Hi, everyone! So, school is starting for me pretty soon, so I have no idea how much homework I'm gonna get. I'll keep updating this story weekly, but we'll see if that changes. If it does change, I'll let everyone know.

Here's the chapter for today:

August 21, 170 A.E.

Entry #6

I am so excited!

Today Wingdin came into our room and offered to show us around the village. He had another reason for talking to us as well, but I'm getting to that.

After breakfast, Toriel and I retreated into our room. I did not sleep well last night-the mattress was too hard and there was none of the familiar noise of servants scurrying around to put me to sleep. I could tell Toriel did not sleep well either.

(I don't think either of us will sleep well tonight, either, but that's for another reason!)

We were just discussing what we could do for the day when Wingdin knocked on our door.

"H-hi!" He gave us an awkward wave. "I was thinking...since, you know, you guys are new here maybe I could...show you guys around?"

When Toriel and I looked at each other, he said, "I mean! You don't have to! If you don't want to! But I thought...it would be nice? To get to know the village?"

Toriel stifled a giggle. "Sure, Wingdin," she said, "We would love to see the village.

Wingdin warmed up to us pretty quickly. He showed us the school. He said that we would be going there with him in two weeks, when the hail season ends. I wonder what they teach in this village. Since skeletons can see souls outside of a fight, most people here are healers. I would think they focus mostly on medical subjects, like anatomy or soul study.

Next Wingdin showed us the post office. Apparently some monster in a cloak comes in every day and gathers all the letters at the office and delivers them to their village where it gets sorted and delivered again.

"I have read about this," Toriel said, "There is an entire village where the main form of trade is mail and transportation services. No one knows where the village is except for the monsters who live in it."

"Yeah!" Wingdin said, "They're an individual race. They're kind of like skeletons in the sense that they can manipulate distance, which makes them good at travel and deliveries. They're, like humanoid..."

"But not a lot of people have seen what they actually look like, since they wear cloaks all the time to protect themselves from the weather." Toriel finished.

"Someone told me that this race is nomadic," Wingdin replied, "They don't actually have a village. They just go wherever work takes them. I don't know where they would sort the mail if that's the case, though, so I don't think that's true."

"Maybe," Toriel said, "they have a common place to put the letters, a place where everyone can access-"

"Like a tear in space!" Wingdin said.

"Exactly," Toriel replied, "They can just put letters there and other monsters that are at other villages can just take the letters addressed to that village and deliver them."

"That sounds really cool," I said. Wingdin told me that it was.

"I was wondering when you'd chip in, Asgore," he added, "You looked spaced out."

We froze. Wingdin gave me an awkward grin as he waited for me to process that pun. After a moment, Toriel burst out laughing and I groaned.

"Hey, what can I say?" Wingdin said, "My jokes are tear-able."

He and Toriel talked for a while about humans after Wingdin mentioned the human village nearby. I tried to join in, but I did not know about most of the things they were talking about. My tutor taught us about human affairs because I was the prince and Toriel was going to be my main advisor when we grew up, but I have no idea what "colonialism" or "industrial revolution" is.

Toriel knows so much more than me because she spends all her time reading. I read, of course, but I would much rather stay in the garden weeding plants and watering flowers. But Toriel is obsessed with humans and their traditions. I do not mind not understanding parts of Toriel and Wingdin's conversation. She has enough brains for both of us.

At about noon, we headed home. Wingdin's parents were at work and Cortisia was playing with her friends in the backyard, so it was just us in the house. Wingdin fixed us something called "spaghetti". Apparently it was introduced to the human village nearby a few years ago by some other humans from outside the continent and it caught on in the area. It is made from noodles covered in tomato sauce mixed with chunks of water sausage.

I had vague memory of Paz offering to take Father out for spaghetti a few years ago. I do not know why he refused. It was pretty good.

Toriel prodded a chunk of water sausage with her fork. "Did you know that instead of water sausage, humans use meat? That's why they call it "meatball". It's made from animals that they hunt and kill."

"That's so gross!" Cortisia had come inside. Her red scarf was dripping wet, like she had been rolling around in snow, and when she crossed the kitchen to help herself to spaghetti, she left watery footprints on the floor.

"Cortisia!" Wingdin chided, "Don't track snow into the house! How many times have I told you that?"

"Whoops," Cortisia gave a sheepish smile.

"What will you do without a brother like me?" Wingdin grumbled as he mopped up the mess. I offered to help, but he told me that he was the host so he had to do it.

Cortisia shoved a forkful of spaghetti in her mouth. "Sho hash Wing'in toll you 'bout da baby?"

Wingdin huffed. "I was supposed to tell them, Cor!"

Cortisia swallowed her mouthful of spaghetti. "Yeah, but you didn't tell them so I did."

"What baby?" I asked.

"The queen's!" said Cortisia, "When I met her I saw two souls instead of one and Daddy told me that that meant she was...prea...prig...pre...having a baby! And Wingdin was supposed to tell you today and that's why Moddy told me not to tell you about it yesterday but I was really excited today and I wanted to tell you about it and Wingdin hasn't told you about it so I did!"

Toriel and I stared at each other. Mother was pregnant? Why did she not tell us? Was Cortisia just messing with us?

Wingdin turned red. "I'm sorry! My parents told me to tell you and I was going to do that this morning but I wasn't sure when to bring it up and we got off topic so I forgot and uuuughhh..."

"It is okay," I told him. Then I thought about it for a moment. "Um...how does a monster get pregnant anyway?"

I have seen pregnant monsters before in my village, but I have never stopped to question how a baby comes to be. If only one monster has a baby, why are they related to other monsters as well? I did not really know how it all worked, and I did not really care, either. But now I will be a big brother soon, so I must know.

Wingdin looked confused for a second. Then he chuckled. "Oh yeah! You guys have a different education system in your village! We learned this stuff when we're nine, since almost every adult in this village is some kind of doctor, but I guess you guys wouldn't learn this stuff until much later. I suppose I, the Great Wingdin Gaster, will just have to fill you in!"

At that point Cortisia left, saying that if we were going to "learn things", then she wanted no part of it and that if it was important she'll learn it in school anyway. Wingdin spent the next hour or so explaining the entire process to us. I think I understand most of it.

So when monsters get older, they are able to temporarily share fragments of their soul with another monster that they love. (Wingdin says that it is different for different races, but most monsters can start doing it at age thirteen or fourteen. Boss monsters cannot do it until we reach our prime age of twenty.) Usually sharing your soul is supposed to make the monster you are sharing it with feel the love you feel for them, like a method of comfort. If two monsters share their souls with each other at the same time, though, they can create a new soul.

If the love that the two monsters feel for each other is romantic, (or in some cases, platonic but very strong) the two fragments of their souls will fuse into a premature soul. Without a body, that soul will be just strong enough to survive an hour or so before it disappears. If in that hour, one of the two monsters feels a strong burst of love for the other, the soul will inhabit their body and become a baby after growing in their parent's body for nine months.

Again, the length of time is different for everyone. Fish monsters and other egg-laying monsters only take about six months and spiders (even they technically are not true monsters) take only a week or so. For most monsters, though, pregnancy takes nine months.

"The part I did not understand," said Toriel, "is that monster souls cannot last without a body to inhabit. Why can the premature souls last for an hour before it disappears?"

Wingdin thought about that for a moment. "My parents said that premature souls have a slight red tinge to them but regular souls don't. Maybe that red tinge is some kind of property that keeps the soul intact?"

"How is the baby born then?" I asked.

"When the baby is ready to be born," Wingdin said, "the parent's body will flicker and lose its form temporarily to give birth to the baby. It's sort of like turning into dust, but it's only one part of the body and the dust is more solid. I guess it's less like dust and more like a glowing cloud of matter that someone can reach in and pull the baby out of. I know. It's weird."

Toriel winced. "That sounds painful."

"My dad told me it was," Winding replied, "Usually giving birth costs a monster about two to three hundred HP. It can be gained back, though!" he added after seeing our worried faces, "You just have to eat more and rest a lot."

I am a bit worried for mother, but I am so excited for my new baby sibling! Mother and Father are probably writing a letter to me to tell me the good news soon. I wonder if Toriel and I will be sent home when they are born. I hope the war is over by the time they are born. I do not want my baby sibling to grow up in the midst of a war.

He he! I just found out about them a few hours ago and I am already feeling protective! I wonder if Wingdin feels the same way about Cortisia.

I cannot wait to meet my new sibling. I love them already. We are going to be such a happy family.

~Asgore

So we finally know where Sans gets his puns from, huh?

Remember, if you want to punch something multiple times, punch it with your front two knuckles. Punching something with your two back knuckles would result in a very bad bruise.

Review!

~Pandora