, swinging their blade around like a person possessed. The first true swing at the human missed as the moment they were in reach, the human turned their tail and ran, heading deeper into the cavern without a single glance at their attacker.

"Running away won't solve anything dear!" Chara yelled almost in a sing-song voice that did nothing to hide the madness within.

Chara, being a few inch taller than the human, should have been able to catch up to them without much effort. But, the child was surprisingly agile, and just as when Chara thought they had them, the human would slip away either by pretending to go one way then kicking off into another, or simply moving around in an odd pattern that made them hard to target.

When this happened once, Chara was mad, and swung their blade extra hard the next time around.

When it happened twice, Chara calmed themselves somewhat and tried to be strategic.

When it happened three times, Chara lost their grip on rational thoughts and began raving like a lunatic as they chased the child down using both their knife and fire magic.

None of it helped though. Just as before, the child dodged away from the barrage of flames like it was their second nature.

If Chara had the time to think, they might have been impressed, even applauded the human's ability to dance around the magic with such grace. But right then at that moment, they couldn't have cared less if the human was dancing around flames or juggling eight knives with one hand. They just wanted them dead.

"Stop moving around you twitchy fuck!"

If I do, will you stop trying to kill me?

"NO!"

Then I'm not gonna!

Chara let out an animalistic roar laced with all of their hate and frustration.

The human turned a corner, and Chara followed suit, formulating their next course of actions to kill the child for good, but in that moment, they heard something that stopped their thoughts cold, something that stopped their heart for a moment and sent a wave of horror through their core.

"Why, greetings little one. It is unusual that we find your kind around... Oh? What are you doing?"

Time slowed as a stream of something flashed before Chara's eyes.

They were images, memories that they couldn't recollect ever experiencing. Their mother, Toriel, was kneeling on the ground, her brand new royal robes, strangely faded with age, torn and cut. She was hurt, badly, and if monsters had blood, Chara knew for sure that she would be covered in red right then.

She was saying something to them. The words weren't too clear, sounding foggy and muffled, but from her soft and gentle tone alone, Chara knew that she was trying to console them, even through the pain that was gripping her entire being.

And then she was gone. A dust in the wind. Her soul remained afterwards, but only for a moment, before that too shattered, and scattered away into the either.

Time resumed its normal pace far too quickly, as though it was trying to catch up on what it had lost, and Chara, their heart pounding with fear, barely had a moment to collect themselves before their legs launched into a panic driven sprint.

They turned the same corner that the human had turned... what was it? A second? A minute? An hour ago? They didn't remember how long they had been delayed by... whatever they had just experienced. And the thought that they might be too late made them move that much faster.

To their immense relief they found Toriel standing in the distance, alive, whole, and definitely not dying. She was standing next to the human child who was standing behind her and using her as a shield.

"Mother! Stay away from that child!" Chara yelled as they dashed forward.

They threw a curved fireball behind her, hoping to scare the child into running again, but the moment the flames came near, Toriel lifted her hand and dispersed the magic with her own. Chara cursed, but didn't dare speak it out loud in front of their mother.

"Mother, you mustn't protect that human!" They reiterated, stopping not a few strides away. "They are dangerous. They are not what they seem!"

"... Chara?" Toriel's voice was a whisper, full of disbelief, but Chara didn't pause to think why she was speaking in such way. They were more focused on their family's well being, as well as getting their mother away from the creepy human child.

"They've infiltrated the castle and kidnapped me. I don't know how they've managed such feat, but I suspect there are more than just one. Where are father and Asriel? Are they alright?" They asked with worry, and when Toriel didn't answer, their worry became mixed with confusion. Their mother was still, her posture rigid. She was staring at them with the oddest expression they've never seen before. "Mother?"

Toriel stepped back at the word as if stricken. She placed her hand over her heart, gripping it so tight, Chara could see the fabrics of her robe scrunching up. When she finally spoke, her voice was hoarse with unshed tears.

"No…" She choked. "No, please. Do not let me see this again, please."

She screwed her eyes shut, and dropped to her knees. Chara, confused, ran up to her in an instant, sparing the human only a short glare.

"Mother? Are you alright?" Chara asked, placing their hands on Toriel's shoulders in a reassuring grip.

Looking up, Toriel smiled a broken smile, and gazed at them with loving, yet regretful eyes. "Oh, my Chara. You were such a sweet child." She said. "I am sorry I failed you. I was not a good mother."

Chara frowned, lost. Their mother sounded so… sad. They've never heard her speak this way. "I… I don't understand."

She thinks you're not real.

Chara whipped their head towards the human who was looking at Toriel solemnly.

Why would she think that? They asked, using their mind to communicate with the human for the first time. It was an odd concept, and it scared them to have their mind linked with another, but their concern for their family overrode their fear.

Because you've been dead for years. The child replied simply.

Chara's first instinct was to scoff and berate the human for sticking to their lies even at a time such as this, but before they could speak back, an unbidden thought had occurred to them.

What if the human was telling the truth?

Chara blinked, then turned their attention back to their mother who had pulled them into a tight hug and was sobbing into their shoulder. Gently, they stepped out of the embrace, placed their hands on either side of Toriel's face and made her look at them.

Toriel's sob trailed off, and she blinked her eyes clear of tears. After a moment of staring, she frowned.

"Y… You…" She began, her voice shaking. "You are still here? I do not… understand. This is where the dream ends. This is when I wake up, and you and Asriel are gone."

Chara's heart dropped to the pool of their stomach. The human's words were rushing back to them, repeating over and over like a broken record from a bad dream.

It hasn't been a few hours, Chara.

You died.

It's been years.

You died.

Decades…

You DIED.

You died. And you've just been brought back to life years after your death.

Toriel will be so happy to see you.

She was happy to see them, Chara realised. But she was also sad, hurt, and confused like a lost child. How ironic.

"Mother." Chara said again, their eyes glistening with tears, their voice filled with determination.

"Chara...?" Toriel whispered, her tone filled with tentative hope.

Swallowing, Chara gave an uneasy smile. "I'm… I'm here, mother."

Toriel stared, incredulous. "But... this is impossible. This cannot be... this..."

She wiped away her tears, very poorly, and when she looked at her child again, it was as though she was looking at them, truly looking at them, for the first time.

Without warning, she pulled Chara into another, near crushing, embrace. Chara didn't object, and hugged back, whispering soothing words to their mother as she wept once more.

At the corner of their eyes, they saw the human watching the pair, crying, yet at the same time smiling as though a great burden has been lifted from their heart. They were truly happy that Toriel had found their child again. Chara recalled their words, "She's your mum right? She's my mum too."

Chara would have been lying if they said they believed every word that the child had said to them, but it appeared that at least some of their words had been true. Unfortunately, rather than giving answers, that just raised even more questions, questions they wanted, needed, answers for.

And you will get them, in time. The child said. It'll be a long story though. I don't even know where to begin.

Chara glanced down at their crying mother, then, after a moment, looked back up at the human.

What is your name, child? Let's start with that.

The smile on the child's face brightened to an impossible degree, and Chara gagged in disgust. They could hear the child giggle in their mind.

Hi there, they began then paused, and gestured at Chara to go on.

With a roll of their eyes, Chara answered back. Greetings. I am Chara.

Hi Chara. My name is Frisk. I'm so glad to finally meet you. I hope we can be friends.

A/N: Got the idea from a tumblr post... somewhere. There's way too many Charisk posts in tumblr, it's impossible to keep track all of them (not that I'm complaining).

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this. I just wanted to write it out, see if people like it. If you have any ideas, feel free to PM me.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and leave a review if you can. It'll mean a lot to me!