It is amazing how you can change in a single day. Where before, you completely despise something, but then you find one little part of that is different, and your views change... even if it's small.
As much as I hated Asgore for abandoning me as his family, I still hated humankind more. It didn't matter to me if I was a human myself, what they did to me... was unforgivable. My parent's abuse, the indifference of everybody else when I ran away. I wouldn't have cared when Asgore got his first human Soul, if that ever happened.
At least, that's what I thought. At first...
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
I was alone in the piano room. Just playing by myself. Gaster and Pristina were shopping in the Waterfall community, mostly so Gaster could keep an eye on anyone leaving towards my location. Hapi and Blooky... were probably enjoying time at home.
Gaster had told me about his offer from Asgore. This was a big deal for him, everything he could have ever wanted. But still, it would put me at risk. Maybe not a whole lot, but to work closely with the one guy I had to avoid to stay alive. It was a hard decision. I was glad Gaster told me... but I needed time to think about it. ...It's been three days since then.
This whole ordeal has been bugging me this entire time, so I thought, maybe playing the piano might clear my mind.
I was playing a happy, upbeat tune, humming to myself as I played, just alone in my thoughts. That's when I heard her voice.
"La, la la la, la. La, la la la, la..." a young female voice was singing along with the song I was playing. At least until I was startled by her singing, which caused me to stop playing.
She stopped singing as well. "Um... why did you stop playing?"
I took a deep breath, and started turning around, saying, "sorry, you just startled-" I stopped when I saw who was speaking.
A human, an actual human. Specifically, a young girl, maybe five years old, with blonde hair and aqua blue eyes. She was wearing a white and blue-striped shirt, jeans, and white sneakers. And when she was smiling, it was the brightest smile you could imagine.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"I- I- sorry, I'm... fine. I'm fine." Truth was, I wasn't fine. I didn't think this would happen. I mean, I fell into the Underground, but what were the chances it would happen again? It's not like Mount Ebott was a popular place. Or, maybe it was. Did that change since I fell?
"Okay," the girl replied, with her big ol' smile. "I'm Alisa!"
"Oh, I'm..." Wait, I thought, should I tell her my name. I don't like humans. But... she's just a child.
There was something holding back any anger I might have had with her. She was young. Heck, she was three years younger than I was when I fell. Did she even know how horrible humankind was?
"...I'm Chara," I decided to tell her.
"Oh, are you like... hm, the Mad Hatter?" she asked.
"What?" I replied. I didn't know what she talking about. I wasn't even wearing a hat. I don't wear hats. My jacket had a hood, and I had an umbrella... and that's all I needed. And why "Mad"? Did she think I was angry, or insane?
"You know, I'm Alice, and you're the Mad Hatter!"
"Yes, you're Alisa, or Alice, whatever, but I am Chara. I don't even own a hat. What are you even talking about?"
"Uh, Alice in Wonderland. And... my name is like hers. So when I fell, I thought this had to my Wonderland! There was even a White Rabbit. But she called herself a goat, which is wrong!"
"Okay, okay," I tried to stop her, because everything she was saying was overloading my brain, and I lived with MONSTERS! They were so weird, nothing should sound crazy to me anymore, but this girl was just that. Sounding absolutely crazy.
"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about. I've never heard of this 'Alice in Wonderland'."
"But, um... maybe... because you're part of the story?"
"Well, that's a good argument. But, sorry to burst your bubble... but whatever 'Wonderland' is, this isn't it. This place is called the Underground, home of monsters."
"Monsters? But, they were too nice to be monsters."
Oh no, she's already met some monsters. Well, the few I knew didn't know I was human, so maybe the ones she met were just as confused by her as I was, and hopefully, they couldn't figure it out.
"Well, they are nice, but they are monsters. And don't be scared of them," I told her. But I felt bad about saying that, knowing that while it was generally true, they still were going to hunt her down. "And... you know, I'm just like you. A human in a strange world. I fell, just like you, and I-"
"Wait, you fell too?" Alisa interrupted. "Did you follow a white rabbit as well?"
I thought back to what happened when I fell in. ...Asriel found me. He wasn't a rabbit, but...
Tears started to well up in my eyes. "Sorry, I'm just... listen, I'm going to take you to my home. You can stay there, and be safe."
"That's what the rabbit said," she replied.
"I don't care about the rabbit or goat or whatever it is. You... need some rest," I decided to say. "How long have you been walking around?"
"Um... I don't know."
"Well, a nap wouldn't hurt, now would it."
"Hm... okay, fine..."
I held out my hand, and she grabbed it. And I began leading her to my home.
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
When we got back, I stopped Alisa before we went inside. "So Alisa, I happen to live with some skeleton monsters. They may seem creepy at first, and Gaster could be... mean at times, but they are nice people. So wait here, and I'll let them know you're here." I was about to enter, but I quickly turned back around and said, "Oh, and down in the Underground, you and I... we're called homo-sapiens."
"Homo... say-pea-en," Alisa sounded out, and then smiled.
"Good. Remember that." I entered my home, and called out, "Semi, I'm back! And, uh... I need to show you something... rather important!"
No response.
"Semi, are you here?! I'd thought you'd be home!"
"Sorry, sorry," I heard suddenly. Then I saw Semi climb down the stairs. "I was busy with something. But, that doesn't matter. So, what is so important?"
"Hey, Alisa, you can come in," I called back.
Alisa walked in behind me, and peeked around me.
"Is that, a-"
"Another... homo-sapien, yes," I interrupted Semi. I turned to Alisa. "Don't be scared. Say hello."
Alisa walked out from behind me. "Hello."
Semi knelt down, and held his out. "Well, hello there. They call me Semi. And you're... Alisa, yes?"
She nodded nervously.
"So, what do you like to do, Alisa? Draw? Hear stories?"
"I like to sing!" Alisa replied, and then she began to do just that, singing a simple tune.
"Chara, can I talk to you? Alone," Semi asked me.
"Yeah," And I led him to the kitchen.
"Where did she come from?" Semi asked.
"I don't know, aside from probably the Surface. She just walked in on me playing the piano. She... you know what's going to happen to her, if we don't..."
Semi sighed. "Look, I don't have a problem with taking care of another human, but you... don't you hate humanity? Why do you want to help her?"
I looked down.
"Sorry, that's a dumb question-"
"No, it's okay," I interrupted, "I... I don't know what it is, but... this kid. I just... feel like I need to help her. I- I'm, sorry I don't know."
"It's okay... but Chara, it's not going to be easy to take care of another child."
"I know, but we have to-"
"Father, I'm back! Is Chara here-" a new voice spoke from the front room, before suddenly stopping.
I quickly turned around. "Wingding! Wait!"
I ran back into the front room. Gaster and Pristina just returned, finding Alisa singing in the front room.
"H-hi," Alisa greeted nervously.
"Oh, hello," Pristina replied. She turned to me. "You found another one of your kind. That's awesome."
Gaster just stared at her. He seemed... unsure. But I got the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
"Gaster..." I called to him. "Are you okay?"
"I... Chara... what- sorry, who is this?" he asked.
"This is Alisa." I turned to the little girl. "Hey, do you want to sing for my friend."
"O-okay," she replied, still nervous about the tall skeleton. Then, slowly, she began singing, "Tra, tra la la. Fa, fa la la..."
This went on for a minute or two, and in the time, Gaster seemed to calm down.
"You feeling better now, sweetie?" Pristina.
"Yeah- I- I need some rest," Gaster replied. Then he went up to his room.
Alisa looked down. I knelt down beside her, and said, "Don't worry, give him some time. He'll warm up to you."
At least I hope so, I thought, he did with me, I have to believe he can do the same for you. I have to...
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
It's been a few days since Alisa arrived. She started getting used to living here. Gaster's lightened up to her, and Alisa has gotten closer to our small family, especially me. We decided to keep her on the down-low with our friends for now, and asked Pristina to not tell Blooky and Hapi about her.
Alisa spent a lot of time with me, reading or drawing with me, singing with me while I play the piano. It was great. It made me feel... whole. But I couldn't understand why.
Gaster taught her about the Soul, and even revealed her own soul to here. He told me that she had the trait of Patience. He then explained that monsters usually aren't born with their Soul Trait, and gain it when they get older. If it is the same for humans, then it is impressive that she got her trait at such a young age. But he told me this because she is still young, and it still might not have fully developed. He also reminded me that anyone could have their own trait fail on them from time to time.
I knew this too well, when I let my fear takes over my determination, and how easy it can be.
Alisa was already becoming restless. She was wanting to leave, and continue on her "adventure". I still didn't know what she was talking about considering her delusion about being in "Wonderland" (not that I blamed her), but... I couldn't let Asgore get to her. I just couldn't...
One morning, I was talking with Gaster about the generator project proposal from Asgore, when Alisa came down. She was dressed back up in her traveling clothes from the other day.
"Hey, Chara, I want to go now..." she told me.
"Alisa, I don't think that is such a good-"
"But I want to go! ...It's was really playing with you, but I need to go now..."
I knelt down next to her. "Listen, Alisa, it's not safe out there..."
"You said that monsters were nice..."
I lowered my head. "To tell you the truth... yes, there are, but only if they don't know... that we're human."
"But-"
"Chara has tricked them into thinking that she is one of them," Gaster told her. "But she still has to be careful when going out. And she can't face the king, child."
"But if she can leave-" Alisa started.
"She's older, more mature. She knows how to protect herself. You don't. You need to learn..."
Alisa started crying, and then ran back upstairs to my room, where she was sharing it with me.
"You didn't need to be so harsh with her..." I told Gaster.
"She had to hear that. You know she's getting restless. If we want to keep her alive..." he replied.
"I know, but-" I sighed, "I'm going to go talk to her."
I went up the stairs and slowly opened my door. "Hey, Alisa... can we talk-"
My eyes went wide, as the room was empty, but the window in the back was open.
"Alisa... ALISA!" I ran up to window, and saw a tiny figure running away.
Alisa... how- I looked down and found vines growing up the side of the house. She must've used them to climb down.
"Gaster! Follow me outside! Now!" I yelled down, hoping he heard me. I then jumped out of the window.
A jump from the two-story window wasn't good on my knees, but I was alright. What mattered was getting Alisa and keeping her safe.
I ran off in the direction I thought she went. But it was too late... I lost her.
After a few minutes of running around, searching for her, and stopped to catch my breath. I heard Gaster calling out behind me.
"Chara!" He saw me and ran up to me. "What's going on?"
"Alisa... she got out! We have to find her!"
Gaster looked around. "I could try to track her using my vision, but we're in a more vast area of the Underground right now. It could take a while-"
Suddenly we heard a scream in the distance. It was hard to discern, but I knew who's it was.
"Alisa!" I dashed towards the direction of the scream. Gaster groaned, and quickly followed.
The next minute was panic in mind. She was going to be okay, right? She had to be...
And when I got there, my heart sank. Alisa was facing other monsters, all in armor. The leader, covered in full armor, made from a red-gold material, and given flame designs, a sheathed sword on his waist, and a golden glow behind his helmet.
The Caption of the Royal Guard... I thought. They found her.
"No..." I said under my breath, hiding behind some brush.
"Human," the Captain called out. "You are wanted by the King. King Asgore Dreemurr."
"What does he want me for?" Alisa asked.
The Captain's hand fell to his sword. "...You will see soon enough. Capture her!"
The other guards moved forward, and attempted to grab her... when suddenly...
They stopped as a knife with a bone handle and a glowing blue blade, struck the ground in front of them.
The guard looked up to the angle of the thrown knife. Alice followed their gaze, then me. Upon the cliffs, a cloaked figure stood.
"Let me ask you? Is this what you think is right?" the figure called down.
Gaster, I thought, what are you doing?
"Who are you?" the Captain asked.
"A concerned observer," Gaster replied. He waved his hand, and three more knives appeared.
Really Gaster, I thought. I know you wanted to explore this magic more, and but you made more knives. Why? Do you hate me?
"Sir, please. Cease and desist. This is for the good of all monsterkind."
"Is that how you keep your conscious clear?"
The Captain seemed to tremble for a bit. But before I could think anything of it, he drew his sword, and swung it, releasing a wave of fire towards Gaster.
Gaster quickly jumped down the cliff, avoiding the attack. I audibly gasped, which unfortunately attracted the attention of the guards. They turned their heads towards me. But Gaster distracted them. He dashed towards them, but the Captain got in his way. As the two them began fighting, Alisa tried to get away, but the other guards noticed this and intercepted, capturing her.
"NO!" I screamed. I was going to chase after them, but suddenly, Gaster was in front of me. When he heard me scream, he split off of his battle, and came to stop me.
"Chara, no," he said quietly.
"I have to save her!"
"I know you want to... but, I... I can't lose you, too."
I just watched in tears, as the Captain, who was looking at where Gaster ran off to, shook it off, and ordered the guards to take Alisa away.
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Gaster had gone to the capital to see what was going to happen with Alisa. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he could save her, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. By the time he got there, it would be too late. ...The first Soul Asgore needed to break the barrier...
I spent the next few days in the house, depressed, crying. I could have saved her... why... why did Gaster have to stop me...
Pristina and Hapi had arrived at Semi's request, to try and comfort me...
"So, this girl was taken by the guard?" Hapi asked.
I nodded, grabbing another tissue.
"And Pristina," Hapi said turning to her, "you knew about this girl? Why didn't you tell me?"
Pristina was staring out the window. "Chara, can I ask you something?"
I looked up. "...What...?"
"...So, Asgore just got the first human Soul, right?"
"Yeah, I heard about that. I guess the rumors about the human princess were wrong. Still, I wonder happened to her-" Hapi replied, but Pristina interrupted.
"Hapi, sorry, but I need to hear Chara's response. So, Chara, this girl, Alisa, is she... is she the same girl?"
"Pristina, I-" I wanted to ask her to drop the subject, but I knew I couldn't do that. Not this point. "...Yes."
"Wait. That would mean..." Hapi started.
"The girl was human," Pristina finished.
"So, you met a human, Chara. Was she as scary as they say they are?"
"Hapi, that's not it. You didn't see her."
I knew what she was referring to. I knew was had figured it out. I got up, and summoned a fireball in my hand.
"Wait, Chara, darling what are you doing?" Hapi freaked out.
"What are you going to do?" I asked Pristina.
"Chara, please-" she started.
"I'm not going back. I'm not..." my tears started to intensify.
"Chara, I don't want to lose my friend. Just... tell us the truth."
My head dropped. "...I... don't want to lose my friend, too..." I dispelled my flames. "...I... I... I am human."
Hapi flew back, shocked. "What, but I thought- You said you were a monster. A homo-sapien, right?"
"You know, that is only another way to say 'human'. It's the scientific term."
"Chara... why didn't you tell us?" Pristina asked.
I sniffed. "Why do you think. When Asriel died, and Asgore declared his war on humanity... I had to hide."
"Where were you before then?"
"...The capital. ...No, actually... The castle..."
"Wait, what?" Hapi replied. "Wouldn't that mean that you're-"
"The first human. The princess. ...Asriel's sister..."
I fell to my knees and started crying again.
"Pristina..." Hapi said.
"We have to help her," Pristina said. "She's our friend."
Suddenly, the door opened, and Gaster walked in. "Chara."
I looked up. "Wingding?"
He looked away. "...I saw the execution. I'm sorry..."
"...I could have saved her..."
"I already told you, I couldn't lose you, too..." He looked back towards me. "But I want to make it right. Come with me."
Gaster brought us into the kitchen, and pulled out a set of blueprints. Semi was in the room, and walked over, curious about what was going on.
"What is this, son?" he asked.
"The draft of the generator Asgore asked me for," Gaster replied. "And I've been thinking, what if we could do more with this."
"What do you mean?" Pristina asked.
"This generator will create large amounts of magic energy. What if you can channel that into a spell?"
"What spell?" I asked.
Gaster smiled. "Did you know that powerful monsters, especially skilled skeletons, can learn how to teleport. What if we used this generator to cast the spell on a larger scale?"
"Where... are you going with this?"
"I intend to use this generator to create a portal... straight to the surface."
For the rest of us, our mouths drop. "Are you serious!?"
Gaster nodded. "It will not be easy. It will take time, and much experimentation, and it will have to handled carefully. But... with some help, I think I pull it off..." He looked over to me. "There will be no need to take any more human Souls. And if we can convince the king to stop this war... This cycle of violence... can end."
That lifted my spirits. No one could understand how happy I was by this. I nodded, and said, "then let's do it."
"So... Chara won't have to go away?" Pristina asked.
Gaster gave me a confused look.
"We have something we need to talk about," I told him.
"Well, that will have to wait," he replied, "I need to finish these plans by the end of the week. That's the deadline." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, we can do this."
Hapi, who was quiet until now, said, "you know what, this 'generator' needs a better name."
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
With his plans finished, Gaster was now ready to speak to Asgore.
When he walked into his throne room, he found Asgore watering flowers in his massive flower garden surrounding his throne.
"Your majesty," Gaster called out, "I'm back. I have the completed plans."
"Oh, well, let me finish watering these flowers." Asgore finished up and turned to face Gaster. "Ah, yes, W.D. Gaster. Please, Asgore is just fine."
"Of course. Quite the lovely garden you have."
"Yes, they all started growing after... sorry, it's difficult to talk about."
"You must take great care of them."
"Of course! Now, may I see these plans of yours."
Gaster unrolled his blueprints and showed them to Asgore. "Based on my estimations, we'll need to build it in a centralized location of the Underground, where everyone will be in relative equal distance to receive the power. I was considering right below the capital, on the edge of Hotland.
Asgore took a close look at the blueprints. "'Central Optimal Reactor?' Is that what you're going to call it?"
"Yes, though I call the 'CORE' for short."
"I see. So, does this mean you accept my offer."
"Yes, I do. I'll need builders who can work with metal materials and sensitive technology, and some assistant scientists to help me with the experimentation. This project will need time to finish, to make sure nothing will go wrong. A cooling system will need to be made. Also, I'll need a personal lab, for any side projects I may wish to start. I am your royal scientist now, after all."
"...Yes, of course. I'll be sure to provide everything you need, at your discretion."
"Thank you," Gaster replied, before turning away and walked back out. Though just as reached the door, he stopped and turned back towards Asgore. "Oh, and I must thank you... for allowing me to preserve the human body. That is my first intended subject for experimentation."
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Author's Note: Okay, so this is the end of Act 2! And a longer chapter because of it! And after some thought, the "Act 3" I had planned with now be split into two Acts, so the next Act will be much shorter than the previous two Acts (three chapters, in fact). And it will end on the big story moment.
Now for the chapter itself, I wanted to add that first human that fell into the Underground after Chara, which to me, would seem to be the patience kid, due to her items (the Faded Ribbon and the Toy Knife) appearing first, which are in the Ruins. And since she way past the Ruins now, she doesn't have her items (you decide how she lost them). I also wanted to play up the idea that, because she is so young, thinks this is Wonderland, because I always drew the parallels to Undertale and Alice in Wonderland, a kid falls in this strange world and has an adventure.
Though I should say, the whole story outline has been planned for a long time, because now that Deltarune is out, those parallels seem stronger with that game, due to the playing card theme (club, heart, diamond, spade, that kind of thing). Also, with Deltarune out, it's going to be so weird writing this story, later on, particularly the Undertale's own Deltarune prophecy (yeah, did you forget about that?). Also, I currently have no plans to add the PS4 / Switch exclusive content or Deltarune content into my story, especially Deltarune, since Toby Fox confirmed that it is a separate universe from Undertale, but that may change later, since this is an AU, if I can find a way to make it work in this story (but probably not in the main story, Book 2).