Stay tuned for the end, I have a quick announcement! Until then, here's the parent's reaction!

Keshika wasn't surprised to come home to such a dark house.

In one hand she carried her bag that was filled with essentials like hygiene, while the other lugged behind her a rolling suitcase packed with clothes for the weekend.

She had been called away for the weekend as a fill-in for the Emergency Center in a town far from her own as a big accident had put many of the workers in the hospital. She didn't mind the work, though she dreaded as to what she was going to come home to that Monday.

It seemed her suspicions were right when switching on the living room lights, finding a bag of unfilled balloons on the table, a half-hung banner in the kitchen, chips and salsa on the kitchen table, and pots and pans out ready to be used.

Keshika click her tongue and sighed. Usually Punan was the more responsible one when it came to cleaning up his own mess, but the scene before her looked like no one cared to clean up. She would have a talk with the two when they came home from school.

She furrowed her brow in stress as she climbed the stairs to her and Raviath's bedroom. She had spent a long, tiresome weekend helping other patients; to come home to a mess and having to give her boys a talk was not how she wanted to spend the rest of her day off.

She didn't even register when she opened the door to her room or drop her luggage where she stood before promptly falling onto the bed and take a well-deserved nap. When she awoke next it was to the sound of the front door unlocking and someone coming in.

"Punan? Sahel?" Keshika groaned, lifting herself off of the bed and sitting up. She frowned at herself when she realized she had kept her shoes on, taking them off and cradling them in her hand before going out into the hallway.

"It's just me." Keshika slowed her walk when she heard her husband's voice reply and saw him taking off his coat when she descended the stairs.

"How was the trip?" Keshika asked, stepping lightly past her husband and setting her shoes near the front door before giving him a quick kiss.

He returned the affection, still holding his briefcase and luggage which Keshika took to help. "Pretty good, actually. We won the case."

"That's nice." Keshika deposited the luggage and briefcase at the foot of the stairs to bring up later.

Raviath noticed the mess in the living room and kitchen, a frown settling on his face. "Punan and Sahel aren't home yet?"

"I don't know, I just woke up from a nap." Keshika answered, taking a moment to look at the clock on the wall. It was past seven, clearly school was over for the day.

Raviath slowly entered the kitchen, taking inventory of what he saw while producing a sigh. "Sahel is probably treating Punan to some food right now to avoid seeing us."

"I don't understand why Punan wouldn't clean up his mess." Keshika shook her head, deciding to take a seat in the kitchen. "We told him specifically he could have his party if he cleaned up by the time we got home."

"I bet Sahel convinced him not to." Raviath said the sentence with a tone of disgust. "He's always looking for ways to piss me off."

Keshika gave a tiresome frown, as if she hadn't napped earlier. "Sahel isn't always out to get you, Raviath. He's still a growing boy."

Raviath scoffed. "Don't treat him like a child, Keshika, he knows exactly what he's doing."

He leaned back on the island in the kitchen. "I thought if I talked to him then maybe he would understand, finally do something with his life for once."

Keshika glowered. "You two didn't talk, you beat up your own son."

"What was I supposed to do, Keshika? Let my own son beat me up?" Raviath shot a glare back at her.

Her fingers tensed but she didn't back down. "Anything would have been better than to give your son a black eye and bruises. You're not in the military anymore, Raviath, you're not his sergeant. You're his father," She hissed. "But you burned that bridge long ago."

Raviath didn't respond back, simply cradling a hand up to his right cheek. Keshika hoped he still felt the bruise in that cheek from when Sahel struck him before her anger dissipated for sorrow. "Raviath, I love you. And I know you come from a place of love, but you need to learn how to treat your sons better."

"I'm only doing what's best for them." Raviath finally responded, resting one elbow on the island behind him. "They need to be strong if they're ever going to make it in the outside world."

"Strength doesn't come from isolation." Keshika shook her head, reaching an arm out to clasp her husband's hand. She rubbed her thumb over his fingers, more notably his ring finger that bared the bold band. "Strength comes from love. It's the people around you that make you stronger."

For a moment the two locked eyes, only for Raviath to look away and take his hand back. Guilt lined his features. "Talk to him when they get home, ok? Please, I'm tired of the hostility in this house."

"…Ok." Raviath said it slowly at first, then quickly nodded his head. "Alright, I'll fix things. I'll talk to him and let him know how I feel about him." He still didn't sound thoroughly convinced, but it was a start.

Keshika's frown morphed into a tiresome smile, closing her eyes. "Thank you."

Just then the phone in the kitchen had rung. Raviath only moved his head to look at as Keshika got up from her seat to get it. "I wonder who's calling at this hour?"

She moved rather slowly for the phone before picking it up and holding it to her ear. "Hello? …Yes, this is Punan and Sahel's mom…What?"

Raviath lifted an eyebrow when he noticed shock line his wife's features. "No, no, they didn't… I mean, I wouldn't know, me and my husband just got back from our business trips this after-no, I know Punan would never do that… yes, yes…ok, thank you."

Keshika hung up the phone quickly, her features lined with fright. "That was the school; they say that Punan and Sahel never came to class today."

Raviath sat up from his position, his eyes narrowing. "They know what the consequences are for skipping school."

"They wouldn't skip school anyways." Keshika shook her head slowly. "They thought that they had stayed home today because they were sick, but I haven't heard or seen Punan's car since I got home."

Head turning upwards, Keshika mad-dashed for the stairs of the house while Raviath walked briskly behind her. By the time he came to the second floor Keshika could be heard knocking on Sahel's door. "Sahel? Sahel, are you in there?"

Her hand clasped the doorknob, and in an instant both parents stormed into the bedroom. The place was dark and messy, like Sahel liked, but with a flip of a switch the room was soon bathed in foreign light.

Keshika tread lightly into the room, taking note of the undressed bed and open closet, while Raviath surveyed the dirty laundry thrown all over the floor. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "What a slob."

"He never did like to clean." Keshika lightly commented, though her thoughts were elsewhere. She breathed a sigh of relief, fingers hovering over his dresser. "Nothing looks missing."

Raviath however didn't feel the same. His eyes scanned the room before coming up on a small glass display that Sahel had in his room. Inside was a picture frame with him and Papyrus smiling into the camera when they were younger, and an unused stand. "What a second."

Keshika withdrew her fingers as Raviath made his way over to the glass case, opening it up and taking the empty stand out. He paused for a moment to turn the stand over in his hands before deciding to put it back. "I gave Sahel this stand for his hunter's knife. It's not there."

"Not there?" Raviath could hear the fear in his wife's voice rise as she stepped over behind him. "But-where could he have put it?"

"I don't know." Raviath turned to look at his wife. "Check in here to see if you find it, then look in Punan's room to see if anything is gone. I'll check downstairs."

Keshika nervously nodded her head as both parents set off in their search. Raviath made his way downstairs where he first checked the kitchen. Most of the food was there, save for a few snacks that Keshika bought the two for school. A week's worth was in there the last time he checked before he left, now it was empty.

"I can't find the knife!" He heard Keshika call from upstairs, followed by a hasty, "and that military backpack you gave him is gone too!"

"Keep looking!" Raviath called back, heading next to the living room. The photos looked untouched and the consoles and games were all there. However upon opening one cabinet in their TV stand Raviath could only drop his hands.

The photo album was gone. Or at the very least, someone moved it.

Raviath gritted his teeth. "Shit."

The sound of Keshika coming downstairs caused Raviath to stand back up. Keshika looked worse than when he left her to look upstairs, her little body shaking like a startled goat. He didn't try to calm her. "Anything?"

"P-Punan's stuff is still here…" Keshika started, trying to calm herself with deep breathing. "But his walkman is missing, and his school bag hasn't been touched…"

Her eyes widened. "Raviath, do you think…?"

Raviath quickly grabbed his wife's shoulders, pulling her close for a tight hug. "They're not suicidal, Keshika. I doubt they ditched school for that."

"Then what happened? Why is some of their stuff missing?" Keshika rested her chin on her husband's chest to look up at Raviath. She was more startled than Raviath had thought.

She lightly gasped. "What if Sahel kidnapped Punan? What if he left and he took his brother with him because he hated living here?" She choked on her last words.

"Sahel can't drive, Keshika." Raviath took a deep breath, trying to calm his wife down by stroking a hand down her hair. "If they went anywhere, Punan would have drove them. I bet they just ditched school and went to a friend's house to hang for the day."

Keshika mocked a laugh. "Have you seen those two hang out with anyone besides themselves?"

Raviath gave a stern reply. "Keshika, you're freaking out. They're ok, alright? You're worrying over nothing. They'll be home before you know it."

Moving his wife over to the couch, he sat her down and continued to keep his arm on her. He smiled confidently to her. "We'll wait for them to get home."

Keshika breathed a nervous sigh. "Alright."

Raviath wished he could say he didn't remember how much time had passed, but that was impossible when they both kept constantly checking the time on the clock on the wall. Its ticks were almost haunting, never ending, always moving, yet it never felt like time had actually gone by.

After the first hour Keshika turned on the TV to try and calm her nerves, but no matter what channel they surfed or show they watched, they couldn't let up from their unease.

Keshika could take it no more when the hand struck 12, and standing up at a startling rate she walked to the kitchen. "I'm calling the cops."

Raviath had half a mind to tell her she was crazy, but decided to keep his mouth shut. In retrospect he too was starting to feel nervous and uneasy, why weren't Punan and Sahel home? He tried to shake off this feeling, figuring this was Sahel's way of making him ticked.

He would wait for them.

A week had passed after Punan and Sahel were put on the missing list before Keshika and Raviath heard any news.

It was one evening when the parents were alerted to a loud, banging noise on their door. Raviath had gotten up from his seat on the couch where he sat with Keshika, who hadn't been sleeping well since the two filed the report for their missing sons. She was starting to develop bags under her eyes and was unable to stop shaking. Her voice, once calm and kind was now strained and quiet, as if she couldn't stop thinking about where they were or if they were ok.

Raviath, on the other hand was having a hard time staying in the house. After the third day it settled in Raviath's mind that his sons weren't coming back anytime soon, and fear had come to take claim of his heart. He wanted to be there for Keshika but she only pushed him away, and whenever they did speak she was venomous in her words, 'you did this. You drove them to leave.' Raviath didn't know what he could do to help, if any at all. He felt like a wild animal trapped in a cage with no way to escape.

Upon opening the door he was greeted to a policeman and woman, who gave light nods. "Evening Sir."

"Good evening officers." Raviath cleared his throat, lightly opening the door wider in case they were coming in. "Have you found my boys?"

Both officers exchanged glances at one another, ones of guilt. "We found their car, sir."

Raviath's eyes lit up. "You did? Where? Are they ok?" His head moved up and down as he tried to look behind the officers, as if he would see Punan and Sahel staring intently at the ground in guilt. But there was no one behind them.

The policeman sighed. "Sir, it would be best if we discussed this inside."

Raviath felt his stomach churn. "Alright…"

Cautiously opening the door, Raviath allowed the two officers to slip inside while he closed the door behind them. Keshika quickly turned her head to notice the two officers, her voice fast and desperate. "Did you find them? Are they hurt?"

They didn't answer Keshika's questions, with the police woman motioning for the other couch. "Do you mind?"

Keshika shook her head. "Not at all."

"Thank you." With permission the two officers sat down, then gestured a hand over to Raviath, who still lingered at the door. "You might want to sit down for this, Sir."

Raviath narrowed his eyes. "Stop beating around the bush, where are my sons?"

The policeman's face tightened as if he really wanted Raviath to sit. Raviath crossed his arms instead, though he knew arguing with the police wasn't a smart move. He sighed, then moved across the living room to sit with his wife. He took her hands into his. "I'm sorry, things have been stressful here."

"It's not your fault." The policewoman said, though her words didn't seem to reflect her tone. She sound apathetic. Keshika also shot him a glance when the policewoman spoke, and Raviath felt a frown rest on his face for the small attacks.

It felt like years had gone by before the Policeman inhaled through his nose. "This morning we found your son's car a few small towns away from here."

Raviath could feel Keshika's fingers loosen as she sighed a breath of relief. She smiled for the first time since they called the police. "Oh, thank goodness. Where was the car?"

Raviath knew the answer wasn't going to be a good one, as neither Punan or Sahel were with them. He expected the policeman to shrug and say that the car was empty and that the two were still missing, or that the car was in the middle of nowhere and that their sons could be lost somewhere in the country with no food or water.

"We found it at the base of Mt. Ebott."

Raviath would have been surprised at the news, but for the moment he was more surprised by the strength in his wife's hands. Her fingers tightened so hard that it was almost numbing while the nails threatened to pierce his skin.

Keshika's eyes were wider than saucers, her lips deepened into a horrified frown. "No…"

Mt. Ebott. To those who believed in fairy tales, it was known as the mountain that held the Kingdom of Monsters from long ago. But to the realistic, it was known as the mountain people fled to to die and disappear off the face of the earth.

Raviath's heart tightened so much it was like his organ was replaced with a rock, no, a boulder would be a better estimate. He glanced at his wife's face, wondering just which she believed.

The policeman seemed just as sad as Keshika was, head hanging lightly. "I'm truly sorry."

"No, no no this can't-" Keshika stared at the police officers, her lips twisting into a fake smile. Her eyes cried for help. "They-they have to lost on the mountain somewhere. That's it! You have to continue your search, officer, I know they wouldn't-"

"I'm sorry Miss, but we're not allowed to search the grounds of Mt. Ebott."

The policeman sounded sincere, which only angered the two. Raviath furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean you can't? It's just a mountain; my sons could still be up there needing help!"

"It would violate the contract that was made over the last two centuries." It was the policewoman's time to speak. Raviath and Keshika turned their attention to her, and quickly Raviath realized, when he saw the policeman look to her for guidance, that she was no ordinary officer.

She half-heartedly smiled. "My name is Felicia Anderson, a special agent in charge of and the containment of the information regarding the monster war. But, this probably isn't the first time you've met someone like me. I was contacted for this investigation after the police did a background check on your family's history, and I have to admit, I'm rather surprised at their findings."

She intertwined her fingers, resting them on her lap. "It's rare to see the daughter of a monster child go off and marry a descendent of a human soldier."

Raviath's cheeks flushed bright red, while Keshika glowered at Felicia. "Our marriage has nothing to do with our missing children."

Felicia held up her hands nonchalantly. "My intentions were not to be rude. To the point, I have a sneaking suspicion as to why your sons may have traveled to Mt. Ebott."

"Such as?" Raviath asked, growing irritated with the woman before them. While sympathetic, she seemed more intrigued with the notion of their ancestry than feeling sorrow for the two.

"Well, your sons are not the first descendents of monster children to go wandering back to Mt. Ebott. It was quite common after the war for many monster children to head to the mountain where the rest of their kind resided. Some were chased there, some escaped, some just felt a calling. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the same happened to your boys."

Her eyes glanced over the two. "Did your sons know about their ancestry?"

Raviath could feel Felicia gazing more at Keshika than himself, her eyes piercing like a giant tiger having found her prey. Keshika's face lost some of its color, caught in the gaze of the special agent.

Raviath moved to push himself in front of Keshika's view, snapping her out of the trance. "They just believed they were stories. Keshika has nothing to do with this."

"I highly doubt that." Felicia smiled, then frowned. "Since you two are outcomes of the war, you of course know what dwells within that mountain. Usually if a child or family member goes to that mountain we tell them that they had followed the path of every other suicidal person who climbs the mountain. Instead, three things could have happened to your children."

She held up her fingers. "They really did go there to die, they died on their decent into the Monster Kingdom, and should they have survived the fall they're now trapped by the barrier and most likely reverted back into monsters. Either way, as soon as they pass through the barrier, they're out of our jurisdiction, and now fall to the King of the Monsters on what should be done with them."

Raviath's heart churned and ached every time Felicia said the word 'die'. It was almost like the words manifested into reality upon leaving her lips and socked him in the stomach, leaving him unable to breathe. He could feel Keshika gripping his hands tightly again, but this time it felt more like she was holding on for her life.

"You can't give up on them…" Keshika softly spoke before she found her voice. "You can't just let them stay trapped down there!"

Felicia folded her hands over her own, "I'm sorry, Miss, but there's nothing we can do. Even if they hadn't entered the Monster Kingdom and just fell down a hole, we can't risk sending men down with the barrier covering the inside of the mountain and lose them as well."

"Don't you dare tell me you're sorry, then!" Keshika spat, sitting closer to the edge of the couch then before. "Don't you dare come into my house and tell me my babies are trapped inside the mountain and that you can't do anything!"

"Keshika!" Raviath tried to place his hands on her shoulders but she flinched away from his touch.

She turned her anger onto him as he could see how beady her eyes had become. "Don't touch me!"

The policeman wearily looked to Felicia, who didn't hesitate to stand up. "We should be going now. Again, we're sorry about your sons."

Keshika gritted her teeth. "Get out of my house."

The officers left without another word. Raviath, who showed them out, turned his head back to the couch to see Keshika had moved. The last he saw of her was her slim form darting back into the kitchen, and with a horrid though Raviath moved after her. "Keshika?"

Upon entering the kitchen he gripped the side of the wall, relief washing over him when Keshika had not moved for the knife rack but for the phone hanging on the wall. Her back still shook like a leaf waiting to be blown off of its branch, while her fingers pressed the buttons only to have to press the cancel button every few hits from missing a number.

Raviath opened his mouth, then closed it when no words came out. He didn't know what to say at the moment, he didn't think Keshika even knew he was standing there, watching her. It felt like the situation hadn't set in clearly for him, for his mind swam like it was in a dream. It didn't feel real, that their sons were never coming back, or that they could very well be dead somewhere on the cursed mountain.

With a frown Raviath remembered the flames within himself, how he kept telling Keshika when they were younger not to tell them of their history. He didn't expect this to happen but maybe if she had just shut up-

Raviath stopped himself when he realized he had taken a few steps into the kitchen. His fists shook, wanting justice for the wrong that had happened to him. But when he gazed at his wife's back, how she herself was holding up, the anger left just as quickly as it came.

Keshika jumped in her spot just as a hard slam shook the kitchen. She angrily turned her body to the source of the noise to see her husband keeping his fist on the wall. His head hung low so she couldn't see his eyes, but the way his fist shook like it was trying to dig its way through the wall told her that he was hurting just as badly as she was.

But she couldn't feel a thing.

"Raviath." Tenderly she placed a hand on her husband's shoulder when she walked over to him. Her voice had grown soft and soothing. "It's not your fault."

"Those damn fools." Raviath choked on his words, as if he was trying to hold back his feelings. "Why did they go to that mountain? Why didn't they believe they were nothing but stories?"

Keshika didn't reply back with a voice, her hand moving lightly up his shoulder and down to try and calm him.

Raviath shook his head solemnly. "I should have beaten some sense into them long ago."

"Raviath," He heard Keshika start, her voice a tone of disappointment.

"You know it's true!" Raviath pushed his wife's hand away, startling her to take one step back. He could feel his anger clouding his mind but he didn't care for the moment. "I should have been sterner on what we told them when we were younger! Instead I let you fill their minds with our ancestry and now our boys are dead because of it! I should have stepped in long ago but I thought that you could keep them safe!"

Silence rushed into the kitchen, with it the anger Raviath had inside bubbled back down and out of his mind. He came to realize what he had said, and though he did not regret it, he regretted saying it aloud.

Keshika's eyes quivered on the verge of tears, her hands close to her mouth.

His eyebrows angled upwards on his head. "I didn't-"

"Stop." Keshika held a hand out, dangling close to his chest but never touching.

She had turned her head away, probably to keep herself from not crying. "I understand why you're angry. You have every right to be."

When she turned her head back to Raviath, something had changed. Before she looked like she was staring down the Grim Reaper, but now she had calmed and wore an innocent smile on her face. "But it's not your fault, Raviath."

Raviath attempted to retort but simply failed on this action. He just kept his mouth shut, for he feared if he confirmed his doubts then he would lose himself to his raw feelings.

Keshika bent her head a little, trying to get Raviath to look at her. "You were only doing what you thought was right. Don't blame yourself for this."

A confused frown rested upon Raviath's lips, looking to his wife who was much calmer than normal. An idea came to mind.

"Keshika…" Raviath started. He tried grabbing his wife for a hug. "You don't-"

Keshika nimbly stepped back, avoiding the affection. "I'm fine, Raviath. I know my boys are still alive." She lightly giggled. "They're probably having a nice drink with the King of the Monsters right now."

Raviath knew she didn't believe her own words. He moved again to hug her but Keshika backed up once more. He started to realize the weight of his words. "Keshika, you're blaming yourself."

"No I'm not." Keshika was quick to reply, blinking her eyes several times as if to hide the lingering sadness dwelling within. "I'm disheartened, yes, but I don't blame myself for this. I know they're alive, and they'll come back to us safe and sound."

She closed her eyes, bringing her hands together. "My boys are the angels foretold in the monster prophecy. It was their destiny to go to Mt. Ebott and free the monsters. I can feel it."

Raviath could only feel his nerves twisting together from how insane Keshika was sounding. She was slipping. He moved his hand to grab hers, which she gently giggled at and moved away. "No, Raviath."

He kept trying to her dismay. "Raviath, please stop. I said no, honey."

Raviath furrowed his eyebrows, lunging at his wife and grabbing her by the shoulders. He wasn't expecting her to wrench him off her and push him back. "GET OFF ME!"

Raviath stumbled for his footing before giving Keshika her space. Her face was livid with anger and insanity before it quickly disappeared behind a mask of calm and serenity. Her strained tone morphed back into its gentle voice. "I said no, sweetie. I don't want a hug right now, but thank you."

She spun her back to Raviath, going back to the phone. "I'm going to call my dad. I would like it if you gave me some privacy."

Raviath didn't want to leave Keshika alone, but with the knife block so close to the phone he didn't know what Keshika might do at this moment. He slowly nodded his head. "Alright. Tell your dad I said hi, ok?"

Keshika's smile grew, cocking her head to the side. "Okay honey."

Raviath first sat on the couch, but after he noticed Keshika continuously staring at him he moved for the upstairs and into their bedroom. He sat down on the bed , keeping absolutely still until he heard Keshika's muffled voice waft up from the kitchen.

He didn't know what they were talking about, wondering if Keshika was going to tell them what happened. He continued to listen until he heard her happy muffles break down into sobs, and with a sigh of relief he closed his eyes.

He prayed her father would talk some sense into her.

Things never went back to normal.

Raviath came home these days to a dark house. The dining table that had once been set up with Punan, Sahel and Keshika waiting for him was now empty and dusty, and his food came from wrapped leftovers that sat on the island in the kitchen under a lone light. Keshika always ate without him now.

The family photos that lined the house were all taken to their bedroom, where Keshika spent almost all of her time if she wasn't working. She switched from full time to part time to still help out with the bills, but all her other hobbies like gardening and doing puzzles were nonexistent. Raviath came to check up on her every day and try to comfort her, but she would continuously shake her head, tell him she was fine, and then go on to show him photos of their sons from their other photo album. All she talked about was Punan and Sahel, or Sans and Papyrus as she never addressed them by their real names now.

Raviath wasn't even able to touch his wife anymore, as if he tried to hug her or show her comfort she would scream and yell at him to leave her alone. So he wasn't even able to live in his bedroom anymore, and took to sleeping on the couch downstairs. After the first few months Raviath got tired of sleeping on the uncomfortable couch and demanded that Keshika let him back into their room, but he stopped after he met Keshika one day in there with a knife to her side.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to help his wife.

But today, two years after Sans' and Papyrus' absence, Raviath knew something was wrong. For starters Keshika's car was gone, which Raviath took as a sign that maybe Keshika had left to go see her parents. She had taken trips like that every few months to go home and be with family, without him of course, and wouldn't tell him until he got inside the house and read the note she left telling him what she was doing.

He remembered the night when Keshika's father called him while she was away. His tone was forced in saying that he needed him to help Keshika, and he sounded like he was going to lose a daughter soon.

However when he entered the dark house Raviath couldn't find the note about her leaving on the dining table or in the kitchen. Was she not telling him now?

Fear started to overtake his heart as Raviath placed a hesitant hand on the banister to the stairs. "Keshika?"

Did she sell the car? Did she quit her job? These thoughts were running through his mind as he ascended the stairs to their bedroom. A bad storm was going to come through their area soon and he didn't want to try and get their car back in the rain.

The bedroom was quieter than normal when Raviath stopped before it. He looked to his fist then back at the door, knocking lightly. "Keshika? Are you awake?"

Maybe she was napping and someone stole the car. When silence greeted him he felt his nerves bunch together. His rapping grew louder. "Keshika, are you in there? …I'm coming in."

Opening the unusually unlocked door, Raviath took one step inside before staggering backwards. The room had been destroyed. The covers to their bed was cut into ribbons, the mattress had slits in it from the stabbing of a knife, glass littered the floor and photo frames were broken in half and lying on the ground. The photos that once occupied the picture frames were now scattered all over the bed.

The most terrifying thing however was the red marker that stained the wall behind the bed. It was a giant, uneven circle with poorly drawn wings beside it, followed by three triangles with two facing upward and the center one down.

Raviath hadn't seen that symbol in a long time, but knew it all too well to know exactly what happened to his wife. He ran out of the room and bounded down the stairs, slamming the front door behind him as he made his way back for his car.

Thunder rolled in as he stared up his vehicle once more, speeding out of the driveway and down the neighborhood. He prayed to his god that Keshika hadn't left hours before him.

The trip was roughly around three hours to make, but Raviath got his time down to two and a half with his constant speeding. By the time his car rolled down the beaten trail and curve to the bottom of the mountain a heavy rainstorm had come down and the winds bashed and cried out in anger. Night started to descend but it wasn't too dark to not see a thing.

Raviath sucked in a deep breath to see his wife's car several yards away before ripping the umbrella out from the back of his car and stepping out. Just before he could even get it open the rain crashed into his suit and skin, soaking him properly just as he got the umbrella up. But even then the wind decided to challenge the notion of the umbrella. "Keshika! Goddammit woman where are you?!"

Raviath peered into Keshika's car to the best of his ability, angered when he saw that she had left the vehicle. A lone picture sat in the passenger's seat, though it was hard to make out just what it was. Raviath pulled his body away from the car that the wind wanted to plaster onto, taking steps towards the mountain. "Keshika!"

Hesitantly and determined, Raviath started to scale the mountain in hopes of finding his wife before it was too late. He had two ideas as to why she came here, and neither were the sane option. With every step he called for his wife, and every other step the wind collided into his body and tried to send him back down the mountain. It was as if the wind was there during the time of the war, and rejected his ancestry.

Thunder boomed and lightning strafed the sky in a ceremonial fashion, playing to the beat of his trek. Finally, after it seemed like Keshika was gone for good lightning graced his presence and gave him a way.

There she was, not even twenty feet away and higher up on the mountain. Her figure frightened Raviath when it suddenly appeared out of the blast of lightning, for she did not look like the woman he once knew. Her hair was ratted and messy, drenched now by the pouring rain, and she wore her best red and blue dress that covered her legs and feet. Her arms showed signs of abuse as if she deliberately ran into every tree on her way up, but her eyes. Even from so far away he could see the insanity they held, as if they were glowing and glowering at him directly.

The only thing that stopped him from sprinting towards his wife was the knife she held out at him. "Go away!"

"Keshika!" Raviath cried out, taking a few steps forward but keeping an ear open when the lightning faded. He was so afraid of the lightning striking again only to find his wife close at hand and plunging the knife into him. "Are you mad?! What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm going home!" Raviath felt relief to hear his wife's voice still far away, which meant she wasn't coming close to kill him. That was the only relief he got though.

"Home? This isn't your home!"

"It will be!" Her angry yelling grew happy for a moment. "I will join Papyrus and Sans and then we can be a happy family again! Everything will be right again!"

"Keshika!" Raviath flinched when another bolt of lightning struck the ground, settling aways in the distance but still rather close. "Our sons are dead! They have been for two years!"

"Liar!" Keshika howled through the wind. "You're saying that so that us monsters can't be together! You humans ruin everything!"

Raviath stumbled to find words for a moment, wondering just how far gone his wife was. "You're being irrational! Do you honestly think that's what I want?! I want to see my boys again!"

"Well you can't!" Keshika replied from within the darkness. "But I can, and I will without you!"

"Keshika!"

"It's Antiqua!" Raviath paused when he heard Keshika shout her old name. For a moment in time he was taken back to the first time he met her; he was off running a few miles that early morning in training for the military, and she was selling her family's harvest off the side of the road. She had an accent back then, one that wore off over time.

"Antiqua? That's a funny name."

"It sure is, but it's a tradition in my family to be named after fonts."

"Wait… are you a monster kid?"

"Sure am! My dad came from the war, but he says I shouldn't talk about it."

"Whoa, I had relatives that fought in the war too! Er, well…"

"Haha, that's cool! I have to run some deliveries, but will you tell me more about your history tomorrow?"

"Uh… yes! Yes I will!"

"I'll see you then."

Another bolt of lightning showed Antiqua running off, to which Raviath quickly pursued. "Antiqua, wait!"

He looked out into the dark. "I know you're hurt but you have to understand that they're never coming back! You need to come to reality! You're scaring me and your family! Please, let me help you!"

"No!" Antiqua yelled back through the dark. "You're trying to trick me! They're not dead! They're alive, they have to be alive!"

Raviath could hear a change in his wife's voice as he continued his slow trek up the mountain. She sounded closer. "They can't be dead… They're the only children I have and if they're gone then… it'll be my fault…"

Lightning lit the scene, and Raviath gasped for a moment to realize how close he and Antiqua were. She was only a few feet away now, knife hanging to the side of her body while her face was drenched in tears and rain.

Raviath didn't even realize he was holding an up-turned umbrella, raising his arm to put it over his wife. "Antiqua… this isn't your fault."

She quickly snapped at him when she realized how close he had gotten, taking a few steps back and holding the knife out. "Yes it is! You believe it too, everyone does! I killed them, Raviath, I sent them here and kill-killed them!"

Her body seethed with anger before a sob escaped her lips. The knife quivered in the air before she dropped it entirely. "I killed them…. I killed our boys…"

Sobs shook her body as Antiqua pulled her hands to her arms, cradling herself. Raviath felt himself drop the umbrella as the winds calmed considerably. He was afraid if he moved again Keshika would only run off, so he stayed where he stood. "Antiqua, I want to help you through this. We can grieve together, but please don't run anymore."

She gave him a brief glance before going back to her sobbing, and soon Raviath could feel his own tears come. "I loved them just as much as you did. If anyone here is to be blamed, it's me. I pushed them too far; I only saw what I wanted to see."

His hand reached for Antiqua, but he pulled away. "I wanted to rewrite yours and their past so that they wouldn't have to live in fear of who they were. I should have been more open minded, I shouldn't have caved."

He remembered the government coming to their door when Papyrus was only a few months old. They were unhappy with the fact that Antiqua was continuing a monster tradition and were afraid that people would look for answers which would lead them to the war. They made sure the couple realized their stance in that they had to cover up anything related to Antiqua's past, including her name and their son's. Antiqua fought with them but Raviath didn't want to upset the government, and soon everyone knew of Raviath and Keshika with their healthy boy Punan.

He grabbed for his right cheek, feeling an old wound reopen. "We can't change what we did in the past. But we can change for the better of the future. We can help each other, together."

Another bolt of lightning struck the area, so close in fact that both felt the electrical currents disperse into the ground. Antiqua gasped and started to flee up towards the mountain, leaving Raviath to try and bound after her. "Antiqua, wait!"

His right foot slipped behind him as he fell to his knees, realizing the grass and dirt he had been coming up on now became a muddy trap and sucked his feet in. He pulled on his feet to try and get himself loose, noticing Antiqua run left a little and farther up towards a huge oak tree.

Lightning came down before her, striking the tree she ran towards for shelter and setting it ablaze. She took a few steps back as both heard a low groan, followed by the image of the tree starting to come down.

Raviath gripped the ground beneath him, desperately trying to get free. "ANTIQUA, RUN! GET OUT OF THERE!"

Frightened she turned her head to her husband before looking back at the falling tree. For a second she did not move, then, she turned her body to Raviath and clasped her hands together as if to pray. He would never forget the happy smile she wore on her face as she cried out. "I will see my boys again."

Not soon afterwards the tree engulfed her form. Thus, Mt. Ebott upheld its legacy.

Well, that got dark very fast.

So hey everyone! I just want to make a quick announcement in terms of Accepting Darkness. Because i've gone back to college i've been very busy with school, studying, tutoring and other things that have kept me from really working on the story. Worst case scenario, i'll be pushing it back three more weeks but if I find enough time to get to it I'll still keep it scheduled to come fully back on Feb 15th. I'll let you guys know though what's going on, so stay tuned!