Underground Spirits
Chapter SG1: Counsel of the King
Angel's Point of View:
"Are you sure that you do not mind this decision, Angel?"
I blinked at the man before me. "What is there to be concerned for?"
Asgore seemed a little unsettled at the innocent gaze I must have set upon him, or perhaps it may have been the chains that constantly moved around me, unseen to the naked eye unless my emotions were high and more magic was pushed through them.
"It is just… by golly, we're talking about taking your magic with an experimental device used to clone souls to break the barrier! Does that not frighten you?"
"Compared to either myself or my sister losing our souls for the barrier being broken, and a monster soul being needed as well? Not at all." I could only let out a relieved sigh with a smile at him. "We'll be one step closer should this work so that no other lives are lost. And Alphys seems quite confident in this theory, correct?"
Asgore nodded, though a slight query to his gaze. "She did, I was honestly quite surprised by the confidence she expressed this in. And how well planned it was."
"It's very possible she and Sans have been working on this for a while. How long? I honestly couldn't say." I shrugged at the male before taking my last sip of tea. "Once we learned that you planned to make a decision, I'm sure the two of them put their heads together in order to find any other reason that was feasible to keep us alive instead of taking a soul from a human."
"I see… that sounds more realistic of our friends. More tea?"
"My goodness… we've already gone through two pots, you know?"
"Perhaps, but our discussions have been quite important. For the safety of the kingdom, but also as friends." Asgore began to brew another pot for us with the water and small fire he had prepared in the room we were in. "If you had not been a trusted friend of mine already, I imagine this conversation perhaps would have gone very differently. Even with the good you've done for my people."
"It was always our plan for you to know us as one person, then be reacquainted with us once we revealed ourselves. We wanted you to know how we acted normally, but we were worried for the consequences that would have if it backfired. Some still saw it as untrustworthy, or still saw us as only humans. Undyne was a prime example of that."
"As sad as that is to hear, it does not surprise me." Asgore sighed, leaving his kettle still boiling while he returned to his seat. "Urvin and Natasha meant a lot to Undyne. Loosing them at the age she did and the reason behind it… it left quite the scar on her heart. Not just her physically. Repairing that? Well… I'm surprised you did at all if I'm being honest here."
"And what about you?" I tilted my head softly to look at him. "What made you accept us? I'd like to know that if you don't mind me asking. Especially with what happened in the past with your children and Tori."
That brought a surprisingly sour look to his face. Though he hid it quickly. I allowed the male a short moment to gather his thoughts while I stood to grab the tea. Pulling it off the burner he'd set aflame with his own magic, I poured us both another cup before joining him once more.
It was easy to tell that the question I asked bothered him, and there was far more to the meaning of what I was requesting. With that in mind, I figured a different approach perhaps would be better in those difficult moments where he refused to talk.
"Asgore… even as a king, you are a person." My heart bled for my friend who seemed to finally accept us to the monster kingdom, even if he'd yet to announce it to the others. "You have feelings that must be addressed and assisted with so that you can stay strong for the people you care for ever so much. Keeping your emotions bottled away with no outlet or way of healing will do nothing but bring you down long term, and then end up hurting the ones that mean so much to you."
A weak sigh ended up coming from him. The king himself lowered his head almost into his hands as the weight of his emotions came seeping out. "My friend… you have always been there for me and others in these last two years… what in the world do you do when you hurt as I do?"
I slid a small hand of my own onto his, trying to give some comfort. "I have someone who is willing to listen to all my struggles and counsel, no differently than myself. We work well together."
"I must assume that it must be Sans?"
"He is the only one I trust with things as desperate as what bothers me. He has always been quite good like that." I struggled to hold back the warm in my cheeks thinking of my beloved friend. "While some may think that he's lazy and pays no attention, he's actually quite selfless. Only using the appearance of that to his advantage when perhaps he's doing some information gathering for that very reason."
"Sans has always been the most powerful of allies, but deadliest of enemies, depending on how much someone has hurt him…" Asgore chuckled at that, but in the short time that we'd been talking, his voice sounded a tad more… sad?
I lifted my gaze to meet his own to see a downcast look to his face. "Asgore? Can I ask you what's wrong?"
"Actually… I do have a question for you."
I paused at the notion. Asgore had been quite forthcoming with his questions all the way before that point and didn't seem to hold back before. I could only guess what it was that was troubling him of that he had to ask me. "Of course?"
"Has… has Sans ever hurt you before?"
What a question to ask all of a sudden! Though I supposed it happened to be related to his sudden reunion with Toriel. While this was supposed to be a happy occasion, that didn't mean there weren't bumps in the way. The mistakes those two made… to each other especially… if they tried to heal and have any form of relationship… there was nothing simple about it.
"Yes."
Asgore's head flew up the second I said that. With wide eyes that nearly looked to be on the brink of tears did he watch my face turn serious with hands folded softly in my lap.
"W-what?"
"It's something I'd yet to tell you about. Before we got off on that tangent of what you were hoping I could help with the barrier breaking project, I was speaking of the Snowdin Fair. Shortly after that time frame, Sans and Papyrus began assisting us with spreading the knowledge of us into Waterfall, a place where Sans was quite worried we'd run into Undyne. And we did, plenty of times with her meeting us in disguises. She had no idea we were humans. Though… I felt guilty for lying to her. Many times, I tried to discuss a plan to reveal myself to her, but there was a single night where Sans and I got into an argument where he ended up screaming at me. One comment I remember off the top of my head was 'You have a better chance of the king accepting you and him forcing Undyne to stand down,' or something of that effect."
"I-I…" Asgore seemed to actually pause to think that over. "He actually… yelled at someone?"
"I had pushed him that night." I couldn't help but sigh as I remember those painful memories. The heartache I felt back then. The fear when he hurled the phone in the kitchen back then. "I was so fearful and emotionally confused that I made a horrid mistake that has marked every one of us… I took Frisk and ran off to see about staying with Alphys, in the middle of the night."
A horrified look came to the king. "Please don't tell me-"
A haunting smile came to my face. "It was a night where Undyne had night patrol in the district. My hood was down and we were caught."
I watched Asgore carefully as he took moments then that he needed to compose himself. What happened had already transpired. There was no use worrying about it. Thankfully no one had died, granted it was an important lesson that I wouldn't soon forget.
After having those moments, Asgore carefully sat back up in his chair so he could face me. With narrowed eyes, I noticed he spoke as calmly as possible. "Could you explain the events of that night?"
"Of course." Taking a careful breath to calm myself, I settled myself a little more back into the chair, trying to keep calm and poised. "Undyne had found us that night sometime after one in the morning. I'd pulled down my hood at the time to try and call Sans or leave him a message. Neither him nor Papyrus had picked up. Though I attune Papyrus as not answering mostly due to turning off his phone. During that phone call was when Undyne found us. And she rightfully carried out her duty to her people. If it wasn't for the brave help of a friend of Frisk's from Snowdin, we wouldn't have managed to escape her as many times as we did."
"Who?" Asgore's curiosity got the better of him while he leading onto ever word that came from me. "Who helped you?"
"Do you remember MK? The adopted little boy of Maria from the murder and drug case?"
"Him?!" Asgore was utterly surprised at that comment. He shot up strait in his chair while the thought of him being in danger passed his mind. "That young lad was the reason you two escaped? He left his home past curfew hours and chased after you?"
"He was. I was… not in the best mindset, and he followed Frisk and I to Waterfall. Tried to bring us home." I stretched my fingers over my face, rubbing it as it felt a bit numb from how stupid I felt at the time. "It didn't matter how many times Undyne caught him and took him back to Snowdin's border. He just kept coming back, catching up with us and making sure that we were okay. He helped us all the way to the botanical gardens on the east end where we separated, I couldn't let him help us anymore after that he almost died."
"What?!" I was startled when Asgore jumped from his seat. Standing tall, he towered over me in those moments and I could only stare in awe and perhaps a bit of worry that something might turn ugly. That maybe some words I'd said weren't the right ones.
Asgore then took a moment to calm himself and sit back down in his chair. I didn't dare say a word while he composed himself. The grip of his hand looked intense; he battled himself not to grip through the chair's arm he was sitting against.
"My apologies… please continue."
His words were laced with struggle. I kept quiet a few moments longer before I dared to begin again.
"We were crossing the bridge at the entrance of it, before the passage to Hotland. We had run over the bridge, with MK on our heels and Undyne behind us. We didn't realize how unsteady it had become from us running all over it. Once MK made it to the bridge, it hurled him sideways and into the ravine. My magic leapt to grab him before he could become swiss cheese. Undyne froze while she watched me save him, I'm sure because she had no idea of I was going to hurt him or not. I set him down on Undyne's side of the bridge, him heading back to Snowdin before I destroyed the bridge and we continued on."
The air trapped in Asgore's lungs slowly began to seep out then, but part of it was still trapped I could see. Due to the stress in his muscles, he just couldn't seem to let it all go. Most likely I could only assume it was due to my story not being over yet.
"And after that?"
"We kept up with our path to Hotland. We traveled through the botanical gardens there where unfortunately I had an accident that landed my arm into one of the acid mushrooms. Healing magic didn't heal it, in fact, it only sped up the process of the acid components breaking down my arm. It came to the point where I wouldn't be able to use it again, and in order to save my life once we made it to Hotland and finally escaped Undyne's grasp that I decided to cut it off."
"I… see…"
I remembered those nights well. When I first woke up and all I could think of was Sans. How he was suffering, how he blamed himself for what had happened. So many conversations happened, had to happen, while I was recovering. How we healed our relationship. The promises we made to one another…
"It was not an easy thing, but we forgave each other in the end. Made promises to each other that we wouldn't make those mistakes again." A shaky breath left me before a dark chuckle also came. My gaze turned to Asgore in my weaker moments. "You know he doesn't make promises. It's how I know it's true. And he's kept his word, all this time."
"That, I know, is true." Some familiarity I could hear in Asgore's voice at the comment. That information he seemed to cope with well. I watched him take the information I gave him, process it, before he folded his hands together and lowered his head. "With all that being said… would you lend me your ear?"
"Of course." I didn't even hesitate to respond. "Always, my king."
And it was that comment that seemed to bring a roaring laugh out of him. Even with his head bowed, hands strained as they kept their grip on each other solid, Asgore near fell sideways out of his chair in that moment.
"What an absurd comment… a human saying that…"
"But it's the truth, and something I've said to you countless times when you knew me as Ravie."
"True, my apologies… my emotions are…"
"Difficult in these moments?"
"You don't know the half of it…"
"Then let me be your counsel." My hand returned to his arm, trying to show him that I was there for him. "As you requested as both my king, and my friend."
"Very well… may I start with a question?"
I blinked at him, sitting up a bit straighter. "Of course."
"What do you know of my relationship with Toriel?"
Oh, what a 'yikes' question indeed… I had to take a deep breath when Asgore asked that question of me. Hand still on his arm, I thought my words over carefully. Was it better to be formal or honest? He probably wanted the latter. He's been talking with Tori all week; he must know of many things…
"What I know of your relationship with her?" When I rephrased the questioned, he needed meekly, unable to meet my eyes. "She was your queen. The mother of your children. She assisted with royal duties. Granted, she also abandoned the kingdom after both the prince and princess passed away, left her title and left you alone to handle the royal duties and a broken country on your own."
"It is as she feared… you figured it out…"
"Of course. It wasn't hard with all the pictures you had of your family around." I tried to give him comfort by rubbing my hand up and down his arm. He hadn't brushed me away, so I could only assume he was tolerating or appreciating the contact. "Only she didn't in her home. But books across the underground that I read up on or the many times I came to the palace, I always used to hear stories of her or see her decorated as an adoring matriarch, one that the people have surely missed and needed during such trying times."
Asgore went quiet during those comments. He stayed silent, listening onto every word so intently that when I was done speaking, the air was almost eerily silent.
While the male continued to think, I took time to carefully ponder the reasons he would be asking me that, though it seemed pretty obvious at the time.
A punishment for Toriel.
Asgore was a kind king. Someone who didn't enjoy nor think that punishment was always the answer. While right, this was a much more serious matter that was upon his hands. Toriel abandoned her country. In previous years, that would have been met with death, or loss of limbs as a punishment to the one who had done the treachery. Their life was to their kingdom, not to themselves while on the royal throne. Some I even remembered being stoned or humiliated by the general public.
Horrifying punishments… to say the least, but there had to be a punishment of some kind. Asgore just can't accept her back, because that isn't what the people will accept nor want. Their feelings have built up and festered for years. He can't just think of himself in these moments, it has to be something that people would accept too.
I do remember from many of my talks from around the kingdom when few supports of the queen would speak out. She was a kind ruler, and many of them understood why she left in those trying times, but she did need some sort of punishment for the people that needed her. Others were quite furious with her lack of sense of duty. Did she not care about her anymore? And I'm sure suddenly seeing her again has upset a few of the people.
"Asgore, I need you to ask me what it is that you need of me, friend. I can guess, but I'm no mind reader."
A deep sigh escaped him before he lifted his head just enough to show me the tears in his eyes. Muddled by the liquid, his normally ruby colored eyes appeared diluted. He tried to wipe them away, but they formed and fell faster than he could keep them at bay.
"W-what do I d-do about her?"
I hated it sometimes when I was right…
"That… is a difficult question." I had to think carefully. What would be a suitable punishment that would appease the people, yet wouldn't cause Toriel harm, or put any more strain on Asgore? "I don't know if you've done this yet, but the first thing that needs to be echoed through the kingdom is that she has lost the right to any of her royal privileges. She is a queen that abandoned her people, and that needs to be atoned for."
"I… honestly haven't gotten that far." Asgore tried to look at me more one on one rather than him holding his head. "I'd confined her to the east wing when she returned. I was hurt… angry… and so beyond frustrated with what she had done. And… and…"
He choked back a sob that struggled to run free. A hand raced to his face and covering it, hiding whatever dignity perhaps he may have had left.
"S-she didn't e-even come back f-for me… i-it was for you a-and your sister…"
Oh… oh no…
That… I'm actually very surprised by the fact that he didn't hate us for that…
I had only seconds to think before hurrying over to the male. Slipping between his arms, his larger head slipped over my shoulder. I could feel him hide his face in my hair. His large arms captured me in his embrace as he let loose emotions that I'm sure no one was ever able to with him.
"Asgore… I'm so sorry… I know it doesn't help, but I am sorry…"
The male couldn't respond in those moments. He could only hold onto me, cry, sobbing his heart out. Something that I'm sure he couldn't do for far too long.
Decades long, I'm sure, this weighted on him. No outlet, no one to confide his deepest and darkest feelings. His other half left him with this mess. And it would be a mess to fix it.
"I think myself alone should not be the one to decide on a punishment for her. The rest of the jury should be summoned to discuss this together. Many of them I'm sure knew her when she was still at your side. We'll need all their perspectives to make a… proper decision. She needs to face her crimes… regardless of how we feel…"
Asgore couldn't speak. He only buried himself further into my body as he could. His grip was tighter then iron. I tried to make him feel warm and comforted in my embrace. That someone was in his corner. My magic smothered him, but the king paid no heed in my attempt to help.
"I'm sorry…"
Witch's Note:
Here we go everyone! Another special chapter written for all of us to read! I hope you all loved the idea by I who asked for extension of the chat between Angel and Asgore as they came to certain decisions! Perhaps not all of them are listed, but we learn some other juicy details in this chapter…
My goodness, what in the world has Toriel done?!
This is a mess that I'm not sure if she and Asgore can recover from… yikes…
Mystic Girl: I don't think so, hell, I wouldn't forgive her.
Me: Right?! Damn…
But anyway, we have some reviews! Oh, it's so lovely to speak to you all again! So, let's start in!
Thechaosmaster: Chaos! Oh, its so good to see you! Yes, everything went well and Mystic Girl's health is improving as well. I just got back to work this last Monday and so far things are going okay. And no worries about that next chapter of yours, get some rest! We all need it at times! It may help to give you the energy you need to keep pushing forward!
Mystic Girl: Okay, I gotta pause you for a second here, because I love my new nickname.
Me: Oh lord… well, you're only getting that from them. You won't see me calling you 'captain' expect to make fun of you.
Mystic Girl: (She whips her head around at me, a deep scowl on her face) Excuse me, bitch?!
Me: (I just shrug and salute her.) You rang?
(With exasperation, my friend hurled her hands up in the air before storming away temporarily to curse me with every word she knew.)
Not A Shady Guy: Shady! Welcome back! And its good to be back! Hope you don't mind that your idea came a little soon, but we're trying to randomize everyone's ideas so they're in no set order. I hope this juicy chapter fit your desires and more!
MysticBoywastaken: Hey there Mystic Boy! Glad to see you back! Ready for more fun?
Mystic Girl: (In the back, Mystic Girl is looming over my shoulder she looks at the response.) That's all?
Me: Hey! (I smacked her arm.) Excuse you! Rude! Be happy there's a review! So, what if he didn't leave a long one! What's wrong with you?!
Mystic Girl: Jesus bitch, I just had a drink…
Me: (I raise an eye brow to see her keeping a bottle in hand. One that was thick and heavy. One you normally wouldn't drink all by yourself. I groan and struggle not to slam my head against the desk.) Seriously?
Mystic Girl: What?! It's been a long day!
Me: Don't make me get Mystic Man out here.
Mystic Girl: Don't you dare…
Me: Make me, bitch.
Anyway… before anything else crazy comes up, I think we gotta go… Clearly Mystic Girl's gotta get out some problems and I gotta get back to typing! I've been behind during my recovery since I honestly couldn't think too much during it. The first two weeks was nothing but sitting around and trying to get my mind working again. So, yeah… issues… sorry people!
But we love you all and will see you next week!
Halloween Witch and Mystic Girl
