Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I don't believe this! That bag of bones proposed to mom?! AND SHE SAID YES?! Good god, this went downhill so fast!

Heya. The name's Chara. Well, my full name is- nope, never mind, you can use that against me. I'm nine. Frisk is my sister, Azzy is my brother, and Asgore WAS my dad, but momma just HAD to have a bigger bone.

Frisk was the flower girl, and Azzy was the ring bearer, which left me thinking they were playing favorites. So when mom asked me to be the maid of honor, I was just in shock. I figured Sans wouldn't agree with that; he hates me.

Turns out the bride picks the maid of honor, not the groom. Who knew.

So there I was, standing across from Sans as mom walked up to the alter. He would've had tears in his eyes if he had any. Frisk and Asriel were standing patiently. I was restless.

I started messing with my dress. I tugged at the lace- I hate lace- until it tore. I quickly covered the tear and looked up nervously. Sans was glaring at me. I flipped him off and turned back to mom.

Holy shit.

She was glowing. My mother was a vision in white. Her elegant dress was strapless, with a beaded torso and a skirt made entirely of tule. The train was made of tule as well, and two Temmies were holding it behind her.

My mouth fell open at the sight. She was gorgeous.

The two said their disgusting vows, consisting mainly of puns, and kissed, causing me to dry heave then and there. Frisk and Azzy moved to stand by me, and I got a good smack upside the head from Frisk for gagging.

They walked down the altar arm in arm, and the rest of us followed.

From there, we were allowed to change. I changed into a simple green dress with a short skirt. I was highly uncomfortable in it, but I wasn’t about to explain to mom why, so I would suffer.

Azzy, Frisk, and I stuck to the corner. From there, I sat and watched. Undyne and Alphys were dancing normally, Papyrus and Mettaton were doing their usual flashy dancing, and Sans was doing his best to slow dance with mom despite their height difference.

Frisk and Azzy left to get food which left me dancing by myself. I swayed around to the music. I noticed Sans looking at me throughout. It took all my willpower not to shoot him a dirty look.

Sans invited people to stand up and give speeches. Frisk immediately grabbed my hand and held me back.

First, Papyrus stood.

"Attention? Attention! Ah yes, there we go. Well, I must say I'm very pleased with my brother for finally finding the girl of his dreams and settling. Though I do suspect that he will continue to adventure and drag Miss Toriel, well now Mrs. Toriel, through those adventures with him. Toriel, I give you my brother. Take care of him. Best of luck to you two. And have a splendid life!" The audience burst into applause as he stepped down.

Frisk got up next, and as soon as she stepped up, everyone was cheering.
"Hi, guys. I know you all think of me as that hero who saved you," I rolled my eyes, "but today, I'm just Tori's daughter. Sans has acted like the father I never had since we were free and continued to act like that towards Chara and Asriel as they were brought back. Today he is officially my father, and I've never been happier." More applause.

Without Frisk, there was no one to stop me from running up and grabbing the mic. Everyone fell silent as my hand closed around the microphone. They all hate me. I know it. But that didn't stop me.

"Alright, enough of this fluffy shit. It's time for this to get real."

"Watch your mouth, kid," Sans called from the front table.

"I am; I'm watching it expose you. Anyway, it's time you all knew the truth. Toriel is exactly who she seems. A sweet little old lady who makes pie and cares for children." I pointed to Sans. "This bitch, however, is a different story. He has killed me AND FRISK in multiple timelines."

At the mention of the timelines, everyone fell into hushed whispers. Sans eye sockets went black.

"Kid... " he said in his warning tone. But I ignored this.

"Yeah. He straight-up murdered me - Frisk too. And would you look out the window? The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, so maybe people like Sans should be-"

I hit the ground before I could finish. Sans was on top of me, breathing hard. His left eye was glowing a steady blue, and his left hand had a tight magical hold on my soul. Thank god he turned it blue. I did not need people seeing my horrific soul. I fought against him, but he held me down effectively.

"Shut your mouth if you know what's good for you, kiddo," he growled.

No one spoke for what felt like hours. Finally, Frisk coaxed that idiot off of me and helped me up.

Well, that was that. Sans and Toriel are married. There goes my last shred of happiness.

Chapter Text

I sat in my usual chair, three rows from the front, six chairs from the door. Second grade. Yes, I was supposed to be in third. I got held back, which put me in the same class as Frisk and Asriel. The teacher was droning on and on about Native Americans. I had zoned out a long time ago.

No one here knew that a kid was lying unconscious in the bathroom.

Little prick tried to take my lunch money. Dragged her into the bathroom and knocked her out. Left her with a bloody nose and a broken arm, besides being unconscious. Waltzed right out without anyone suspecting a thing.

Or so I thought. The teacher called my name.

"Chara? Chara? Charia-" I sat up.

"Say my full name, and you're dead. What do you want?"

"You got called to the office."

I groaned and walked to the principal. Mom met me in the hallway, her arms crossed.

"Chara, please explain why I got called out of my class for your antics?" I shrugged and opened the door for her.

We were soon joined by an angry Sans and a very serious principal when we got in. Also, a kid who looked pretty banged up- shit, it was the kid from the bathroom.

The principal raised an eyebrow.

"Young Jenna here says she was attacked by 'a delinquent in a dark green sweater and black jeans.’ Miss Charia-"

"Don't say it."

Principal Wilson sighs. "Miss Chara, it appears that the description fits you perfectly. Do you have anything to say to this?" I turn to the little prick.

“Yeah. First of all, I’m not a delinquent. Second of all, you’re the one who fell back on the old cliche of trying to take someone’s lunch money.”

Everyone in that room fell silent. Principal Wilson coughed. "Miss Dreemurr. I'm afraid we will have to suspend your child for two weeks."

I groaned. "Fuck my life... "

Sans growled. "Kid, you're already in a heap of trouble; I'd watch your mouth if I were you."

I rolled my eyes and snarled at him. "Whatever."

**************************

I got my stuff and sat in the front seat of Sans car. Just my luck, we got caught in traffic.

"Can I ask you something, kid?"

"I guess."

"Why are you doing this? You've been acting out since I proposed. What's your problem?"
"Anger issues, medical insanity, PTSD, depression, anxiety... I have a lot of problems."

He slammed on the breaks. "Medical insanity?!"

"Trashbag, I was in an asylum for five years. I thought you knew that?"

"I didn't."

"Oh."

"...So why do you hate me?"

"Because you killed Frisk and me, because you make stupid puns, because you interrupted my work, because-"

"Okay, I get it. I've done a lot of shit. But, kid, here's the thing. I've seen you with Asriel. You're gentle as anything with him. Or with the little kids at the park. But with us, you're suddenly big and bad? Why the CHARA-des?"

I groaned. "Because I'm crazy. I'm the ruthless killer, the angel of death, and the representative of destruction. Fight me, you little shit, I can-"

"Chara-"

"-take you any day, you don't stand a chance-"

"Chara... "

-I'm the baddest kid to ever come out of that place, and they dared to keep me-"

"Chariana!"

I froze. He knew. Goddammit, he wasn't supposed to find my full name, how did he-

"Breathe, kid." His surprisingly calm voice interrupted my thoughts. I wasn’t used to the people who called me by that name being so calm with me afterward.

I took a deep breath.

"So you do this because you have some shitty reputation to protect? Is that what you're telling me?"

I nodded. "I mean, I guess."

Sans pulled forward as much as he could in the heavy traffic. He twisted in his seat. "Kiddo. Look at me. "

Hesitantly I obeyed. "What do you want?" I grumbled.

I got a bony backhand across the cheek.

"Ow! What the hell, you asshat?!" I cradled my right cheek, my head already swarming.

"You're being a dick to protect your bad-girl rep. You deserve a lot more than a slap for that."

"That wasn't a slap, that was a fucking pimp-style backhand!"

"I don't wanna know how you figured out what a pimp is."

Finally, traffic cleared up, and we got home. I ran in ahead of Sans, and to the room I shared with Frisk and Azzy, but he was sitting on my bed when I got there. Stupid shortcuts.

"While you're home, I think it's time we talked about something."

Chapter Text

I froze. If he wanted to talk, it meant I'd done something.

"Relax, kid. I just want to talk."

"Sans, those five words are the very representation of evil."
He cocked his head, making me shiver. The sound of his skull moving... Ugh.

"Representation of evil? But kid, you didn't say them. I did." He chuckled at his little joke.

I rolled my eyes. "Haha, very funny. Now, what's this about? What did I do?"

"You're a strange kid. You won't say a word about your past or that weird soul of yours... "

My soul is different. Most monsters and humans have a soul that's one color. I have a soul that's half red and half black. Everyone's figured out that the red part is what weak DETERMINATION I have, but no one understands the black half. No one except me, of course.

"I'm just a secretive person, I guess. What's it to you?"

"Well, I have been doing some research. Or, trying to at least. Searching the name Chariana didn't get me anywhere. Except for something about France. Is Chariana a French name?"

I nodded. "Yeah. My mom was French, so..."

He nodded. "So you have two choices here. You can tell me or let me find out the probably ugly truth on my own. Because I'm a stubborn ol' bastard, I'm determined to figure out your background. You're a fucked up kid. You know it. You're proud of it. But the level of fucked up you possess could not have spawned regularly. No, you went through some shit, didn't you?"
I looked at the floor.

He didn't know.

He couldn't know.

The memory of that day makes me vomit.

No one could find out.

Celestè.

**************************

At dinner, everyone was quiet. Toriel was clearly pissed at me. Frisk and Asriel stared with their innocent faces. I knew what was really behind those wide eyes they had. I grumbled into my potatoes.

"Ya know Tori, it's a shame that Chara has to stay home. No one to watch her unless we hire a babysitter..."

Yeah, like that was gonna happen.

"...but come on, no ones gonna wanna take care of this deranged little lunatic."

Toriel huffed. "Sans, first of all. She's not a lunatic."

"Medical insanity," I choked out, hiding it between fake coughs.

"But you are right. I hadn't even thought about what she will do."
I picked at the roast beef, questioning why a goat would cook a cow.

"Why can't I just stay by myself?" I mumbled.

Or at least I thought I did. Sans and Toriel just...stared at me. It was unsettling, honestly. Especially because Sans's eyes were black. I shivered.

"....Anyways... " Sans continued. "I was thinking. She's suspended for two weeks. I have the next month off from work. I was going to spend that time helping Grillby open his new place, but I can stay home with the kid."

I stabbed my fork into the table. "And why do you think I'm going to put up with you for two weeks, trashbag?"

Toriel gently guided my hand away from the utensil. "Use the fork for eating, Chara. Well, Sans, I guess that's what we'll have to do."

I groaned. "Dear god, why not just kill me now? It'd only be the 75th time, right?"

Frisk and Sans visibly tensed up. Frisk grabbed my shoulder. "Chara, maybe you shouldn't talk about that... "

"No promises," I whispered.

I slammed my head on the table, covering my face in beef flakes in the process. “Why are we even eating beef? This was dad's best friend back on whatever farm you came from, for all you know."

Frisk burst out laughing. Everyone else was confused. Oh right, my mother and little brother are sentient farm animals. I say as if all mammals aren't sentie- you know what, that's not why you're here, stop reading this paragraph!

Why are you still here?

Chapter Text

The first day of my fortnight of agony was spent spinning in a swivel chair because Sans was "researching" and wouldn't let me leave.

In all honesty, I think he's just watching porn.

I spun around until I was lightheaded and then some. This was boring! I started to stumble out of the room, dizzy from my adventure on the chair.

"Get back here, Chariana."

"Do you have to use that name?"

"It gets your attention, so I'm going to use it. You know you aren't allowed to leave my sight these next two weeks. And I think I found something useful anyway. Guess what website I found?"

"Xxtube? Ugh, the quality is horrible. It's not worth it," I groaned and returned to spinning.

"Nah, I found this website with mental asylum files- wait... Chara, xxtube is a porn website... How do you know what it is?!”

"How do you know what it is?" I got out, saying a couple words every time I was facing him.

"It's a new website. You'd have to have been watching it recently..."

"...Alright, you little shit, I won't tell Tori about it if you don't." His cheeks glowed a bright blue.

I smirked. "Deal. Wait. Are you blushing?"

"No. Shut up."

"Holy shit, you're blushing! How do you do that?! You don't have blood!"

"Just drop it, kid."

I giggled...

Yes, okay, I giggle. It's a medical insanity thing.

I scooted the chair until I was next to him. “So, what's this website?" I was already bored out of my mind.

"It's a list of old mental asylum files from all over the country. I mean, I doubt Chariana is a common name. Shouldn't be too difficult to find you."

I sunk back in the chair. “Sans, you're not gonna like what you see, okay?"

"Chara, don't be silly. I never like what I see when you're around me," he replied, sliding the cursor up to a search bar at the top of the screen. He clicked once in the bar and typed out Chariana in a painfully slow fashion. Good god.

Only one file popped up in the results. Chariana Elizabeth Reed. St Mary Mental Institution. I held my breath as he clicked the link.

Name: Chariana Elizabeth Reed
Diagnosis: Medical Insanity, Anger Issues, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety
Reason for Treatment: Killed three children, both parents and two doctors.
Treatment: Too far gone. Execution.

Yeah, that sounded about right.

Sans stared at the screen. If he could drop his jaw, it would be on the floor. I stood with a slight ‘I told you so' smirk on my face. Neither of us spoke for what felt like forever.

"Wow... "

"I warned you."

"What the hell..."

"I warned you."

"How is that... "

"I warned you."

"You were in that place for five years... YOU MURDERED SEVEN PEOPLE WHEN YOU WERE FOUR?!" his eyes had skipped the black stage, and now his left eye was glowing every shade of blue and yellow.

"Four and five technically. I mean, I got put in there a few weeks before our fifth birthday. I didn't kill the doctors until after the birthday."

"What do you mean, 'our' fifth birthday?"

I bit down on my tongue, mentally facepalming. Stupid...

"Nothing. Can we be done with this conversation?"

"I want the truth Chariana."

"I can't tell the truth."

"What do you mean you can't?

"Are you deaf?! It means I can't! I've kept him a secret for five years, plus however long I was dead and as long as I've been back. And I'm not talking about him now, especially not to-"

"Who is he?" Sans's gaze had drifted to my red eyes and locked onto them. He gripped my jaw tightly, in his hand, not his magic, keeping my eyes in contact with his. I fought against the unwelcome touch, batting at his arm. But he simply grabbed both my wrists in his other hand and stepped forward. His small step trapped my feet between his own, making it impossible for me to escape.

I growled and tried to snap my teeth at him, a motion that he knew as 'I can and will bite you.' But his hand on my jaw lowered my range of motion, and the result was a weak click! of my teeth.

I settled for growling.

"Who is he, Chara?" He asked softly. I shook my head, biting my lip and holding back tears.

"Sis, sis! Look at the ducks!"

I smiled at the "ducks," which were actually geese, but whatever made him happy. "I see them, Celestè. They're swimming towards us."

"Hiya duckies!"

The tears were flowing steadily.

"Oh, kiddo..."

"Shut up!" I roared, burying my face in his greasy sweatshirt and sobbing my eyes out.

Sans froze. He seemed unable to comprehend what was happening. All at once, his grip shifted from my jaw and wrists (respectively) to over my shoulders and on my back. Was he...hugging me? Why was the trashbag showing me affection?!

There was a click, and I felt the familiar warmth of his magic surrounding me. Through my tears, I saw the blurred image of him walking through the house to the couch, me floating behind him. He sat down and waved his hand in a beckoning motion, causing me to float over to him. I had never realized how tall he was. When I landed unceremoniously on him, my short frame stayed on his "stomach." I buried my face in his sweatshirt again, still crying.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. Eventually, he pulled me up to face him.

"Okay, Chara. I can tell that whoever he was really important to you. You're acting the same way I did when you and Frisk killed Papyrus." I wiggled uncomfortably at that. "And I do want the full story, eventually. But for now, it's like two o'clock, and Toriel's gonna kill me if you don't eat something resembling lunch. So how's about we drop it and head up to Grillby's new place to eat?" He carried me (much to my embarrassment) back to his office and logged off the computer.

I hesitated. I hated the grease, and the meat made me want to vomit. All meat does. I knew there was no chance of getting a salad, but...

"Does he have veggie burgers? Or sweet potato fries?"

"He might. He's made additions to the menu now that he's serving humans AND monsters. Gotta say the humans love the monster establishments. The food doesn't spoil, so the leftovers keep amazingly in the fridge. Why the healthy food, though?"

"Uh..."

"Chara, are you vegan or something?"

"Vegetarian. Yes, there's a difference."

"Why didn’t you tell anyone sooner? We’ve been making meat for dinner this entire time! Also...how do you live without bacon?"

"You're judging my eating habits when you have a shelf in the fridge devoted to bottles of ketchup?" I raised an eyebrow at him, shimmying out of his arms to stand with my hands braced on my hips.

"...Touché. Go get your shoes."

As I slipped on my lime green Converse, I realized something.

"Hey, Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"You called me Chara. Three times." I informed him.

He gave me a confused look. “Isn't that your name...?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, but you called me Chara. Not Chariana. Chara. The name I like." It was weird to me, the concept that Sans would do something I liked.

He made some noises of protest for a minute and then sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. Now come on, we gotta get some food in you before Tori comes home and slaughters me in cold... Dust..."

I laughed and followed him out the door.

Chapter Text

I was curled up on the roof outside my window. I had no idea how I was ever going to give the whole story. It was just a mess, and I’d probably never be left alone again when they knew the truth.

I sighed as a small white car pulled up. I jumped off the roof and ran out to meet my siblings. Sans, who was in my room looking for something, teleported outside.

"You're gonna break your damn neck jumping like that kid. You're too reckless," he said, coming up behind me. Frisk handed me my homework for the day, causing me to groan.

"What I don't understand is how Miss Robinson expects me to do two weeks' worth of homework when I'm not gonna be in the classroom to learn how to do it," I complained. But I took the homework packet from her.

"Don't worry, Chara!" Frisk said, throwing an arm around me.

"Yeah!" Asriel chimed in, putting his fuzzy arm on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Frisk's limb. "We'll help you!"

I moaned, that being the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear. With these two on my ass, I'd have no choice but to get my work done.

"My heroes," I offered with a weak smile.

Sans broke us up. "Alright, kids, go get your homework done now. There's four cookies and a glass of milk for each of you on the coffee table."

Frisk shot him a confused look. "But we do our work after dinner, daddy."
I nearly choked hearing her call him that. I'm not exactly innocent.

"Well, tonight, Chara has a story to tell us. You won't have time. Do it now."
Mom stopped us from running off. "Children, how does chicken and noodles sound for dinner?"

I winced. Chicken. Ugh. But Sans somehow saved me.

"Actually, Tori, it's my night to cook, remember? I was thinking vegetable stir fry, with some grilled chicken on the side if they want it." He grinned at me. I gratefully returned the smile.

"Oh, that's right. How could I forget that? Well, that sounds lovely, Sans. Alright, run along and do your work."

We obeyed.
**************************
"So Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of State, right?"

Frisk shook her head at me. "No, that was Thomas Jefferson; Hamilton was the Treasurer."

"Oh, that's right." I pencilled in the answer. "But does everything else look right?" I showed them my paper. We had spent the last two hours reading from a textbook and filling out a worksheet on Hamilton.

Sans poked his head in. "Kids, dinner's ready."

We ran out to sit at the table. A bowl of stir fry and a platter of shredded grilled chicken in the center at each seat. My mouth was watering. I didn't have to eat meat tonight!

Of course, that meant I only had roughly 45 minutes before I had to spill everything. Fuck it.
**************************
After dinner, I quickly fake yawned as I walked through the living room, looking directly at Sans.

"Wow, thanks for dinner, but I am exhausted, and I shouldreallygettobed. Goodnight!" I turned and made a mad dash for the stairs.

Sans had other plans, though, and teleported behind me because I felt the back of my jacket being yanked back. I stopped on the third stair, as far as I could go. He jerked his hand back quickly, and I lost my balance. Skeletal hands wrapped around my waist, catching me and carrying me back to the giant indigo couch.

"Where do you think you're going? You can't get too tired to tell that story."
I groaned. Fuck you, Sans.

"Oh yeah, Chara, what's this story you have to tell us?"

I sighed. "Listen, guys. I know you wanna know about my past. But it's not pretty. I went through some traumatic shit. I just... I don't want you to think any differently of me when I tell you this. It's not pleasant."

I looked around. Mom looked concerned beyond belief. Asriel was leaning into Frisk for comfort. And Sans was next to me with a hand on my shoulder, giving me an encouraging smile. Not that it was saying much since he's always smiling. But it definitely made me feel better.

"Okay. Here goes nothing."
**************************
"So my parents. Jeanette and Devon. Jeanette was French, hence the French names. Anyway.

I was born a twin. Chariana Elizabeth Reed and Celestè Edward Reed. Except we were conjoined at the head, which is a nightmare of a place to be joined at. So we had risky surgery to separate us. And it worked, but we both got messed up mentally. But Celestè got it worse. He suffered severe brain damage. It got him bullied a lot, even though we were only in preschool.

So, our parents. They... They were pretty bad. Dad was a drug addict; mom was an alcoholic. Mom blamed me for Celestè being as bad as he was. She started abusing me when I was two. Don't ask me how I remember.

My dad got jealous. See, mom was always either knocking me around or babying Celestè. So she didn't have time to, uh, pleasure him anymore. He started making me dress in more revealing clothes when I was three. He would have me stand in front of him in these skimpy outfits, and he'd get off to it. Eventually, he started r-raping me. He used the pleasure he got from it to replace the pleasure my mom wasn't giving him. I started keeping a small knife in the waistband of my skirt in the hopes of hurting him when he got handsy. Which is why I’m so skilled with knives nowadays, heh.

But I still cared about Celestè. I would always protect him. I loved him to death. The bullies came after him mainly at recess at the preschool we went to. So one day, I was staying in. I can't remember what I got in trouble for, probably got dress coded for the skimpy outfits again. So I wasn't there to protect him, and the three bullies took advantage of that.
There was a fence around the playground, obviously. But across the road was a pond...lake...thingy. My brother, being mentally damaged as he was, fell for their tricks, and they lured him over the fence to the pond. They pushed him in. They were just trying to annoy him, get him wet and uncomfortable. So it was a shock when he called out "Charia-" and drowned.

I ran out of the building and jumped the fence, but I was too late. He was... He was dead. They were still in shock. I started yelling at them, and they covered their shock and fear by saying he deserved it. He was a freak. So I kept yelling, not even bothering to hold back my tears. And I reached into the waistband to grab my knife. They started making fun of me for crying, and I.. well... I stabbed all three of them to death. And I ran home.
I yelled at my parents that Celestè was dead. They both were drunk off their asses. They started accusing me of killing him. My mom broke my nose - again. My dad started to strip me down. And I stabbed them too. If I had to pinpoint exactly when I went crazy, I'd say that was it.

I guess the neighbors called the cops because I got caught. But when they saw all my scratches and burns and bruises from my mom, they took me to the hospital. Well, while they were trying to treat me, I freaked out. Pulled a knife on the doctors, and they knocked me out. They apparently decided my sentence because I was in the high-security cell of St Mary's Mental Institution when I woke up.

I was there for a few weeks when they realized that the treatment I was on wasn't working. In fact, it was just a week after my fifth birthday. So two doctors were leading me to my new therapist. And when the elevator doors closed, I strangled the doctors.

Well, I was there 'till I was nine and a half. On high security all the while. But I figured out how to sneak around. So when I was sneaking around one day, I found my file. I saw my official diagnosis. Medical Insanity, PTSD, severe anger issues, anxiety, and depression. And I saw the new treatment I would be put on. Only it wasn't really a treatment. They were gonna execute me. And it would be the next day.

I decided that suicide would be better than giving the doctors the satisfaction of getting rid of me. So I left a note. It said. "Gone to kill myself so you don't have to. Don't come looking for me". There was an inactive volcano about fifteen minutes outside the town, so I escaped the asylum, ran to the mountain, and jumped into the crater.
Only it wasn't a volcano. It was Mt Ebott. And I didn't die. I landed on a bed of flowers."

I sat back in my seat, signaling that I was done. When I looked at my family, no one had anything to say. When they recovered, they still weren't speaking in complete sentences.

"Holy..."

"Um..."

"How..."

"Wow..."

"I warned you. It wasn't pretty. Can I go upstairs now?"

Sans was the first to recover. "Not yet. Two questions. If your name is Chariana, where did Chara come from?"

"Oh, that's easy" I looked at Asriel with a gentle smile. "When Azzy asked my name, I was really out of breath, and he couldn't understand what I said. He thought I said Chara, and I liked the name, so I didn't correct him."

Asriel hugged me from behind. "I did a thing!"

I giggled. "Yeah, you did a thing."

Toriel smiled as Frisk joined in the hug and took a picture. I rolled my eyes. That would be on Undernet forever.

"Second question." Sans continued. "What's up with your soul?"

Mom gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean, Sans? Her soul is red."

I shook my head, shooing Frisk and Azzy off me. I stood up and stepped in front of Sans. "Sans, summon my soul, would you?"

He did. My abomination of a soul appeared. Half of it was a dull, dark red, and the other half was black.

Mom and Asriel gasped.

"The red half is my DETERMINATION, though I don't have much. The black half was Celestè. Since we were conjoined, we shared a soul. We each had one half. When he died, I got the other half, but it was... dead. I still only have half a soul, technically. The black half is dead. It's just... there."

"What do you mean it's dead?" Azzy asked. I turned to Sans again.
"Sans, summon a small attack. Don't send it yet. Just summon it and tell me how much HP it should take".

Sans continued to keep his hold on my soul as he summoned a small bone. "This should take 4 HP."

I nodded. "Gimme a sec." I stepped as far back from the soul as possible and summoned my HP bar. 80 HP, same as usual. "Okay, now send it at me."

The bone flew at me. It hit my soul directly, and I caught it on the other side and threw it back to him. Out-of-battle fighting physics are weird okay?

My HP went from 80 to 78.

Frisk was the first to question it. “I thought it would take 4."

"It would've if anyone else had taken the hit. I have half a soul, so I only take half the damage."

"Ooooohhh," the four of them said in unison.

I sat back down. "There ya go. My horrible life before Mt Ebott. Any questions?" I asked sarcastically.

I wasn’t expecting them to actually ask more questions; Jesus fucking Christ!

"Yeah," Azzy said, "What's suicide?"

I burst out laughing. Azzy, you’re so bad with subtlety.

Chapter Text

The two weeks passed relatively quickly once things weren't so awkward between Sans and me. We mostly sat in silence, but it was a comfortable silence.

On the last day of my suspension, Sans was constantly nervous. I was confused. He didn't do any of his usual activities that day. I sat on the couch eating a salad and watched him. He was surrounded by a landline, his cell phone, a computer, a laptop, and a tablet. He kept staring frantically at the landline as if willing it to ring as he typed away.

I checked the time. Mom's class would be at lunch right now, so I texted her.

Hey, Sans is freaking out. You might wanna call him.
I sat back and scrolled through Tumblr.

A couple minutes later, the landline rang. Sans snatched it up on the first ring. His voice was frantic.

"Hello?! Tori?! ... Oh, Tori, thank God you're okay! .... I've been trying to reach you all day. Listen, you've got a couple monster children in your class, right? ... It's a Code 7. ... Yes, really, it's a Code 7. ... Do whatever you have to, get the word out to every monster. Code 7. ... I don't know, write it on the board, give all the monster children a note! Do something! Okay. ... Thank you, love. ... Yes, we'll discuss this later. ... Love you. ... Bye."

He slammed down the receiver and returned to his frantic typing.

After an uncomfortable ten minutes of clicking away at his keyboard, I spoke up.

"So are you gonna tell me what just happened and what the hell a Code 7 is or...?"

He visibly jumped. "Ch-Chara! I forgot you were here! Listen, you d-don't need to worry about it."

"Sans, you're stuttering enough to pass for Alphys. What the fuck is a Code 7?!"

He sighed. "You don't pay much attention to Frisk's embassy stuff, do you?"

"Why would I pay attention to that? Humanity hates me anyway."

"Fair point. Alright, a Code 7 is a signal we agreed on. Basically, it means there's a human attack, and there's a chance at going back to war."

My eyes widened. "Well, shit."

"Something about the military this time? That's like the Royal Guard, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. So every monster knows what it means?"

"The adults do. Some older kids do, like Grillby's daughter. I've alerted almost everyone. The monster kids will be evacuating school today."

"Sans, this doesn't make any sense. What happened to trigger an attack?"

"We don't have time to discuss that right now. We have to get to Mt Ebott immediately. Pack your sack, kiddo. We gotta go now."

"Please tell me we're teleporting."

"No shit, kid. I said as soon as possible. Come on!"
**************************
Standing at the base of Mt Ebott is never fun. I've done it too many times now, but none involved every monster I've ever met and killed surrounding my family. Yikes.

So everyone was in a panic, freaking out about this "Code 7" deal. Apparently, it was something they never thought would happen.

"What are we gonna do?!"

"We dismantled the guard!"

"We can't handle another war!"

My mom and her ex-husband looked at each other. He nodded to her, and she walked some ways up the mountain where everyone could see her.

"Monsters, please. I ask you all to rethink your logic. You are jumping to conclusions. It is not definite that we are going to war again. Sans only called this code to warn everyone. If we should have to fight, we are prepared. " She motioned to Undyne, who, as a result of suddenly having the attention on her, struck a warrior pose. "Our guard may be dismantled, but they can reform any time. You underestimate them."

"Yeah, we can take on anything!" Undyne cheered, and a chorus of sentry dogs howled in the background.

"B-but the human world has changed so m-much since we came up here!" A familiar scientist stuttered. "H-how will we know what t-technology they have now?" She adjusted her glasses on her nose, blushing madly since everyone was looking at her.

"I think I have a couple people who can help you with that," Sans said, smiling at Frisk and me. I looked at Frisk, assuming he was talking about her.

"We have two human representatives!" Azzy cheered from beside us.

"T-two?!" I sputtered. "Why the fuck do you think I can handle this?!"

I saw monster parents covering children's ears.

"You're a human, aren'tcha?" Sans questioned.

"Bone Bag, I'm in a life long identity crisis. I don't know my own species".

"You're more familiar with it than any of us."

"Well, what help are they going to be without magic?" An obnoxious robot asked from the back of the crowd.

"Mettaton, we don't HAVE magic," I reminded him, rolling my eyes.

"Oh pish posh, what about those seven magicians that trapped us in the first place? I can guarantee you have magic just WAITING to be tapped into!"

Everyone dissolved into murmurs of agreement. Frisk and I just stared at each other. Could we really do this? Wasn't magic supposed to be impossible?

"We'll be right back," Frisk said and dragged me around to the mountain's opposite side.

"Wha- Hey!"

"Chara, we have to do this," Frisk said excitedly.

"But what if we can't? Those magicians are long dead. They were the last of your kind with magic for all we know!"

"Your kind?" She asked. "You mean our kind?"

"No Frisk. I don't consider myself a human. Not after all the shit I endured from humanity. I'm a monster, all the way through." I thought about this and realized my logic here was immensely flawed. "...And if I'm a monster, then I'm willing to do whatever I can to help them. Including trying to tap into any magic I have." I sighed in defeat. The evolved gay calculator had won.

"Yay!" Frisk hugged me and dragged me around back to the group before I could say another word.

"We'll do it," we said together when we returned to the group.

"But if this goes wrong, I take no responsibility!" I said, finding it necessary to interject before anyone expected something from me.

"Fair enough." Someone said. Everyone seemed to agree.
"But they aren't the only ones whose magic needs tapping into," Asgore spoke up. "What about our son?" He asked, looking at Toriel.

Frisk whispered to Azzy. "I thought you had magic in your God of Hy-"

"I did, but I can't access that form without absorbing all the souls again," he whispered back.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to tap into Asriel's magic. But who will be responsible for each of the children?"

"Asriel fights with weapons. You, Toriel, fight with magic alone. I think it would be best if I taught him"

That left Frisk and me. Everyone would be willing to take Frisk; no one would be willing to take me. I already knew it.

"Mrs. Toriel, you or my brother would be great with either of the children!' Papyrus said. Goddamn it. I knew he meant well, but neither of them could handle me. It would end badly.

Toriel looked over me uneasily. "I don't trust Chara with fire magic" I mean, she had a point. I'd definitely burn the house down.

Fuck. No. Shit. Wait. That meant-

"So you take Frisk, and I take Chara?" Sans asked her.

"Yes, I suppose that will do."

FUCK.

Chapter Text

"You realize that you're literally training me to get revenge on you for all the times you killed Frisk and me, right?" I asked, trudging down to the basement behind Sans.

"No, I'm not. I'm not an idiot. I'd never let you get that strong".

We were about to start training. Asriel had gone to Dad's, and Toriel and Frisk were outside. Sans and I were in the basement because I would start with levitation. And Lord knows there was a bunch of old junk in the basement to practice on.

"So, how are you planning to do this?" I asked. "It's not like I can just summon my powers as you can. Hell, I still don't think I have any."

"That's why I wanted to help you. Telekinesis may look simple, but it takes a lot of focus until you get used to it. I figured that making you focus on something would help you tap into your magic- if you have it. So..." he drifted off, looking around. He picked up a black button that looked like it was from Mom's coat and set it on a table. He dragged the table over to me and pointed triumphantly at the button. "Imagine that floating. Focus all you've got on imagining that floating".

I rolled my eyes but obeyed him. I pictured the button rising into the air and floating around. I subconsciously started pointing around the room, imagining the button following my finger. I imagined it falling, clicking my fingers as it "fell" back on the table.

When I clicked my fingers, there was a flash of red light. I looked down in confusion and clicked my fingers again.

There was a blast of red light.

"Shit!" I yelped, backing away from the light and falling as I did. I slid into the wall, banging my right shoulder on it and hissing in pain

Sans slid over to me. "Fuck, kid, are you okay?" He asked, helping me up.

I clutched my shoulder with my left hand, still wincing. "Y-yeah. Just shocked, I guess".

"Well, I think we can safely say that we've accessed your magic."

"Whoooooo..." I cheered half-heartedly, still holding my shoulder. Sans suddenly turned me around.

"Shit, kid, I hope your shoulder- FUCK, IT'S BLEEDING."

I panicked. "No, no, no, no, no, it's not, it's definitely not."

I felt a finger on my shoulder. Sans lifted it off. He showed a phalange to me, there was red on it. Was the blood soaking through my hoodie?

I stripped off the hoodie and reached around to my shoulder. It wasn't bleeding too badly. Which meant that-

"Chara? What are these scars?"

The scars would be visible through the blood.

"Nothing!" I yelped, trying to cover them.

"Chariana, don't you dare lie to me. You and I both know that these are far from nothing. They're- Jesus Christ, kid, it looks like someone tried to cut you open!"

I stayed silent.

"Chara, you do realize that we're gonna have to clean this up."

I shook my head. I didn't want him to have to look closely at them.

"Yes, we are. They'll get infected. Come on". He grabbed my left arm and led me upstairs. I hissed in pain.

"What?"

"My arm... you can stop pulling me. Let's just go."

He didn't. He just loosened his grip and looked down at my arm.

There was a collection of scars there. Some were smaller, gained from my fingernails. A few were from scissors, and a sizable number were from a razor blade. But the most prominent ones were from ol' Bloody Mary.

Bloody Mary is what I call my dagger. The one mom and dad got me for my birthday. I had opened it on my deathbed after poisoning myself. I had asked them to wrap it back up and keep it safe until I was strong again. But I knew I wouldn't be strong again.

That was the knife that had killed Sans. And it was the knife that had sliced my arm to shreds.

Sans said nothing. He just shoved me in the direction of the stairs. I ascended to the main floor and waited for him. He joined me and grabbed my right arm this time, pulling me towards the bathroom. He walked out, and I heard shuffling. I hoisted myself onto the counter and waited.

Soon Sans returned with one of my long-sleeved shirts and a first aid kit.

"Okay, kid. I know you're self-conscious, especially considering you're a rape victim. But I need your tank top off. I can't fully clean your shoulder with it on, and it's soaked in blood anyway. So...". He took off his blue hoodie and tossed it at me. "I'll leave the room. You take off the tank top and use that to cover yourself however you need to. Just keep that shoulder uncovered. Kay?"

I blinked in shock. "Okay...".

"Call me when you're ready." He left the room.

Years of hospitals had taught me to dress and undress quickly. As soon as the door was closed, I ripped off my tank top. I set it, and my hoodie (which I had decided was necessary to carry up the stairs) on the floor and slid off the counter. I tied the sweatshirt around my torso, covering my breasts (or lack of) and leaving my shoulder free. Finally, I hoisted myself back into the counter so my back would be to Sans. I made sure the hoodie wouldn't slip, and then I was good. 

"I'm ready," I called.

The door opened. Sans was silent as he dug in the first aid kit. I decided not to look at what he was doing. I felt a stinging sensation, then something cold, then a towel. Finally, he wrapped something around the shoulder.

"Who did that to you?"

"Jeanette," I said simply.

"Your mother?" He asked

"She's not my mother anymore," I snapped.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, kid, I hear ya. Look, I know she abused you, and you have every right to hate her, even if she is dead. But you know you don't have to hide it from us anymore, right?"

I nodded.

"Now, let me see your arm."

I shook my head, pinning my arm to my side. No way in hell was I letting him see my self-harm scars. "You'll be mad at me," I said quickly, attempting to explain my actions.

He frowned, furrowing his "brow," which was really just his brow bone. "Why would I be mad? Unless it's something you did yourself, of course....".

I said nothing.

Sans sighed. "Chariana Elizabeth Dreemurr."

I winced. At least he hadn't said my original last name. It wasn't  quite  enough to give me a PTSD flashback, but it still stung. Knowing I had lost, I extended my arm to him.

He whistled. "I'm not letting you near sharp objects again. What did you use?"

I shrugged. "Different things. Fingernails, scissors. Those big ones are from my old dagger." He was reaching for the first aid kit again. "Sans, they're old ones. They're healing. That's unnecessary".

He glared at me, pointing to the most prominent one. "That's a fresh one. I'm cleaning you up".

I pulled my arm away. "No!"

"Chariana, you have two choices. You can let me clean you up, or I take you to Alphys and get another person involved."

Damn, he was good.

I submitted and let him clean my scars. He scooped up the blood-stained clothes and walked out. "Put that shirt on and come out when you're done." He closed the door.

I obeyed quickly. I hated every second of that. Why would I ever willingly reveal my weakness to him?