We now enter the present. The Human Wizards have completed the barrier spell, closing off the entire cave system magically, only allowing effortless travel from the outside into Mt. Ebott.
Sub-Chapter 1: The Parting
A few more poetic and creative monsters have suggested to call the Cave system "The Underground", as opposed to the Surface world above.
King Asgore Dreemurr liked that Idea. It makes sense, and isn't too pessimistic... He thought of this as he walked up to the cave entrance. It barely was recognizable as a hole in the mountain now, an opaque, white... surface, almost, covered up the darkness that lay behind it. This is the barrier; the shimmering, glowing white seal which most likely will be the last thing he will see from the outside of the mountain.
Asgore stops two or three meters in front of the white pulsing haze, and turns around. He is the last monster to enter the "Underground", just like a captain, who leaves the sinking ship last. His people had granted him this last wish.
Asgore takes a long, moody look towards the rising sun, which just reached the horizon, shyly poking out behind the mountain peaks in the distance. Far beneath him, the vast forest expands, needle trees in similar quantities to deciduous ones, surely filled with many different animals which probably will wake up soon.
The entrance is a few meters behind him. It must be facing east, he remembers, as the sun rises there. This morning is promising a beautiful day, with singing birds and blooming flowers...
On days like these...
He wishes he could stay home in bed, not getting up as long as he wants to, breathing in the cold, fresh, almost nutritious feeling air when he opens a window...
The gnashing sound of someone walking on the gravel pathway which leads up to the entrance, pulls Asgore out of his memories. He looks up and sees a captain of the human military approaching him. Or was it a lieutenant? A commander? Asgore never understood Human rank distribution, it was just so complicated... But the man which was walking towards him now definitely had some commandeering position, so much Asgore certainly can remember.
"Your majesty? Are you ready?", he softly asks.
The young King Asgore lets himself a few seconds, just to think shortly and to appear more dramatic and answers: "I think so, yes. At least as ready as I can be..." He looks at the Human soldier. A tall man, wide shoulders, quite sporty, in fact, yet not without past application for his muscles, as Asgore feels the experience he projects."Sir... uh..."
"Danforth. Sergeant Danforth, your majesty." The Human officer replies.
"Nice to meet you Sergeant." King Asgore answers, "No need to call me majesty. I am not King over you. Asgore is fine, or if you wish so, Mister Dreemurr is OK too. I believe we probably will not meet again..."
The two of them are silent for a few seconds. Asgore's view sweeps across the landscape again, Sergeant Danforth awkwardly takes a look at the barrier. "Thank you... uh, mister Dreemurr..." he responds. "You can call me Fradge, if you so like. I'm fine with 'Sarge', too."
"Fradge... I haven't heard that name before." Asgore mumbles and falls quiet shortly. "Well, I believe I cannot lengthen it out much longer, so Fradge..." Asgore lifts his hand and offers it to Sergeant Fradge Danforth. He accepts it, and they shake hands.
"I wish you a good life, Fradge. I hope you will be satisfied with your choices in your future.", Asgore says, with a hunch of bittersweetness in his eyes.
"Have a great life, too, mister Asgore. May the embers burn brightly upon your future."
"..." "They will." Asgore replies, looking down at the ground again. He covertly wipes a tear out of his eye.
Danforth looks aside, the large man slightly embarrassed at the king's weakness. "Well... I suppose... uh... That this might a final goodbye?"
He offers his hand again, and they shake hands. Both men have the same expression on their faces: the bittersweet confidence, the hope that tomorrow will come, but something important will be missing...
"Goodbye, Sergeant Fradge Danforth, It was a pleasure to meet you."
"Goodbye, your majesty, King Asgore Dreemurr. The same applies to you."
The men separate and Asgore readies himself to pass the barrier. Danforth stands with his arms crossed behind his back, the chest pushed out, and a grim look in his face, watching Asgore. This King most certainly was too young and traumatized to be a great leader his people could look up to. It shows his character though, a man with evil in his heart would become a psychopath, he wouldn't be sad.
Just in front of the barrier, Asgore stops and looks back at Danforth. The Sergeant nods, and salutes for valediction. Asgore smiles sadly, and proceeds into his prison.
The Barrier seems solid, but if you try to touch it, your hand passes through. It still remains opaque, so that the parts entered into it disappear from sight.
The last monster entered the Underground, and Sergeant Danforth's job was done. He turned to his left, away from the entrance, and returned to his soldiers. They gathered their equipment, and left Mount Ebott, returning to Human territory.
Sub-Chapter 2: Underground
Asgore trotted down a dark tunnel. He probably should have talked a bit more with Sergeant Danforth, but he already said too many painful goodbyes. Building up a connection to another person just to break it again, doesn't feel good. He sighed.
Now that he was alone, he could cry unseen. The hard feeling of loss, feeling like the inescapable pulling force of a black hole on one's heart, mixed in with the heavy down-pull that goes hand in hand with dejectedness, was what he felt. The pressure of the expectations everyone laid upon him. The forced strong appearance he had to show everyone, the incapability to be honest with everyone. His Dead father...
How should he build up a strong outer shell when his inside is broken? Would his people accept a weak king? He probably would only pull down everyone, he feared that everyone would be sad and depressed only because he took their last hope...
oh... Oh No, he realised, I have even more responsibility than I thought!
And worst of all, he was alone with all that, no mother, no father, no siblings not even his friends, now that he was king. Sure, they will still try to help him wherever they can, support him, but they won't...
Understand him.
This is the burden every leader must face. You receive power over others, but you are responsible for them, having to ensure their well-being. Otherwise, you won't be leader for long; the ones you lead will die if you send them into unnecessary danger. And you lose the personal relations to others. You are respected, yet not particularly as one of them. As a leader, you will inevitably be an outsider.
This was no help for Asgore's confidence. He slowly calmed down, not being any less sad and depressed, but more controlled now. He stood up, upright, nearly confident now.
Think of something else, don't be depressed, Asgore! Like... uh... What are we gonna have for lunch? Oh. Wait, no no no!
A new wave of depression washed over him, his shoulders slumped down again, he desperately tried not to cry again.
He had to organize food for all of his people, doesn't he? How so, within a mountain? Monster food is mostly magic, but it often requires base components, real ones, to make. Such as flour for example. But in a mountain? Underground? You need fields and light to grow wheat... Which let Asgore think of the surface again, when he ate with his... parents. His dead parents.
They used to eat lunch together, nearly every afternoon. When his mother died... His father wasn't the same afterwards. He did get over her death, but the happy flash in his dad's eyes never had a reappearance again. Asgore had felt that his dad wasn't sad anymore, but not able to be truly, fully happy ever again.
Heh, maybe he is reunited with mom now...
Asgore sat sulking in his grief for a while. He distantly registered footsteps coming, echoing through the cave. It took him multiple seconds to register, that someone seeing him way wouldn't be beneficial. He quickly wiped his tears off his furry face, making his arm wet, but hiding the evidence for his deep grief. He stood up with a slight hunchback, but he stood.
"Your majesty? Are you here?" It was captain Gerson, the leader of the royal guard.
His appearance as a large turtle-like monster had posed a challenge for the of the royal guard's armorsmiths, especially making it easily applicable and removable for Gerson. They settled on a kind of short-breastplate design, mostly there to pronounce his affiliation to the royal guard, as his shell is his natural protection. It also had small metal plates on hinges, serving as a bit of protection if Gerson retracted into his shell, they just flap over the arm holes. The armor had to be light, as his already limited speed (not slow, he can be surprisingly agile) would be further inhibited by it.
"The people are a bit worried, since you took so long. But now you're here too." The experienced warrior said.
"Yes, how are they? Are you having any major issues or problems?" Asgore asked, a little concerned, since they had entered a completely new environment. "Please don't tell me you found an impassable gigantic sea of lava or something."
Gerson paused for a moment, and replied, "No we did not. We have found a huge lava ocean, but doctor Gaster said we most likely can find a way across."
Asgore flinched a bit, since he ran into the fear that his fur might set fire in such a hot environment. It would grow back eventually, but if it really burt up, he'd be naked, and the most definite biggest laugh of all time.
But he trusted doctor Gaster, his royal scientist and advisor, to find a secure and probably quite convenient way across.
"Well then... lead ahead, Captain Gerson. Bring me back to my people." Asgore ordered. He followed his captain further into the Underground mountain.
Author's Notes: Is this chapter length ok? I dunno, I think I could make them longer or something. They would take more time to write of course. This is ~2k words or somethin'.
