"I'm the owner of this house now. You will obey my commands from now on. All others are rendered null and shall be ignored."

The kettle turns on its perplexed heels over to Aofil. It opens its flap just a bit before turning back to face Asriel again. It shakes itself, and a fork comes over to tap a couple of times on where the kettle should have its temple should it have a head.

"At least your appliances don't believe that I'm you," Asriel sighs out as he follows the kettle walking back to the sink with his eyes. "Silver lining. Better than the red one I got."

"You're not me, Asriel." Aofil feels like they've said it a thousand times now. "I'm just as shocked and stunned about this as you are, but you are not me."

"Monsters are made from their soul. We're magic made manifest physically, powered by love, compassion, funneled through a catalyst that is our soul. I am my soul, and my soul is me. Or you, in this case. So who am I then, if not you? It's like if you didn't have your own DNA. That's who you are built up from. Your body someone else's, your brain someone else's, and your memories someone else's."

Asriel is offered a towel in his trying times, as well as some polish. He's not sure what to make of it.

"He's not waxing philosophical," Aofil informs the borderline sarcastic cup. "Leave us alone for the time being."

The cup shrugs its handle and jumps down from the table.

"Did Alphys base the personalities on Sans, or something?" Aofil mutters annoyed. "Although, that would have them lift less then a finger, so I guess not."

A deep and lamenting sigh from Asriel reminds Aofil why they're here. "Right." They take a deep and calming breath. "The piece of my soul that you have Asriel, I've had it missing for longer than I had it in me. It's not been mine for years. How it was still there I have no clue. It's just...I don't know, it's been there waiting, I guess. I've no idea about all this soul business, and frankly, I don't want to know anything. I'm not using it, and you are in need of it, so have it. It's absolutely fine by me. It is not mine, it is yours. It has no connection to me, and I don't want to hear anything stating otherwise."

Aofil presents their patch of fur over the table. "It's a fair trade, after all. Perhaps that's not enough for you, so maybe we can trade? If you want we can ask Alphys to find a way to switch back? You get your sliver of soul back, and I get the piece inside you. Sounds good?"

"We can't." Asriel shakes his head inside his wall of arms. "And that's not even beginning to think how the hell we're gonna switch to begin with." He lifts his head up and places his chin on his folded arms. "Pretty sure I'm only alive because it's a human sliver of soul that's inside me. Even a sliver is enough to keep a monster alive, apparently. I mean, we've always known to an extent that the difference would be enough, but I guess I'm literally a living proof. Another soul experiment for me to endure."

"The only important word in what you said was 'living', Asriel. That's the only thing relevant. You're alive, you're well, you're you." Aofil punctuates by tapping hard on the table with two of their fingers. "We'll forget about this, pretend it never happened," they offer with their open palm.

Asriel scoffs, sending his chin bouncing, almost clamping down on his lower lip as it falls down. "Pretend?" He nods. "So like, going on as usual?"

Oh for fuck-

Aofil pinches the bridge on their nose. "That's not what I meant, Asriel, and you know that."

"What did you mean by pretend besides pretending, Aofil?" Asriel is very eager to know as his brow sinks down over his eyes. "Pray tell how your human pretend differs from my monster pretend. Or is there even a difference to begin with now that I'm a monster with a human soul. No, not now, from when I came back. I didn't even come back now, did I?" Asriel throws a vicious nod towards Aofil with eyes peering through anger and confusion. "I just materialized. I'm nothing of Asriel. I'm just an imitation, a mirage of what he was. I don't even have the part of Flowey that was left from Asriel! That's in you, Aofil! You're more Asriel than I am!"

"Asriel-"

"No!" Asriel slams his hands down and pushes himself up on his feet. The chair falls over behind him, but is caught by the toaster making a heroic leap down from the counter. "I'm not Asriel! I'm not even Flowey! Mom and dad...Toriel and Asgore are growing older because of Asriel's fragment inside you, Aofil. Not because their son is alive, not because he came back. I'm here, yes, but I'm not Asriel. I'm not the son that died in their hands. I'm not the scared child that broke the barrier."

"Asriel, sit down."

Asriel's muzzle shakes, and it's not long before his entire body shakes as well. His eyes starts watering. "I'm not even the one Frisk hugged...but I remember them hugging me. I remember their hands rubbing my back. All of the fear Flowey had, all of the fear Asriel had, for one moment, it was gone. I hugged Frisk back, I cried on their shoulder. For just a short moment I felt like things were alright with the world. For just a short while I couldn't feel the weight of Mt. Ebott pushing down on me."

"Asriel." Aofil motions very carefully for his chair that the toaster is propping upright. "Sit down."

"I've been living like him. I've taken his place, hidden my true soul underneath an illusion. That's the only magic I'm capable of. Pretending. Lying. I've lived a life that's not mine, and been the prince that died. It's like that book."

"Which one?"

"I woke up human. Except reversed. I woke up a monster, but I'm a human, a sliver of one, and instead of being tossed out and vilified, I've been welcomed in with opened arms into a family that loves me."

Asriel's hand balls into a fist, clenching harder than anything Aofil's seen before. "But it's a lie." He slams his fist on his chest. "It's all a lie that I've told everyone! It's a lie I've told myself!" He lifts his fist over his hand. "My entire life is a lie!"

The table cracks in two.

Aofil flies out of their chair. "Sit down, Asriel!" they shout at the top of their voice. He's gone too far now! "If you really believe that you are me then you'll obey me because I have the overwhelmingly vast majority of my soul inside of me. I'm also a human! So if you really truly believe all of the fucking bullshit you've said so far you'll sit down and calm down because I told you so! Keep standing, and you've smashed my table for nothing! Less than nothing, even! It would have been for nothing even if you were me because then why would I smash my own furniture that I still need to use today, and also all the following tomorrows?"

Asriel lowers his head as thick tears run down his cheeks. His fist is quivering from the impact, but it's slowly releasing. His throat is clogged with all of things he want to say, all of the things he want to scream, but he can't say nor scream any of them. He's just...He's too…

He lands hard into the chair propped up by the toaster. His head disappears inside his hands, and drops fall from between his fingers. The cup lays the towel underneath his head on the broken table.

"At least I cry like him..."

Aofil sits hard back down too as they drag their palms down their face.

Everything with this. Just so damn...everything. Why does he keep on like this? He was fine just a couple of hours ago, talked with Aofil normally. Now again with these unearthed mountains of revelations that just keep on coming. Another to add to the mountain range spanning miles upon miles, raising far above the clouds.

Are they gonna have to explain to Toriel and Asgore that, not only does Aofil have a sliver of Asriel's soul, but Asriel has a sliver of Aofil's as well, and because of that he's just a creation spawn not from them, but from...some other form of magic?

And Asriel.

Aofil glances over to him, head lodged deep inside his hands, muzzle dragging back with each pained sharp inhale, exhaling equally as sharp, and with perhaps more pain. They let him cry for a bit. It sounds like he needs it.

Does it really mean that much to him about his soul? Does it for all of monsterkind? Aofil knew it was important, they remember the book Toriel gave them to teach from all those years ago. They also remember their own being the same as Chara's, the Soul Extractor, the fusion, both theirs with Asriel's soul, and Chara's with Asriel's soul. Their patch of fur, and all of the trouble it gave them.

That was supposed to be behind them though. That was supposed to have been cleaned off their slate once they talked with the monsters about it all. Confessed their soul for it to be cleansed of the past.

But yet again with this damn mess! Again with this soul business coming back to kick Aofil in the head. They had just started to get it under control, and now it's flourishing like their cheeks did before. It's literally crying out in front of them. How many more dark secrets are gonna be unearthed? How many more can there even be? Why can't magic and monsters just be normal?

Guess they answered their own question by stating it…

But here it all is. All of the magic, all of the monster, mixed together like a badly tightened ball of yarn after an hour in the centrifuge, and Aofil needs to untangle it.

Again.

"Asriel," Aofil blows their lips tiredly, "I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions now. You're gonna have to answer them. I'm sorry, but you have to."

"Just..." Asriel coughs a sob. "Just give me a couple of seconds."

Aofil nods. "Of course."

It takes closer to a couple of minutes before Asriel manages to get himself under enough control to speak. He accepts the paper towels handed to him by the cup, and he blows his nose a few times before feeling that he can breath through it again. He takes a big and long inhale as he swipes the tears away from his eyes. He exhales calmly, but there's still some crying left in his voice. "Alright, ask me."

"You ready?" Aofil makes doubly sure. "Take a few more minutes if you want."

"No." Asriel rubs his face in an attempt to wake him up further. "I need to do this, I need to grab it by the horns. Treat it while it's fresh, otherwise it'll get infected, as it always does. Frisk has been beating it into me for a while now, and I'd be lying to them if I don't take it to..." his hands slowly glide down his cheeks, "...soul."

Asriel ears flop violently as he shakes his head hard with a focused scowl flourishing on his face. "No! I can lie to myself, but not to Frisk. Not them, they're the only anchor I have."

"They're a good kid, and so are you, Asriel."

He nods, "Thanks," and collects himself as best as he can. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

Aofil lets a silent beat pass to make sure Asriel's comfortable with it. He's obviously not, but he's doing his damnedest to subdue it as best as he can.

They're forced to shake the thought of them taking credit for Asriel's bravery because he has their soul inside him. They clear their throat. "What do actually think? Really, what is it you're feeling? Be honest, please be honest, because otherwise we won't get anywhere."

Asriel drags a few more quiet sobs before leaning his chin on his balled together fists. "I...I don't know...I don't feel any different, and it feels weird that I don't. I'm not sure how to describe it."

"Like, physically? Mentally? Both?"

"Both, I think." Asriel scoffs a feigned chuckle. "Guess I now know why I can't do any magic. It's not really that I've changed or anything. I've had your soul for as long as I've lived, so why would me figuring it out be any different? It's not magically gonna give me magic, is it? You didn't know any magic before it broke off you, so why would I know any?"

"Sorry," Aofil offers. "Only dad knew any form of magic. Guess it skips a generation. Or at least, that's what I think it was. The only words I have of him saying that is when I was almost dying, so who knows how true that is actually. I guess I have that builder's word for it too, and the pastor's." Aofil scratches the side of their neck. "So yeah, it skips a generation, apparently." Wait a second… "You do know some magic though, right? Last time we sparred at Undyne's house you managed some fire."

"Yeah..." Asriel puts out his arms with his fingers flexed inwards. He tenses his entire body, but all that's created is a tiny flame not bigger than a lighter's. It fades away almost immediately, and Asriel bends over with his arms as support on his legs as he recuperates by breathing heavily. "Compare that to MK driving a car with his magic."

"Nothing you can improve upon?"

Asriel's brow sinks angrily for a brief moment before he relaxes them. "No, and I've tried and given it my all ever since it first manifested which was shortly after you left."

"Has it become any stronger since I came back?"

"No, it hasn't."

Aofil drums their fingers on their legs as they think. Maybe if… "Maybe if I learn some magic myself? Could that transfer over to you?"

"That...I don't know."

"Does anyone know?" Aofil shoots back. "Like you said, this hasn't happened before. Shouldn't I be able to learn magic since I have a piece of a monster soul inside me?"

Asriel doesn't answer. His mouth hangs half open as he thinks, his lips curling back and forth the slightest as he does. Finally his brows sink contemplatively. "Maybe? I've no idea."

"Wouldn't hurt to try."

"That's kinda what I'm afraid of, actually. If you learning magic means that the bond between you and your soul increases, like it does us monsters, then wouldn't that mean that the bond between you and me would grow stronger as well?"

Aofil wags their finger at Asriel while their own brow sink. "Good point. I didn't really enjoy having your thoughts in my head before. No offense."

"Maybe we should ask Alphys about it?" Asriel proposes halfheartedly. "She knows herself some soul, doesn't she."

"You feeling resentment against her for Flowey?"

Asriel shoots a vicious look over to Aofil that's way beyond needing a soul bond to be felt. "No, I'm not. That's Flowey, not me."

Right, Flowey is in Aofil still. "Gotcha. I hadn't asked before, but I know now. We'll have to approach carefully though if we're to ask her. She's still haunted by what she did. I figured as much when I asked her to run some tests on, well," Aofil lifts their arm with their fur, "you, and there are only a few more instances where I would describe something as dark as the shadow that fell over her face when I asked her that favor. She did the tests, probably because of the same reasons as you said. Need to treat the wounds and all."

"I need to word it properly for my parents as well." Asriel closes his eyes and shakes his head silently. "And I also guess that I've decided that I am Asriel after all since I called them my parents instead of Toriel and Asgore. Tell a lie enough and it becomes truth, it seems."

"Don't have to call it a lie to begin with," Aofil retorts. "It could just be me not knowing anything about souls and magic and such, but you did form when we were fused, so perhaps what was you just jumped ship and traded places? Why don't we just say that it happened that way? If you're so dead set on calling this a lie, then let's tell that one enough times so it also becomes a truth. Would explain why we split, but then again, you could make the argument that I sneezed so hard that we split and it would sound equally as convincing."

"You tell me."

Aofil looks through their wall towards the Dreemurr residence. "So you're planning to tell Toriel and Asgore about it?"

Asriel nods. "Probably for the better. I'll run it by Frisk first, see what they think."

"That's pretty grown up of you," Aofil feels the need to point out. Very grown up, in fact. "Enough with the secrets?"

"What has secrets done for us, really?" Asriel follows Aofil's eyes with his own. "Killed Chara, killed me, killed everyone."

Aofil nods, they're in agreement there. Better to warn the people around you before you rip the bandage off. Would've been better if they've learned that lesson a bit earlier, but many things would've been better if they'd learned of it earlier.

At least that have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. Unlike Chara.

"I'm not sure how they'll react though," Asriel says through a sigh. "They did take you having the piece of my soul inside you pretty well, but I think that this is gonna be a bit more of a punch in the gut for them." Asriel swivels his head around to meet Aofil. "I don't mean it in the sense that I think that you speaking up to them didn't matter in the slightest to them. It's just...well, I'm their son." Asriel looks down at his hands. "Or as close to their son as they can get."

"You're always gonna be their son, Asriel. No matter where, who, or why, you came from. It's Toriel and Asgore, you know your parents."

Asriel stands up with his arms pushing off his knees. "Guess it's time for them to know their son, then." He takes a final glance down on the divided furniture at his feet. "Sorry for this," he apologizes with a small motion of his hand towards it.

Aofil taps one half with their foot. "We'll worry about this later. You go home and deal with your soul first, that's more important. I have another one I can use."

"A spare table?"

Aofil shrugs before nodding their head to the basement door. "Gotta be one somewhere down there."

Asriel nods, "Right," before he makes his way into the hallway.

"Call me if you feel like you need me there for whatever reason, Asriel," Aofil shouts after him.

"Yeah," he shouts back before opening the door. "Sure."

Once alone, Aofil draws a sighs so heavy would it be pointed towards Mt. Ebott it would be knocked over, bringing sunlight to the Underground, and just like how every monster down there would have more sunlight than they could handle, it's just worsened Aofil's headache.

And here they thought that Muffin would be the worse that's happened them this day.

Wait...Where is Muffin?

Aofil spins their head around to their kettle. "Where's Muffin?" they ask in such a tone that the kettle flinches back. It looks around to the other appliances, but they all just shrug.

Aofil lunges themselves out of their seat. "Muffin!" they yell. They whistle for him. "I got spiders, Muffin!"

But no one came.

Not the tiniest sound of skittering legs barreling towards Aofil.

They charge the living room, but he's not there. Not in the hallway, nor in the basement. Aofil flies up the stairs, taking three steps at a time. "Muffin!"

Aofil almost tackles their bedroom door open. "Muf-"

Three sleepy eyes open up just the slightest before closing again. A long tongue emerges from the uneven mouth, and is flown across the rough, yet peaceful, face before being dragged back inside the dark cave that is Muffin's mouth again. He drags a bear plush closer to him with his legs, nuzzling its face against his. A smile of pure content forms on his lips.

Aofil heaves a relieved sigh. "There you are," they say while leaning their shoulder against the door frame. "And here I-"

Muffin burps, coughing out of him a sock that lands on the hardwood floor with a sloppy splat.

"Nevermind..."