Chapter 2
It was a dark and cold night as he flew through the air. Not that such things really mattered to the God of Magic. He was all but immune to anything the human realm could throw at him. "I just hope that's still the case," he thought to himself. Grimacing, he recalled what he had felt the night before. It was one of his duties to scan the human realm and fix any inconsistencies with the laws of reality he had set forth. It was actually quite a boring job. When they had created the world, the gods had known what they were doing. So far, he had yet to detect anything that could present a danger, and he had assumed that he never would. Then, last night night, as he was meditating, he sensed something strange. He had felt a presence that was just… unnatural. He didn't know exactly what it was, but he was sure that it didn't belong in this world. That, in itself, was troubling. If whatever he had felt really existed, it would mean that something had been created that wasn't part of the world he had helped build. The only explanation he could think of was that one of the gods had gone rouge and started to create without his or Asgore's knowledge. The thought of a traitor amongst the ranks of the gods was quite unsettling. He shrugged off those dark thoughts, as he was nearing his destination. Hopefully, last night had just been a fluke of some kind, and this was just a false alarm.
He arrived at the village in the area where he had sensed the anomaly. It was a relatively small village on the edge of the lands the humans had settled. Looking around with both his physical and magical senses, he saw and felt nothing out of the ordinary. He flew a little further and discovered a small hill where the local humans had set up a shrine. As he neared it, he felt the same presence he had felt the night before. It filled him with unease. He landed at the bottom of the hill and made his way up. At the top he found something he wasn't prepared for. Standing in front of the shrine was a human, an average human. There was no mistake though, this human was the source of the dark presence. It didn't make any sense. Humans were a part of the natural order, how could one of them be the anomaly he had sensed?
As he looked on, the human raised one arm and from his hand a tendril of pure darkness shot forth and wrapped itself around the shrine, and promptly began crushing it. Shocked from what he was witnessing, Gaster could only watch as the human reduced the shrine to rubble in a matter of seconds. Quickly regaining his composure, he cast several spells at the human, binding him in place and preventing him from moving. Despite this, the human didn't make a sound. With a flick of his hand, Gaster turned the human around him, so he could see him face to face. That was when he noticed what was different. Physically, the human looked completely normal, except for two things. First, there was a faint aura of shadow that seemed to pulsate from the human's body. It seemed to absorb the light around him, making his surroundings dimmer. The second difference was the human's face. He wore a smile that was wide but at the same time conveyed menace and hatred. And then, there were the eyes. His eyes were completely black, not a sliver of color to be seen, and darkness seemed to dance around them.
After observing all these things, he simply said, "Though you look like one, you are not human. Who are you?"
The human simply rolled his head back and laughed. It was a sound that filled Gaster with dread. "What? You don't recognize me?"
Gaster knew that voice. It was a voice that had barely spoken the last time he had seen its owner, but is was one he would never forget.
"You… it can't be."
The human merely laughed harder. "Did you miss me?" was all he said.
"What's this about Gaster? Do you know how late it is?" asked an irritated Asgore as he strode into his throne room. Gerson and Toriel had already arrived and were sitting at the council table.
"I'm sorry Your Majesty, but I'm afraid I've discovered something that needs your immediate attention," Gaster replied.
"Alright then. Go ahead and tell me," the king said.
Gaster bowed, and began his tale. "Last night I was scanning the world as is my duty when I sensed an anomaly, something that shouldn't exist. Tonight I traveled to the human realm to seek out this anomaly to make sure it wasn't just a fluke on my part. Well, I found it on a small hill outside a remote village. The source of the anomaly I detected was a human."
"A human? That's ridiculous!" Toriel said.
"That's what I thought at first. However, this was no ordinary human. They were… corrupted. With black eyes and a shadowy aura, I watched as this human destroyed a shrine with dark power."
"Did you manage to stop this human?" Asgore asked intently.
"Yes," Gaster replied, "Though unsettling, and possessing powers no human should, he wasn't very strong. I captured him with my spells and brought him to my lab for analysis. What I found was shocking. The source of the corruption in this human… was Chaos."
Silence filled the room. After a few moments, Asgore finally spoke. "Chaos. Are you sure?"
"Yes," Gaster replied solemnly. "When the human spoke, Chaos's voice came from his lips. Also, during my analysis, I confirmed the presence of Chaos's power in the human's body. As I mentioned before, the corruption of the human was still at a low stage and it wasn't difficult to extract the darkness that had invaded him. Once I did that, the human returned to his normal state, without any memory of his actions. I wiped his memories of his time in our realm and sent him home. As for the darkness I extracted from him, I've placed it in a secure place in my lab."
"But… Chaos was destroyed!" Toriel protested. "We defeated him decades ago. And even if he was alive, why would he bother corrupting a human? Surely he would have set his sights on a god."
Asgore pondered what had been said, and turned to the last person at the table. "You've been quiet so far, Gerson. What do you make of all this?"
Gerson paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "We never had any proof that Chaos was completely destroyed. In fact, I'm not sure he can be destroyed. Not by us at least."
"What do you mean?" asked Asgore.
"I mean that Chaos is an entity that is not of our world, our reality. Wherever he came from, most likely an alternate dimension or universe, it is a realm outside of our control. We defeated him, and cast him back from whence he came, but I doubt our powers could completely destroy him."
"But if he doesn't belong in this world, then how and why is he here?" asked Toriel.
"Just look at his name, Your Majesty. We gave him the name "Chaos" because his only purpose was to create chaos in our world through destruction. I believe our universe came to his attention when he sensed the life you had created. He came simply to destroy and make chaos, the opposite of order. Perhaps that's how he sustains himself. As for how he came to be here… that is a more sensitive issue."
Asgore's eyes narrowed. "So you know how he forced his way into our world?"
"Yes," replied Gerson. "But I'm afraid Her Majesty is not going to like what I have to say."
This time, it was Toriel's eyes that narrowed. "Go on," she said.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," replied Gerson. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "As I said before, Chaos seeks only to disrupt order by destroying our world. However, he cannot simply insert himself into our reality whenever he pleases. He requires a gateway of sorts. Chaos is the polar opposite of order, but these states are more accurately depicted as balance and imbalance. As long as our universe has cosmic balance, Chaos is trapped in whatever void he came from. It is when our world falls into a strong enough state of imbalance that he is able to creep through."
"What do you mean by imbalance? Specifically, I mean," asked Gaster.
"Unfortunately, imbalance can take many forms. Basically, whenever something defies the natural order we've established, it creates imbalance. However, in this case the cause is slightly different. The cause stems from a complete and total imbalance, the abundance of life in our world."
"What!?" Toirel blurted. She was starting to dread where Gerson was headed.
"I am sorry to say this, Your Majesty, but your creations are filling the mortal realm to the bursting point. They have been, even before you created the humans. Though your creations are not gods in their own right, they are immortal like us, and each possesses its own soul, however small or large. The mortal realm was never meant to support the existence of an indefinite number of souls. The large number of souls present stretched the boundaries of our reality to the point where Chaos was able to come bursting into it. I assume the only reason we haven't seen any more of him is that his defeat left him severely weakened. This is also likely why he chose a human as a vessel instead of attempting to control a god. At any rate, the problem is actually worse with your creation of humans. Humans have wills far stronger than any other life. Their immortality has caused some of them to begin attempting to challenge fate. They've grown apathetic and complacent with life. Some have even sunk into depression. I believe it was the overwhelming negative emotions, combined with the idea that a human could challenge the laws of reality we set forth that allowed Chaos to slip a portion of his power through to corrupt the human you found, Gaster."
"So we have a problem," said Asgore. "I assume that you have thought of a solution?"
"I have, Your Majesty. In order to keep Chaos out of our world, we need something to balance out the abundance of life. What we need, is to create death."
Toriel exploded out of her seat. "How can you even suggest such a thing!" she roared. "I will not accept bringing death to my children!"
"Your Majesty, I realize this upsets you, but its the truth. Death will bring balance to our world. It will prevent the abundance of life from breaking down our reality, it will teach humans to value their lives, and prevent them from becoming complacent. This will keep them safe from the threat of corruption."
"So, what? You keep them safe only to have them die!?" she retorted. "I refuse to condone this!"
Gaster remained silent throughout the exchange, and now he glanced over at the king. He saw the expression on Asgore's face and knew that the decision had already been made. The question would be what Toriel would do when he announced his decision.
"Tori…" started Asgore.
"Do not 'Tori' me, Dreemurr!" shouted Toriel. "You can't possibly be considering this!"
Asgore sighed. Gerson hadn't been wrong when he said she wasn't going to like what he told her. "Tori, we cannot allow Chaos to come back into this world. If he starts controlling the humans like slaves, he could absorb their souls and become far more powerful than he was when we defeated him. If that happens, all of what we have accomplished will be for naught. If creating Death will bring balance and security to the world, then it is what I will do."
Toriel stared at him with disbelief on her face. Then, with tears falling down her face she whispered, "Then you are no husband of mine. I am leaving this place to dwell among my children." Then she stormed out of the chamber without another word.
Asgore watched her go, his own eyes glistening with unshed tears. Then he turned to Gerson and said, "Begin the necessary preparations to create a God of Death. If you need me, I will be in my personal chamber." With that, he left the room.
Gerson bowed, then addressed Gaster, "Old friend, as the God of Magic, it will fall to you to create this new god. I will aid you with the preparations."
"Of course," replied Gaster. "Let us begin immediately."
It took them three days to finish the necessary preparations. Magic circles and signs were drawn, stardust was gathered, and the incantation was written. The process of creating a new god was something that Gaster had always known was possible, but he had never bothered to try it before. It was a complex ritual that required enormous amounts of energy, so much so that he had to meditate and store power for an entire day just to perform the rite. Besides, creating sentient beings was Toriel's domain anyway. Nevertheless, this was something he had to do to preserve the world they had all fought to build, and he would not fail. The time had come. He sat in front of the center of the complex diagram that had been drawn on the floor. Gerson and Asgore stood several feet behind him, ready to intervene if something went wrong. Gaster concentrated his power and drew forth the energy he had been storing in himself. He gathered and focused it on the stardust before him.
"Hear me," he intoned. "I beseech you, come forth Judge of the Fallen, Guardian of the Underworld, Reaper of Souls. Come forth and bring balance to this realm. Hear me, God of Death! Come forth!"
As he spoke the last words, he released all his energy at once and the stardust gleamed with light before scattering outward, filling the entire diagram with mist. Slowly, the stardust returned to the center where it began to take physical form. Gaster stood, for his part was complete. The trio of gods present watched the new god come into their world. When the mist finally lifted, they were surprised to see that there was not one, but two beings standing before them. They resembled the internal skeletons of humans, and each one seemed to have a few of Gaster's features. They were both clothed in pitch black robes and each carried a scythe on its back. One was tall and somewhat skinny, the other short and a little stocky. The short one's left eye glowed with a faint blue light, while the tall one's right eye glowed orange. Observing them, Gerson chuckled to himself. "Tell me, have you secretly wanted a child of your own, Gaster?"
Surprised Gaster responded, "Well, yes. How did you know?"
"The creation of a new god is a process you must devote your entire being to. Your emotions were tied to the ritual just like your magical energy was. It seems your desire for a child led the ritual to produce two gods instead of one."
"Excuse me? Gods?" said the shorter skeleton, speaking for the first time.
Gerson nodded. "Yes, we are all gods, and you two were just created as the new Gods of Death."
"Just created, huh?" replied the skeleton. "Guess that explains why I don't have any memories of the past."
"Wowie! We're gods? That's amazing!" said the taller skeleton.
Asgore stepped forward and addressed the pair. "Yes, you are the Gods of Death, created to bring balance to Life and keep this world from falling into ruin. However, we can discuss all of that later. First, let me welcome you to our realm. I am Asgore, king of the gods, and these are my trusted advisors: Gerson, God of Wisdom, and Gaster, God of Magic as well as your creator. Tell me, do you have names?"
The short one shrugged and said, "Name's Sans."
The tall one replied, "And I am the great Papyrus!"
"I am pleased to meet you Sans and Papyrus. Come, we have much to discuss," said Asgore. He turned and began walking towards the main hall of the palace. Gerson and Gaster followed at his heels. The two skeleton brothers exchanged glances and hurried after them.
And so, Death had entered the world.