(I usually try and keep each chapter with a vague running theme, but this ones length began to creep up on me, so I cut it short. The next chapter might be slightly shorter then others, can't say for certain yet. Thank you for your patience, writers block sucks.)

23rd April, perhaps a few decades since the last entry. I suspect we are now well into the 18th century.

I hadn't meant for the diary to become lost. A lot of things happened, for instance.

Like the earthquake.

It wasn't a deadly one. I think only one unfortunate soul was killed by falling rubble, but Home sustained enough structural damage that few of us feel safe living there. During the course of a few months, the place was practically emptied, with the exception of the smaller, more frail monsters, who felt a journey would be dangerous, and were more attached to the familiar comforts of Home. The Froggits, the Whimsums, the Vegetoids, all preferred to stay.

Fair enough.

We packed our bags the day after the quake, trekking through the underground to the place the King had determined would be safe.

He called it...

Well...

New Home.

He...really isn't good at this, is he?

We settled in the outskirts. The new settlement called Snowdin is too cold, Waterfall is too damp for Sans fragile health and Hotland is too dangerous now Papyrus is walking. During the move, my diary was mixed up in the bags by Sans's well meaning inventory system, I've only found it just now.

Despite our changed location, family wise not much has changed. Papyrus is growing like a weed, already talking very well for his age.

It's getting him to shut up for five minutes that's the trick.

Sans is...Sans. Still frail, still quiet. His nightmares seem to have stopped. Either that or he's gotten better at waking silently. I worry for him still.

That hasn't changed.

Ever since I first held his still form and promised I'd save him.

The world above seems to have changed too. New, interesting items are being dumped. I've recently picked up a few sodden text books from the heaps in waterfall.

They are relating to a new discovery called, as near as I can translate..."electricity".

The book is wet and damaged, but I will persevere. This sounds very interesting.

Best cut this short, I've received a summons to the palace. I hope they're alright.

24th April.

Joyous news!

The Queen is with child!

It is evening as I write this, and the dimness of my room is lit periodically with the flash of magic fireworks as the celebrations continue. Papyrus has talked my ear off eagerly asking if he can play with the new child (bless his eagerness) and even Sans threatened to crack a smile.

We are still trapped under miles of stone, but there is always joy in new life. Not even the humans could take that from us.

Your health, Queen Toriel. I will care for you as best I can.

30th April

I have managed to tease meaning from the sodden textbooks from the dump. They are a record of human scientific discoveries over the last few decades, considering the quality, possibly thrown out by accident.

Their loss. I have located the required copper and zinc, all I need now is acid. I'm sure I can find a way to produce some. At a pinch I can procure vinegar.

1st May.

Success! My first experiment produced a tingling, crackling sensation over my fingers, a feeling like cold and prickly magic. The children found it endlessly amusing, though I kept Sans away from it. I feel its best to be cautious. I wonder, can I use this "electricity" to power things? I'd need a source of energy for it to work. Copper and zinc and acid can work up to a point, but anything usable needs something to feed off.

Would it work with magic?

3rd May.

I woke this morning to find scribblings on my wall. Before I could call my children in to scold them, I recognized the handwriting.

Mine.

Ever since I deciphered the textbooks, learned of "science" my mind has BURNED. Everything just...makes so much sense. I show my notes to other monsters and they just don't seem to understand. How can they not? It's so simple! It's as though I've been dying of thirst my entire life, and have fallen by chance into a deep well. How could I have lived my life not knowing of this? I knew about the correct ways to examine and experiment with plants, but this? The makeup of the world itself?

How could I have been so blind?

My hands shake constantly, itching to open my scientific notebooks and start working. What could I do with this information? What a foolish question!

What can't I do with this?

10th May

I am scaring my children.

This has gone too far.

As I prepared a remedy for Toriels morning sickness I overheard Sans whispering to Papyrus what he'd seen in the night as he woke to get a drink.

He had seen a glow under my door and inched it open, to see me hunched over a wall, scrawling plans with a lump of charchol as my eye sockets burned with blue fire. He had made a noise, and I turned to him, eyes still burning.

Sans fled.

I don't remember any of this! I'm terrifying one of my only reasons to get out of bed and I'm not even aware! I'll keep notebooks nearby when I sleep, experiment with sleeping teas. This has gotten out of hand. I got over excited. My discoveries are important, but Sans and Papyrus will always matter first.

26th May.

Golden flower tea seems to have soothed my nighttime incidents. Funny, this time the king was advising his doctor!

15th July.

Toriels pregnancy progresses well. I was able to locate the heartbeat for the first time today. Asgore is over the moon. The child won't be born for another year and he's already hard at work on a nursery. He seems truly happy for the first time in so long. He's tried to hide it, but we could see the weight of our imprisonment weighing on him.

It never gets old to me, being in the presence of our greatest leaders.

Toriel and Asgore have always understood, better then human kings, the secret to royalty. Why monsters have always loved them, truly and deeply.

"I will be loyal to you, as you are loyal to me."

They have never abused us, never pressed us down or forced us. As we love them, they love us too.

And yet, as I see the Queens stomach swell each day, there is grief.

Boss monsters do not age.

Unless they have children.

Someday soon, we will have to watch them die.

18th July.

Me and Sans have been working together recently. I feel it might be good for him to involve himself more in activities, and the boy seems to have a flair for science. My current experience is to see if magic can be used to produce electricity. We've been setting up some equipment and making copper wires in preparation. Papyrus is keen to help, but can't seem to grasp the concepts. He's a little too young, anyway.

19th July.

Found a snazzy new outfit at the dump today. Like a shirt with no sleeves. One of the human books that falls down occasionally says its called a waistcoat. Its quite useful. I was tired of my robe sleeves always catching in things. The kindly rabbit monster who babysits the boys while I'm working at the palace washed and darned it for me, along with a pair of trousers. MUCH better then my musty old robes.

…

And of course the first thing I do is spill Mrs Snowdrakes decongestant on it.

Blast.

21 July.

We tested my machine today. A small, whats the word, prototype? Pretty sure that's it.

My hypothesis was that if Sans provided a small jolt of magic, the machine would convert it into magical electricity. I hooked it up to a small test subject, a device of wire and blown glass (Insanely hard to make with no lips) that, if I'm right, should heat a filament to incandescent temperatures. A small bulb of light. (Memo to self, work out better name) I hooked it up with baited breath, held it out for Sans to apply the magic...

And woke up upside down in a pile of furniture. We hadn't agreed beforehand what was meant by "a small amount of magic" In his eagerness to please, he'd sent a healthy dose of magic through the machine. New piece of information: Electricity hurts. It actually took a few points off my HP.

Ah well, nothing a glass of golden flower tea won't cure.

And even if it had badly wounded me, the experiment was a success! For a moment, before the electricity blew me backwards, the bulb lit! Imagine it! A small magic powered furnace in every home, lighting and warming it at the mere cost of a small amount of magic! Perhaps someday down the line I can work on larger and more efficient models, but for now I will approach Asgore and ask for a small research grant to continue developing this one.

I feel...no, not hope. We are too far gone for hope, but...happy. We can make this work. It is perhaps not where we should be, but we can make it as good as the surface.

No.

We can make it better.

Yes! I can take their technology that they discard like rubbish and recreate it, adapt it, improve it!

I'll show them, those thoughtless beings that mindlessly let fear control them. I'll take everything they are proud of and make it better then what their clumsy fingers can produce. I can summon hands at will, working ten times as fast! What do those hairless apes have, hmm?

Pitiful, all of them.

26th August.

The King approved my research. He seemed fascinated by the idea. Nothing like a magic powered furnace of this kind has ever been attempted, and he is a forward thinking man. Toriel approved as well, noting the light produced was clear and unwavering, perfect for sewing nights.

Her pregnancy progresses well.

I will likely not be updating often, juggling the boys and my research will leave me little time.

17th October

I...have not had a good time.

I thought...it had been so long since her memory pained me, sliced into my heart...I thought I'd passed the grieving.

And yet...

I was checking on Toriels progress, and at some point the conversation turned to her.

Helvatica...

I found myself telling a funny story about her, laughing along with the royal pair about her antics. I was laughing, genuinely laughing at her memory, something I haven't done in years.

And somehow the laughter became agonized sobs, waves of pain striking from nowhere.

I couldn't breathe...I was gasping for air against the tears as I remembered her and couldn't stop.

The King...gods, we are blessed to have him...the King took it upon himself to comfort me.

He's a good man.

After the storm had passed, and I was able to stand without support, they gently suggested I take a holiday. I have had so much on my mind with Toriels pregnancy and my research.

I guess I got a little bit overwhelmed.

Toriel insisted she would be alright for a fortnight or two, so I write this from the inn in Snowdin. The boys have commandeered the other bed and are dozing in a little pile, both exhausted from their antics in the snow.

This is a nice little town, yet my heart still aches.

Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.

19th October

The children are enjoying Snowdin. It's good to see them have some room to run around. New home is starting to get slightly crowded these days.

Its very interesting to watch the difference in their personalities, especially in a new place.

Sans is much the same as he always is, quiet and shy. Though I've noticed these days its less a withdrawn, sad kind of quiet, and more the silence of someone content to watch the world go by.

He still has moments when he acts like the child he is, and its heartening to watch. When he wants to the boy has a hell of a turn of speed. I've never seen him lose a game of tag as he almost seems to teleport around the playing field. But mostly he's content to walk along beside me holding my hand. Sans is aware of his limited health, and is very responsible about maintaining it.

Papyrus, now he is something different. I don't think I've seen him stop moving once since he arrived in Snowdin, haring around yelling at the top of his lungs about whatever crosses his mind. You can track his path by the blurred footprints occasionally broken up by snow angels as he trips on his scarf, falls, and decides he may as well have fun while he's down there.

It's wonderful to finally get to spend proper time with them, not burdened by my duties. I can have snowball fights, build snowmen, play fight. I'm raising children any monster would be proud of and I almost never noticed.

I was almost my father, hiding among his potion experiments to avoid the responsibilities of a child he never wanted in the first place.

It was why I never wanted children in the first place, I was too scared I'd leave them alone, unloved.

I'm glad I was wrong in the end.

I'll take them into this new "Grillbys" place that just opened up for dinner tonight. I'm sure they'll like it.

20th October

I woke this morning with no tears staining my pillow. This town is doing me good.

Papyrus didn't much like Grillbys, too greasy for his taste. Sans loved the place, however. I'm glad he enjoyed himself, I just wish he wouldn't chug ketchup right from the jar. Its rather off putting...

30th October

We'll be returning to New Home tomorrow and the children are both sulking, presenting a united front as they sit on the bed and glower at me (Well, Sans, mostly. Papyrus doesn't really have it in him to be angry for long.) They don't want to go home. I don't blame them, really. But I'll present a compromise. We will return every year for a holiday, just us as a family. Something for them to look forward to. I'll miss Snowdin too, but sadly, life must go on. I must say, I feel rejuvenated. This holiday worked a treat. Asgore really does know what is best for his subjects.

I can already feel my fingers twitching. I've had a few new ideas for improvements to my model.

Right, time to see if I can drag them away from here. I suspect I may have to bribe them with a cinnamon bunny first.