Trigger Warning!!!
-Suicide Attempt -Family death
~~~~~~~~~~
The monsters that were banished into the mountain had made a life here for the past fifteen years. They called their new settlement "Home" a fitting name that the King, Asgore, had thought was perfect. His wife, Toriel, had given birth to a child a year before the great war, naming him Asriel. He could never remember the sight of the blue sky and stars or the sun on his furred face. All he knew were the stories that his parents would tell him as he went to sleep.
The three of them were going to head deeper into the Mountain later today. The Monsters that were in charge of mining out the rock to look for easier access to the Barrier had finally found a place that oversees a large part of it. Asgore asked that his family be moved there to protect and watch over that part of the Barrier, and he called this new destination, New Home. Asgore thought he was quite brilliant when it came to naming things, however it was much to his wife's dismay.
Asriel woke up to the smell of Butterscotch Cinnamon pie lying on his bedroom floor. His mother made the best pies he had ever tasted. It was the early afternoon of the biggest day of his life. His sixteenth birthday. He had heard so many stories and read so many books that the sixteenth birthday was supposed to be special. Springing out of bed, he put on a purple shirt with the Royal Crest sewn into the front. Picking up his slice of pie, he rushed towards the dining table. His mother was seated in her lounge chair, politely named, Chariel.
"Oh, someone's excited!" Toriel exclaimed.
Asriel only nodded, eating his pie quickly. He had told her that he wanted to go outside into the old city to play. He mainly wanted to go to the cave, a small opening in the mountain where there were a lot of snails. Sometimes he would even bring some home, and his mother would make some snail pie.
Running out of the small house that faced the cavern with traps and mechanisms, he made his way towards the end of the cavern. The traps were to prevent humans from possibly coming down from the cave cavern and ambushing. However, with fifteen years coming and going, it was almost unnecessary now. Toriel had marked off which switches to press, signs telling you where to go, and how to open the rest of the area.
Asriel darted towards the cave entrance, jumping over spikes, and climbing through tunnels. Once he got there, he started looking around the damp vines for any snails he could find. The entire floor was covered in tough grey dirt, and there was the slightest bit of light shining from the top of the cavern. The Barrier. Nobody could reach that part of the Barrier though, not even the Whimsins. There had to be another exit deep within the mountain.
A loud thud, and crack of something tough snapping nearly scared Asriel to his core. He turned around slowly, trying to figure out where the sound came from. In the middle of the cave, there was a limp, nearly lifeless body. He had never seen this kind of monster before. The top of its head was covered in thick, long brown hair. But their paws and legs were bare skin. They were wearing a knitted green sweater with a single yellow stripe around the torso.
"M-mph.." The limp monster sounded like it was in pain.
"Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you... Are you okay?" He asked. "Here, get up..."
The one on the ground outstretched its hand, covering its face with the other. Their face seemed very badly discolored, but it was hard for Asriel to see with the long hair covering most of it. They staggered, and Asriel helped catch them and bring them to their feet. As if reading his mind, the monster grappled onto him tightly, stating three words.
"M-my name... C-Chara.." They said, squeezing tightly onto his paw.
"Chara, huh? That's a nice name." He helped them walk, guiding them towards the entrance to the maze of a cavern. "My name is Asriel."
He helped walk them all the way back to his home. Other monsters began to look away and outright run in the other direction, but he ignored them. Toriel, still in the lounging chair, stood up when she saw Asriel walk in with the limp body of his new friend. He sat them on the floor as Toriel stood.
"Oh my goodness! Child, who is this?" She rushed over to them, pulling them apart to inspect the fallen one's wounds.
She moved away the hair from their face and let out a terrified audible gasp, calling for Asgore. He rushed in from down the hallway, also letting out the same gasp, bolting to the wounded one's side. Toriel began healing them, a warm green light emanating from the space between her paws and the wounds. She leaned in, quietly whispering to Asgore, then moved closer to the human.
"You're a human, aren't you, Child?" Toriel asked, still healing their broken bones and bruises.
"W-where am I?" They asked, finally opening their eyes. "AHHHHHH"
The human staggered back, limp broken arms and legs trying desperately to scoot away from the monsters as much as possible. Their face was full of shock and horror as if they had seen the things of nightmares. Breathing heavily, they pulled a small red pocket knife from out of the pocket of their shorts, aiming it toward the family of three.
Chara had heard about the monsters that were sealed away long ago, but she never thought she would ever see them in her lifetime. The Seven mages that lived in her hometown had disbanded almost ten years ago, after a disagreement on whether to free the monsters or not. But just looking at the mere sight of such beings was terrifying. Were they here to harvest her soul? Take it and become a powerful being, strong enough to destroy mountains?
"M-monsters!" Chara screamed. "Don't come any closer!"
Toriel and Asgore looked at each other, unsure what to do in the situation that they found themselves in. They tried their best to show Chara that they meant no harm, but it was in vain. Chara continued to scream and stagger back as much as her broken limbs would allow her. Pain erupted into her stomach as her whole body collapsed in on itself, and she began to cough blood.
As she fell to the ground, that pocket knife she had squeezed into her palm fell to the floor. Her eyes fluttered closed as blood spewed out from her mouth. Asriel nearly screamed at the sight, but he only winced, and turned around, paw covering his open mouth. Asgore and Toriel rushed to Chara's side, Asgore scooping her up and carrying her towards Asriel's bedroom. Toriel followed beside him, healing her wounds as they placed her down on the bed. Asgore placed her on her side, allowing her to continue coughing without choking on her own blood.
~
It had been about four hours since Chara had passed out in the monster family's home. When she finally woke, her surroundings were still unfamiliar. The bright orange of the walls and bedsheets on top of her were a little comforting, but not by much. As she sat up, the blanket around her fell to her lap. A blast of cold air enveloped her, and she looked down towards her torso, only seeing bandages. She looked around the room, at the end of the bed there was a toy chest, her sweater and shorts were neatly cleaned and folded onto it.
As she tried her best to get out of bed, she noticed that there were scars and bruises around her abdomen and chest. Most of it was wrapped with bandages, but she could tell her skin must have split open when she fell from the mountain. She got out of bed with surprising ease, she only had a few points in her arms and legs that were sore. She put her clothes over top of her bandages and slowly crept towards the door at the end of the room.
She carefully cracked it open and looked down the hallway. There was a faint glow of something flickering towards the opening, a fireplace most likely. She peaked her head out a little more and looked in the other direction. A long hallway with two other doors heading down it, and a mirror on the wall at the end. Luckily, it looked like the monsters she had seen earlier must have gone, or she was finally in a safe place away from them. However, she didn't let her guard down, she creeped out of the bedroom fully, turning the knob as she closed the door to make as little noise as possible.
She felt like one of those cartoons she saw on the television, with the big wide quiet steps that always had a giant creak somewhere in the floorboards. She inched closer to where the flickering fire of the fireplace was, only to see a beast sitting by it, reading a book. She quickly turned around, hoping the monster didn't see her. However as she made her quick turn, she was greeted by a smaller monster, his small frame clutching onto a small plush rabbit.
She stumped back, falling flat onto her butt. The loud thud caught Toriel's attention, and she closed her book, looking up at the human. Chara looked behind herself, seeing the larger monster staring her down. Fear rose in her stomach but she didn't even utter a word. She just sat there, looking back and forth between the two monsters.
"Child, please do not be afraid. My name is Toriel," the monster on the chair told her, slowly standing up. "I am the one who has healed your wounds, and this is my son Asriel, he brought you here to our home to help you."
Chara breathed heavily, still looking back and forth between the two of them. She wasn't sure what to do or think in this situation. On one hand, she had hoped that the fall would have ended her life, but now she is living in a waking nightmare. On the other hand, these monsters, who were sealed by humans in the first place, had helped a human heal their wounds with no hesitation whatsoever.
"You had fallen in the cavern," Asriel said, inching closer to Chara.
"I-I" Chara caught herself before she said anything.
"It's okay if you do not trust us." Toriel said, "However there is no way for you to return to the surface in which you came."
Chara, for once in the one-sided conversation, had looked down to her feet, lost in thought. She didn't want to return to the surface, not in the slightest. If anything, these monsters, who barely knew her, had done more for her than anyone had ever done for her in a lifetime. And for once in her life, she wanted to live. However, she wasn't fully sure if this monster was telling the truth, she would much rather die seeing the golden flowers in her hometown than be surrounded by a true horror story.
Chara slowly got up from the ground, using her hand to push herself up. She patted her leg, silently checking to see if her knife was in her pocket. Seemed like Toriel had placed it back into her pocket after washing her clothes. She looked back up towards Toriel, then quickly turned to her left, bolting towards the front door of the house. As it opened, she crashed right into a large furred mass, dropping her to the ground once again.
"Oh my!" Asgore's voice rang through the silent doorway, causing Chara to look up at the massive Boss monster. "Are you alright?"
Asgore outstretched his hand towards Chara, who was now breathing heavily, hand resting on top of her pocket. Fear rose inside her stomach, and she felt like she was going to throw up. Her throat felt like ice and needles, and she began to feel nauseous. Stammering back once again, she pulled out her pocket knife.
"Stop!" Asriel screamed, dropping the stuffed animal he was clinging onto. "Please! Please don't hurt my dad!"
Chara looked in his direction, and she saw the fear plastered through his emerald green eyes. His furred face was wet with tears as he begged for her not to hurt his father. Chara staggered a bit, thinking to herself. She had lost her father, and she had blamed herself for not doing better, maybe this young monster would feel the same. Maybe he would blame himself, that he wasn't brave enough to fight.
Chara lowered her weapon, closed it, and slowly placed it back into her pocket. She looked around herself, making eye contact with all three of the monsters around her. The pins and needles in her throat softened. Toriel and Asgore showed no fear in their eyes, only pity and worry. She wanted to know if all the stories of monsters lacking all known forms of compassion were true. All she could see were faces of true acceptance and worry.
"I'm sorry.." she said softly, grabbing onto Asgore's hand and standing up. "I... I'm Chara."
~
"Magic's dropping," one said
"She's crashing!" said another.
"Out of my way!" A tall skeletal monster pushed past the nurses and doctors. "Get OUT!"
The rest of the crew ran out of the room, apart from one, and the man stood with the dying monster. There was a faint glow of purple that came from his eye sockets. He placed his hands on the monster's chest, desperately trying to wake her up from her death-like sleep.
"Talia, you have to stay with me, okay?" He pleaded, the purple light getting stronger by the second. "You said you wouldn't leave me or the boys"
"D-doctor Gaster, I believe she-" The other doctor, a smaller, lizard monster, was instantly cut off by the sheer screaming of the magic monitor making one long beeping sound.
"Alphys, go grab my briefcase from my office" Gaster shouted towards her, purple magic now pulsating deeper and lighter.
She almost said something in protest, but she stopped herself, nodding and rushing towards the office on the other side of the lab. Gaster's pin eyes were glued to the monster on the operating table. He would try and do whatever it took to keep her from Falling Down. When monsters are in a state of Fallen Down, it is impossible to wake them back up or keep them alive. The most reasonable thing to do would be to end their suffering.
However, that wasn't even an option in Gaster's mind. He was never a religious man, but he found himself praying for some sort of miracle. Alphys rushed through the doors, holding a file in her arms, hoping that none of the pages fell out while she was running down the long corridor.
"Alphys! Stabilize her now!" He screamed at her, causing her to stagger and grab a syringe, injecting it into her now-illuminated soul.
Gaster took his hands off of the monster and grabbed the case, frantically looking for a specific file. His dotted eyes skimmed papers at an alarming rate. Suddenly, the monitor began to make a long string of rapid beeps, with two words plastered across the screen.
Fallen down...
"Doctor-" Alphys began, until being shoved onto the floor by Gaster.
"It's early, I programmed it that way." He stated, looking back and forth between the monster on the operating table, and the paper in his other hand. "We have about three minutes and thirty-nine seconds."
The purple hue from his hands began again, this time more of a deep shade, closer to red. The alarm from the monitor continued, but Gaster stayed in his position, not moving. He continuously looks back and forth and then begins chanting in some long-forgotten language from the humans and monster-allied tribes.
"Doctor, you need to-" Alphys began again, stopping once she saw his face.
The amaranthine glow of his hand was getting brighter by the second, and the chanting got louder and louder. The room began to shake, and the lights and monitored screens began to flicker. Alphys ducked underneath a nearby counter, but Gaster continued to stay in one place, the hand over the monster shining like a star.
Then everything stopped, the tremors instantly calmed, and the monitors began showing the magic levels normally once again. Gaster stopped speaking to himself and lowered his hands from the monster entirely. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, he fell to the ground and covered his face as he screamed in agony. His eye sockets began to break, cracking. His right eye began breaking upward, while his left went down. Both cracks stretched to around 3 inches each, both causing excruciating pain. Alphys climbed out from her hiding place, and rushed to the doctor's side, asking what she should do. Of course, she was not given any answer other than his insistent screaming, so she began looking around the room.
As soon as she began looking, the lights in the operating room went dark, causing the orange emergency backups to turn on. Then alarms began to blare, and the monster on the table began to shake violently. The seizing monster tossed herself off of the table, right in front of the still-screaming Gaster. Alphys was at a loss for words and began to panic. She had no idea what to do in this sort of situation. She was only the assistant of the royal scientist.
"No! No no no no no no no!!!!" Gaster began to scream a string of curses, and a very dim hue of magic was cast from one of his hands onto Talia. The other hand was still clutching onto his face and he winced. "I won't leave you behind this time!"
~
"You wanted to see me, you're Highness?" Gaster bowed before the King.
"Ohoho! Gaster! You know there's no need for that!" Asgore laughed. "I was just wondering if the preparations for my family's trip were complete?"
"Yes, Sire. To my knowledge" the skeleton stood up head down. "I have been at the hospitalization lab all day, Sire."
Asgore tilted his head in confusion, Gaster was indeed the royal scientist, however, he was also the kingdom's best leader as an advisor as well. His gravitational powers were stronger than any other skeleton monster that Asgore had ever met. Not to mention his brilliant use of his other powers on the battlefield, as well as to help the monsters of the underground.
"What has happened?" Asgore asked. Lifting Gaster's face gently with his paw, seeing the cracks that had formed on his face. "You're hurt! Is everything alright?"
Gaster was silent for a moment, his pinprick pupils began to shine an otherworldly color of purple. "Talia.. My wife. Has Fallen Down, Sire."
Asgore gasped to himself, then instantly bent down to hug and comfort the now grieving monster. Gaster began to wail, scream, and cry so loud that Toriel came outside to see what the ruckus was. Followed behind her were Asriel and Chara, peaking their heads around the corner of the doorframe.
"W-who is.." Chara asked, still anxious.
"That's the royal scientist. His name is Gaster Wingdings." Asriel told her. "He drops his kids over here sometimes to play. They're really young though, so it's not really fun."
"He's crying.." She said, "Is he alright?"
Asriel went outside the door, holding Chara's hand as he did. They very slowly walked towards the other three monsters. Chara moved herself behind Asriel, looking very carefully at where she was being taken. She looked at the monster that was being hugged by Asgore. He was tall, with glasses taped to the sides of his head.
Then she looked towards his face, seeing the large cracks that inhabit his skull. He didn't look like a human skeleton, the bone itself looked almost malleable as he moved his mouth to speak. Chara was so closely inspecting the monster that she had jumped when she realized that he was now quiet, also staring at her.
"You're majesty.." Gaster's voice was quiet, but quaintly shaking "I believe the young prince is being pursued by a young human girl."
"Oh!" Asgore turned around, patting Chara on the back hard, causing her to almost topple into Asriel. "This is Chara! She will be staying with us."
"Sire if I may, this is a human child." Gaster reiterated. "The same race that locked us into this cavern to begin with. Are you sure it is wise to bring such a creature into your home?"
Asgore laughed a hearty laugh. "You know very well about my stance towards humans! I had a best friend on the surface who was like a bother to me, and he was as human as can be!"
Gaster only nodded, wincing as he clutched onto one of his cracked eye sockets. He asked to be dismissed, and Asgore agreed. The last thing that Gaster needed was to be on his duties. He should be close to his family in this time of sorrow. Not to mention, Asgore had no idea if Gaster's two sons were aware of the situation or not.
As for the Royal family, and Chara, they began to pack things into suitcases and boxes. Chara, of course, had nothing to bring, but she and Asriel were around the same size when it came to their clothes. So, they both packed Asriel's toys and clothes, Chara insisting to help carry a couple of the boxes as they left the house. Asgore told her not to worry about the boxes. Other monsters from Home would help them move deeper into the cavern.
~
It was later that evening that they began their trip to the other end of the cavern. With the four of them moving together, and Chara's sudden appearance, Asgore and Toriel thought it would be wise to take a couple of days while walking to introduce Chara to the rest of the underground. Chara was very hesitant at first but ended up agreeing that it would be best if everyone knew about her beforehand. Not to mention, it wasn't like she wanted to go anywhere else, she would rather stay with Monsters than be on the surface with Humans.
They began down the long corridor leading to the first area of their journey. As Toriel opened the door, a blast of cold air shot Chara in the face, enveloping her in snowflakes and frost. Goosebumps almost instantly formed all over her body, and she began to shiver. It didn't help that she was in shorts.
"Are you alright?" Asriel asked. "You're shaking."
Toriel and Asgore looked back towards the two, Chara clutching onto her arms as her nose began to beet red. Her knees were shaking. Every second she stood there, it felt harder and harder to stand. She wished she had at least some sweatpants or at least her shoes. She took them off when she jumped into the cavern. The snow ahead of them also looked deep, she would end up getting snow into her socks.
"Oh dear, it has been so long, I had forgotten about the human's vulnerability to the elements." Asgore said, "Come here, young one."
He held out his hands, and she stepped forward. He placed his paws underneath her arms and hoisted her onto his shoulders. She instinctively clenched, but as she rested there for a moment, she realized how soft and warm his fur was and leaned onto his head. Toriel took off the hood she had put on when they left, and draped it over top of Chara, buttoning it.
Once again, they were on their way. They walked through the odd tree clearing, across the bridge, and past a dense pool of ice and snow. Making their way to a small dwelling inside this snowy region. Toriel told Chara that this place was called Snowdin, and they would stop for a quick rest at the Inn for the night.
"Your majesties!" A light warm female voice filled Chara's ears, and a small white rabbit monster happily clapped her hands together as she smiled. "Welcome to the Snowed Inn! Please, I have a room for you to relax and-"
She stopped, seeing Chara on Asgore's shoulders. Her furred paws clenched together and her body began to shake. The fur on her body began to spike and rise, and her eyes went wide as she stared directly at Chara.
"H... h-hum.. Human!" She screamed, ducking underneath the counter.
"Oh Miss Symphony, please do not be frightened!" Toriel exclaimed. "This girl fell down in the cavern at Home and wishes to stay with us. I assure you, she means no harm."
Another lady Rabbit burst through the side door, leading to a convenience store. She had more of a purple tint to her fur, and her sunhat flung into her face as she barged through the door.
"Is everything alright??!" She huffed, her necklace swinging back and forth. "What's the matter?!"
"Cinnabunie!" Asgore exclaimed. "You scared the horns right off of me!"
There was another instance of Asgore and Toriel having to explain the reason for Chara being there, but they eventually made their way to the large room prepared for them. Asgore insisted on sleeping on the floor, to give Chara more room to snuggle into the blanket alongside Toriel and Asriel.
It was the best sleep she had ever had, even considering the mental state and situation she was in. The Bed was soft and fluffy, almost like it was made out of clouds. And the blanket was ginormous and heavy, keeping in all the heat as she tossed and turned while sleeping.
The next day was the same, Monsters became scared, and some did not even recognize what a human was. After Snowdin, they made their way to Waterfall. Chara took off her socks and walked along with them, splashing in puddles with Asriel, a smile plastered across her face.
~~~~~~~~~~
Hello all, Author-Chan here!
I just want to say a huge thank you for actually reading the rewrite of this! I know that it's probably not the way you were thinking I was going to do this, but I promise, I'm only writing all this backstory so that I can lay out the groundwork for things such as dates and age gaps and stuff like that.
Thank you so much for supporting me! if you liked this part feel free to vote!
And please comment! I love reading your guy's thoughts on this sort of thing. Let me know if you have any questions as well!!!
COVER ART IS COMING!!!! (It's just taking a while)
Anyway!, I hope you enjoyed it!!
(if yall are reading this after the repost, I'm just fixing spelling errors)
C'ya!