Not One, But Seven: Kindness
He knew his royal scientist would not live forever. Especially after his hard work on creating what he called the CORE, Asgore had begun to get an idea of how old he was. Of course neither of them were young at this point, but Gaster was obviously much older than he'd originally guessed. He walked like a ghost in his final weeks, his eye sockets growing darker and his form becoming extremely distorted.
"Are you alright?" He asked one day as his scientist passed by, likely to go continue with his work and 'experiments'. "You seem exhausted. I would not blame you if you took a little break."
His subordinate merely gave him a weary smile. "I'm afraid I can't, sire. There is much work to be done. Yes, much work indeed..."
He wandered off while still mumbling to himself, leaving Asgore completely baffled and concerned. When the news came that he'd disappeared, he had a good feeling he'd 'fallen down' somewhere and did not want to be found. He was always an extremely mysterious person, and it seemed only appropriate to his former boss that nobody would ever quite know what happened to him.
Despite the appropriateness in his scientist's death, it still deeply bothered the king. He was going to need another royal scientist, especially if he was continue his experiments with determination and carry out his plan for the SOULs, but he couldn't bear to replace him right away. In the past few decades, W.D Gaster was the closest thing he'd had to family. He missed him dearly, and even closed up his home temporarily from all in order to mourn in solitude.
In this mourning period, he often found himself wandering down to the basement where he kept the four SOULs. They floated serenely in their containers, their colors pulsing brightly against the transparent glass. Gaster had already made three other containers for the humans to come, which now sat vacantly near the full ones. The royal felt compelled to gently clean the residue off of them now; there was no telling how long it would be before one would be utilized. Even still, surely the humans we were beginning to realize what was happening to their kind when they fell.
"You were all good children," he commented to the SOULs on the last day before he reopened his home. "I did not want any of you to get hurt. However, it had to be done."
The SOULs, of course, did not speak back. However, the vacant silence he received was enough to compel him to try and explain himself further.
"Tally, you were so patient. That served you well up until the end. Perhaps I should learn how to have more of what you had in the future, especially with the tedious business I'm in," he spoke to the cyan SOUL. "Akin, I have always admired how brave you were. If not for the conditions you found yourself in, you likely could have crossed the barrier with no problem."
Tears began forming in his eyes as he placed his paws over the first two containers, softly bringing them to his chest. Their contained power hummed over his body quietly now, the strength increasing the closer he brought them toward his own culmination of being. He supposed at the point he could always try absorbing what he had now and try to cross the barrier, and if it wasn't enough, he could just slay as many as he needed until he could free his species. After all, he already had Oscar's blood on his hands. Why should he wait?
"Marie, you were quite lovely," he said after several minutes of silent contemplation. "Your honesty is something I should strive for. Unlike you, I have to lie to my species to try and give them something to believe in. And Oscar...Oscar, I know you meant no harm in the end. You couldn't help what you were, but you continued to push forth as if you could. Just like the others, your death was respectable."
He acknowledged he couldn't jeopardize his current plan as he gently hugged all the containers; it would mean admitting to his false advertising, and it would mean the end of the fragile hope he'd been gardening up until now. He couldn't lose his species's trust at this point. He figured that surely, surely three more humans would fall in no time, and it wouldn't matter what he did or didn't do.
The next day, he put out his announcement for needing a new royal scientist. It hurt to let him go, but then again, it hurt to kill the children and Asgore had done it all the same. Death was now a normal part of his life, and as long as he fully succumbed to the coldness, it wouldn't matter what the cost of that was.
It did surprise him slightly to see how far the newest human got on their journey, but he was also reminded at the incredible spirit of the human species. He figured each one would get a bit closer to his home, which inevitably meant he'd likely have to fight one in his own place of dwelling. As he observed the little girl carefully entering Hotland, he figured the thought of spilling blood in his garden should likely bother him more than it did.
She was younger than Oscar or Marie, but not by much. Her hair was tied back in a bun on the top of her head, and a stained apron was pulled around her small waist. She was also carrying a pan in her right hand, one that didn't seem in the least bit plastic or fake. The presence of a potential weapon set the royal on edge; none of the other children were equipped for battle, which could only mean the humans were learning.
A bag was strapped to her back as well, and as he observed her, he wondered what she could possibly be carrying. Perhaps she was an adventurer like Oscar or Akin, and she was collecting items to return to the Surface with. He sighed at such a optimistic possibility before lowering the monitor and turning to his newest scientist, a young reptilian monster named Alphys.
"I will be back soon," he stated as evenly as possible. "Watch over things, will you?"
"A...Are you going after the human?" She asked with a tremor, which struck him as odd. She always seemed so calm and collected until he spoke to her directly.
"Yes," he admitted. "They could cause serious problems to us here. Besides, their SOUL is vital to breaking the barrier. This is the best for everyone."
"I understand," she replied meekly. "B-but...If that is the case, you might like to be able to monitor their progress as you're travelling toward them. I...I developed a mobile version of your monitor f-for this instance, and was wo...wondering if you'd like to use it?"
The gesture made him smile immediately. She'd only been working for him for a couple of weeks, and already she'd invented something to make his endeavors more practical and easy. She would make a fine replacement to Gaster.
"Thank you, I would love too," he agreed while extending a paw. "Thank you, Alphys."
She seemed to relax at his approval, her eyes lighting up as she went to fetch her creation. Several minutes later, he was walking toward Hotland and to the CORE that her predecessor had left behind. He wondered as he turned on his mobile monitor if the girl would be able to figure out the device if she made it so far, and if he'd even get to her before one of his Royal Guardsmen or Sentries did. After all, all of the monsters had only seemed more renewed by Oscar's passing to vanquish any more people to cross their paths. It was a morbid collective hope, but the king had to silently admit it eased his personal conscience for all the wrong reasons.
Similarly to Marie, this girl did not have a problem talking to the local monsters despite the weapon she brandished. She spoke with a foreign accent, and all of her actions seemed gentle despite the constant eager glint in her brown eyes. In the time it'd taken him to travel across the CORE (and get lost several times therein), he'd figured out she was carrying several disposable containers and utensils in her bag. She seemed to be quite skilled in culinary, and was feeding anyone who wouldn't shoo her away or flee.
"Hey King Asgore!" A young monster suddenly quipped from behind him. "You going after that human?!"
"Yes, I am," he replied in the same tone he used with Alphys. "I'm afraid I'll be doing this quest alone, young one. I also must hurry. If you fancy, we could sit down and have a nice cup of tea tomorrow or so?"
"Oh, I'm alright," the child replied idly. "But I was just wonderin' why you're going out now. A Royal Guardsman said he was goin' just a little bit ago, so I think 'e's got it."
Of course; his court was already on fulfilling their respective duties before he even had to worry about handling the issue himself. Nevertheless, he assured the child he knew what he was doing and continued forth. He couldn't quite discern why he continued when the SOUL would soon be delivered to him anyway, but he felt extremely compelled to see this human through the best he could. For the time being, he dismissed these emotions as a way of compensating for not truly being an active part in the previous four deaths.
When he finally arrived to the location of the youth, he did indeed find a battle well underway. A royal guard was shooting star-shaped bullets at the girl, who was brandishing her frying pan in order to deflect the hits. Nevertheless, she was obviously running low on energy, and her HP was falling more and more with each attack. This would not last much longer.
As Asgore slowly looked around their surroundings, he noticed another guard nearly identical to the one attacking watching from a distance. Neither the human nor the fellow guard had seemed to notice the third's presence, but it was very obvious to the leader he really noticed he fellow court member. He was obviously extremely nervous about entering the fight despite it being his job, but this did not anger their boss. It was endearing, and he would not impose on the innocence in face of a grave battle.
"Agh!" The girl cried out, pulling his attention to the small human on her back with her wide eyes on her attacker. "Pl-please!"
"Like, I'm sorry," the guard replied tightly. "But we have strict orders to destroy any human that dares fall Underground. It totally has to be this way."
To all of their surprise, the girl offered him a small smile instead of continuing to cower from him. "I...I suppose I understand. I heard all of the rumors that falling down here was dangerous, but I didn't want to believe they were true. I thought that surely monsters could be compassionate if compassion was shown to them, but now I understanding it's never been a question of how we treat each other. It's all about the inevitable."
Despite the dark words the child spoke, she continued to smile a genuine smile at her assumed enemy. The guardsman hesitated now, and his superior could not blame him. After all, killing an innocent creature was not meant to be easy work, and having violence challenged with something softer only made one's resolve weaken.
"02!" The guard that had been hiding subtly suddenly yelped. "L-like, we need to do this together!"
"Together?" The domineering guard asked as he turned to face his companion. "Do you think that would work?"
"Like, totally!" The other quipped eagerly, rushing to his side and casting a brief glance in their king's direction. He must have seen him and been worried about his fellow guard failing in front of him.
The two made quick work of the compliant young one with their team attack, and soon she was nothing more than a glowing green SOUL and a lifeless heap. Her pan was more burned now and was laying to the side, and her apron clung to her body with the blood. The guards immediately cheered and chest-bumped each other eagerly, but it was obvious to their leader they were beginning to realize the gravity of what they'd done as they began recounting it.
"Like...She's dead and stuff," the one called 02 said slowly.
"Yeah...Bummer," the other commented softly. "She was totally cool with it, though. She kind of wanted it to be this way."
"I guess...But bro, what if she didn't?"
The royal took this moment to walk over to his two subordinates and smile patiently. "Hello, you two. I watched you both do fine work of capturing and slaying our enemy. You will be rewarded handsomely for this."
"King Asgore!" 02 yipped in surprise, lowering his head out of respect. "It's totally an honor, sir. Thank you for being here."
"It was my pleasure," he responded with another smile. "I will take her SOUL off of your hands now."
"Of course! 01, you should hand it to him," the young guard urged at once.
"No, it's totally your honor. I just helped finish it off," 01 replied, and Asgore was quite sure he was blushing underneath his helmet.
"Perhaps you could both hand it to me?" He suggested. "You two really ought to work together more often. You're exceptionally powerful together."
He sensed they both grinned as they agreed and carried out this task, and as he walked away with the SOUL in its container he heard them re-start their eager chatter about their deed. He once more supposed it was a nice life, one where they believed everything they did was for a greater, righteous agenda and they should have no qualms about slaying a species that wasn't their own. In a way he felt a tug of pride of providing the means for such allusions, but the overwhelming guilt for the less savory parts quickly quenched that.
"I think I will call you Amity," he commented quietly as he headed for New Home.
"W-welcome back, sir," Alphys said hesitantly as he solemnly re-entered. "D...Did everything go alright? Did m-my monitor help?"
"Absolutely," he reassured with a tone brighter than how he felt. "Thank you very much for providing it. I will now go put this SOUL with the others and lay this child to rest."
"S...She's very small, sir," his new scientist spoke in a voice so quiet he almost didn't catch it.
"Yes, she is," he agreed gravelly. "If you wouldn't mind, I really have no use for this pan or this dirty apron. Would you please disperse them elsewhere? I...I would rather not look at them."
"Y-yes, of course!" She quickly complied and hurried out, and once again the guilt washed over him. He shouldn't be making such a young monster carry out such a grim disposal.
He carefully painted the green SOUL on the girl's casket after he laid her in, his gaze eventually locking on the other SOULs already sitting there. He'd talked to them in the weeks before and signaled his regret to them, but their imminent silence only made his feelings of remorse tighter. He doubted these children would forgive him for everything he'd done, and he wouldn't really expect them to. Nevertheless, he realized then he desperately needed reassurance from somebody, and while Alphys was nice, she wasn't Gaster.
"I am truly sorry," he said in a broken voice as he finally let raw sobs take over him. "You do not h-have to forgive me, bu...But please understand! This is the only way! I am sorry...I am so sorry..."
Author Note: And so concludes the seventh chapter. Asgore has been retaining his determination for a long time now, and without the last person who truly cared about it, he is no longer able to keep up the facade. Of course this does not change what he does next and continues to do at the start of the game, but I thought it was important to show once more how deeply this affects his true, raw self.
I'd also like to give a big shout out to all my long-time and a new readers and reviewers! Please, do continue to review this story, as it encourages me to make new updates faster! ^^ Stay determined, my loves!
