(18)

He was in that darkness again. After that feeling of movement from the void, Leontius had blacked out and was in a situation not unlike the odd dream he had in the Waterfall Cavern after Undyne broke the boardwalk he'd been on. It felt strange as well, like it wasn't just his mind or consciousness. Like it was shared…

"Hello." An image of a human child slowly faded in from the dark unconsciousness, he appeared to be around twelve, maybe thirteen years old. A mess of long dark-brown hair sat atop his head, bangs framing his pale face and gray eyes. Leontius was uncertain, but he suspected this boy looked somewhat like he himself did at that age. The teen even had a familiar solemn look and air about him. He was wearing an outfit quite similar to Asriel's…

The boy nodded his head as Leontius thought of Asriel, and things became clear. This was Characas, the human child Toriel and Asgore had adopted long ago.

"You've managed to save Asriel. That's… impressive. I've seen Frisk go down a similar path plenty of times, but Asriel always went soulless in the end… I'm actually glad it happened differently in this timeline."

Characas made an inquisitive look.

"You've… heard about me. I know you have. I'm sure you know I wasn't exactly the nicest when I was alive. I was quite hateful, towards a lot of things. Humans, specifically. I mostly ended up like this when I learned about the war, it made me resent our people… it made me want to destroy them. But… after being stuck in this timeline with these… consequences… over and over… I've seen our kind suffer in ways that make even my skin crawl."

'How do you know… you had died long before the surface fell to chaos.'

"Well, when you're in a situation as… unique? Yes, unique, as mine, you're pretty much stuck everywhere and nowhere at once. Physically, I'm buried under that bed of flowers you faceplanted on when you first entered the Underground. Toriel… mom… took me from my coffin in New Home when she left Asgore and buried me there. I'm able to appear this way to you for a few reasons; my powerful hate being one. The other though... this place, it… changed me. The monsters don't know it, but their souls are powerful in a way they don't comprehend, a way that's not able to be harnessed or exploited. Whatever it is, humans are affected by it and don't quite stay the same… so my spirit remains, even after my soul has been gone for so long. And before you ask, yes, it's changed you too, but it can only do so much to undead…"

After 'inspecting' Leontius for a few silent moments, Characas continued that thought. "At least, for now…"

'…?'

"Anyways, I also wanted to address some fears you had. You have broken the cycle in this timeline, now time and events can finally move on, after so long. You understand the significance of that, you've lived it plenty of times. You most likely don't have to worry about any more resetting nonsense from this point on."

That most definitely put some of Leontius' mind at ease, but he didn't miss an important bit of information Characas had just revealed. 'So you're like me and Sans then, you know about the timelines.'

Characas nodded but held a finger up as if to add to the statement. "Don't forget poor Asriel. He's actually one of the biggest factors to time getting out of whack… and really, it's all my fault he ended up as a flower, all my fault why pretty much everything down here happened the way it did. My fault dad declared war… my fault mom left him. It was just some hate-fueled plan of mine that spun out of control…"

'I thought you got sick…? Is that not why Asriel took you to the surface, to see the flowers of your village again?'

Characas looked sullen. "No, that's really just what mom and dad thought. It was actually a plan… I poisoned myself with buttercups, Asriel absorbed my soul, and we left the Underground through the barrier. I told him we'd save the Underground by getting six more human souls, but I actually wanted to take control of his powerful body to kill as many people as I could. I took him over as soon as he absorbed my soul, carried my corpse through the barrier then to my village… and tried to use our power to slaughter everyone there. But Asriel resisted and instead let himself take the hits, and got us back home. He's a good kid… but thanks to me, both our souls were gone for good after his was lost, and he ended up as a soulless flower, still corrupted by my soul's hate. But…"

Characas actually started to tear up, but he played it off like the emotionally masking teen he was, acting like he'd gotten some 'dust' in his eye. "You've put a stop to it. Asriel's back and he has a soul, you've broken the loop in time… and I've existed long enough in your timeline to let my hate go…" After that, Characas was silent for a while.

'I need to ask you something. '

Characas was at attention again. "What is it?"

'This dream, or mind, whatever it is, it feels familiar. Have we shared this in the past? Perhaps after-'

"-Undyne dropped you deeper into the Waterfall Cavern? Yes. When you fell on my grave, my spirit attached to you. I've been faint since your soul is far too powerful and well in control for me to really influence you, but I've been there nonetheless. At most, I shared that dream. I had to, seeing you and mom traveling to stop dad from doing something reckless. I wanted to show you a little more, but you woke up a bit after that, so I would occasionally try to drop a hint here or there about what was happening after that. In some of Frisk's timelines, I've done far worse things when I took him over, but you know how it is with this one."

Characas was silent again, his guilt getting to him. A sudden shift in the consciousness rumbled, and Characas "looked back" to Leontius.

"Seems like you have arrived. You'll be waking up soon, and I'll be leaving you. Hopefully, I'll be able to rest now, knowing things have finally been solved… goodbye Leontius. Take care of Asriel and mom for me."

'…'

Characas immediately vanished, and the dream was dashed away by voices from the waking world…

vvv

Leontius suddenly regained consciousness and sat up, looking around in a slight panic from the awakening. He was back in the Barrier area, with Asriel asleep at his right side. Looking away from the seemingly endless hallway and the young boy, he noticed Toriel and Asgore to his left near the exit arch.

The two seemed to be arguing quite animatedly about something, and just as Toriel was about to poke Asgore's chest out of annoyance, she caught sight of Leontius. She seemed to forget all about Asgore and started briskly walking over to where Leontius was sitting with a deeply worried look. She had not yet seen Asriel, who was hidden from view by Leontius' large frame and coat.

Toriel stood next to Leontius and was about to say something when he shifted out of the way, sitting against the barrier wall in an almost tired fashion, all while giving Toriel an expectant look. "I believe I found someone you will be excited to see."

The moment Toriel laid eyes on her son, brought back from oblivion, she was rendered speechless.

In a state of near-complete shock, she fell to her knees next to Asriel and slowly touched his face, making sure he was real, making sure she wasn't just dreaming. Toriel was awash with emotions. Asriel was back. She silently fell into a sitting position next to Leontius and pulled Asriel up into her arms, holding onto him like he'd disappear if she let go.

She started to slowly rock with Asriel in her arms, nearly about to break down into tears of happiness. "My child…"

Toriel looked over to Leo, needing to know how this was possible, but she could not find the ability to get the words out. Leontius did not speak either, but he gave her one of his rare smiles.

He wasn't quite in the state to give the long-winded explanation he'd need to make sense of this to her anyways, Asriel had given his soul quite the battering in his godlike forms.

He found that his claymore and one of Asriel's Chaos Sabers had ended up appearing a short distance away from him, so he tiredly made to inch his sword over to him with his boot. He felt like he'd need some healing magic or Estus, especially after removing a part of his soul (even though it was a small piece, the effects were still evident).

Once he got the weapon near him, he grasped at the talisman and recalled the aspects of the first healing miracle that came to his mind, then released the talisman and let the magic rejuvenate him as he leaned back against the barrier wall with a breathless sigh. Looking back to Toriel, he noticed she was rubbing the sleeping boy's head, still just as overwhelmed as any mother would be in her situation.

Asgore had also come over to see Leontius, but he was rendered just as speechless as his ex-wife. As he looked at his long-lost son and Toriel, he could feel his long-set depression lifting, but there were still things that weighed heavily on him. He'd just learned his promise to get his people to the surface was pointless and found out Toriel still wanted nothing to do with him. He'd been attacked by some flower… thing... blanked out, and the six souls were gone when he came too. The whole situation was a mess, but his son was somehow back.

Asgore wanted to ask the human-undead-whatever he is, how he'd gotten his son back. "Leontius… I… must ask you, how… what… please, explain to me, I'm just having a slight breakdown at the moment."

The undead waited a few moments, his healing spell was nearly finished, sighing in relief as it ended. "...It is a… complex story, if you would like something more or less condensed."

After a wordless nod from Asgore, Leo continued.

"That flower that attacked us was actually the soulless husk of your son, a completely different personality to Asriel. After he stole the human souls… and everyone else's… he managed to revert to Asriel. He had me confused with- erm… someone else, and we did battle. He put up quite the fight and thrashed me good, but I managed to use an old technique to pull everyone's souls free of him. After that, he came to his senses. He freed the six human souls, and then nearly accepted that he would vanish too, having no soul of his own. But I… gave him a piece of mine so he could remain here."

After that, he looked upon the sleeping child in his mother's embrace. "There is more to it than that… but I will just say that he has been through quite a lot, and it does not surprise me he is still sleeping."

Meanwhile, the parents had been flabbergasted to an even greater extent. Both at the fact that Leontius had given a piece of his soul to Asriel, and Toriel at the knowledge that, in a way, her son had attacked Leontius in the Ruins, and she had flung a fireball at him in turn. But she put it out of her mind.

She had Asriel again, and Leontius had made it possible. He'd even given up a piece of himself for her son.

With a sigh, the now slightly less depressed king felt like making a suggestion. "If it's alright with you two, I'm going to return to my home… you are welcome to join me there while we wait for him to wake up." He then left the Barrier room, his feet feeling like they were made of lead.

Leo and Toriel sat for a few more moments, the undead stretching to get his slightly healing-numbed body feeling normal, while Toriel continued to come to terms with the whole situation, occasionally glancing between her son and the man beside her. Leontius then stood up and retrieved both his and Asriel's swords, sheathing his own and inspecting the Chaos Saber. The all-black blade felt incredibly light, and it was quite fluid in the hand, like it begged to be used in Asriel's odd and dramatic fighting style.

Toriel watched him inspect the weapon, and got curious. "What is that? I don't think I have seen you use that sword, is it from your box?"

Leo gave the blade a careful and slow swing with just his wrist, the lithe blade giving no resistance. "No, this is actually one of Asriel's swords. I say 'one of' because he summoned quite a few, but he did not dispel or destroy this one." After that, he opened up his box on his belt and let it pull the weapon in.

Toriel gave a huff and looked down at her son before standing, still holding him. "A bit heavier than I remember… we should follow Asgore, I need to speak with him."

Leontius nodded, and the duo then headed to Asgore's home, side by side as they walked, Asriel not stirring much in his mother's arms as they went.

But while they walked, Leontius' mind worked away at what Characas and Asriel had told him. It wasn't long until his ruminations took a back seat when Toriel had walked closer to him to get through the arch. He started to see her in a different light based on the things the kids had said but decided now was not the time to focus on it.

Asgore's home wasn't far now.

(18)