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She watched her two children collapse as they both crumpled into dust. Her husband yelling in a fit of rage and anger. The promise of pain and suffering to those who had done no harm. She woke up. The nightmares that still only haunt her becourse they are too real. And like every other time these nightmares show themself she starts to think. About the past. About the future. About... Ways that could avoided this present all together. She could have been more observant. She could have gone with them that fateful day. They could have never taken the human in... No! She perish the thought as soon as it came to her. They were their child she should never even think... She sighs a heavy sigh as the mist took hold in her eyes and left the bedroom. The house once so homely now felt empty and hopeless. The still warm living room and trusty kitchen. The room that she boarded up to lock away the painful memories. And the room she still can't make herself look inside. She still worrys what her mind may see if she would ever take a look. And fear that she may break down. It was time for a walk. Every time she was thinking like this she would walk. Look at Home's nice purple color while talking to those monsters that never left. Past the puzzles long deactivated after the fear had faded. And slowly making her way to the room at the end of the path. She would look at the grave for a bit, then think of the sun and simply hope the pain of missing the sun would let her forget the pain of her lost children. Everything to keep her mind away from that day. The only sound at this point was her own footsteps. So faint and low that if she was not trying with all might she would not hear it. It was all a nice distraction for a little while... Her ears suddenly alert. A small sound in the distance. It came from the gravesite. It was a sound that felt familiar. Like something soft landing on something hard... Like flesh hitting the ground! She ran until she was at the open gate. Then relaxed for a little bit. If she was right she did't want to rush in. If it really was another... They would likely be wounded and scared and the last thing she wanted was for them to hurt themself in panic. Everything was morbidly quiet... She calmed down, took a deep breath and then went into the room and what she saw made her gasp.A human child. It looked like it was still learning to walk without falling and somehow looked completely unharmed.The child (that until she gasped was looking curiously at the flowers) turned and looked at her with wide eyes making a small "wooooh" sound. They did not seem to fear her though, as they ran (or what she would consider running at that age) to her and hugged her leg in a tight embrace.Shocked by the tiny body now with it's arms around her leg she just stood there watching it. A small smile on her face. It seemed well cared for, happy, not too skinny, not too fat and no injuries. She felt her smile leave as she thought about the childs parents. They would never know. They would never find out what happend. And she had no way to help other then making sure the child would be fine. With a heavy heart she picked up the child and began walking home. The monsters on the way seemed very interested in the small human in her hands and she gave all of them a glare to let them know. "Nobody even thinks about hurting them." The trip home felt much faster then before. The returning feeling of a mother protecting a child that she thought would make her drown in sad memories, instead made her finally able to push those feeling aside. She knew it as soon as she got inside her house, she would not let another child die on her watch. She came to a halt outside the room, but no longer had an excuse. As she opened the door her heartbeat rising in fear of her mind yet again. Yet there was nothing. No laughing Asriel, no sick Chara, just the room as she always remembered it. She took the (now sleeping) child and put it in the bed. She smiled sadly. It would likely not even remember the surface, it would not even know it had fallen. The childs calm breathing and slow heartbeat left a tear her eyes and a long forgotten feeling in her old heart. She would defend this child with her life if it came down to it. She looked down at the peaceful body for just a little longer before she turned around and went into the kitchen to cook a pie for the first time in years. The next few weeks went better then she would have ever hoped. The small child was full of energy and endless curiosity, stumbleing from room to room, making happy noises at every monster they saw. The monsters was fearful at first, but it only lasted a few seconds each. They would eat and always shake with glee as the magic would fill it's need. The child always had a smile on it's face, even when tripping while running or those first few times a monster hurt it slighty by mistake. The only times the smile would change was when it looked up at her. Their eyes would always widen just a little bit more and the smile become just a tiny bit bigger. She loved the child dearly, and she knew it loved the whole world back maybe even more. As the child was put to rest for that night she left to check the gravesite as she had done every day since the child had fallen. If two human would fall, eventually so would more and she knew not all would take the fall without injury. But as she went on her daily walk to go back to the fateful room, she did't notice the sound back at the childs room. The sound of the child opening the door...
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The sound of small feet on the wodden floor filled the house, echoing around the child as they slowly found the house empty.They had woken up, still full of energy despite being in motion for most of the day. When they heard the sounds getting further and further away a feeling went through them, they didn't like it.Looking around for something, anything, to keep the bad feeling away they walked to the front door, yet even as they pulled as hard as they could the door did not open. They stood there for a few minutes slowly feeling more and more... alone. Small tears fell as they let out a single low wail. They were about to leave, but as they turned to walk to the room they came from they saw the stairs. Someone always came when they tried to walk the stairs!With newfound happiness they slowly jumped down one step at a time, the creaking of the stairs gave some much needed sound as they continued, calming the child down, a small smile returned to their face as they passed a step they had never been on before. The stairs ended with a huge hallway that seemed to be able to go on forever, the child walked foward, eyes wide with wonder.As they reached the first corner, they let out a yelp as the next hallway was even longer! After walking for a little longer they fell flat on their butt, legs out of energy, they sat there for a bit before they made a thoughtful grumble, then taking out and eating a piece of candy they had been given and then forgotten about in the excitement of meeting so many new things. They quickly got back up. As they went further down the hall a cold sensation sent shivers all over their body, this feeling peaked their interest and they walked a bit faster, the cold feeling grew as they got further. The hall suddenly opened to a room with a single stream of light shining on some grass. They sat there and enjoyed the light for a bit before walking out. After the next corner they stood still in awe for a bit, the door that was now right in front of them was huge! The cold feeling was more intense then ever and they knew this door held what they were looking for. With a determined expression the child pushed the door with everything they had... which in turn made them fall in the snow outside with a low poof sound as the door opened as if it was made of nothing.The child stared into the new wonderland opened for them, everything was huge, white and shiny. As they slowly pushed themself up standing with the help of the door, they let out a low yawn. When they saw something move in the distance their focus went straight to that thing. It was big... and it was fluffy! The child let out a loud "Woooooh!"
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His patrol was almost over, just to the edge and then back home.The sound of doors opening set his ears up in high alert. No one had ever seen those doors open... He had to be quick. With speed unmatched by the rest of the Snowdin unit he ran. A sense of dread hanging over him, his red and white tail low to the ground as his claws rested on his dagger. The fox monster wasted no time in hastily getting to the sound only stopping when he was close enough to have sight of every way of escape. Be narrowed his eyes at the slighty open door. "Woooooh" He looked further down startled by the noise and his eyes found a small creature, the only hair it had was on it's head and it's eyes was shiny with emotion. He snarled as the child ran closer. Yet as the human continued it's approach dispite his bluff he went into a blind panic trying to (badly) cover as much of his body with his dagger as he could. He was not a warrior, he was a scout, he knew humans could kill him with just one hateful thought, he knew he should have just called the captain and run, yet now it was too late and he was frozen solid by fear.He felt impact on his body and accepted his fate... But he wasn't dying. He opened his eyes and saw the human... hugging him? This...? This was what a human was like? This was what had more power in one soul then the rest of the underground combined? It was barely able to walk in the snow without falling and did't even seem to know what hate even meant. Either everything everyone knew about humans was wrong or this one was really young... He did't really know which was worse. He picked up the small thing by it's head, it's smile never leaving it's face. "Huh. So what do i do with you?" The human made small noises at him that almost sounded like... "Foxy...? Are you trying to say fox?" The human once again opened it's mouth "Fuzzy!"Once again startled by the small thing he dropped the child in pure reflex, it landed in the snow with a small 'poof' sound. The human started shivering and reached out for his tail. He, still not sure what to do next took the child and put it near his back, the child happily clutched his tail in a tight hug and the he smiled. "Heh... Fuzzy... Close enough kid...!" His face twisted into a grimace. Oh... Everyone knew what was gonna happen to humans who fall into the kingdom, he should really not become attached, if he could kill it right there right now and take it's soul to the king he would be a... A hero... He looked down at the child again it was still smiling and hugging his tail. There was no way he could ever do that. He turned and started a sprint back to town, his head down and back straight to make sure the human did't fall off, the snow letting him move silently through the forest. He would not be able to do what had to be done and he couldn't let himself be labeled as a traitor. He sighed and called the phone, it was picked up on the third ring. The voice from the phone was deep and muffled from his helmet."Hey Kettu! Calling over the phone with your report today?""No. I mean yes. I have something i need to tell you before im back. You see the doors to Home opened..."Haij gave a quiet "huh interesting" and let the scout continue. "Bu-but near the door i found a, i meet...""It's fine take your time." The child giggled still holding the tail while looking around, still smiling.The fox monster turned his head back slighty holding a hand over the phone "shh not now don't make this harder then it has to be.""What was that sound?" Shit he heard."A human fell into the underground!""WHAT! Are you hurt did they hurt anyone else is everyone still alive did you-""No no everything is fine the human was... not a danger by the time i found it. I have it with me as we speak.""And you are completely sure they will not be a danger?" The fox looked back at the child slowly falling to sleep with it's hands still holding his tail. "Yeah... not a danger at all...""Then what are you waiting for! You'll need to kill it before it can fight back." The voice sounds concerned and impatient at the same time now.He had to say something quickly, anything to get out of this. "W-we do not yet know just how long souls last, if i kill it now it might shatter before we can get it to the king." Please work please work please work..."Very well... i will stand by the Waterfall border and take it from there." He did't sound convinced"Understood Captain, will be there soon." Trying to not show the relief in his voice. He closed the call and continued to run, just a bit slower then before. The town came into view as he heard another (but more sleepy sounding) "wooooh" from his back and let out a sigh. Get to the captain, give him the human, go home to your family and try to forget. Don't look at it's smile again it will only make it harder... Haij was waiting at the Snowdin/Waterfall border. The armor was covering most of his blue/gray skin, the only hole being near the fin on his back. His expression was hard and his hands were twitchy, not getting better as he was getting closer."You made me pretty concerned with that call, but i don't see any human what is the meaning... of... this." Haijs voice got quiet as he finally spotted the sleepy child on the scouts back, his eyes showed no emotion.As the fox monster took the child off his back, it woke up with a yawn before looking at the captain with wide eyes, it then quickly started reaching out for his hand-fins. "I guess i will just let you... deal with this. Goodnight captain." The scout said as he took off, back to his home, not getting any real rest for the night. Haij watched the small thing (now in his hand-fins) finding the best way to fall asleep again, it's smile never leaving it's face. "You can't be serious." He whispered inside his helmet, before starting the walk to New home.How in the hellish abyss am i gonna do this? At first he walked past his house, then he got to Hotland, then went all the way to New home. The child fast asleep. He had not even noticed that his small walk home to "take care of" the human had taken 3 hours before he was standing in front of the castle door. He had not felt fully conscious while his legs had just moved him searching for a way out of this. King Asgore would want to do it himself for his revenge right? He knew that was wrong. Asgore had told him himself that it was wrong. He was one of the few people the king trusted enough to tell. Asgore did't want to hurt or kill, but his promise would tear him apart if he did't. He knew Asgore would be hurt doing this and he was the last to defend his king from this kind of harm. But he knew he could not do it either. He was a fighter, a warrior, a respected hero of the underground, his honor would never allow him to kill a child this small even if his job was at stake. He opened the door to the castle, well really it was not much of a castle. It looked more like a normal house until you took the stairs to the golden hall and the throneroom. Asgore was in the garden. The endless loop of watering and caring for the flowers was his biggest pastetime nowadays. He had taken quite a liking to keeping plants alive after his tragedy.
Or to keep anything alive really...
Haij cleared his throat and the king turned around with a smile. "Howdy Haij how can i... oh." Asgores eyes became glassy as he saw the child in the captains hands. The kings hands trembling and smile gone in an instant."I apologise your majesty but due to being needed elsewere i will have to... leave this to you." Haij put the child on the ground and it woke up looking around tired and unfocused. Haij turned around and left in a hurry. He felt horrible. Sorry Asgore... i failed you. His trip home would take even longer, thoughts about resighing kept him awake before he was able to sleep. Asgore watched the human slowly waking up fully, as it's eyes became focused they got wide as they found the giant king. This was the species that stole his children from him. The ones that ruined all hope in the underground. The ones that... that... "SHOW ME YOUR HATRED HUMAN! SHOW ME THE EYES THAT WOULD DESTROY EVERYTHING I HOLD DEAR!"He looked at the child. It did't move, it did't even flinch. It just kept smiling with it's curious eyes. He let out a savage roar as he summoned his trident and forced it down at the child.
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A few seconds felt like days. Asgore just stood there trident still in hand, the attack struck just like he had planned. If the child tried the dogde out of the way they would be hit.If the child tried to cover their body with their hands they would be hit.If the child flinched they would be hit.If the child even moved anything an inch they would get hit.If the child got hit he could finish it in an act of mercy. That is what he told himself at least. The child did not get hit... Bits of hair fell to the ground as the small human watched the trident with an odd expression. It's fingers slowly trying to touch the giant weapon with a care that was very unlike them. After feeling around, it's eyes lit up and it started hugging the weapon. Meanwhile Asgore was in an inner struggle finding any rage and hate to fulfill his promised duty to his people. They took his kids, they took his hope, they ruined the hope of the entire underground, they THEY... He fell on his knee and looked at the childs eyes. His anger extinguished, his rage calmed. He watched the child just sitting there hugging what was about to kill it just a few seconds ago. How is it this calm? It seemed to have almost forgotten he was even there. He let the trident vanish, making the child make a small cry of disapointment before looking back up at him with wide eyes, seeming to remember that he was indeed there. He did't move while the child ran up and hugged him as well, his soul almost felt like shattering to pieces.
He was about to kill it and it didn't even flinch. He shouted and roared and it just went and hugged him. It hugged the trident like it was a teddy bear. What was the surface like that made it used to all these things?
He rose up once again and took the child in one hand as he went the long walk to his chil... the old guest room and put it in one of the twinsized beds. He walked outside, most monsters that passed by gave a wave and a smile like they always did... He didn't wave back. Confused by his strange coldness and knowing what way he was going the other monsters followed. Whispers and magic soon filled the streets, almost everyone in New Home knew what would come next. Asgore would make a royal announcement. He slowly walked up to the microphone stand, the royal guard nearby walked a few steps to the left to let him pass. He had not been here for a long time, not since...
"For too long have we endured the pain!"
"Too many times have they taken our hope!"
"No longer will we just let them take from us! It's time to strike back!"
"The days will come were they will return once again, we will not sit by and watch while we lose our own yet again! We will fight back!"
"We will survive!"
"And we will show them NO MERCY!"
"NO MERCY!"
Asgore lowered his head. That was the day he lost almost everything he had left... and tomorrow he would lose the rest. His saddened expression made those close enough to see him whisper to each other. There was no use hiding it any longer."Citizens! Today marks the day of the future once told about in the past... a human has fallen down!" Remember let them mumble. "However... i will not and therefore cannot kill them!" The mumbles gets louder. "I have broken my promise of vengeance and can therefore no longer allow it!" The mumble gets more intense. "Anyone that that disagree with this will be given the chance to dethrone me! Let all that wants to know, know! "Tomorrow dimming, the castle will be open, the human will be there in the exact shape it is in now. Whoever kills the human will gain the throne!"" The mumbles stop all at once. "Thank you for your time." With that the king left and walked back to his house. He was inside before the tears started falling. Asgore couldn't sleep. He started watering the garden while humming to himself like any other time that was the case. The small bit of moonlight made the garden get a blue shine that reminded him of Waterfall. In a few hours he would walk into his bedroom and put his last entry in the royal diary. "Nice day today!" ...Time to get the human ready. He went into the ch... guestroom. The child was still sleeping peacefully, it's stomach slowly moving up and down, not knowing anything that would happen today. Not that it matters since it would just smile anyway.Asgore felt a small smile at that thought that was removed again from remembering what would happen seconds later. If it gonna be their last day i might as well make it good... i will feel empty even if i don't get more attached. As if on cue the child began waking up with a cute weak yawn that almost made Asgore cry right then and there. Instead of that he let out a "Howdy." The child looked around still dazed from sleep, but soon their eyes landed on him. They then looked at the bed, then around the room before the eyes returned to him. They looked up at him with questioning eyes. They opened their mouth their small voice (and the word said) startling him."Dadda?" Asgore stumbled back, his horns hitting the doorframe as he tried to calm down his nerves. Did the human just call me dad! Did the human child i almost killed and im sure to gonna let die today just call me dad. Asgore walked outside the room. Count to 100, think of the flowers, calm down Asgore you just heard wrong... you must have. He went back into the room and picked up the human. They still smiled and found the best way to lay down while still being able to see everything as it past them. When this human perish it will break my soul. He knew as soon as the thought entered his mind that it was true. Years of loss and burdens slowly doing it's work, now finally ending in a new king that will continue his hasty promise for revenge while his dust would flow useless in the wind. He knew he derserved it. But he would at least die with fresh happy memories. He put the human on a chair in the living room and went into the kitchen, it would be simple, (like always) he never really made any complex food. The child happily ate and began shivering as the magic did it's work. They must have been pretty hungry after yesterdays sights. Their smile vanished for just a second as it once again looked at him and asked."Dadda?"Asgore felt the guilt grow while he could almost feel his soul hurting to his core. ...nothing else to do today. "...Yes i can be your dadda." He said with as much of a smile as he could offer.The childs smile soon returned a tiny bit bigger then before. Or did he just want to see that? As they finished eating. The child was full of energy, running around exploring the house as if they already knew the layout. Asgore watched the giggling child with delight. It had such a long time since he had seen this kind of happiness in his own house. The hours raced by and dimming was approaching. Asgore let out a sigh as he picked up the human and put it in the guestroom, getting ready to let the execution begin. The amount of monsters outside his door was somehow much higher then he hoped but much lower then he feared."Welcome. Would you like a cup of tea before we begin?" His voice somehow still neutral despite everything.The mumbles from the crowd settled on a "no." Asgore let them in. "I will lead you to the golden hall, i will then bring down the human. After that... you can do what you must." It was only now he really got a good look at the crowd. He counted around 25 monster. Some seemed angry, others fearful, even a few seemed happy. A few bunnymen, some fish monsters, a slime, a few cat monsters, bear monster, dog monsters. All of them also had some kind of weapon. Daggers, swords, spears, bows, crossbows and the rest would just use their claws or teeth.They all had that look in the eyes. They were ready to kill. Your citizens were ready to kill... and it was all your fault. When they got to the golden hall the crowd began whispering among themselves while Asgore went back to the house. He looked down in front of the guestroom door. He didn't know when he had started crying. When he opened the door the child was busy looking in the toychest. When they heard the door open, they turned with a smile to see him. Their expression changed as they saw the tears still present in his eyes. Seeing the child without it's smile was... unsettling, their eyes full of questions and confusion. They still didn't fight back as Asgore picked them up but they felt tense. A child doesn't deserve this. Asgore went back to the staircase but then looked at the front door behind him. I could run, i could just leave New Home, find a cave in Waterfall or live in the forests outside Snowdin. Everyone out to kill the human was already here. It would only take a few hours. He sighed. He got into this mess by being selfish while blinded by emotion. Doing the same mistake yet again would only hurt him even further when he would eventually get caught... he could only hope that maybe, just maybe... but he was the reason they wouldn't.He took his watering can in his free hand, looked around for any reason to delay, when he didn't find any he went back down the stairs. The child was still not smiling, it looked at Asgores drying tear tracks with a very focused expression. They didn't look around them when the lighting changed, they just kept staring at the tears. When Asgore returned to the hall the whispers grew in volume as the human had yet to be seem before falling to a dead quiet as they saw the small body being put down on the floor. Asgore put on a fake smile, (that would not really fool anyone even without the tears) and walked out towards the throneroom. He did not speak until he got to the other end of the hall. "Someone has to take care of these flowers." He heard the child yell "Dadda!" As he left.
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The water hits the soil with the same refreshing sound it always does, the flowers looks lovely... as always. You hum, your mind only focused in the present at least for now... as always. Guilt slowly rising as you finish the first pass around... as always. Yet today the guilt is different. Your tears had yet to stop falling, the new guilt taking it's toll. You can almost see the body sliced, crushed or otherwise maimed. You can almost smell the blood, a smell you still vividly remember from the very same bed the little one slept in this very morning. You made the promise, you remember the war yet now... you made your people do the deed for you. You know the feeling of killing, even defending your loved ones the killing still stick to you. While killing someone else yourself hurt, it hurts even more knowing you made someone else kill for the first time. Another child killed by my selfishness. You would not say you were smart, but you were never a fool. You saw the sickness, you saw the petals at the bed after they passed and you know how much time they spent in that garden. Your garden. Your flowers somehow poisoned your child... the grief lost you your other, your rage then ruined everything for your wife and now... You walked another round around the flowers, the watering can was empty now. You felt your soul, deep into all the cracks formed by the hard years. Everything about you felt fragile, just like the soul, you knew you would only need the slightest push over the edge. The sound of distant footsteps made you stop moving, right in front of the throne. You closed your eyes. They would need to get the soul to the container, since nobody really know how long it could outside without shattering. Seeing the soul would be the last crack for your own, with the sound of steps getting closer it was time to make your peace. You thought back to everything that got you to where you were right now. Everything you did, everything you didn't get to do, everything that made you, you. Your mind going to the best moments, the worst and everything in between. And lastly, what could never be. You could almost see the dinner table filled with snails, tea and pie, the three happy faces of those you love each sitting at a chair. No voices would be heard, no voices would be needed. Just looking at each others eyes, understanding and forgiveness in each face. You would open the door after the quiet knock, letting in the small new member of the family. Toriel would look sad but relieved, Asriel would look excited and Chara would... they would surely warm up to them. The perfect thoughts to die on... you sigh. The steps was almost in the room. You would turn around as soon as the first person would speak, see the body or soul, crown the new king and leave to fall down somewhere outsi- "Dadda?" Your eyes shot open at the voice interrupting your thoughts. im still daydreaming. You turned around, breath caught in your throat. Hands shaking and tears for once not from sadness in your eyes. There they were... held carefully by the monster at the front, (a scarred rabbit monster) smiling as if nothing had happend. The child started reaching for you with it's hands and the monster slowly put it down. As soon as it touched the ground it began running up and hug your leg, you took it up and pulled it into a hug closer to your torso. In that moment nothing else mattered. After some time had passed you remembered that there were others in the room, your eyes locked theirs with untold questions. They said nothing. They all just looked at the child in you arms, the rabbit monster shook his head. One by one the monsters got down on one knee. "We accept your decision king Asgore." Your eyes opened in shock...? Confusion...? Relief...? You really didn't know and you didn't need to. Just standing there with the child and feeling a small sense of hope slowly fill the cracks in your soul ever so slightly was all you needed right now. You watched them leave, so many that before was displeased by the human still being alive. Just leave... some even looked guilty. Seeing your kingdom not wanting to kill, even dispite everything you had said and done would have made more tears fall if you had not run out by now. You sat down, still holding the child, you may not think you deserved this, but you wanted nothing more then sit down with this moment forever. After an unknown amount of time had passed, you finally got back up and carried the child back up to your house. The child looked around when you got past the hall this time, it widened your smile. It was late, you got some simple food for the child who yawned right after eating and they were put to bed. You went back to your own bedroom and opened the dairy, still smiling the next page was the first one to change in a long time. "Very nice day today!" You let out a sigh, the feeling of relief that the day you woke up to die on, had ended better then you could have ever imagined. For the first night in decades you fell asleep peacefully. You didn't wake up peacefully however, you woke up in cold sweat, got out of bed and walked with a fast pace to the child room. You didn't know what time it was but you had to make sure. It was not a dream! It was not a dream! Please just tell me it wasn't! You opened the door and let the relief flow through you. It wasn't a dream. You closed the door and went back to bed, calming your nerves and got enough sleep to feel relaxed the next morning. Your eyes opened, a yawn left your mouth, you got dressed and left the bedroom. Today was a new beginning, a child was in your care, there was so much work to be done, you would not let it end like last time. The child room was quiet, they were still asleep, you let them rest. First order of business, get the people ready for the announcement. It only took a few minutes people were smiling and waving, you returned both, another guard was stationed there today, you gave your message' "all royal guards and those who wish to listen shall be here in a hour." And went back home to get you and the... your child some food. By the time you had the food ready the child had woken up and was smiling like always when you opened the door to the childs room. "Dadda!" It's light voice cried out happily. You picked them up, hearing the small noises it would make while being lifted up, and went to the kitchen. As you looked around you began to notice the lack of variety in your food. Eating the same monster food every day was not unhealthy to an adult monster since all you needed food for was regaining magic. A human child however would need all the different kinds of magic found in monster food to replace the missing physical parts of human food, if not it may ruin their growth, or it may even starve them silently. Your thoughts went back to the time Toriel found all that out the hard way the first few weeks... with Chara. You shake your head, you don't have time to dive into your guilt, you have a child to feed. Only problem is... you never really learned to cook that well, you could make some great tea sure, but making every kind of food needed for a human child was way out of your expertise. Today would have to be more simple store bought. You looked at the box as you got the food ready, you had no idea how much magic the child would be missing from only eating this so far. I may have to hire a cook. After breakfast there was still time left, so you took them into the childs room and played with them, they smiled and you smiled back, everything felt like it would all be fine just for now. You felt centuries younger, the feeling of having a child again after all this time filled your whole being, for now all the guilt and pain could be pushed aside. It was time. You took the child and let it get comfortable in your arms before you went out to address the news. It was still early and you would get there in advance, the few monster walking around was (as always) smiling and waving, you returned every smile, the people seemed happy to see you cheerful again, they did't notice the child mostly cowered by your fur. Even so, the child was still able to clearly look around, every time you looked down at them, they had found something new to watch with it's wide eyes. You got to the guard, you both nodded and you went in and used the rest of the time reminding yourself of what you would say. It had already felt like years since you had been here last, giving the whole underground the chance to kill the child. Was it really only two days ago? People was starting to show up, in the crowd you saw the royal guards, Haij was looking nervous and a fox scout monster looked guilty. Haijs eyes found yours and just before you would begin the speech you gave him a nod, this seemed to only confuse him for now, but you knew he would understand soon enough. Your voice filled the underground, the joy and relief as you made the new policy felt like it could echo all the way to snowdin. Humanity would no longer be judged for what they were but for who they were. As you picked up the child (who had been somehow become distracted hugging your leg again) all doubt of the humans innocence was washed away replaced with smiles that made the child giggle in response. The child would be known as part of the royal family. You finished up saying you would like to speak with guards who was in contact with the child in private, before ending the anouncement to the sound of cheering. Everyone had taken the news better then expected. The talk with Haij was short but necessary. You let him know that, no you were not angry, (far from it) no you had not lost any respect for him and no he should not resigh as captain unless he wanted to do so. You think you saw a small smile as he joined the other guards to explain what you were talking about. You turned and began walking home as you heard the voice behind you. "Your majesty.""Howdy Gaster!" You said, voice still cheerful. How long had it been since you felt good enough to say howdy?"Are you sure about this decision?"Your smile disappears, you could hear disappointment in his voice. "Yes, i am sure. You have had the chance to show your concern about the matter.""Belive me your majesty, if royal duties would not take too much of my time i would have gladly taken the soul myself. As it is though i will accept your request. However i do not agree with it.""I will not ask for more then that at this time... any news on the other project so far?"Gasters unfriendly expression changes at the question before he begins to explain. "So far the construction seems highly possible and all experiments backing up our theorys. If everything goes according to plan the whole underground will be able to have unlimited electrical energy in a decade. The only danger we have seen so far is the heat, so we will need to find a way to cool the core down as it works. We already have plenty of focus on this matter.""Thank you Gaster, keep me up on anything that i will need to know." He bows and you tell him (again) that he doesn't have to, before he leaves. The rest of the trip home was uneventful, the child is taking a nap and you deside your next step. The buttercups need to go. You take your tools out to the garden, removing the buttercups while being careful not to ruin the roots of the golden ebott flowers took less time then expected. Next you would need to think about food for your child. They would need food of all kinds. Hopefully someone would be interested to cook for them. You sat down in the reading chair. Your mind went everywhere, there were so many ways you could ruin this, you could not make another mistake. Not this time. You had somehow even after everything, yet again got the change to redeem yourself. The people have hope, the child is alive and you may once again have a future. But this time, you're alone, you will not be able to fall back to your wife in case something goes wrong this time. Everything needs to go well, you can't mess up again. I can't mess up again... You don't know when you fell asleep, you only know that it seems you were out for a little under a hour. You were not used to being this stressed. The small nap seems to have calmed you down, the child would wake up from their own nap soon as well and spending some time with them would be good for both of you, you would think. As you opened the door the low sound of a yawn could be heard from the bed, you would never get tired of that sound. After they were awake you picked them up and went to the box of toys to let them choose something to play with, instead they desided to play around with your horns and fur. It didn't bother you in the least. After the little bundle of energy calmed down, you held them up so you would look face to face, there was something you had yet to know. "Do you have a name small one?" You asked. The child looked back, it's smile showing no change and it's mouth making no sound you took that as a no. You thought for a bit, lips turning into a frown while thinking, until the perfect name came to mind. "I will name you Hugore!" The childs smile becamer wider, you desided it meant they agreed and lifted them up on your shoulder. "Come Hugore it's about time for lunch don't you think?" The child giggled and noised was heard from them, echoing in the small childs room until the door was gently closed.
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Asgore still had those days where he would think he had been dreaming, waking up in cold sweat, calling out to his child for them to call back. The hard years of mistakes was still haunting him, but it was getting less frequent as time went on. Only a few days after the human was acknowledged as his child, a chef was hired. While he still missed his wife's cooking with every bite, he still ate his own share of the now varied tastes. Around a week after the child got into his care, he decided to pull and search their soul. The soul was filled with light cracks putting a few puzzle pieces into place. The way they never cried despite getting hurt, the small hint of sadness always found in the corner of their eyes. It terrified the king. In that same week the he remembered the small shed a small bit away from the house that Toriel made to wash Chara after they had started to became smelly. (Having a body made of magic made him forgot human things like that.) He found out after the first bath that the child was a boy. After a month the child was running just a bit too fast near the stairs, the fall caused what seemed like great pain and for the first time in his care, the small boy cried. The sound was heartbreaking and yet calming for the old monster, as he went over to the crying child it flinched, making the kings eyes fill with pity. As the child calmed down the tears began to fall again, the locked up sadness he would not have been old enough to even understand slowly lifting. After that day the child was no longer as scared to cry, they didn't always need constant distractions at every waking hour, their eyes got a new growing genuine shine. It would take time, but they were getting better. Years went by before he even noticed. Five happy, way too fast years. His child exploring, learning and growing each and every day. It was a day like any other when the child sat before him and once again asked. "Dad?" Asgore who was in the garden stopped humming, watering can still in hand as he replied. "Yes my son?" Hugore looked down at his legs. "Do you remember how i came here?"Asgore's eyes looked away as the warmth drained from him. Yes, he rememebered that day, the day he almost ruined every last spark of happiness he would maybe ever get. The nightmare, (as few and far between as they were,) still made sure of that. "Yes Hugore i... i still remember that day." He said sadly.The child watched his father with keen eyes, this was not the first time this question had given that kind of response, he usually let the question drop after seeing his dad like this... but he really wanted to know. "I... i remember seeing bright red and blue blinking light... was that another kind of your magic?" Asgore froze, the child had never asked after seeing his reaction, he knew he had to talk about it some day but he still hoped... He put the watering can down and sat on the throne. "Hugore... let me tell you a story, about a foolish old monster's biggest mistake..." The child listened carefully as Asgore told him about the past, the promise, the regret and the small child that he tried to kill. Every little detail still clear as the day it happened. The boy was beaming at the story, it sounded so real. The emotions in his dads voice could put even gerson's stories to shame. As Asgore paused his tale, the child got up in excitement. "Wow dad this is the best story you have ever told. You almost sounds like you were in it yourself!" The child said, smiling. He had heard plenty of stories from the past or the surface but never with this much passion behind every word. But his dad was not smiling back, he looked down, sad, regretful... "dad?"Asgore continued. "The human child, after he once again evaded death, was adopted by the old monster. The nameless child was soon accepted by everyone... the old monster named him... Hugore." The king looked down at the boy. "And the old fool would still remember everything years later..." The boy looked up at the monster shocked, Asgore always seemed gentle and jolly, he couldn't have been that close to... to kill him. "Im sorry... child... but it's the truth." Asgore said after seeing the child's expression. The boy flinched at his tone of voice, child... not "my son," not "Hugore," just... "child." "I do not deserve your love, child... i will accept any decision these news make you take." The way he spoke almost sounded like he wanted the punishment, that nothing he had done would ever make it up to him. Asgore almost loked like he wanted to... give up. The boy's expression turned hard. "DAD!" Asgore jerked up in surprise. "I don't care what you almost did, you are still my dad!" "Bu-but i almost... almost." The child swung his arms around the (now sobbing) monster. "But you didn't!" He said in a low but clear voice. Asgore returned the hug as he cried on the boys shoulder. It's good to cry, he learned that from him, they didn't mind getting wet. After Asgore had calmed down the boy looked in his eyes, they still loved each other, nothing else mattered. "Dad?" The child asked hopeful. "Yes Hugore?""Can i see the trident?" Asgore felt much lighter after that day. It would take a long time but he finally showed signs of healing. The next few months came and went. Hugore was starstruck as Asgore became more open to show his magic, the child loved every second he could touch the trident and every little flame he shared with them.It was time for bed on an otherwise normal night when something happend. "Hugore you need your sleep." "I don't need sleep, there is still so much to do!"Asgore put a hand to his face with a low sigh, the child was still full of energy running around the house. They would sometimes get like this when they had not done "enough" that day, the dessert from the late dinner did not help in the slightest. The old monster picked the boy up in one arm before walking to the childs room."Now my son, there is plenty of time after you have had your sleep, the underground is not gonna disappear overnight.""My bed is not gonna disappear if im up for a little longer either, dad." The boy replied with a pout.Asgore chucked, he went to the bed and tucked him in. "Now, now, no need to argue, we all need some time to let our mind relax." He could clearly see that look in the boys eyes, as soon as he went to leave, they would try to rush out to make him try to catch them again.Asgore was quick, he knew just the right way to make sure the boy did not get ahead of him, (again...) and the door was almost closed as the boy ran for him, unable to stop in time."Hugore watch out!" The monster said, still too shocked by the sudden fear in his child's eyes to open the door. He let go of the knob and closed his eyes already mentally preparing to comfort the child after they would hit the door. When he opened them they got wide.Hugore was standing on the other side of the door, completely unharmed, with a small orange glow around him. He was looking down at himself as he slowly pushed his hand into... through... the door before pulling it back, touching it with his other hand. His lips formed a huge smile as he screamed happily before a yawn caught him off guard. Drained by his first use of magic Asgore tucked them back into bed as they fell asleep, almost before he even hit the bed. Asgore was so proud as he went into his own bedroom, a childs first use of magic, no matter if monster or human, (not knowing humans didn't know magic aboveground anymore) was like speaking it's first word or walking it's first step, and he just experienced it. A small tear fell down Asgore's eye, seeing something like that first hand reminded him that they were his son. As he calmed down and closed his eyes, he was already making plans for how to teach the boy what he would need to learn to control his newfound powers.It was only the next morning the thought of a highly energetic human child with the ability to walk through walls made him sweat in discomfort.
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You were in your bed, you wanted to sleep for once. Tomorrow dad would finaly let you explore the other side of Snowdin, you needed to have as much energy as you could so you could get as far as possible. But you couldn't sleep, you were just so excited! You had heard of things you would be able to explore. A huge forest, a really remote house, a huge magic door. For some reason you really wanted to see what was on the other side of that door, you didn't really know why, it just felt... right. You got up from your bed, the orange light surrounding you. While you had made a lot of progress with magic these last two years, you would still get exhausted after a few rounds through the walls of the house. Hopefully you would remember to stop before you would pass out this time, using up all your magic would make the sleep recover magic instead of relaxing your body, making using magic to get tired enough to sleep backfire. You decided since you was already at least a bit tired that you would only do half of the house tonight, hoping it would not drain you too much. This way you could also skip dad's room so you would not have to chance to wake him up by mistake... again.The way you fell on your bed after you came back to your room told you that you had done a job well done, you smiled just as you fell asleep. The wait felt so long. You are twitching, you want to jump up and down in anticipation but you can't waste energy! You won't get this chance again for weeks, there is so much to see and so little time to do it. Asgore is almost done talking to Haij about whoever is gonna keep you safe this time. (Not only because of the potentially lethal cold, but also the "i used up all my magic while exploring and got trapped behind a wall for an hour" incident when you finished exploring Waterfall.) The sight behind that wall was still worth it.Your backpack is filled with water, food and clothes to provide warmth, you have prepared for this. Asgore finally looks at you and nod, you are on your way out with a quick, "Bye! Thank you dad, i will be home before dinner!" As you close the door behind you. The walk to the riverperson is the hardest part by now, the pathways are mostly going in zigzags and in the burning heat makes a ten minute walk sometimes take half a hour. When you get to the boat you run the last steps, there is plenty of time to relax while the riverperson does their thing. You take out the extra clothes, gloves, scarf and cap just in time for the white fog that is forever thick near the border between Waterfall and Snowdin to surround you. After you left the boat with a quick "thank you," you made your way to the center of the village where your guide/guard is gonna meet you.There are two monsters talking when you approach the center, one of them is a local female dog monster, you don't really know her name but she looks almost ready to give birth. The other monster turns and looks at you with a smile, It's a fox monster. Asgore told you that they are a scout, mostly checking around Snowdin, it sounded just like the kind of guide you would need. The monster... Kettu, Asgore said their name was, leads you to the egde of the town. The excitement and all the built up energy soon made you rush ahead while making sure you would see and remember everything. The snowy forest was huge! When standing on a big wooden bridge, you could really put into perspective just how big this part of the underground really was. When you got to the other side of the bridge, you turned around and your smile dropped for just a moment. The monster was looking at you with a sad expression, guilty, that same kind of pain in the eyes dad had when he told you about your arrival, as soon as he saw you turn, he looked away. "Are you okay?" You ask, the monster looked back at you and smiled. "Yeah, im just... nevermind." You continued in silence, the forest was mostly empty, it felt so unlike the rest of the underground. After a bit more walking you finally saw it in the distance, the doors! The doors were huge and the wall that was hiding what it sealed away was towering above the trees. The doors was humming with magic that spread all the way throughout the wall. You looked back at your guide, he was just standing there staring at the door. A stare you had seen a lot. "Are you sure you're okay?" You ask. The monster shook his head, getting out of his daze, looked at you, then the door, then back at you before answering. "Yeah, just thinking."You don't push it further, but you know you will have to talk about this later. Instead you walk up to the doors that seal the last unexplored area of the entire underground. You can only barely stop yourself from jumping in excitement yet again. Your whole body is soon lit up in a slighty orange light as you walk closer to the door. You start to shove your hand throu- "ow. Hey!" Your hand hitting the door instead of going through surprised you. You pushed both your still glowing hands on the door, you felt small pricks of magic all over your palms, it was not letting you in, the same happened with both walls beside it."Sorry, you heard about this door right?" The monster behind you asks. "Yeah... magical seal to keep danger out, i just hoped-." You say as you look up at the door pouting. "Well there is plenty more forest to see, i also heard talk about a house in the edge of nowhere. Never seen that one up close myself, but i know where it is." The monster said, trying (and succeeding) to distract you from the impassable doors.You look back at him, he is telling you that you are gonna see something that someone who has worked out here for years have never seen. The thought makes you smile, the disappointment forgotten for now. Seeing you smile, the monster smiles back before signaling you to follow. The doors slowly faded away behind you as you walked into the dense part of the forest. Around ten minutes later, Kettu looked at you and decided it was time to sit down and rest. After feeling your legs shake as soon as you sat down you were grateful, you opened your backpack to take out the still warm food, (magic.) you shared some with him. As you both ate, the only sound you could hear was the wind gently flowing around the trees, you watched the monster, it's the first time you really got a good look at him. The longer you looked the more something was negging you, that same feeling you got when thinking about what was behind the doors. "Do i know you from somewhere?" He flinched at your question. "Well, know is a strong word... i... no, i don't think so." He looked nervous, you would ask more later."Okay." You replied. Only a few more minutes after you got back up walking, you saw the small house in the distance. "I always wanted an excuse to go to this place." You looked at the monster as he continued. "But you know, it's pretty far off my route so i just never got to it." You nodded as you both got closer to the house. The closer you got, the more you felt off. Just enough about it seemed wrong, the lights were on and the fireplace was lit, yet everything in the house looked like at had not had anyone inside for years. You and the monster looked at each other, both likely feeling a slight sense of fear. "I think we should look around the house and if we don't find anyone, we should leave." You just nodded.Not long after you both left, the large area around the house showed no sign of life. Whatever was keeping lights on in the house clearly didn't want to say hi, you still felt a small chill until the house was no longer visable. The walk back to Snowdin was quick and uneventful. "Well here we are." The monster said. "Yep! This was nice, do you know anything else to explore out in the forest?" You asked. "Not really Snowdin forest is pretty barren." "Will i see you next time i visit Snowdin?" You asked with a smile. "Not likely, job and all." He replied with a slight twitch at the edge of his mouth. Your smile lowered just a bit. "Well... thanks for guiding me today!" You said while giving him a hug. He flinched at the touch but quickly relaxed. "It was nothing... it really wasn't." The last part was a whisper. You let go of him and started walking back to the river person, waving back before you turned the corner, he waved back with the most genuine smile you had seen. You liked that smile. The trip home was quiet, as you sat on the boat back to Hotland you began thinking. What now? There was no way past the doors in the forest, making exploring behind them impossible, the forest itself had nothing else to see and you had already seen the rest of the underground... except. Of course! You would ask dad after dinner. Your stomach chose that time to make a loud growl making you giggle to yourself. The boat stopped and you made your way back home. "Dad!" You jumped and landed on Asgore, your body quickly became hidden in his fur, he chuckled. "Yes my son?""Can i visit the lap soon?" Every time you would bring it up dad would always say, "they are busy." "Maybe when you are older." Or "there are more fun places to explore."He looked at you and sighed. "I will find out when they have the time for a visit and then we will see."You hugged him surprised, that went much better then you had hoped. "Thanks dad!"Then dinner arrived. Sunday! You left the table taking the now empty plate to the sink. You love sundays. The break from learning, the giggles of children outside, the weekly reports."Hi Haij!" You wave to the captain. He nods back."Now Hugore, remember to finish your homework, we will be back soon." Asgore said as he and Haij left the house to go to the golden hall.You waited for a few minutes until you were sure they where in the hall, before you began walking to "the spot" with an orange glow. You once asked dad if you could listen to the reports as well, he replied that there were some things you may be too young to hear. Of course that did not stop you from getting there with your magic and hide behind a pillar. "-And other then that, everyone in Waterfall are fine." Haij's voice said. You frown, You already missed most of the report, you guess it was a short one today."Very well, i will let Gaster know about this issue. Now any news from Snowdin?""I am delighted to say that both dog teams have given birth to a litter of three each, they all seem healthy and happy."You almost don't catch yourself from squealing, six new puppies! And if they are anything like their parents, they will be so cuddly!"Well i guess Hugore will have another trip soon then." Asgore says with a low chuckle."Now the last thing is a bit more... tragic." Haij says, voice now serious."Kettu, scout of Snowdin has fallen down..." "The wounds indicate that they were made by Kettu himself, the item near the body also confirms this.""That... is indeed tragic... do you think it was because of the... meeting?""I don't think so, but i guess we will never know for sure. Are you gonna tell the kid? He was the one that found him after all.""I do not think the time is right. He may-" You don't hear the rest, you were running, fully glowing, through the walls, until you got back to your room. And cried into the pillow. The monster that saved you was dead, the day after you meet him for the first time. He seemed so nice, you wanted to get to know him better, but every time the looked at you... It's your fault!You heard the door open, you felt dad sit on the floor near the bed, you felt him hug you. He asked what was wrong, he tried to calm you down, he now knows that you were eavesdropping, you don't care."It's my f-fault." You cried into the fur that now surrounded your face. Dad whispered gentle reassurements, saying it was not your fault. You don't know how long you were sitting there crying into your dad's fur. When you finally calmed down just enough to function, dad took you to the living room where dinner had arrived.
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You felt sweat on your skull, you had to be completely calm... slowly... careful now!The blackish solid/liquid substance that appeared after the first test drive of the core prototype had already tested the limits of your known knowledge about reality. The sample fell into the chamber with little to no problems."Is the sample secure?" One of your assistants asked."Indeed!" The flowing yet still sample had stopped moving and was not burning a hole in the chamber or warping out of reality. It was just in time as well, as you looked up from your desk for the first time that... morning... and you remembered todays visit.The groan left you as you thought about the human visiting the main lab. With the Core's cooling not yet fully thought out and this groundbreaking new substance, a visit to make the human of all things, happy seemed like the most useless waste of time you could possibly imagine. But the kings word is law..."Be sure that someone is watching and keeping a log of the sample at all times. If anything happens get back to me immediately.""Of course doctor." The trip back up to the main lab was dull as always, these walks from lab to lab were so inefficient, time best spent working, used just to get around. You could not wait until the Core would finally be finished, the first order of business would be to create new and faster ways of transport. After arriving at the main lab, you decided to clean the worst mess and make sure no dangerous materials were left exposed. Letting the human die in a lab accident would indeed be very... inconvenient. Sadly such methods would not get you what you would need, even if it were to happend. The king made that clear long ago. Amoral topics about the greater good aside. You continue cleaning until you hear a knock on the door.Asgore's usual "Howdy!" Filled the lab, as he and the human walked in. The way the human looked around in awe of something so simple as some screens and the paper you didn't clean up in time was... unexpected. you just let them do whatever for now. After lighting up the same screen for the third time however, you say."Do make sure to not overload the equipment, all of it runs on our own magical essence." For now. You think with a smug smile.The human looks at you questioningly. "It is a fancy way of saying "it runs on our magic." Asgore clarify. The human's face light up in understanding. "That's so cool!"The excitement in the human's voice catch you off guard, but you still reply. "Indeed. Yet soon the Core will provide enough power to for the whole underground... likely forever." The human looks at you with wide eyes. "Now Gaster." Asgore says as he walks up next to you. "Is the lab safe enough that we may discuss in private?" He gesture to the human, they had picked up a blueprint. "Do not worry your majesty, everything dangerous is locked away and everything vital have plenty of copies." You say loud enough for the human to hear, they soon pick up a pencil and starts writing.Asgore nods and you both go to the upper floor. "You still think about it." Asgore says, more as a statement then a question. "I have not changed my mind since we last discussed the issue."Asgore nods. "Yet you seem like this doesn't bother you?""Using time and resources on this disagreement would not help anyone." Asgore makes a low hmm before speaking. "On to another topic, have the team made progress with the projects since last time?" "We have plenty of ideas, we simple need to find the one with the best realistic outcome. Something could make the Core unstable and we have to make sure everything is thought out to absolut perfection." Asgore's responce was silenced by the sound of breaking glass. You both rushed to get to the stairway back down. You caught the eyes of the human, they frowned, eyes slightly guilty. "Im sorry." He said as he held up the remains of a empty broken test tube, both you and Asgore sighed in relief for different reasons. "Ah do not worry." Asgore replied. "I know it was a simple mistake." The human looked back at you. You sigh but don't object."I am really sorry, everything here is just so exciting." The human said, as they looked around the rest of the lab."You find the topic of science... exciting?" You ask, slightly interested."Yeah! Work where you ask new questions every day and you always get an answer. How could that not be exciting!" You are fairly sure a lot of kids his age would have plenty to say about that, yet the statement left you intrigued."Perhaps we will see each other again then, but now i must bid you farewell." You said, tone slightly lighter then you had expected. "Of course Gaster, you must have plenty to do before the construction finishes. Come now my son." Asgore said as the human walked to his side and held his hand with a small pout. "I hope another visit could happen?" The king asked after watching the human's expression."Of course your majesty." You say, surprised that you actually mean it. "Thanks mister Gaster!" The human says as the door closes behind them. You took some time putting everything back in it's place, contemplating the new information from the visit. It is as they say about meeting someone in person after all you guess. As you put yet another test tube back on the desk, you spot the blueprints the child seemed to have been drawing on. You shook your head slowly as you picked them up, but as you got to the trashcan you decided that you might as well see how the human mind would tackle these kinds of mental problems. It's ...not that bad. While the calculations themself are flawed at best, the ideas behind them may actually be... You keep the blueprint under your arm as you head back down to the lower lab, this new viewpoint may be exactly what you needed. Maybe this whole thing was not a waste of time after all.Time will tell.
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A king in his garden. Not an uncommon sight in the underground.The low humming as the water fell into the cycle of life once again filled the throne room."Dad!" The human took another running jump into his father's embrace, even as old as the human was getting he would likely always be able to do this simple thing without hurting the old monster. Asgore let out a low chuckle at his son's eagerness. "Have you finished your homework my son?"The human nodded. "Very well. Same as always?" Asgore asked. The human nodded again, more fiercely this time. Asgore placed his weapon in his son's hands as their eyes shut in concentration. They found out more about the human's magical energy a few days after the visit to the lab almost a year ago, since then they had trained almost every day. Small puffs of orange smoke appeared next to the human before his head began to lower in exhaustion. "Very good Hugore." The monster said. "You are still improving faster than i would have thought." "It still seems like it will take forever." The human replied pouting."Now my son, this kind of magic is more rare than you know, even those few with the ability to make a full physical/magical merged weapon may never learn it. So far you have come closer then most in record time. Now let's get back and eat so we can talk about the offer you were given."The human nodded once again as they both got up to go back to the house, holding each others hand. "Howdy Gaster!" Asgore's voice once again fills the lab."Ah, you are early today your majesty." The skeleton replies.Asgore chuckles. "You know how he is when he gets excited."As if on cue the human started to slowly wave their body from side to side impatiently, as the two monsters were finishing taking about the updates since last time they met. Afterwards Asgore looked at his son, before turning back to the scientist face slightly more serious."Now remember! Nothing that hurts, neither body or soul.""I would never misuse their trust your majesty." Gaster replies. Asgore smiles and turns towards the door. "I know Gaster, im just glad to even have the chance to worry." With that the king left. "Hi Gaster!" The human said as they walked up next to him."Welcome, have you considered the other part of my offer?" Gaster asks as he start to guide them down to the lower lab.The human nods, with a glint in the eyes, as they continue walking.After five minutes walking down the caves that leads to the lower lab, the human began to become impatient. "I can't wait until those new improvements get made." He complained loudly."Indeed, the time saved in the labs alone will more then make up for the time spent, not to mention all the other life improvements." Gaster replied while nodding to himself. They walk the rest of the way in silence. Hugore quickly learned Gaster's dislike of idle chitchat, he was fine with that. When they entered the lower lab, Gaster turned and went down on his knees to look the human in the eyes."Now remember, our little "extra tests" should never be discussed outside the two of us."Hugore nods. They knew what they had signed up for by accepting."Also remember." Gaster says as he takes out a small syringe. "To tell me if anything, no matter how small, makes you feel more then just mild pain. Science does not need to find out how charred bone can get from a furious king's anger."They both share a small chuckle, as the human sits down ready for the first test."But in all seriousness, tell me if something feels wrong." Gaster adds before picking up a test tube. As time went by, the underground was transformed.With energy came light, and with light came a new wave of hope.Monsters all over the underground could suddenly live with a way more pleasant lifestyle.Old relics not used since the surface were all once again powered without the need for constant draining from those who wished to use them.Fridges no longer used more magic the most monster could generate, elevators and conveyor belts were made to reduce travel time. The underground as a whole started to enjoy all the small things that they had never known to exists.Hugore even managed to get Asgore to bring a television to their home after they had heard about them despite knowing there would be nothing but static. The future seemed brighter.
The feeling of being surrounded by faces he no longer remember, faces that he know he never want to see again. And while the faces have been long forgotten, the damage still linger.
Anger, disgust, sadness. All around you as you sit on the floor, trying to keep the tears from your eyes.
They feed him, they keep him safe, but they show no compassion, no love. Their eyes are all black empty sockets.
And then, he felt the cold, he saw the snow, with a single monster looking at him. Their eyes are devoid of hope, they don't look sad, just... tired. They sigh, turn away and walk out of sight before a gust of wind picks up the now dusty remains.
As the human woke up from yet another night with the same nightmare, he started to sob for just a bit. These nights had come less and less as time went on, but they never fully stopped. They likely never would. But even that would not keep him sad, not on this day.The sound of a low knock let the human know, without looked at the clock, that he had woken up at just the right time. The door slowly opened as the human began wiping sleep from his eyes."Im up dad." He said, with a voice almost interrupted by a yawn.The door fully opened and light filled the room. "Happy rebirthday Hugore." The deep voice said."Do you have any plans for today dad?" The human asked as they turned and let their legs fall to the floor.The monster walked inside, went to the bed, and embraced the human in a hug, before putting the now giggling human back down."Well my son, first we shall get you a small breakfast, then i thought that we should give the pups a visit, then come back home and just relax before and after dinner."The human made a sound of approval as they got up from the bed. After a long day of playing around with puppies and their belly full from yet another great meal. Father and son both sat in the large chair, just relaxing for a few hours with the static from the television filling the room with a low calming sound.In their sleepy state they both almost missed the knocking on their front door, Asgore's ears however, were not just for show, and he got up to answer whoever could need him at this time. The surprised "Howdy Gaster?" From the door made the human's head look over the armrest interested."Hello your majesty. I did not interrupt anything i hope?" The skeleton said, as the human had left the chair to find out what was going on."Not at all. We were merely relaxing." Asgore replied as his son took his usual place next to him.As the human arrived Gaster turned his attention to them. "Now i won't take too much of your time but i have a proposal for you." Asgore lifted an eyebrow and Hugore tilted his head slightly.
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"It's fine dad! It's not gonna be any different than before!" Hugore said as he was struggling to escape his dad's embrace.Asgore's face was wet with tears as he refused to let go, at least for now."Im not just gonna disappear. I will be home for dinner just like normal." The trapped human tried to reason.Asgore finally let go of the hug with another sob and stood back up, smiling proudly down at his son. "Please let your old man enjoy this day, it's not every day your son has their first day at work." Another thing he never thought he would see. The human went to the mirror to fix his hair, he didn't really need to make a good first impression since he had already been in the lab for years at this point. But it still just felt right to look a bit more professional on the day he would become an official employee.The royal scientist's personal assistant.He and Asgore shared a smile as he left for his first day with his new job. As he entered the lab, he was pointed to the elevator by one of the other assistants. His colleague! He thought to himself.The lower lab was silent in the way that usually ment that they were working on the core samples. Those samples had been analyzed on and off for so long, Gaster had to make sure it would be completely safe before trying to use it anywhere. Just as expected, Gaster was in complete silence at a desk with a sample being scanned and observed. He turned to look at whoever was making footsteps, before turning his full attention back to the impossible... thing, he was working with. "Hey G." The scientist gave a low hum to show that they acknowledged him. He went closer to the desk. "So what is today's experiment?" Gaster didn't look up from what he was doing and his response was fast and emotionless."The sample have been confirmed safe with most magic and metals, now is the time to observe it's effect on something that was once alive."The scientist picked up bits of an echo flower and opened the container. As the pieces slowly fell around the blackness the effects were fast and terrifying. It was like nothing they had ever seen. Picture something implode, getting absorbed and evaporate at the same time. The flower was gone by the time they both turned away. "well..." Gaster started. "I would say, that is a clear indication to never use this substance in any way that would involve physical touch." The human just nodded, the sweat and fear still visible on his face."Now how about we do some more soul tests." Gaster said as he clapped his hands trying to desperately distract them from the horror. He turned back to the sample still unmoving in the container before turning back to the human.Hugore was more then ready to try to forget the sight he had just seen and quickly agreed. They left the room and walked to the area reserved for soul testing. Time is weird.It can take forever to go from one day to the next, and yet it can also make years feel like nothing.For Hugore it was mostly the latter.Today however was the first "slow" day in a long time, mostly due to it starting with the nightmare and then Asgore having an "Episode." Asgore was just sitting with him, pretty much just making sure he were actually real. His paws switching between cupping his head and pushing his hair around carefully while mumbling aloud to himself. "Such an old old fool."He really hated when his dad got like this, but he knew that this was something he had to somehow deal with on his own. He couldn't even remember what happened that day after all, he would never be able to give him full closure.As that day's episode came and went, everything soon got back to normal. "Now force your weapon to stop me from moving!" Asgore called as he stopped his fire.Hugore exhausted, looked at his father while feeling his own trident levitating slowly up and down to the right of him with a dim orange glow. As he tried to visualize his dad stuck in place, the trident turned blue for just a blink of an eye, before he collapsed from exhaustion.Asgore slowly walked up to his tired son and picked him up as if he was still a child. Whispering encouragements at his accomplishments with todays training.The walk back to the extension of the house was fast and uneventful, the human was quickly put to bed.Asgore walked around the house for a bit, almost nothing had changed in this house since those fateful days oh so long ago. The only thing that would not be recognized would be the extension and the children's room. While he had mostly wanted it to be a reminder of his past forever, Hugore had wanted to have the walls painted to liven up the room, he could not refuse. He did however stand his foot down when Hugore had asked why he could not get a new bed in there after he had outgrown the other. He was sure they had understood.As Asgore walked into the room he felt the tears almost immediately, he had yet to go into the empty room without feeling the guilt rise up like if water was overflowing a dam. But maybe one day he could finally let it go, maybe one day.Asgore returned to his son's new room and watched his chest slowly inhaling and exhaling. He still remember the happiness in his son's eye when he had seen his own trident for the first time. Asgore always felt it was morbid how Hugore liked the weapon that was so close to end his life, back before his own life began anew. It took a long time to continue training without "episodes" interrupting. As the thoughts started to slow and Asgore calmed down yet again, he just sat and watched his now grown up son sleeping with the same peaceful expression they had had for as long as he could remember. In that moment he felt happy. "-And the implications are actully-" Gaster stopped explaining as the human entered the lab. "Ah there you are." Hugore nodded. "Sorry the king had another episode. It was smaller this time." He said as he walked up next to the skeleton. "Very well i will catch you up with the fast version then." Gaster said, with a very sober expression. "With the samples we have studied, we thought it was only a byproduct of the Core's process, but that seem not only to be false, but the exact opposite of the truth."Hugore lifted an eyebrow, Gaster continued. "It would seem, if all our latest tests are any indication, that this impossible blackness is all around us at all times, we simply can't normally be effected by it in our current part of reality.From our latest experiments, it would seem there is a whole other reality full of this substance and nothing more. Empty, with laws of physics so different from our own that we may never even understand a fraction of it." Gaster turns to the human and his expression becomes excited. "And these laws, if we can learn enough to use it safely, may let us use the samples to undo and remake science itself." Gaster smiles. "Of course we have to start small, make something useful but not so important that we won't be able to destroy it, should the samples ever became unstable." Hugore said nothing except a small "wow" "wow indeed." Gaster replied. They both went down to the lower lab, trying to learn to remake science itself. "Hey dad?" Hugore went inside the house, Asgore turned with a smile. "Yes my son?" "I found these in the castle." He replied. "What is it?" Asgore's eyes widened as he saw the old recording storage devices Asriel and Chara had filled back in the day. Most of them where just of them walking, laughing and/or playing. Maybe it was finally time to except the past."These are recordings made by my first children." He said emotionless. "Can you show me where you found them, if i rememeber correctly the device to play them should be nearby."The human nodded and soon they both went to find the machine that would retell part of Asgore's past. "-much blood?" "N-no im not! It just looks like it hurts!" "I know im crying more then you are about your pain!" "How are you this calm about this!?" "What!?" "Oh the camera is still recording...?" "Of course..."Asgore made a sad noise as another tape stopped. Hugore was mesmerized by the small goat child, the human however gave him a small discomfort, likely becourse they never spoke loud enough to hear, even when they were right next to the camera."Are you okay dad?" He asked, like he did after every tape. After a loud exhale he said. "Yes. Yes i need to except this. Please continue." The human nodded and picked up the next tape. "There are only four tapes left." Asgore nodded at himself. Just four more. You could do this. It can't be any worse then the one where they were that badly hurt. He had no idea how wrong he would be. "-and we will do it together right?"Asgore just sat there unmoving. Hugore's eyes were open in shock. "They killed themself." He heard himself whisper, and Asgore flinched. "An old fool... such stress on a child already in so much pain..." Asgore's expression became almost unrecognizable. "Such an OLD FOOL!" Hugore almost jumped as his dad got up and looked around with eyes full of pain. Magic called by pure emotion flew around the room and covered it in fire. The low cackle filled the room with noise. After an unmeasurable amount of time he started to calm down. Exhausted the fires all disappeared in a puff of white smoke, revealing everything unscathed.Asgore looked back at the screen of the television before he turned to leave the room."Such an old fool..." He mumbled to himself as he left.
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It had only been ten minutes!They had to be here somewhere!She looked around the house, every room, the yard. Nothing. The thought was fast, impossible and horrifying, could they have...She went down the stairs, down the corridors. As she got closer it began getting colder. It was just her imagination, it had to be.When she turned the last corner she gasped in horror.The door was open, there were small footsteps leading outside until they reached another pair of footsteps and then they vanished.Tears fell into the snow making a small bowl out of the salty water every time a drop fell.After some time had passed she felt a presence behind her and she almost tripped backwards after she turned to see a sight that still haunted her. "Mom?" The small goat child asked, his body slowly dusting. "Were we really that easy to replace?" The sick looking human child joined the conversation. "Would you really just throw our memories away like that?" "Was nothing we did good enough to remember?" "Did you really think we were that bad?" Toriel held her hands against her ears even though she knew she could never escape her former children's words. "Dad didn't forget!" "He would never replace us!" "He still loves us!" "Maybe he could still have loved you as well!" She began shaking, hands still firmly covering her ears. After some time she noticed that there was no sound, no voices. She slowly let her hands off her ears and lifted her head slightly, with another loud gasp she tripped backwards out on the snow as her former children looked her in the eyes, their own eyes glowing bloody red.The children soon looked up while smiling, their expressions became grotesque. "Finally!" "He would never fail us!"Toriel watched the children in confusion before she turned and almost got a heart attack. Asgore was walking slowly towards the door, he passed by her without a single word and the children jumped in excitement.Asgore then took out his left arm, an arm that was hidden by his armor before, and revealed a small gasping figure. The young child!Asgore took the other arm above the child and without any emotion, forced their soul out of their body, before throwing them at the ground in front of the other children, the young child landed in the snow with a low oof, it's eyes begins to water as the red eyed kids started to slowly walk towards them."If this is why we will become forgotten." "Then it will have to become just like us!" And with that, they both grabbed the small crying child and began tearing it apart. It's cries soon stopped as it's body got maimed beyond recognition. Arms cut open as Asriel's claws dug deep into the skin, until he had dug deep enough to pierce both the bone and the skin on the other side, making the arms fall to the ground one by one. Their legs were still twitching as the body was cut open with a single slice from Chara's pocket knife, the knife that they had taken from them, after the first time they saw their panic attacks.Organs slowly escaped it's limp host, landing on the ground, each one making a disgusting noise upon impact. The heart was still slowly beating.Soon the legs were cut off as well, discarded on the ground like the rest of their body as if it was just a broken toy. They were both still smiling.The ground all around the kids had been colored red. Toriel had started screaming, she was not sure when, but it was very likely at the time the horror had begun. She was still shaking when the children stopped, stood still, and slowly turned towards her yet again, this time they didn't speak. They then both looked down and picked up the rest of the young childs body before looking back at her once more. The limp body then slowly turned it's head, it's eyes locked hers in place. It only uttered a single word. "Wh-why?"Toriel was about to start screaming again as the other two children's glare froze her in place, they now had their arms around the small body in a protective way as the blood still flowing from the open holes that used to connect their limbs. "Why?" They all asked at the same time, all three pair of eyes glowing bloody red. "Why do you want to forget us!?" "Why did you let us die!?" Toriel woke up clenching her paw in her fur just above where her soul were. Her breathing was fast and heavy, cold sweat covered most of her body.She got out of her bed and walked into the living room, she would find a good book and hope her exhaustion would let her fall back into sleep dispite the terror still haunting everything red in the underlit room.This had become a routine as of late, waking up a few times a month from nightmares that only gets worse and worse, then hoping for a dreamless sleep thanks to exhaustion afterwards. Sadly she would not be shown that mercy tonight, her mind was fully awakened. She instead decided to take a walk, her thoughts were flying around in her head the whole time.What do those nightmares mean. Toriel thought to herself. I know my children were nothing like that!She continued walking, looking straight ahead as she tried once again to find the meaning of the madness. Her thoughts were interrupted by a scream. It came from the gravesite! Almost completely reenacting the last time she heard something from this place, she ran as fast as she could until she got to the arceway where she stopped, calmed down and slowly walked in.The sight did not surprise her as much as the first time, but the blood still made her gasp as she rushed over to get a closer look at the wounds. It was another child, almost as old as Chara when they had fallen down. The thought of Chara so soon after her nightmare made her stop in place for just a bit, feeling a shiver down her spine, before shaking it off and continue to look at the hurt human.The child had passed out, they were bleeding rapidly and one of their legs were dislocated, likely broken as well. Toriel wasted no time picking up the light body, running as fast as she could back to her house while the hand not holding the child were glowing green with healing magic. As soon as she got into her house, she put down the passed out body in her chair as she went to find some food and water both for the child and for herself. The healing had drained most of her energy and the running had not helped.Her robe was colored with a huge red stain where she has held the child. They could not continue to bleed like that if they were going to survive. Luckily it seemed like it had slowed down and almost stopped bleeding on the trip back home. Hours past, the child seemed stable, the bleeding had stopped and it's breathing had found a normal rhythm. They had still not woken up.As toriel sat and watched them curled up in her chair, she began to grow concerned about their reaction when they would wake up. The only humans that had fallen so far had either not been old enough to know what was going on, or in Chara's case, been very shy and fearful. She really hoped she could calm them down if that would be the case, she dreaded having to keep them in the house so she could explain before they could run out and hurt themself... or others.She really hoped it would not come to that. A soft yawn hours later made her face tilt up at the chair, she slowly walked out of the room, she thought the best way would be to let the, hear her voice, let them know they were not in danger, and only then get back inside and gope for the best.She did not know if her plan had worked or if the child was just not easily scared, but if they were they didn't show it.Their eyes had held a great amount of confusion, but they still listened to what you had to say without panic. When she had finished explaining and ensured that they would not be harmed, the child asked. "Have you seen my glasses?"...That question could also explain the childs calmness.She said no but told them they had a pretty good idea of where they would be. The child tried to stand up, only then noticing the pain in their leg and sat back down. Toriel carefully picked them up and began to walk back to the grave.
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Twenty five years.A very long time living underground, yet nothing compared to everyone else. He had just left the garden, after letting the few rays of sunlight cover his body.He always felt bad that so many had never seen it, and some never would.He himself didn't even really care about going back up to the surface, that thought almost made him feel even worse."ARGH dammit!"
Speaking of feeling worse.
He held his hand over his stomach, the latest breakthrough had taken it's toll. His soul was sore and the pain had not stopped coming every few hours. He did not regret his choice, he knew the risks. He just really wish it would stop hurting this much, at least it felt like it was getting better... or maybe he was just getting used to it.Everything had showed them that this could not become fatal, it was just hard ignoring your soul hurting this much. Hopefully the pain would end soon... "Oh?" The human child was sitting in the flowerpatch, trying to take in everything he was now seeing before him.Monsters were real, one of them were standing right in front of him and had apparently healed him as he was bleeding out from the fall he almost couldn't remember. His mind, trying not to fry itself in a growing panic, just took in the scene before him, his eyes soon finding a familiar sight. His old backpack!Way too small for a child his size. It's old, dirty and had needed some repair for years. But he didn't care, it was his.He sighed in relief when he opened the pack and everything seemed to have survived the fall, his notebook, the leftover food and his crayons. Only the green crayon had got a crack down the middle and would likely not last another use.He opened the notebook and saw his own old drawings, everything from the sunrise and citys to stars and green gardens.Despite being overwhelmed, he smiled. His memories were safe. "Hey G." The human called as he went into the lab."Ah welcome back. Any improvement?" The skeleton asked."The pain is still there but it seems much lighter since the last scan." He said, cringing from another spike of pain.Gaster nodded before opening the elevator, letting them both down to the lower lab to look at the recovery. Gaster and The human were looking at the terminal, every screen was flooded with information, lines of numbers and code that desperately tried to show everything about a soul in a written form. Everything pointed them to the same thing."You are gonna make a full recovery." Gaster said.The news made the human sigh in relief, while every test beforehand had shown that to be the most likely outcome, it felt wonderful to crush that little doubt. The doubt where he would have to tell his dad that he would not only die becaurse he used himself as a guinea pig, but also that his soul would not remain afterwards. None of them even thought the soul itself would have taken so much damage. The thought of his soul just shattering like worst case would have been, was very... sobering. It was something he could not risk again. Luckily with this soul sample he hopefully made sure it would never be needed again. The white and purple crayons had seen better days.Drawing always relaxed him and right now he needed to relax more than he ever had before.Monsters were real, they are trapped down here like he now was as well, and right outside the door in the basement the monsters would want to kill him and take his soul.Meanwhile his notebook was filling with drawing after drawing of all the sights, (the Ruins she called it,) had to offer. Toriel herself praised the drawning of her. Sadly the Ruins was quite a small place and he would not be able to distract the urge forever.It did not take long before his body began screaming for him to move, leave. He tried to drown it with reading, it didn't work. Only a week later, he went to say goodbye to Toriel, her sad eyes and desperate pleading almost made him reconsider, but the itch was unbearable, he had to leave. Toriel did not stop him, but did tell him that he would not be able to return. The tone of voice and eyes full of sadness that implied that she was already acting like he was dead broke his heart a little, but he had come too far to stop now, he would leave, he would find a way to survive and he would persevere. "Why do i not want you gone?" The human asked himself as he put his hand on the magical lock to the underground prison.The magic energy made his hand tickle as he slowly moved it up and down. He soon took the hand off and turned to leave.These thoughts had plagued him for years at this point, and he was not any closer to an answer."Why do i not feel the same hope everyone else does when they talk about getting free?"After asking the same questions yet again he left. As he got closer to the house he could smell the food, when he was at the stairs he gave a happy. "Im back!" Before joining his smiling dad at the table. They talked about normal happy things. At least the pain had stopped. He was not prepared for the cold. Everything around him after he opened the door was freezing, he were pretty sure the spit he spat out had turned to ice, even before it hit the ground.Yet somehow he still felt safe, like he could not die or even get sick in the frozen wasteland of leafless pinetrees. The cold just felt like it was slowly sapping away his energy, nothing like the cold up on the surface that would physically hurt, he still shivered nonetheless.He heard the sounds of footsteps every so offen, he was maybe not the strongest or fastest, but he knew how to avoid people who could wish him harm.The snow also helped in that regard.The storming blizzard kept his tracks untraceable, while the snow itself was great for hiding in. As long as he kept his mind sharp he would not get caught.At least that was until he came to a huge wodden bridge. At this point he could not leave it up to chance, the guards would likely have some sort of schedule that would leave him enough time to cross.He decided to hide in a snow pile near a tree, close enough that he could see clearly, but hopefully far enough away that no one would find him. As he watched the guards patrolling, he grew tired. They all seemed to come at random. The snow around him still didn't feel like the real kind of cold, so instead of taking a risk leaving, he carefully began forming the snow from the inside.When there was enough room he picked up the notebook and began drawing. "This is so fascinating." Gaster whispered, at the new possibilities open for them.New theories had been explored almost instantly, the small soul shard connecting so many pieces. Gaster and Hugore had worked for hours scanning, observing and testing, and then they found it. The link between technology and soul.Making a tool just to scan a soul had taken years of really specific study back in the day, now with the help of a real live soul piece, the doors had been flung wide open. Gaster once again took note of the data. What data shifted since last time, what data stayed the same, trying to pinpoint the lines of code they had yet to find the meaning off.Several lines seemed to have to do with emotions and personal traits due to the lack of them in the small soul piece, but still showing up when Hugore was scanned. The future of science would once again change with all this new information. And Gaster could almost not contain his excitement. Getting out of the cold was still refreshing, even if it was not hurting like real cold would.The constant sound of water however, that could get old really fast.Having to be on guard for any little noise in a place this loud made him paranoid. The long halls of straight paths without places to hide made him pick up the pace, he had to find a safe spot before it became morning.He found a small opening in a wall off the beaten path, it would likely be the best he would get. So he sat down in his little spot, got some food from his bag, and began drawing the beautiful surroundings in his notebook. He was standing in front of the mirror, looked back at the short man behind the glass.No one knew if it was the limited physical nourishment, genetics, or if all humans were just this small.He was fine with it, it was still him. He left the mirror and walked up to his dad sitting in the reading chair, something Asgore had done a lot more lately, and let himself fall into his fur.The low surprised sound after he sat down on him was soon replaced with a happy sigh as Asgore went back to reading. While Hugore liked always having a goal and something to do, these small moments being safe and quiet were still special and needed. He fumbled around with the kings fur in his hands, he always wondered what it felt like to them, he guessed it would mostly feel like his hair, just all over the body.His mind went all over the place as he began thinking, mostly about questions, it would always be about questions. He didn't even notice when he slowly fell asleep. It could not have more then an hour after he had sat down that he felt like he was being watched. He was still drawing in the notebook as the small noise made him look up from the colorful pages, instantly feeling like someone was looking right at him. But there was no one outside. "Wha ha ha! what do we have here?" The voice caused the child to violently swing around as they turned to the voice in panic, his notebook hit the monster on it's... shell? The monster soon let it's head back out, it looked very much like an old turtle. "Wha ha ha! Is that really the respect you show your elders these days?" The turtle monster asked.The human began shaking his head and put his hands down, while still holding the notebook."Im sorry sir i just-" "Wha ha ha! Im just joking with you, i saw you were clearly absorbed in whatever you were doing." The turtle said, then making a gesture to the notebook. "Would you mind if i took a peek?" The human shrugged, he really had no reason not to if he was gonna die anyway, so he opened it on the first page, it was surpose to look like him in front of a mirror before everything went wrong. At least he thought it was before that. He didn't remember much from that time and the drawing was, if he would say so himself, terrible.The turtle didn't seem to want to criticize so he began to turn the pages. It must have been a few minutes when the turtle got back up signaled him to follow. "Are you sure it's safe?" The young boy asked, the turtle looked back at him confused."Well what would make you think it wouldn't be safe?" The turtle asked, his eyes narrowed. "I was told you would hunt me down for my soul." The turtles expression becamed relaxed again. "Wha ha ha! You heard that from someone in the Ruins right?" He asked.The child nodded."Wha ha ha! Those critters were always a little behind the times, what they told you would have been true over two decades ago." The turtle said in a tone that made the human feel like he was missing something. "Now though? Wha ha ha! Why don't you just go to king fluffybuns and ask him yourself? He loves to meet new people." The child looked at the turtle as he began to walk out from the hiding place."Just follow me i will lead the way." Still skeptical but not really seeing a choise, since the monster could just tell everyone where he was if he didn't comply, got up and began following in the same slow pace the turtle went. As they walked the child still felt someone watching him, the turtle monster looked up and watched behind them with a frown, it was sending chills down his spine."So what do you think of the underground so far?" The monster asked. The human shrugged."What i have seen is very pretty, but since... you know. I have not really met any people." The turtle nodded before he turned down a path that looked like a dead end. The human became slightly uncomfortable."Don't you worry they always show up when needed." The turtle said.He then began explaining the way to the castle, just a few... "elevator rides" and he would see it. Sure enough, after a little less then a minute a hooded figure sailed up to the shore in a little wodden boat."Tra la la. I am the river man, or am i the river woman ? It doesn't really matter." The human looked at the figure confused."I love to ride in my boat, won't you come along?" The human looked back at the turtle, who just nodded at him to get on the boat."Where will we go today?" Hot...land?" The human replied, looking back at the turtle who nodded in response. "Then we are off." The boat slowly began sailing along the river, Gerson saw the shapes fade away in the distance. He could barely hear the river person's low voice."Things could be better, but things could also have been so much worse. And yet in the end nothing should change."He shook his head at the usual ramblings before walking back up the other path, turning to where he and the human had just come from.He still felt them watching."You should really stop your petty lust for revenge before you do something you will regret." Gerson said openly into the hallway. He felt the feeling of being watched fade away. Gerson shook his head in disappointment. The house was quiet. Hugore was alone sitting on his bed, he had just woken up from a dreamless nap, his mouth was dry and he felt like making some tea.As he let the water boil, he walked back to the hallway and once again looked in the mirror.When he looked at the reflection he began to feel sad, he didn't know why he was feeling this way now, he had never felt like this in all his years in the underground. He had a loving father, a great friend and everyone around him stopped to talk when they had the time. Why was he feeling lonely... The water was soon ready and the golden flower tea was perfect as usual, the cup was empty in seconds. He went back to the mirror, he didn't want to keep thinking about this, so he let his glow surround his body as his trident appeared levitating next to him.He made it fly around, still looking at the mirror, just taking in the sight of him and his magic while the hallway lit up in his orange light. He liked that sight, him just freely letting his magic loose. This was who he really was. It felt right. He heard the front door open and let the magic fade away, dad must have come home from wherever he said he was going. It confused him for a little bit since he had been so sure he said that he went to the garden, but no one else would walk in without knocking first, so he shrugged to himself before yelling a "Hey dad, im in the hall!" Before turning towards the door smiling. The ride was relaxing.The air around him was slowly heating up as they got closer to the place that seemed to live up to it's name.The boat slowed down and then went still at a shore, the river person nodded to him, letting him know this was his stop."Thanks." "Come again sometime, tra la la." And with that they took off. The heat was overwhelming, but like the cold it didn't seem to hurt in any physical way. It just made him tired... and sweaty.He went up the path, "just right ahead." The turtle had said.Sure enough, he quickly saw what the monster had descriped as an "elevator" in the distance.He went inside, "R3?" He was pretty sure he remembered hearing that, he pushed the button and the doors somehow closed by themselves. As soon as he got out he was only a small walk away from a huge building."Hotland apartment complex?" Guess that would be where he said the other elevator was.The inside was busy with monsters, some looked like they were going off to work, others looked like they had just come home. No one bat an eye at the newcomer.The elevator was not in use and he quickly ran for it getting a few looks on the way, but no one tried to stop him. When he exited the elevator, he was almost blinded by the gray buildings surrounding him.More monsters were just walking around, doing their thing. None of them showed any indication that they had seen him.He soon found the castle, towering over the other buildings in a somehow humble way. He didn't know how to descripe it.On his way to the huge building, monsters stopped and waved to him, not sure what to do he just waved back. Everyone seemed to just get back to what they were doing after he returned their greeting. He soon got to the door of the small house connected to the castle, feeling himself getting nervous he decided to walk in before he got cold feet. In his haste he forgot to knock. The first thing he saw was a faint orange light fade away, the house seemed quite small from the inside.He almost jumped in surprise when a voice loudly proclaimed "Hey dad, im in the hall!" He turned towards the voice and went still. Hugore's eyes went shocked and his mouth fell into a thin line.The other human had a pretty similar expression, except a little less surprised because of the whole, "never seen an other human in his life" part.Both humans, getting uncomfortable and wanting to break the silence opened their mouths."Um hi.""Hey."They both stared at each other before Hugore slowly started moving towards the other human, careful and with no intention of scaring the child. Then Asgore's footsteps echoed from the stairs.