"Yeah, I know," Aofil takes a seat on the nearby bench. They lean forward with their chin on their knuckles, "last time was dramatic. I was..."

The nearby aspen hushes Aofil as the wind blows through it. Aofil feels their shoulders sink down, almost as if they're about to fall off. The wind blows through them. It's mild, calm. It caresses Aofil's cheeks. They want to imagine it as a hand, but they fail to. It's too cold for them. Not warm enough to be real, at least not for Aofil.

God, how they wished it was.

"Sorry," they whisper to the wind, "I just can't."

The aspen quiets down.

A small smirk grows on Aofil's lips, "For all of my talk about families and how I could never replace you. I guess I've already replaced you. I tried to imagine your hand, mom, but it wasn't a human hand that immediately popped into my head. It was Toriel's. It's human now, at least."

Aofil runs their hands over their face as they lean back into the bench, "Ho boy, these years. Or, to be more specific, this week. I had almost forgotten you, and I don't mean forgotten you."

A small gust bursts the aspen for a short second.

"Yes, yes, let me explain," Aofil looks around to make sure that they're alone. Asriel is in the car, slowly bobbing his head to some music. Other than that it's as dead as a graveyard…

Aofil shakes away the thought, and rolls up their sleeve. The fur on their arm shines whiter than ever. Must be the sun, "See this?" they ask as they flash their arm towards the grave, "It's a nice little catalyst for my curse. Pretty sure it's because I have a piece of Asriel's soul inside mine. Not gonna bother to look, because frankly, I don't want to know."

Aofil rolls their sleeve back down, "So, I tried to distant myself from the monsters, and you as well. I figured, if I could leave anything magical behind, I could perhaps control it. That includes my soul, so that includes you. It was why I left. Not the single reason, but it was a reason nonetheless. The biggest as well, and I didn't make it lightly. All I had to do to bring back him," Aofil nods towards the car, "it was just too much for me. Heck, even the reset was too much for me. It was probably too much for me that the monsters even existed. So when I finally felt that I was done, I cut the cord. I couldn't look at them anymore, there was too much hurt. I was never meant to be with them. I was meant to be with you, but here we are."

The aspen is quiet, not a sound from it. Aofil lowers their head in shame, "If you're mad at me for thinking like that, then you'll be happy to know that it didn't really work, since the more I did to avoid, the more monsters became involved. I had to settle for something, so I decided to just not think about anything, or anyone, from here."

Aofil feels the muscles in their cheeks tense, "That worked," and their eyes filling up, "Because," the words clog their throat, "Because now I realize that I can barely remember your faces."

The wind sings through the aspen. The leafs shake violently, screaming at Aofil, "I'm so sorry..." they whimper. The wind reaches Aofil, and again it brushes against their cheek. It's warm this time.

Aofil's scoff throws the tears off their face, "Still not enough..."

But the wind doesn't stop.

"I miss you."

It keeps blowing.

"What should I do?"

"You could start by moving over, my child."

Aofil snaps their head towards the voice, "Oh," and dries off the remaining moisture from their face while scooting to the side.

They're handed a handkerchief, "No need to be embarrassed, Aofil."

Aofil denies it, "It's fine."

"You sure?"

Aofil nods, "Yeah, I'm sure."

The frock dances in the wind as the pastor sits down next to Aofil. He takes a deep breath, and exhales calmly, "It's been a while. I'm pleased to see you again, Aofil."

"Sure has," Aofil answers distantly.

The winds doesn't slow down, but that doesn't detest the pastor. He lets the wind drag and pull at every seam of his frock, "Are you coming back?" he asks with his eyes closed in enjoyment.

"Well, I'm here."

The pastor lets out a light chuckle before again breathing deeply through his nose, "It's a relief hearing you say that, Aofil. Even with everything you've been through, you're still you."

Aofil doesn't join the pastor in his chuckle, but they do join him by relaxing against the back of the bench, "Wish I could say that myself."

"If you don't mind me asking, how have you been with your curse?"

Aofil does mind, quite a lot, but another warm gust push their head towards the pastor ever so gently. Aofil gives in, "It's not been well, father. I've tried to keep it under control, but I'm not strong enough."

"That's because your soul is strong, Aofil. Not because you're weak. It's just misguided, and I apologize for that."

Apologize? What for? "What do you mean?" Aofil asks perplexed.

The pastor places a finger on Aofil's chest, "You've no idea how much your soul would've been worshiped back in the days before the Barrier."

"That's not cheering me up, to be honest," Aofil replies, still as perplexed. The pastor returns his finger to himself, "I also remember you saying that there weren't any books before the Barrier left."

The pastor leans his unamused face towards Aofil. He raises an equally unimpressed eyebrow, "Not that I knew about."

Aofil's brow furrows, "What do you mean?"

"Isn't it a bit weird that I just told you that your soul would've been worshiped, but you refer to it as a curse?"

"Yeah, I guess. But," Aofil's brow furrows deeper, "that's because you called it a curse."

"Because it is a curse, but not in the way you think, and not in the way I thought either."

The wind stop, and it summons a smile from the pastor, "Didn't mean for it to be ominous like this," he thinks out loud, "But anyway, what I mean is that the curse you have isn't real. Not anymore. You're not cursed, Aofil. You just have a red soul. A broken soul, yes, but other than that, then there's nothing special about you."

The pastor's calm smile is having the opposite effect on Aofil. What's he saying? Nothing special? Then why?

"What?" is the only thing Aofil manages to produce.

"Determination exists in every soul, Aofil. Which means that determination isn't bound to the crimson heart, it's bound to every color. Whether it be red, green, or," the pastor places his hand over his heart, "in my case."

Aofil turns their head away, "Don't."

"Every human has one, Aofil."

"Please. I don't want to know."

The pastor lets go of his chest, "As you wish then. To continue with my point, your soul isn't cursed. Back in the days before the Barrier, a red soul was seen as something valuable. So valuable and rare that you would've been hunted because of it."

Aofil glances down at their own chest, "Hunted? By monsters? That why we sealed them?"

"By humans, of course. A red soul is an incredibly strong one. More so than any other color. Whereas the others have known virtues to them, the red soul doesn't. Because of it being sought after by greed and lust for power there aren't any records of the virtues for it, only how much it transcended the others. Why it is, we don't know."

The pastor smiles towards Aofil, who's face is twisted in confusion, "I told you that you had a curse because that's how I interpreted the books at that time. During these years I've been taking in the monsters culture. Their customs, spirituality, magic, how they view souls," his smile fades, and he turns his head towards the gravestones, "I've learned that what I thought before was false. That what I said was a lie conjured up to protect the bearers of the soul. I've twisted the knowledge, like the ones before me. To me it read as the red soul was dangerous, that it was cursed. The curse isn't because of the dangers the human wielding it possesses, but the dangers against the human wielding it. It's not a curse from within you, it's a curse towards you."

Aofil is frozen, their world is spinning.

"Forgive me," the pastor begs the wind, "Had I known what I know now, things might've been different. That might be a lie, but it's the closest I can offer as an apology. All that hatred, misguided, baseless. Your parents deserved better than what I gave them. What if I didn't tell them about it? Would Chara still be alive? Would your family still be alive?" the pastors clamped hands begin to shake, "Aofil..."

"Y-yes?" they stammer.

"Even after what I said, what I set in motion? I drove their child away. They came to me for guidance, but they left lost. Aofil, do you think they can forgive me? "

Aofil sighs, "I don't know. They might be busy enough forgiving me for what I did."

"You might not be religious, Aofil," the pastor stands up carefully, "but I'm still gonna ask you."

"Yes?"

The pastor kneels before the gravestones, "Will you join me in praying for them?"

The pastor praying for Aofil's parents? The pastor who begrudgingly agreed to house Aofil's family in his graveyard, is now praying for them. He who proclaimed that Chara and Aofil was cursed, is now telling Aofil that the curse was spun out of jealousy?

"Aofil?" the pastor asks again.

Aofil shakes the thoughts out of their head. They meet the pastor's eyes. Calm, inviting, pleading for forgiveness. They nod, "Sure," and kneels next to the pastor. He offers a warm smile.

"Thank you."

The pastor lays his hands with the palms up on his knees, "For those who's bond has been broken, may your souls shine bright now that it's free, and replace the warmth that vanished with you. Let it illuminate the undiscovered path that awaits you. May it remind you of the happiness you brought to everyone you graced with your presence. Join the ones you thought were gone, and smile to us as we awe at the rainbow you've joined. For as the sun brings color to rain, so shall you bring color to the void, so that we may find you."

The pastor lowers his head, "Forgive me," and lets the wind dance around him.

Aofil lowers their head with him, "And me."

The wind dances around Aofil as well.

"Pastor?" Aofil asks after a couple of silent minutes without opening their eyes.

"Yes, my child?" he answers gently.

"You said that you didn't know what you did now back in the day."

"That is true, these years have been enlightening to me," the pastor pats his chest, "In more ways than one."

"So, what do you know now?"

The gravel underneath the pastor rumbles quietly, and Aofil opens their eyes. The pastor reseats himself on the bench, and Aofil joins him, "Like I said, that determination exists in every soul. This past years I've been taking in the monster's beliefs. How they see the soul, and their bodies. It's fascinating. For them, it's the same, but for us, it's separate. We have a bond between our soul and our body."

"Is that what you meant in the prayer? That when you die, your bond is broken?"

The pastor nods, "Yes. The prayer you shared with me, it was from before the Barrier."

"And my soul? My curse? Is it true that it doesn't exist?"

The pastor swivels his head towards the end of the gravel path. He waves, and then looks at Aofil, "I can only tell you my interpretation. Whether it's true or not, that I don't know. Besides, does it matter?"

Aofil nods without changing their expression, "Yes, it actually does."

The pastor stands up, "No, it doesn't," and pauses just long enough to be able to interrupt Aofil's retort, "Because what's important is what you think is true. It's your soul, it's a part of you."

"What?" Aofil asks with an irritated hand, "Just tell me, is my curse real or not?"

"It's real as long as you make it real. Now if you excuse me, I have others in my flock I have to attend to. Thank you for joining me, Aofil. I'm sure it did good for your family as well."

"No," Aofil places their irritated hand on the pastor's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks, "I want a straight answer. Is my curse real or not?!"

"Did you change your mind when I told you that I was wrong?"

"Why would I if you were just lying about it being wrong?"

The pastor shrugs, but the hand stays firm, "If I lied back then, what difference would it make if I lied now? So what if I want to try and atone for the wrongs I did? The important part is that you believe it, and take it to heart, or in your case, your soul."

"Just..."

"Maybe you're angry with me because I made it clear that you've been lying to yourself all these years?" the pastor asks before removing Aofil's hand. It doesn't fight back.

Aofil's head drowns under the question. What if he's right?

The pastor leans out from Aofil's shoulder, "Prince Asriel," the pastor bows to the jeans and shirt wearing monster, "You've grown since the last time I saw you. I don't mean to be rude, but unfortunately I have to attend to other things at the moment."

Asriel waves it off, "It's fine, you do you."

"Send my regards to the king and queen."

Asriel nods with a smile, "Will do."

"Aofil," the pastor bids farewell before walking away with the wind in his back.

"It was a very long five minutes, Aofil."

Aofil doesn't hear the question at first. The one in their head is too loud for them to hear anything from outside. Asriel notices Aofil's blank stare, and he leans into Aofil's view, "Hm?" Aofil mumbles as their brain realizes that someone is in front of them, "Oh, Asg… I mean Asriel. Yes?"

Asriel isn't sure how to answer, "Yes, I'm here now."

"When did I wave you over?"

"You didn't," Asriel's brow furrows ever so slightly, "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, yes," Aofil assures, "My head is just a bit busy, that's all. A lot has happened, I guess it's catching up to me."

"I can relate," Asriel nods to himself. He forms words with his lips, but says none, "I can relate," he repeats after gaining control over his mouth again.

"So, um," Aofil presents the gravestones to Asriel, "These are my parents. My siblings are next to them. Not Chara, of course. My adopted ones."

Asriel waves, "We didn't have a chance to meet last time."

From an outside perspective, talking to a bunch of gravestones seems kinda strange. Aofil is the last one to judge though, but there's just something weird seeing someone else doing it.

"It's kinda weird doing this," Asriel admits gently, "We monsters don't bury our dead."

"You strew the dust on the deceased favorite things, right?"

Asriel nods, "But I heard that you do something similar."

"Yeah, cremation."

"I wonder how mom did it with Chara."

"You haven't asked her?"

"No," Asriel raises a seething eyebrow, "because a certain someone told me not to mention Chara while my muzzle was in the cold dirt."

Aofil nods sheepishly, "Right."

"So," Asriel points respectfully towards Aofil's siblings, "how were they?"

Aofil motions towards the bench, "Not like Chara."

Asriel clamps his hands together and rests them on his lap, "Do you even remember Chara? I thought you had medicine that blocked your memory."

"Yeah," Aofil scratches their nose, "all I heard about Chara was from Chara, or what my mind thought they were. Honestly, I've no clue. But they didn't have the same curse as Chara or me, so..."

"I see," Asriel drums with his thumbs as he thinks, "How were your big brother then?"

"My big brother was good. I don't really know how to describe it otherwise. He taught me to pick locks, he helped me, sometimes, with homework. You know, big brother stuff."

Aofil sees in Asriel's eyes that he doesn't know, not at all, "Look," Aofil tries again, "you've heard of how big brothers are, right? He was there for me."

"Fair enough, I guess. Your sister?"

"She was, she was kinda like MK. Just full of energy all the time. How is he, by the way?"

"MK?"

Aofil nods excitingly without noticing, "Yeah."

"His dad is working close with dad to help with the bureaucratic, what he describes, Temmie field, of trying to make a new kingdom literally sprout out of the ground. MK's been around our house a lot, so we're really good friends."

"Frisk too?"

"Yeah, with Frisk too. MK's got a driver's license too."

Aofil's brow sinks so low that they can barely see, "MK?"

Asriel nod is reserved, and Aofil detects some jealousy as Asriel crosses his arms while twisting his lips, "Yeah."

Aofil tries, but they can't fathom how, "But how?"

"His magic," Asriel mumbles.

As much as Aofil would love to hear the specifics, they can tell that Asriel isn't gonna give it to them. His body language is a bigger barrier than the Barrier.

Asriel nods towards the bigger gravestones, "Your parents?"

"Yeah."

"Chara told me a lot about them."

"A lot of it I'm guessing wasn't good."

Asriel shakes his head, "No, it wasn't. They told me that..."

Aofil stops Asriel with a firm hand between them, "Spare me the details. I don't want to know what Chara thought of them. Although, was there anything good they said?"

Asriel searches his mind, "Nothing that they said to me, but I could tell that there was something. The more time they spent with us, the less they thought about it though. I could tell, but I could never tell them."

"It was probably me," Aofil wrinkles their nose at what they just said, but it's what makes the most sense, "We were pretty close. I think Chara felt like it was us two against the world. What with our curse being too much for our parents to handle. Had we just waited a couple more days..."

Asriel brushes his ear back, "I wonder what would've happened if you fell with them. Me on dad's head, you and Chara on either side of his shoulders instead of just Chara on one."

The image floods Aofil's mind, and they chuckle, "That would've certainly been something."

"The hopes of the Underground."

"Perhaps they would still be alive today."

Asriel sighs, "Perhaps."

The two sit together on the bench, but alone in their minds. The sun manages to reach so low that it blinds them, despite their head being lowered in thought, before they realize the time.

Asriel cocks his head towards the car, "Shall we?"

Aofil nods, "Let's go," but before they leave they wave goodbye to their family. Asriel does to, and with a smile on his lips.

Once back in the car Asriel inserts the key into the ignition. A gust of wind shoots through a nearby patch of flowers, and into the car. It catches Asriel's nose, and he sneezes.

Aofil needs a second to recover from the startling sound. They almost stabbed themselves with the end of the seat belt, "Bless you, Asriel. You alright?"

Asriel dries his nose with his sleeve, "Yeah, I'm fi..." and freezes when he discovers that he's still holding the key.

The upper half of the key.

He dives down under the steering wheel, his ear slapping against the radio, and turning it on. Hie eyes widen in fear, and he looks up towards Aofil, "It oke!"

Aofil lowers the sound of the volume, "It broke!" Asriel repeats.

He shows Aofil the lower half of the key stuck in the ignition. The lights are on in the car, but the engine isn't, "Can you get it out? Use a claw."

Asriel shows his hands, "I cut them yesterday, they're too blunt!"

Aofil can't help to find Asriel's panic a little bit funny, but he's right in that it is indeed a problem, "Asriel, calm down. Let's just call a tow truck," they propose before getting out of the car.

"Mom is gonna kill me," Asriel whimpers before closing the door behind him. He puts his elbows on the roof of the car and slides his hands up his cheeks. They stop under his ears, "She's gonna kill me."

He sure is a normal teenager.

"Asriel."

He removes his hands.

"Asriel," Aofil repeats now that he can hear, "call a tow truck. I'll look up a number on my phone, and then you can make the call.."

"Can't you call one?" Asriel proposes while making himself as small as possible.

"No," Aofil finds a local company and slides the phone over to Asriel, "It's important that you know how to call for help once you have your license."

Aofil glances over to their family. Their dad had just as much fun as Aofil is having now when they were getting their own license.

"Hello?" Asriel starts, "Yes, I need a tow truck. Where?" he looks around for a sign.

"Mt Ebott graveyard," Aofil informs.

"Mt Ebott graveyard," Asriel relays, "What? Yes, the church," he shoots a glare at Aofil.

Aofil sighs. Semantics.

Asriel's glare is interrupted by the phone, "No truck? Then how long?" he looks at Aofil again, but now his eyes are filled with fear, "Three hours?"

Three hours? No, that's way too long. Aofil motions for Asriel to cover the phone with his hand, "Tell them who you are. That should make you a priority."

Asriel nods, but not with confidence, "I'm Prince Asriel."

The laughter from the phone is so loud even Aofil can hear it. Asriel switches ear while massaging the previous one, "No, but I am."

Aofil beckons for the phone, "Tow truck to the Monster City from Mt Ebott graveyard, how soon?"

The laughter from the phone takes a while to die down, "Three hours, like I said," the guy on the phone says again, before chuckling again.

"See you in three hours then."

Aofil disconnects the call.

"Call Toriel and tell her that we're gonna be a bit late, Asriel. I know a place where we can eat. They serve snails too."

Asriel's face lights up, "Really?"

Aofil's face sinks, "Yeah, really."