The mid-afternoon sunlight streamed through the second-story bedroom window, painting the room in golden hues. The room was well furnished, tastefully decorated, and cheerful. The white wooden dresser held an array of clothes, and the closet was filled with shirts, pants, dresses and shoes. Several bookshelves lined the walls. A variety of toys filled other shelves and a toy chest in the corner. Other than the bed, which was currently being jumped on by a furry boy wearing a purple cape, the most prominent feature of the room was an extra-large desk with several drawers and room enough for two chairs. One chair was occupied by a girl with long auburn hair, who was bent over a sheet of paper she was working on. The other chair was being used sporadically, as its occupant kept leaving it in order to resume bouncing on the bed. A sewing machine had been pushed to the back of the desk in order to make room for the paper and a sizeable assortment of crayons, colored pencils, glitter pens and fine-tipped markers.
"So, when Togore gets the call," Asriel said excitedly as he went up and down, "he runs outside the restaurant and goes into the phone booth in order to change into Aerizel! And when he-"
"Why does Togore need a phone booth? And why is there even a phone booth in New Town?" Chara interrupted.
"Um…" The bouncing slowed for a minute. "I dunno - that's just how it works in that comic book mom let me get. Oh! Maybe it's because not all monsters have cell phones, so they need to use a phone booth to make calls!" The bouncing resumed. The locket that boy was wearing banged repeatedly into his chest.
Chara shook her head. "All right, whatever, I'll put in a little booth here next to the restaurant." Her pencil continued its work.
"And then, when he turns into Aerizel, the phone booth explodes because now he's huge and powerful! Bwoooosshhh!" The explosive sound effect was accompanied by wide arm motions to demonstrate the blast and a flying jump off the bed.
"Ugh!" Chara started erasing the rectangle she had begun. "Ok, fine, it's an exploding phone booth now." The rectangle was replaced with a starburst and radiating lines of wreckage.
Asriel came over to inspect the progress, then resumed his thinking position on the bed. "And then Aerizel bursts out, and everyone points and says 'Look, it's Aerizel. He's come to save us! He's the strongest monster in the Caverns, and he's our hero!'"
"I'm not writing all that in, Ree," Chara muttered.
"And then, he uses his magic to fix the phone booth, and then he and his-"
"What?" The girl put her pencil down and turned to glare at her brother. "Why he is fixing the phone booth now? I just blew it up!"
Asriel's wide eyes were all innocence as he stopped bouncing. "Because if he doesn't fix it, then the people won't be able to make any calls!"
Chara stared at him for a moment, incredulous. Then she slowly turned back to the desk.
"Ok, you know what? Fine. I'll just add another panel with the magically fixed phone booth back. And Ree, would you please get off my bed?! Mom is going to be mad if she finds you doing that!"
"Ok, just a minute!" (bounce bounce bounce) "So, Aerizel's brother and sister come out of the restaurant too, and together they all fly to their base just outside the mountain. Then they get in their rocket car and start driving down to where the bad guys are!"
"I still don't understand why flying superheroes need a rocket car," Chara grumbled as she chose a different colored pencil. "That makes no sense."
"It's a magic car that's super big inside! It's got all the sensors and spy equipment they need to see what's going on. And it's also got a kitchen with food! And there's a TV where they can play video games while the car automatically drives itself to where they need to go, and it has bedrooms so they can sleep if it's a long trip and wake up when they get there!"
Chara lifted her head slightly, the pencil pausing in mid-air. Then she resumed her work. "I guess that's sort of cool."
A child with an untidy mop of hair chose that moment to poke his head into the room. "Hey guys, MK and his sister and parents are here, and he brought his laser tag set!"
"Oh, cool!" said Asriel as he took a flying leap off the bed.
"I'm a monster!" announced Chara, putting her pencil down.
"Oh! Then I wanna be a monster too! Me and Chara are monsters!" Asriel added enthusiastically.
The boy in the doorway sighed heavily, a sound of exasperation that was clearly not in keeping with his grin. "You guys are always the monsters. Ok fine, but that means me, Mike, and Missy are going to be the humans."
"Come on, Frisk, that's not fair!" Chara's crimson eyes glared at him. "It's two against three and they can aim better with their tails than either of us can with our hands!"
"Tough beans!" Frisk said, still grinning. "But we'll switch it up after a while. Come on!" He turned and thumped his way down the stairs.
"Come on, Chara! Let's show them what Aerizel and Ky-Ra can do!" Asriel said excitedly. "Oh! Get your cape too!"
"Ok, I'll be right there."
Asriel took off after his brother while Chara slid out of her chair and hurried over to the dresser. Fumbling through one of the drawers, she at last pulled out a long purple cape identical to the one her brother was wearing. Fastening it around her neck, she carefully tucked the golden locket she was wearing under her shirt collar, then ran out the door and down the stairs.
The bedroom is silent and empty now. But only for a while. The toys, books, clothes, and other things in the room wait patiently for their owner to return. The bed, neatly made earlier that morning but now a rumpled mess, will be the focus of further bouncing and related complaints before too long. When drawings are done, books will be read, or games will be played, or a new sewing project will be started. The room will be lively again very soon.
Sounds begin to drift in through the window from the backyard. On the patio below the bedroom, four adult monsters are gathered around a table, sipping lemonade, talking with each other, and occasionally watching squealing children running around and firing plastic guns at each other. One human in purple and blue lies dead in a heap on the ground, which doesn't stop him from laughing and watching his teammates. Two lizard children are trying to use their parents as monster shields, their tails snaking out to take shots at the human girl, who is unable to shoot back effectively because her other brother, resplendent in green and yellow with his cape flying, keeps jumping in front of her in order to protect her and return fire.
As the yelling and electronic blaster sounds continue to float upwards, the sun's warm rays fall on the desk in the bedroom where the unfinished comic strip lies. In another day or two it will be finished. Then, after it has been read by the rest of the family, it will either be added to a collection of adventures in a folder in the desk, or it may, if it is particularly exciting, join a large collection of pictures that are taped to the wall by the desk, or perhaps join the pictures on the walls in the bedroom next door. The progression of pictures on the wall from left to right shows a wide variety of quality and gives evidence of multiple artists as the stories progress, though they all share a common theme.
But of all the drawings, only one of them framed. It holds the most honored spot of all the illustrated adventures, hanging in the center of the wall, directly over the desk. The subjects of the drawing are the same as the ones in the other pictures around it, so a casual observer might not realize that the framed picture depicts the focal point of the Caverns' history.
It is a crayon drawing of a powerful monster firing a huge blast of energy at a shimmering wall to his right, which is shattering into pieces. Next to him, drawn in more detail by a different hand, a girl with long auburn hair and a tousle-headed boy are flying next to the monster. Their arms are held out towards him, and waves of power are pulsing from the bright red hearts on their chests into the glowing white, inverted heart of the immense figure beside them. On the ground all around the three heroes are dozens of figures, arms raised in jubilation. Two of them, a man and woman both in purple, stand closest to the heroes, smiling broadly.
The illustrated history continues to the right of the framed picture, although it appears drawings have not been added to the wall as frequently as they once were in another house long ago. The pictures here show signs of greater quality, the result of collaboration between two or three artists. Many of the drawings now depict the heroes under a blue sky rather than in a grey and gloomy world.
And if the compendium of adventures doesn't receive additions quite as frequently as it used to, perhaps it's only because the historians are too busy. Those who chronicled the events of the Caverns, who themselves were once confined in shadows with little more than hopes and dreams to sustain them, are now free. To be sure, there will be many more adventures in the Caverns and beyond. There will always be enemies to stop, new places to explore, and endless adventures for Aerizel and his siblings, Princess Ky-Ra and Prince Fahrask. But if those tales are not documented quite as often as before, it's only because the three young, inseparable historians are simply too busy exploring their own wide-open world and finding new adventures every day.
This chapter brings our story to an end. Thank you very much for reading it!
The next and final chapter is entirely optional and simply provides some behind-the-scenes details about my headcanon and the decisions that went into the narrative.
I really enjoyed writing this story, and if it brought you any happiness then I'm very glad. Please consider leaving a review! I'd be happy to read any thoughts you may have. And if you liked this tale, perhaps you'll enjoy Better Than New, another short story I wrote about the Dreemurr family.