Chapter Two: The Reformists

POV: Unknown l Location: Lasi Village, southeast of Mt. Ebbot

Asriel walked along the road and into the village, people were on guard here for obvious reasons and kept to themselves, there was a higher presence of Guards according to Chara, but Asriel minded his business and more or less this kept him from being noticed as anything other than your average wanderer.

On their way here, Asriel had been practicing with his new powers and found that he could assume the traits of the SOULs he's absorbed and as long as any determination was stored with Chara, he held no risk of melting, as for some reason it was specifically a monster's soul that couldn't hold too much determination, though curiously a thought came across Asriel's mind, if that was true, then what would happen if you injected determination into a soulless object or being, like say a flower?

Curiosity aside, Asriel reached his destination, or near it, as guards were ransacking Kris' home, carefully forming a magical wrist mounted blade, Asriel entered the house as the guards were preoccupied with finding something or someone and had neglected to watch the door.

He shut the door carefully, though this attracted the attention of the guards inside, one spoke up, saying "You there! Identify yourself and in the name of the King, you are to reveal any information on the residents of this home you know."

Asriel frowned and removed his hood, shocking them with his goatlike features as he said "I'm Asriel Dreemur, the Absolute God of Hyperdeath."

Warping his magic to alter the space around them into a kind of battlespace, Asriel made an environment that would allow him to let loose without damaging the surrounding house, the guards in a mixture of duty and terror, attacked. Asriel didn't need to fight at melee range, but he wanted to improve his skills as according to Chara, it was best to conserve their magic to avoid being detected by any wizards, the battlespace made that a moot point, though Asriel wanted to test his power somewhat, evading the seemingly slow humans easily, Asriel toyed with them, using only his magically forged hidden blade and bare hands. Though the guards had swords and spears, Asriel's speed and durability allowed him to toy with them as if they were just using wooden twigs. After getting a good idea as to what they were capable of, evading three spears lunged at him with ease, he sighed and wondered if there was any truth to the overwhelming power humans supposedly had, maybe it only applied to their magicians he thought.

Asriel had one more thing he wanted to try out, manifesting the trait of Bravery from one of the souls he took, he formed a semi-transparent, albeit orange colored mirage of a fallen human, shocking the guards. The apparition had no will of it's own, that was suppressed by Asriel and Chara's own will. Asriel stood by and crossed his arms, using his will alone to command the entity he decided to call an Echo.

The Echo moved slower than Asriel, but was able to keep up with the humans, it's trait amplified to have power it's fallen human never knew how to unlock, yet Asriel being a Monster, could direct it's magical traits as he pleased. Even if technically he was only 10 years old, he was indeed a deity compared to the average human, the Echo made short work of the human guards, beating them to death with it's bare hands, albeit it was comprised of both monster and human magic, so it was not a simple display of fisticuffs, the guards never stood a chance as the last one had his head swiftly rotated 180 degrees, the loud cracks from his spine snapping in several places disturbed Asriel, but he was hardened against it due to his high LV, which although it had not yet again been raised, his EXP did rise, humans must have been worth a lot, though while on average they strangely had little health, they could deal considerable damage, whereas most monsters had large health, but poor damage output due to their kindness, but Asriel, having gained so much LV and able to safely use determination due to taking a willing human soul, was an exception to this.

It's almost as if humans and monsters perfectly countered eachother.

Space around him returned to normal and Asriel searched the guards, finding a letter with a royal seal of the land he was in, which based on the signs and Chara's translations of the human's written language which differed from the underground's, was called the Serene Kingdom.

"Kind of generic sounding, but at least they're better at naming things than dad, he'd probably call it the Kingdom of Humans." said Asriel before he smirked briefly at his father's lack of creativity for names, even his own name is just a merging of the names of his parents, though that much can be excused, as plenty of cultures have a naming structure similar to that.

Chara, being a willing party in Asriel's quest, used his unique ability to detect the souls of others nearby and spoke to Asriel, saying "I can sense another SOUL nearby, this one has the primary trait of Determination like my own, it's probably Kris, upstairs, hiding under the bed, I suppose we got lucky and the guards had yet to search the upper floor."

Asriel nodded and walked upwards, saying "How long have you been able to sense SOULs? If I remember correctly, only Skeleton Magic is that connected to SOUL traits. Assuming mom's book was accurate." Chara replied "Well, let's just say I'm special. Just uh, keep in mind something about Kris."

"He's never seen a monster before and might react defensively?" said Asriel. Chara however said something the Dreemur wasn't expecting, saying "Well, maybe, but not what I was getting at. Kris is a bit of a two sided coin, mom said it had something to do with my grandmother, but basically, if Kris feels his choices don't matter, he'll react violently, no matter who is around him, friend or foe. I've gotten a few good kicks and scrapes in the past from him, though I can't say I hold a grudge, he is family after all. But he's also human, something to keep in mind."

Asriel was just finishing his ascent of the stairs when he replied, saying "Aren't you human too? I get hating grown ups for what they've done to you, but all humanity? Even the ones who have nothing to do with your suffering?" Does that mean you hate yourself too?"

Chara said "It's not that simple. I don't hate every person who is human, I hate Humanity. So to answer your question, I do and I don't. I don't hate myself, but I do hate my humanity. Humans are over-reactive fear mongers who will look for any excuse to gain power, wealth or fame. There are a few exceptions yes, who can overcome their humanity, a few are even monsterlike in their kindness. But most are slaves to their humanity."

Asriel nodded silently, understanding his best friend a bit more, then he heard shuffling. Rolling out of the underside of the bed was Kris, who indeed looked related to Chara, he was holding a knife and rushed Asriel, who casually slapped Kris aside, being careful not to hold any ill intent so as to not cause any real harm to his SOUL or body. Kris got up and entered a defensive stance before finally realizing he wasn't looking at one of the guards or even a human for that matter and he said "Who or what are you? And why are you here?"

Asriel looked down at the boy, although they were likely the same age, Asriel appeared as an adult compared to him due to having absorbed so many human souls, Asriel shrugged and said "I'm Asriel Dreemur, a Boss Monster. I was the best friend of your cousin Chara."

Kris eyed him suspiciously, then said "Prove it, tell me something that shows you knew them." Asriel gave a smug look and then said "Never get between Chara and a chocolate bar. It's a death sentence." Kris relaxed somewhat, though was still a bit confused and said "Well, okay I'll believe you for now. What are you doing here? Is my cuz' okay?" Asriel sighed and said "In a way, their body has passed, but they willfully gave me their SOUL so they could see the flowers of their village one last time, the humans there attacked me, thinking I killed him. Chara told me what little they know about the reformists and the human King's decree. There's a lot you need to be caught up on, but we should get out of here before more guards show up."

Kris nodded and said "Alright, I'll trust you for now. What about the guards downstairs? Did you deal with them?" Asriel nodded and said "You uh, don't have to worry about them anymore." Kris nodded and understood, saying "Good, after what they did to my parents, they deserved whatever you did to them."

A few minutes later, an Alleyway.

Using his magic to make a cloak for Kris to conceal his face, Asriel was able to keep anyone from questioning or stopping them, finding a secluded alley between some buildings, Asriel brought Kris up to speed, about Chara falling into the underground, and his actions in Ebbot Village. Kris listened well and understood, considering the pain the king's guards have caused him and his family, Kris now felt safe around Asriel and told Asriel that his parents were discovered as Reformists due to a meeting that occurred nearby, Kris knows the location of the next meeting, which is why the guards were searching for him, as his parents had held steadfast against torture and the guards ended up going too far, killing them before they could get the information they were after. Asriel then proceeded with Kris towards the meeting area in the outskirts, thanks to Chara's unique power, they were certain they were not followed.

A bar by the name of Humbly's

A bar in the town was apparently holding a private party, Kris however had his parent's password, so getting in was easy, at this time, nobody suspected Asriel's identity, given that Kris was trustworthy to them and they were also a little desperate for new members, with so many reformists executed since the King's decree.

One of the reformists, a woman with a blue shirt with two purple stripes, made Asriel stare with an expression of regret, though his hood kept anyone from noticing, since they also couldn't make out his face and he had formed a clever pair of gauntlets to conceal the appearance of his hands via magic.

That man's soul spoke to Asriel, Asriel however by now had learned to commune with the souls mentally, and so was able to reply without alerting anyone.

The man said "That's Alyssa, my ex-wife. You probably noticed she dresses like me. It's a long story." Asriel mentally replied "I take it since she's a reformist and your ex-wife, that you're a traditionalist?" There was a brief pause before the man's soul spoke again, saying "Yes. To put it bluntly, monsters were and always will be a threat. You're living proof of this, so many lives lost, our homes burned or made into a sullen reminder of the terror you inflicted. She wouldn't listen and after the decree, I did what I had to do to protect my child. She's a wanted fugitive now." Chara interrupted, saying "You know full well humans attacked first, in both the war and Asriel's case. Had you just ignored the taint of humanity within you, everything would be fine, your village would be intact and you would be alive. We only needed six souls, six traditionalists. But it seems Asriel has made a good point that I didn't consider with my plan. We can't rush this."

The man sighed and snapped at Chara, saying "If I wanted your opinion traitor, I'd have given it." Asriel spoke mentally again, saying "You seem, different from when we first talked. You were more understanding, now you're just confrontational." Chara then said "Yeah, he's probably suffering from split personality or something similar. Some mental afflictions are not biological, but rather based on the SOUL, at least that's how my mother explained it, not sure where she learned that, maybe from grandma."

Alyssa addressed some issues and as the chatter slowly died down, she spoke, saying "As you all know, we have news both sullen and hopeful. Kris' parents were caught and killed by the guard, though we have reason to believe they have not informed the guards about us. Kris was able to escape with the help of a stranger named Asriel. Asriel dear, would you please introduce yourself, whilst Kris has vouched for you, it would be best if we knew your face."

Asriel nodded and Chara silenced the man's SOUL with images of torment and erasure.

Approaching Alyssa and turning, he removed his hood, everyone was shocked to see he was not human, but rather a monster, something Kris neglected to explain, wondering still just how true to their beliefs the reformists were, but if Asriel was willing to reveal himself, then Kris likely would be more open in the future about this to his fellow reformists, if things went well that is.

There were murmurs, some Asriel could hear, others were hushed or drowned out by others, Alyssa herself was shocked, before she composed herself and said "Let him speak, we did not expect someone, like you to even be able to walk on the surface yet, how did you manage to break the barrier? Clearly you're a monster as angels and demons have not walked the Earth for over a century."

Asriel sighed and said "A human fell down into the underground, a human named Chara. I found them injured and crying, so I comforted them. Eventually he became my adopted brother, but then he got sick, he was dying and we couldn't do anything to stop it, he asked to see the flowers of his village one last time, but nobody could grant this request, since the barrier existed. But I was determined to help my brother, so we talked about it, I absorbed his SOUL when he died and took his body past the barrier, as a Monster Soul and Human Soul working in tandem may cross the barrier. The humans in the nearby village assumed I killed Chara, so I had to defend myself. The barrier however is not broken, I believe it is not prudent to do so, what I've learned thus far has only reinforced that belief as well."

More murmurs, some gasps, the news had reached Lasi of course by now and Asriel made no effort to conceal it, his expression had some bit of remorse and guilt to it, but his SOUL was hardened by both what his quest was and the LV. Alyssa seemed to step back briefly before mustering the courage to speak up, saying "So Ebbot Village, was self defense?"

Asriel looked over at her and nodded, saying "Yes. I regret what I had to do. But it was that or death. Any sane human in my place would have done the same. Unless they wanted to die that is."

That response seemed to silence most voices in the room, many nods of agreement came by, but a few simply shook their hands and kept quiet, but some more murmurs later, even they rationalized that Asriel's actions were justifiable. So many humans listening to reason seemed to give Asriel and Chara some hope that peace could be achieved, but Chara still knew that peace and freedom are not free, their price is blood, sweat, toil and tears.

A price Asriel and Chara are more than willing to pay, the question is then, are the reformists willing to pay this price?

Alyssa spoke, saying "I, cannot fault you then. But I have a personal question, among the people there, was there anyone, dressed like myself? Did they have a child with them?" Asriel looked over at her and said "There was someone there yes, a grown man, but I did not see a child with them. I'm sorry to say, they too attacked me. But, in a way, they're not really dead."

Alyssa was confused and replied "What do you mean?" Chara spoke mentally to Asriel, saying "This is a bad idea." Asriel ignored Chara and made visible all the souls he had taken, shocking everyone present, even those without skill or experience with magic knew what a SOUL was, public education made that much available to everyone.

Asriel then spoke, saying "When the time is right, I will break the barrier and free my people. But whilst the underground is vast, it is not unlimited in size and humans still outnumber us and to clarify, this was never really my plan. Chara came up with this plan after I had to defend myself."

Well that wasn't entirely true, Chara made the plan long ago, but the reformists didn't need to know that.

There was an awkward silence, before Kris broke it, saying "He saved my life, if you all respected my parents, then you should listen to him with open-mindedness. Aren't the reformists here to advocate change so we can break the barrier and welcome monsters back to the surface in peace? Or are those just empty words so you can recruit members for some other purpose?"

Kris' words were wise beyond his young age, and there were many nods and murmurs. Alyssa nodded and said "We need to discuss this in detail, but for now, it would be rude of us not to extend hospitality to Asriel, he saved Kris' life so a kind welcome is the least we can do in thanks."

More nods of agreement and Asriel said "Golly, if only more humans were as reasonable as you." Asriel made the SOULs disappear from sight, though they were still within him, he just made them invisible to the naked eye again. The premise of a private party was then kept up, with a few humans talking with Asriel about small things, like favorite foods, flowers and personal preferences. But there were also many questions, about monsterkind, their culture, the underground. Asriel did his best to explain the ways of his people, about how they value peace and cooperation, about how although his father is king, he is kind and treats his subjects as equals, no that wasn't exactly correct, now that Asriel thought about it, Asgore always saw himself as a servant to his people, not the other way around, if anything, he valued his citizens more so than himself. He was a big fluffy pushover afterall...

Another shocking thing most didn't expect, was learning that Asriel was in fact, only 10 years old... He did his best to explain monster magic, how most monsters' appearances are based on their magic or even to an extent, will shaped. Asriel demonstrated this by altering the color of his fur from snow white to jet black and then to a crimson red, then back to it's natural snow white color, which was it's default due to reasons Asriel himself didn't fully know, perhaps one day he'll ask Toriel about it.

So far, so good, the reformists are reasonable and willing to help, they've given Asriel and Kris a place to stay and wait out the issue with the guards, later the reformists would have plans to smuggle the two out of the town to the countryside, where they have a secret hideout.

The Underground, True Lab

Asgore approached a tall skeleton by the name of W.D. Gaster, he was looking at a report from one of his aides when the King entered.

Gaster spoke first, saying "Greetings my King. I take it you're here about your son's adventure past the barrier?" Asgore nodded and said "Tell me, have you made any progress on the barrier?" he was to the point, which is usually uncharacteristic, but Gaster knew his son had more or less just become a runaway after being forced to kill humans in self defense, so he understood. Gaster knew what Asgore wanted to hear, but Gaster had only bad news to give, so he spoke, saying "Unfortunately, even if all of monsterkind in the underground were to combine their magic, it wouldn't be enough to even crack the barrier. Worse still, based on my readings, I have reason to believe the barrier has in fact, been strengthened." Asgore was shocked, and said "Could it be that the humans figured out what was going on and reinforced it?" Gaster shook his head and said "No, whilst indeed they would have that power, I found elements of monster magic in the barrier where none was before. I have reason to believe Asriel was the one who strengthened it, unless there's another monster up there with several human souls absorbed. However the energy level is slowly but surely reducing, likely the reinforcement is temporary, by design or chance I cannot determine."

Asgore was confused, why would Asriel strengthen the barrier? Perhaps to prevent other humans from entering and harming them? There had to be a good reason. Asgore sighed and said "I see. I'm unsure as to why Asriel would do this, but he must have had a good reason. Is, anyone else aware of this?" Gaster shook his head and said "You know I'm very discretionary. This is information that could cause complications, I know many who would consider what Asriel has done to the barrier to be treason, or at the very least, wrong. However I did discover a weakness in the barrier that even this reinforcement isn't able to account for."

Asgore had hope in his face as he replied "What is this weakness?" Gaster then said "Well, unfortunately, it's something only a very experienced Skeleton Monster can exploit, as our magic is very closely tied to the fabric of reality. Recent discoveries have led me to conclude that our reality is, alterable. Programmable if you will, much like a computer program or simulation. Like a video game, our reality has code, code that can be altered. Of course one has to be very careful when altering code like this, more problems could occur, all of reality could crash and cease to exist. But I'm confident I've learned just enough to fool the barrier into thinking a skeleton monster has both a monster and human soul. However it would be more difficult and dangerous to apply it to any other monster type. This does however, merit further research, as if I can push this understanding of code further, it could be possible to simply delete the barrier like an unwanted file."

Asgore rubbed his chin and nodded, listening intently to his Royal Scientist's words. Asgore then said "Are there any skeleton monsters who could be sent to the surface then? I worry for my son, and also if we can send an advance party to the surface, we could collect the SOULs needed to break the barrier from any hostile humans."

Gaster nodded and said "Out of all the six thousand skeletons in the mountain, only two are powerful enough to slide through the barrier's gaps. Me and my eldest son, Sans. I do not believe thus we have the means to send an advance party just yet, as I am needed to ensure the barrier can be broken and Sans is even younger than Asriel currently, though he does have an exceptional skill with teleportation magic, what he and I like to call, shortcuts, he is physically frail, and I unfortunately have reason to believe his max health will not increase with age. It doesn't seem to be any medical defect, I can only point to one possible cause, that he was simply destined to have a base stat of one. It would take years to train a skeleton to be able to slide through the barrier with what I've learned, anyone not skilled enough could very likely find themselves, well, erased in a way that we'd never even know. I believe my report on the CORE project will best explain that."

Asgore was a little confused, but nodded and said "I will re-read that report then when I have time. Thank you for doing what you have been able to, please continue your research into the barrier, if there is anything I can provide, don't hesitate to ask." Gaster nodded and made an OK gesture with his left hand, Asgore understood and turned to leave.

There was something in fact, that Asgore could provide to help, but Gaster could not in good conscience request it, as it involved experimentation on live subjects. Gaster sighed and checked himself, his LV was at 7, his EXP reflected this. Very few monsters who lived through the war remain. Gaster, Gerson, the king and queen, are but a few in the small roster of war veterans in the underground, the rest of monsterkind has no experience with war outside of history books and video games.

Some time later...

Gaster was about to head home for the night when his magic sensed something, something, off.

He turned to see what appeared to be a more grown Sans, wearing a blue jacket. Gaster stared at the adult Sans, who although was still about as tall as a human child, could easily be identified by Gaster as an adult by simply looking at his SOUL.

Sans looked around and then at Gaster, he was about to say something and had an expression that stated he had something important to say.

But then crimson red strings made of determination latched around Sans and before Gaster could reply or even react, the adult sans blinked out of existence.

Gaster was confused, intrigued and curious at the same time, but for now, would keep this incident to himself.

To be continued...