194X… Home...
5:32 PM according to the'ol watch. Almost time to for me to scoot on home from this rock-digging gig. The boss has had me working the rails since I got here, and I am well overdue for a break. Preferably before my back goes on break.
I knew mining would be a workout of a job, but lately it's felt like a waste of time and energy, at least in this part of the underground. The demand for ore had fallen drastically, and the idea of digging under the Barrier has been proven impossible. Maybe I should see if I can be transferred to the Waterfall mines? Rumor mill has it that crystal demand is about to soar, and that sounds better than diggin' for chucks of impure minerals and rocks. Hard rocks at that.
"Semi! The boss is closing early! Pull all the diggers in!" I heard someone shout to me from the top of the cavern.
"It'll be pleasure chester!" I shouted back.
I helped my crew put all our tools into a single mine-cart, readying another cart to haul us back to the entrance on the rail line with it. Everyone else was just as happy as me to hear we would be getting off early.
"I wonder how the other crews did today?" one of them asked.
"Huh, probably as well as we did. Junk ore galore." another replied.
Just as we were finishing up and about to pull out, a loud rumble passed through the cavern.
"What was that?" one of the others asked as we all looked around.
Another, stronger tremor, shook the cavern. A loud explosion could be heard behind it, coming from deeper in the cave system. A cloud of dust rushed out of one of the pathways that led deeper down. We all immediately put on our face masks and looked away as it blew into the cavern we were in. I looked back to see someone coming out of the path, struggling to get out of the dust filled air. I rushed over to him and caught him as he fell, pulling him away from the dust and smoke coming from the path.
"What happened?!" I asked as I sat him down.
"Something went wrong with the explosives…!" he gasped for air. "I think we hit a gas chamber..." he told me.
That was definitely not good news to hear. Neither was the second explosion and following tremor.
"Can you walk?" I asked him.
"Yeah. I think so." he coughed.
"Get him back up top!" I told the others as I got up and headed toward the now dust filled cavern. "And inform the Royal Guard!" I added.
"W-what are you doing?!" they shouted to me.
"I'm going down to help the others! Now go get the Guard!" I yelled back.
Their voices faded behind me as I ran down the smoke filled path, deeper into the cave system and deeper into thickening dust filled air. I relied on my memory of the last time I worked this section of the mine to get me where I needed to go, as well as the sound of explosions, being careful not to fall from the tremors caused by them.
I found the path to where they had been blast mining blocked with debris, and debated whether to use my magic to clear it. Would it cause a cave-in if I did? When I heard voices just beyond it, I decided it was worth the risk. I took a few steps back and summoned a barrage of bones around me, throwing them all at once at the rocks, breaking most of them apart. Once the dust settled I hurried in and found the trapped group.
"This way everyone! The path is clear!" I shouted over another explosion.
Everyone hurried out, except for one who stopped and pointed further into the mine before passing by me.
"There's still one trapped further down, Semi!" they shouted over a tremor.
I nodded to them and started that way, soon finding explosives that had yet to go off, so I quickly snuffed out any nearby fires with my magic and put the explosives in a nearby cart. I shoved it down the rails away from the area and started back looking for the last monster.
As I came to a small cavern, I found the monster, passed out near a cave-in. I used my magic to blast away the rocks around him and got him clear of it, picking him up on my back and going back the way I came. Another tremor nearly threw me off balance as I struggled to carry this guy, he was almost twice my size. Than again, EVERYONE is nearly twice my size.
The air was growing thicker with dust and gas in the cavern, forcing me to quicken my pace if I was going to get us both out of here alive. I found another mine cart, still on the rails, and decided to use it to get out of here. I put the poor guy into it and got myself in. As I debated how to get us moving, a certain familiar cart came up behind us on the same rail line, which must have looped around back to here. All I could do was watch as the mine cart I had shoved the remaining explosives off in came our way. Before it reached us, it hit a broken part of the rail, creating sparks, which ignited the gas in the air, which triggered the explosives...
I just huddled down into the mine cart and hoped for the best.
I woke up outside the mine, Calibri over me with a healer nearby. It was nice to see her pale white face after all that darkness down there.
"Semi! Semi are you alright?!" she exclaimed as I woke up.
I tried to move but didn't have the strength to even hold my head up. My whole body ached. I looked past her to see the Royal Guards rushing to help everyone, smoke and dust pouring out of the mine's entrance.
"He will be alright miss. He just needs to rest." I heard the healer tell Calibri.
Calibri nodded to them. I looked over and saw it was Toriel.
"Did the other guy that was with me make it?" I forced out.
"Yes. He is fine." Toriel smiled. "Now, I must go and help the others." she nodded to us both.
I gave her a big smile of thanks before she left, happy to know she was here to help out. Toriel was one of the best, and most experienced, healers in the underground. Calibri looked back down at me as I lay on the ground, probably looking pretty grody after my act of derring-do. I kept the smile on my face as she looked at me with worry.
"Hey doll. What's shakin' with you?" I said in a happy tone with a wink.
"Oh, Semi. You would be the one to get yourself in harms way to help someone. You're lucky those mine carts are built with strong steel." she sighed while a smile started to form on her face.
"Yeah, I had a real blast riding that one out of the mine." I joked, hurting too much to laugh at myself.
Calibri laughed for me, her smile finally breaking loose. As I felt my strength returning, she helped me to sit up, letting me see the mine's entrance better. The Royal Guard was huddled up near it, getting ready to head in it looked like, no doubt to get down to that gas filled chamber and seal it off. I was a bit surprised to not see the Captain with them, or anywhere really. Where was Rimmy with all this going on here?
"SEMI!" I heard someone shout frantically all of a sudden.
I looked their way and saw my dragon boned brother running toward us. He skid to a halt right in front of me and looked me right in the eye as he towered over me. He was pretty upset looking.
"What's up pussycat?" I greeted him with a big smile.
"Don't joke around with me Semi! I heard what happened! What were you thinking?!" he argued with me.
"About what?" I held my smile.
"You know what! You could have been killed!" he shouted in anger.
"Don't snap your kneecaps brother, I'm fine, see?" I told him with a wink.
"That is not the point, brother. If you had died-"
"Which I didn't, so it's all good, aiight? Stop your panicking." I told him.
"You and your heroics.." he grumbled, crossing his arms, and whipping his tail around behind him.
"You know me De, if there's ever someone in need, I'm there to help out." I reminded him.
"And put yourself in need." he said in annoyance.
"Doing the right thing involves taking risks sometimes. If no one was willing to take them, we wouldn't have a Royal Guard." I told him, glancing at the Guards by the mine.
"You wouldn't get into as much trouble either..." he mumbled under his breath.
"Thanks for caring De." I winked up at him.
"Stop calling me that!" he shouted, his eyes widening in embarrassment.
Calibri laughed at us both, she knew how we were with each other. Me and my brother were always butting heads over things like this. I would play the hero, and he would point out the risks. He was never one to act on instinct, he's more of a factual, matter-of-fact, kind of guy. Despite his attitude though, I could tell he still cared about me underneath that bony exterior of his, just as much as I cared about him despite my constant teasing.
After some time, I finally felt like I could stand, with help. W.D and Calibri both got me on my feet and I staggered a bit until I found my balance. I felt fine physically thanks to Toriel's healing magic, but my skull was sure spinnin'.
"I guess I have to haul you back home. Our parents are going to be worried sick until they see you in person after hearing about this." W.D complained.
"That'd be nice of you." I replied.
He rolled his eyes at me.
"Be sure to take it easy Semi. You're going to be aching for weeks, if not months." Calibri advised me as she dusted my coat off.
"Don't worry sweet pea, De here will be my nurse until I get back up and running to par." I told her, De's growling in annoyance signaling his declining of the job.
"Excuse me. Am I interrupting?" I voice came from behind me.
I turned around to finally see the Royal Guard Captain. He was fully suited up in armor, looking ready to take on an army. His energy based white hair, I guess you could call it, was bristling out from the sides of his helmet. He took it off, revealing his black eyes with sparks of white magic in them, marred by an old scar over the left one, and his concerned expression towards me.
"Ey, Rimmy! Was wondering where you were!" I greeted him happily.
"I see you survived your rescue quite well." he said with a smile now on his face.
"He had to be rescued alright." W.D complained.
"It wasn't just me, De." I gave him a hard glance.
"Would you kindly STOP with that nickname...!" he grumbled through his teeth.
"Did everyone make it out alright, Captain Mystrium?" Calibri asked with concern.
"Yes. Everyone made it out alive, thanks to Semi here." he looked my way.
I shrugged my shoulders, throwing off the compliment, and also throwing myself off balance. W.D promptly caught me from behind and stood me back up. I brushed some dirt off my shirt and pretended like nothing happened. Mystrium put on a warm smile as he looked at me.
"I came to make an offer to you Semi Gaster." Mystrium started, getting my full attention. "After hearing of your heroics today, I think you might be ready to take on the responsibility that comes with being in the Royal Guard." he informed me.
"What?! Seriously?" W.D exclaimed in disbelief.
"That's wonderful!" Calibri exclaimed excited.
I just froze on the spot. Me? In the Royal Guard? Did he really think I was ready? I hadn't even mentioned for, what, 4 years now? I'd almost given up on that goal. Someone tell me I'm dreaming- no wait, don't! I want this to be real!
"Of course." Mystrium said with a chuckle and a nod. "You will have to be approved by the King first, but I believe he will see the same in you as I do." he stated with some pride.
"That means you will have to go to New Home, and to the Palace!" W.D said with growing excitement. "That's so-!" he stopped himself and calmed down. "It is a great privilege, I mean." he said in a more formal tone.
"I will inform King Asgore of you in my report of this event to him later, and send word back to you on when you can see him." Mystrium explained. "I suggest being packed and ready so that you can be prompt in your arrival, as I will be expecting such." he advised.
I shook myself out of my shocked state and gave him a stern salute. He fondly smiled at me, and nodded to each one of us before excusing himself to join the other Guards at the mine entrance. I watched him as he got all the Guards attention and began to speak with them. I felt inspired watching them, seeing them work together for a good cause. Mystrium especially inspired me, as he had been my idol as a kid. Being the Captain of the Royal Guard, he was the best example to look too when it came to joining the Guard. He was a magically talented warrior that was matched only by King Asgore, so I had heard anyway. Until I saw his magic prowess in action, I never understood how such a timid monster could have become the Captain of the Royal Guard. He's so cool.. And I was going to be working right beside him soon by the sound of things!
Seeing me well, Calibri said her goodbyes to us and left, heading back home before it got too late. De suggested the same for us, but I was still starstruck by Mystrium, and in shock from the news.
"You can react now." he told me, knowing I was holding in all my excitement.
I felt a surge of energy shoot through me. My childhood dream was about to come true! Semi! The Royal Guard of the underground! I let out a great shout that echoed throughout all of Home for everyone to hear. I couldn't wait to travel to New Home! I was going to show them all that I was Royal Guard material! W.D tried to calm me down on the way home, but he was just going to have to deal with me. I was riding on Cloud 9!
It wasn't long before I got the letter summoning to me to the Palace, stamped with the Royal seal and signed by Asgore himself. I already had my things packed per Rimmy's suggestion and was ready to head out. Mom made me some sandwiches to take with me, and Dad gave me a map of the known underground, then they told me I had to take W.D with me...
"Do Ihaveto Dad?" I complained as we stood outside the house, waiting for W.D and Mom.
"He is excited to see New Home just as much as you Semi." he told me. "Besides, it will be good for you to travel together with him so as not to face the trip alone." he added, straightening his glasses.
"But he's still a kid! I can't keep an eye socket on him the whole way there and back!" I argued.
"The walk to New Home is not as treacherous as you may think. You two will do fine as long as you stay together." he plainly said.
I groaned at the thought of it. W.D, though as serious in attitude as our dad, was a handful to keep up with due to his curiosity. I was looking forward to having a nice walk alone to New Home, but, not all dreams can come true it seems.
W.D finally came out of the house, with Mom handing him his own pack lunch in a satchel. Even though he was much younger than me, he was already half our Mom's height. He inherited both her looks and height, while I got neither. I got the short end of the gene pool you could say. Thanks for that Ol'Grammy...
"Now you two be careful. Don't leave the main path, and be careful in Hotland." Mom advised us in a stern tone.
My brother took his place next to me, looking like he had just accepted some big assignment.
"And remember to be on your best behavior. You are about to meet with royalty, a Boss Monster, King Asgore is to be shown great respect." Dad reminded us.
"Don't worry about it big daddy." I told him with a wink.
He returned it with a stern look that made me want to go to my room.
"We will send word when we arrive." W.D told them with a smile.
"We look forward to receiving it." Mom smiled back.
Dad nodded.
"Let's go Semi, Mystrium told us to be there as soon as possible." W.D reminded me.
"He told ME to be there De, you're just coming as a guest." I reminded him.
"Oh put an egg in your shoe and beat it Semi!" he snapped back.
We raced out of Home to the guard house, which held the only exit out of Home to the rest of the Underground. When I showed the guards my letter, they told us the best route to take to New Home, W.D making note of it on our map. They opened the door for us into Snowdin, a place me and W.D had been to many times. We knew Snowdin and Waterfall well, but beyond that...
I couldn't wait to see it.
Waterfall was our stomping grounds from when we— well, from when I was a kid. We discovered it during one of our ventures from Home together when we decided to see what lie beyond Snowdin, a place we had been told was a watery world filled with more crystals than any other part of the underground. During one of our later trips here we discovered the garbage dump that had formed from all the debris washing in from the surface world. We claimed it as our own little getaway spot and came back to it often, checking out anything new that had flowed in. Ever since I got my gig in the mining business, W.D had been coming here alone, rummaging around without me. I kinda miss those days. Seeing what the humans were up to was always amusing, at least to me. W.D, being the nerd he is, was always taking their technology apart and reverse engineering it, we were both surprised one day when he got a radio working, all it spit out was static, but it was working nonetheless. W.D's got a talent for technology, there's no doubting that, his room is filled with technology he has reconstructed from scrap over the years, and, well, scrap, A LOT of scrap, to Mom's great annoyance.
"Why don't we stop by there Semi? There's no telling what has fallen since the last time I was there." W.D asked, after I had passively mentioned the dump, as we entered the humid Waterfall cavern.
"What? No. You heard Mom. 'Stay on the main path.'" I sternly told him, imitating Mom's tone.
"Just for a moment! It's not that far off the main path anyway! We can get right back on it when we are done!" he pleaded.
I stopped and considered it. It would be interesting to see what's fallen since I've been there, but, I didn't want to risk getting us off track. We also needed to cut as much time out of the trip as possible, not add to it.
But De's face, those eyes, the sibling bond we shared-
"Alright we'll stop by, but just for a moment!" I told him, keeping my tone of authority.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, quickly running off ahead of me.
"H-Hey! We need to stick together, De! Wait!" I shouted after him.
When we reached the debris filled cavern, W.D started scouring right away. I kept a steady pace through the area, not wanting to lose any time here, even so, my mind thought back to the times we spent here, making me pause. This was where we first met Mystrium, back when W.D was practically a baby bones. He helped W.D with finding parts around the place, and me with controlling my magic, every time we met here. I've never asked him why he came here now that I think about it, or if he even still visits this place. I'll have to remember to ask him later when I see him.
"Look at this Semi." W.D ran up to me.
"Whaja find?" I turned to him, shaking off my memories.
He held up a round disc of some sort, it was almost larger than his own head, it was pitch black all over, give or take some peeled labeling around its center. I took it from him and tried to read the words on the label, but reading the script the humans used was not my forte, I sorta failed that class back in grade school.
"Looks like it says… 'Big Band Collection'?" I struggled to make out the faded letters.
"'Big Band'? What does that mean?" W.D tilted his head curious.
"Must be music of some kind. Wonder how you listen to it?" I looked the disc over for clues.
"There must be a device you put it in, something with a speaker for the sound, and something to transmit from the disc to said speaker." he theorized on the spot.
"Huh. Why put it on such a big disc though?" I asked.
"More storage space for the music?" W.D guessed.
"Maybe so. Hold on to it," I tossed it back to him. "we can look for the doohickey that plays it later." I stated.
He caught it, and carefully put it in his satchel, then continued rummaging around, picking out bits and pieces of parts that he was no doubt planning to put together. He brought a bunch of them for me to see as I walked on. One that really caught my attention was a green board with little diodes soldered onto it. All the little parts on it had thin lined paths going between them, like a road system. What was that used for?
I eventually reached the end of the cavern, and had to wait on W.D. He scrambled to catch up, panting, then straightened up like a real professional. I gave him a wink and firm pat on the back, knocking him off balance, and we continued on back to the main path.
The damp weather transitioned to dry air as we approached the crossing into Hotland. I was looking forward to seeing if it was as hot as I had heard it was, tales of lava lakes, towering cave ceilings, streams of steam spouting from the floor, and the entrance up to New Home filled my mind, it would all be brand new for me and W.D. I had him double check the map before we headed out, because as cool as this place sounded, I didn't want to be stuck in the heat anymore than I had to.
"Looks like a straight shot." W.D stated, pointing out the path on the map.
"Sure does. Guess we owe King Asgore for the easy path." I replied.
"He is the one who had it built." W.D reminded me.
"I bet the monsters who live here are smokin' hot." I elbowed him.
"I can't believe you just made that joke." W.D groaned in disappointment.
"Get it? Because they live in the heat-"
"I GET IT SEMI!"
There wasn't much to see along the path, to my disappointment, just lava, the occasional natural steam vent, magma, lava, rocks, some strange plants that managed to live here, and lava. Lots of lava. The cavern ceiling was pretty high though, highest I'd ever seen it, so there was that at least.
I began to notice W.D lagging behind me as we crossed over the largest lava lake here. Every time I glanced back at him he was staring out at the lava, lost in his eccentric thoughts I'm sure. I didn't get what was capturing his attention though, it's lava, bubbling hot magma coming up from the world's core below, as far as monster kind understands it anyway.
In time we reached the rest stop before New Home, and there's a reason it was a 'rest' stop. The guards posted here directed us to the towering staircase we would have to climb to reach New Home. It was intimating to say the least, so we took advantage of the accommodations and took a load off before tackling it. As we sat eating Mom's packed lunches for us, we got to see all sorts of monsters coming and going, and discuss our plan concerning the stairs. W.D explained his own idea to me as we finished eating. We would use our gravity magic to toss one another up in turn; I toss him up, he pulls me up and tosses me further up, I do the same with him- you get the idea. It was a pretty genius idea, if not borderline lazy.
"But first!" I stepped out into the center of the stairwell. "I need to see how good you are with gravity magic, don't need you dropping me at any point up there." I told him.
W.D took a step back and closed his eyes to focus. I felt his magic tugging on my soul right away, and was thrown high up into the air, landing on the stairs at the perfect angle.
"Make sure you get your angles right, Semi! I don't need you dropping me at any point up there!" he shouted to me from below.
"Never doubted you for a second De!" I shouted down to him.
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" he yelled back.
I brought him up, tossing him a few floors higher, landing him right on the stairs over the railing, he did the same with me, and so on so forth, until we reached the top. We caught our breaths for a moment, then stood proud. I held my hand out for a high-five, and he gave it, with a soft smile and roll of his eyes. I caught him in a big brother hug, having to pull him down a bit to reach him.
"I take back what I said when we first set out, I'm glad you came with me little brother." I noogied his skull.
He tried to escape my grasp, but despite him being taller than me, I was stronger than him, and held him tight. He really needed to get out and exercise more often. I let him go when he began to claw at me, now successfully annoyed by his older brother. I gave him a wink, and he gave me the stink eye.
From there, we walked out into Hew Home, a bustling cityscape much larger than Home, monsters of all kinds passed by on the street in front of us, overwhelming my mind that was used to the slow pace of Home.
"There is the Palace Semi." W.D pointed out.
Towering above the city was the Palace of King Asgore. It didn't seem much different in design from the rest of the city, being made from the same materials, but I could tell a lot of work went into building it from its size. Behind it was some kind of light. Was it… sunlight?
"Well?" W.D snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Right." I took a deep breath. "To the Palace we go!" I proclaimed with confidence.
This was it. Time to meet the King of all monsters and show him what I'm made of, which isn't much considering I'm a skeleton. W.D reminded me that jokes were probably not a good idea while we were around the King, I had to agree with him on that. Stand straight Semi. Look'm in the eye, but not in a creepy way. Be polite, bow to your elders, speak only when spoken to. I can hear Ol'Grammy lecturing me now… 'Don't you go around tellin' bad jokes sonny boy! Those are only for the creeps who deserve it!' I could hear her telling me.
I love you Ol'Grammy.
We went straight for the Palace, taking in the sights along the way, and noticing so many monsters we had never seen before, guess the stories of most of monsterkind moving here are true. The city showed its history in every building, from the brick roads to the mixed eras of architecture at every corner.
"Well isn't that the bees-knees?" I caught sight of a large clock tower.
It towered over the other buildings of the city as it stood at the end of the park we were passing.
"At that height you could see it from anywhere in the city." W.D stated.
"They should build one like it back at Home." I suggested.
"I doubt anyone will, seeing as everyone is moving here these days." he replied.
He had a good point. Calibri's folks already had moved up here, along with many others I used to share a class with. Unlike me, they all got high paying jobs, or their parents had the means, and just moved on up the mountain. It'll be sad to watch the old Homestead go as everyone else moves out in time.
Eventually we reached the Palace entrance, and it was a grand piece of work, its true size was readily apparent up close, and it was huge, well, from my perspective anyway. The light from behind it shimmered out onto the city, giving the Palace a kind of holy aura, which was appropriate given Asgore is a Boss Monster.
"Nervous?" W.D asked me.
I took a deep breath, pushing my rib cage out proudly. This was it. We were here at last. Time to shine Semi!
"Arriving at royal request, Semi Gaster of Home! And his brother W.D Gaster!" one of the guards announced as we were let in.
We walked in, the tile floor we had been walking on the way here fading to a patch of grass that made up the floor of the throne room. Lined along walls were flowers of all sorts, blooming brightly to break up the monotonous color of the walls. In the center of the room was the King, sitting on his throne, Mystrium stood by his side, looking my way with a bit of pride showing on his face. On the King's other side was someone I didn't recognize, he was dressed very professionally and wore a large white coat. Was he a scientist? Maybe even The Royal Scientist? I glanced at W.D beside me and saw his eyes widening in amazement towards him. W.D would be the one to know, so he must be.
The King rose from his throne, and I immediately bowed respectfully, so did W.D.
"Please! There is no need for formalities." The King said in a kind voice as he approached us.
I looked up and saw him smiling at us, his expression revealing his kind nature. I relaxed and rose up, W.D following, himself in a bit of surprise at the King's attitude.
"You are Semi, yes?" he looked right at me.
"Yes your Highness!" I confidently answered.
"Please. You may address me as Asgore." he told me, again in an unexpected kind tone. "Mystrium speaks highly of you. You were the one who rescued the miners?" he asked.
"Y-Yes! I work in the same mine, and I didn't want to leave them to be left trapped down there, so, I acted as quickly as I could." I nervously explained.
"Very brave of you given the dangers, and the risk you were taking concerning your own well-being." he happily nodded to me. "Do you believe you would be successful as a Royal Guard, Semi?" he then asked.
"I do Sir! It's… It's always been my dream!" I tried not to get too excited. "If there's any way I can help others, I want to take full advantage of it." I explained.
"Well, I would say you have the sort of aptitude we look for in a guardsman. Do you agree Mystrium?" he turned to look back at him.
"I would not have recommended him If I did not Asgore." Mystrium answered.
"Than I look forward to seeing what he's capable of." Asgore nodded. "Erudi?" he prompted the other monster.
Erudi walked up beside Asgore, straightening his glasses as he peered at me intently with his large compound bug eyes. His bug like antenna twitched as he got closer. He was much taller than I was and made me feel a bit cornered under his shadow. I'd never met an insect type monster up close before.
"This is Erudi, the Royal Scientist." Asgore told us with a proud smile.
"A skeletal monster, hm? Most rare to see one of such short stature." Erudi commented in a raspy voice as he looked me over. "Bone summoning, gravity manipulation, high endurance, and agile physique— all unique abilities not yet utilized by the Guard." he stated, moving aside from between me and Asgore.
"Ah, very good than." Asgore's kind tone turned more serious. "Do you wish to demonstrate your abilities to us Semi?" he asked me.
"O-Of course Sire!" I quickly replied.
Mystrium and Erudi stepped back from us. Erudi motioned to W.D and he quickly joined them across the room behind Asgore. What was about to happen…?
"Show me than, Semi Gaster. Strike, or be struck down!" Asgore told me, his kind demeanor seeming to disappear as he summoned a red trident in hand.
I glanced behind him at Mystrium, who told me NOTHING about having to fight the King of All Monsters, and he just nodded to me with his usual smile. I took a deep breath and prepared my magic, deciding to start with the basics, since I was doing this to prove myself I figured it would be good to show that I had mastered them. Thanks for the lessons Ol'Grammy.
I summoned a horde of bones in a tight pattern, and flung them at Asgore. He promptly cut the attack down with his trident.
I flinched, giving him the chance to rush up to me and strike, but I managed to roll out of the way as his trident came down right behind me.
I summoned bones up from the floor to trip him up, but he dodged them, jumping off of them as they came up, and landed beside me.
I froze, a bit shocked, and he took advantage of it, swinging his trident into me from behind. I tucked into a roll and launched myself off the floor with a single bone, using my gravity magic on myself to latch onto the wall. As Asgore came toward me, I reversed my gravitational pull off the wall surrounded by bones in attack, throwing them ahead of me to stop Asgore, and give me the chance to land and summon a sword. While he fended off my attack, I summoned a pair of broken bones and magically grafted into a sword shape.
"Amazing." I heard Erudi. "I have never seen that sort of bone manipulation before. Quite ingenious." he added.
Asgore's trident came down on me just as I got my sword ready, but I stood my ground, and locked his trident with my sword. It didn't take long for Asgore's strength to start crushing mine, and my makeshift weapon, so I sidestepped out of the way and got around him. Our weapons clashed a number of times until he changed it up by using fire magic.
I dodged the pillars of fire he summoned one by one, being careful not to wear myself out by expending too much energy. When I got close, I quickly found an opening and swung my sword into him.
0 Damage.
Well, he's definitely a Boss Monster.
He blasted me with fire, which I assumed he was not using to the full because it hardly hurt me, and I was thrown across the room past the others. I got up, not willing to give up despite the fact that I wouldn't be able to win, and readied another bone sword. I could still prove myself in this hopeless battle, which was the point I'm sure.
I ran back to Asgore and we clashed once more. When he swung his trident at me horizontally, I used my magic to throw myself up out of the way, summoning bones to throw at him from above. He shot fire up at me, destroying my attack. I dodged the rest of his attack by using my gravity magic on myself again.
As one might expect, this wasn't exactly easy to do, and it wasn't helping me energy wise. This trick was something I discovered while climbing the cavern walls of Home as a kid —dangerous, I know— but the fear of falling moved me to experiment with using my gravity magic on myself. The difficult part is the fact that you're not on solid ground when casting it most of the time. That anchored position is what makes the magic itself work, without it, it's hard to tell which way is which gravity wise. One could very easily throw themselves the wrong way if they're not paying attention. Not to mention focusing on your own soul is a bit hard to do, seeing as magic and monster souls are practically the same thing.
Asgore continued with the fire attacks, making me resort to walls of bone to block them. I predicted he would attack me physically after the recent one, so I threw myself over the bone wall I had up as soon as he stopped, and sure enough, he swung his trident through the wall, surprised by my disappearance when he didn't find me still there.
I got my sword back again and struck him with it from behind, not in any way that could potentially hurt him of course, not that it would with his strength I'm sure.
Asgore stood up straight and turned to me. I was still gasping for breath as he looked toward Mystrium, who nodded with a serious expression to him. Asgore nodded back to him, and looked at me with a smile.
"I believe I have seen enough, Semi Gaster." he informed me. I relaxed and let my sword dissolve back into raw magic. "You are quite talented for someone your age- and quick! Both in mind and body." he stated impressed. "You will make a fine Royal Guard here at the Palace one day." he smiled.
"Once he has completed the training I'm sure he will." Mystrium added as he walked up. "Welcome to the Royal Guard, Semi Gaster." he then announced, his face beaming with pride.
I could fill my own face beaming too. This was a dream come true! I'm going to be in the Royal Guard! And I just sparred with the King! THE KING!
Later on, after a bunch of official stuff, Asgore gave us a tour of the Palace. W.D took advantage of it to impress the Royal Scientist, probably inspired by my own goal-achieving success. I had the feeling he was about to become more than a scrapyard hobbyist.
"Can I have a moment Doctor?" W.D respectfully requested.
"Yes?" Erudi side eyed him as we walked down a hallway.
W.D pulled out the disc we found earlier and showed it to Erudi. Erudi took it in his hands and seemed to already know what it was. Asgore looked at it confused as we all stopped to see what he had to say about it.
"I found this at the debris area in Waterfall on our way here, do you know what it is, or how it is used?" W.D asked, his bright eyes revealing his idolization of Erudi.
"I have seen these black discs myself many times, but this is the first one I have received in such good condition." he stated with a glance at Mystrium for a moment.
Mystrium rubbed his neck in what seem to be embarrassment, over what I didn't know.
"My guess is that something must run across the top of the disc," W.D began to say. "perhaps in a circle pattern, reacting to the groves in the disc, creating vibrations that are outputted through a speaker system." he calmly explained.
"That is exactly what I have theorized, I have yet to find a way to do so though." Erudi told him.
"It has to be something small and light weight, like a needle maybe." W.D suggested.
"That would make the most sense, it would have to be that size to fit within the groves." Erudi seemed impressed. "You are quite the bright one for your age." he commended W.D, who's tail wagged a bit in excitement. "Have you ever considered a future in science?" he asked him with a curious look.
W.D's eyes lit up even more, he had the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face. He started telling Erudi about all of his projects enthusiastically, Erudi listening in awe at what W.D had accomplished on his own, the rest of us were a bit overwhelmed with the outpouring of technical babble.
"Shall we give you two some time to talk?" Asgore asked.
"No, no, we can speak more tomorrow. Please, continue with your tour Asgore." Erudi answered.
Midway through the tour, Asgore had to attend to some things and left us on a good note, telling Mystrium to make sure we had a place to sleep while we were here.
Guess I can check sleeping in the Palace off my bucket list.
Erudi handled the task of our rooms for him, having to attend to other things himself along the way, this left me and W.D with Mystrium as our guide.
As the light coming from behind the Palace began to fade, he led us out of the Palace to something I never thought I would see with my own eyes.
The Barrier.
The cavern exit stood before us, leading out to the surface world and beyond to who knows what. The Barrier barred the way; a wall of shifting light that stood between the two worlds. As I took in the sight, eerie echos floated around us, the sounds were coming from the Barrier itself, it almost sounded like it was alive.
"This is the Barrier the humans created nearly 1,000 years ago." Mystrium began telling us.
"No one can pass through it except someone with a powerful soul." W.D continued his though, reciting the history lessons all monsters were taught.
"Yes, the Barrier is as powerful as the seven human souls who created it, to destroy it is an impossibility for us monsters alone." he stated.
W.D seemed disturbed, it was almost like he was afraid of something, I couldn't blame him, looking up at the Barrier, knowing the power it took to make it, humbled me just a bit. Humans, I heard, were not known for their magical prowess, that was something we monsters had over them, but their souls far outmatched ours, even Asgore's and Mystrium's, despite them both being Boss Monster species. What did it take for the humans to create this I wonder? Was it at a great cost? Or did they just get a lot of magic practice in? According to some comic books of theirs I read, they had their own class of Wizards, well, at one time they did, maybe, I doubt action centered comic books could be considered accurate history.
"One day, monsterkind will see the surface again, this is my hope." Mystrium somberly said.
Something suddenly flew by the Barrier on the other side, the shadows cast by it racing over us. I could hear sharp tenor chirps coming from the other side as a group of them flew pass, accompanied by the sound of feathers.
"What were those?" I asked with interest.
"Birds; feathered creatures of the surface world. They pass by here every morning and evening." Mystrium explained.
We took in the sight of the birds flying by, the Barrier blurring our view of them along with the sun as it began to grow dimmer. I wonder, do the humans even remember we're still trapped behind their Barrier?
"If you two are hungry, we could tour the kitchen next." Mystrium told us with a smile.
"Sounds great!" I quickly replied.
As we turned to go back into the Palace, I noticed W.D was still staring out through the Barrier.
"Come on slowpoke! There'll be nothing left for you if you don't keep up!" I shouted to get his attention.
He flinched and turned to catch up with us. He ran past me to follow Mystrium, while I gave the Barrier one last glance. I never once held a grudge with the humans over what happen all those centuries ago, "What was done was done." Mystrium would always say, not all monsters agreed with that, but I did. The war between humans and monsters was ancient history now, and I couldn't help but imagine from time to time what it would be like to meet a human.
That would make for a very interesting conversation.