Hi, everyone! Here's the chapter for today:

February 10, 171 A.E.

Entry #30

A few days ago, two new soldiers-in-training a few years older than me arrived at the castle to train. Their names are Gerson and Gerdon, or, as they like to call themselves, the Dual Hammers of Justice. They are here because they were the best soldiers in their squadron in Flenin, so they were sent here to be part of Mother's personal army. Toriel and I like to talk to the new soldiers, but we got along with the twins the best.

"How old are you two?" Toriel asked.

"Just turned fifteen in November," Gerdon answered.

"We wanted to help with the war efforts so we signed up as soon as they would accept us," Gerson continued.

"I'm surprised we got sent here," Gerdon said.

"We were the youngest recruits in our squadron," Gerson said.

"We were in one of the squadrons with a lot of young recruits, though," Gerdon said.

"We were just too good at fighting for them," Gerson said.

"Together," Gerdon said, "we'll rise through the ranks and be the heroes of monster kind!"

"So are you guys from Flenin, then?" I asked.

"Nah," Gerson said, "We're from this tiny village near Flenin. Our parents were sent to some mountains far away to fight with the humans there and we hadn't heard from them ever since. Our village didn't have its own army and Flenin wasn't that far away so we went to train there."

"Most folks from Flenin are fish monsters anyway," Gerdon said, gesturing to his shell. "Also, we don't have glamour."

"Nope!" Gerson said, "These red locks are all natural."

"You'll like it here," I said, "Mother's guards are very good at training soldiers."

"I can't wait for training to start," Gerson said.

"Yeah," Gerdon said, "Then we can show the queen how awesome we are!"

"Hey," Gerson said, "What if the castle, like, came under attack? And we defeat all the humans?"

"Aw, that would be so cool!" Gerdon said, "We'd kill more humans than anyone else..."

"...And maybe one of the older soldiers will get wounded..."

"...And we'll charge through the battle to carry them to the medic..."

"...And this human will come and, like stab me or something..."

"...And you'd tell me that I'm the best brother you've ever had, but really you'd be fine and you survive..."

"...But now I get this cool scar on my shell..."

"...And you can finally impress the general's daughter back home!"

"Hey shut up!"

Toriel and I watched them fantasize about battles for a while. I did not see what was so fun about pretending to carry a dying friend in your arms, but Gerson and Gerdon seemed to enjoy it. Battles seem gruesome. I do not know why these new soldiers wanted a battle. Toriel was watching them with a skeptical look on her face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"What is what?" she replied.

"You are thinking about something," I said, "I can tell."

"These twins seem a bit immature, do they not?" she said.

"I do not see it," I replied, "They are just playing pretend. We do that all the time."

"Hmm," Toriel said, "They are short for fifteen, too."

I did not understand what she was trying to say. Gerson and Gerdon are short for fifteen, but some monsters just grow at an older age. They seem tall enough to fight. What was Toriel going on about?

Earlier today, I was passing by Mother's office when she was inside sketching military formations. I wanted to spend more time with her, but I've barely gotten to since I came back. She is always so busy, and so is Toriel, for that matter. I never want to disturb Mother from her work, and Toriel never wants me to pull her away from her planning sessions with Mother.

"Azzy," she called suddenly, "Please come in." I obeyed and stepped into the office, not sure what to expect.

I have not been in Mothers office in years. There was never really a reason for me to go into my parents' offices anyway. Once when I was seven I remember going into Mother's office and knocking all the books off the shelves as a joke. She laughed but told me to not do it again.

Mother's office was not at all what I remembered from almost six years ago. Most of the neat and orderly books from last time were now pulled off the shelves and laid on the table in crooked piles. There were papers lying on every table and parts of the floor. The rug on the floor had a splatter of black that looked like ink. Mother sat cross-legged in the middle of the rug in front of the main desk. Her belly was so big now she looked like she was holding a bundle of laundry under her robe.

"Come here, Azzy." Mother shifted and made a spot for me on the rug for me to sit down on. I sat, avoiding the ink spill and a few sketches of dots and squares and what looked like a complex map of a human town. "I want to know how you are adjusting to life back in the Capital," Mother said.

"I am fine," I said, "I write to Wingdin sometimes, even though I haven't gotten a letter back yet. I've made friends with some of the new soldiers you've recruited." I paused. "I do wish we can have dinner together every night, though."

Mother smiled. "I'll try my best, Azzy, but you have to understand that I'm very busy these days. Please don't be disappointed if I don't show up to dinner sometimes." I nodded and looked at the bump on Mother's belly. In about three months, I will be a big brother. I still had no idea what a big brother is supposed to do.

"Would you like to meet your little sibling, Asgore?" Mother said with a small smile. I frowned. Of course I wanted to meet them. But they are not born yet. How can I meet a little sibling that has not yet been born?

"Put your hand on my belly," Mother said, "Don't worry, I don't mind. Now feel. Not just with your hand but connect it with your soul, as well."

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my soul. Soon, I felt something-curiosity, excitement, and love-run through my body. Tiny waves of it kept coming steadily. I looked up at Mother incredulously. She chuckled.

"What you're feeling is your little sibling's soul pulsing," Mother explained, "It's wonderful, isn't it? They're so small and fragile, and they haven't even started living yet, but they can already feel, and you can already feel them."

"It is wonderful," I whispered. "Why did you not announce the baby?" I asked.

Mother frowned for a second. "It is not very safe to do that at the moment," she said, "Word can spread to humans, and I do not want to put either of you in more danger." She looked at my nervous expression. "Would you like to name your sibling, Asgore?"

I tensed, "What?"

"You are their big brother," Mother said, "Lots of children are named by their older siblings. A name is chosen by a child's closest family, and it sticks with them forever. You are as much the baby's closest family as I am. It is only right that you pick a name for them."

"I am not good with names," I said.

"It doesn't matter," Mother said, "I'm sure they will love whatever name they get."

"I will try my best to pick out a good name for them," I said.

"Thank you, Asgore," Mother said, "I can tell you've matured a lot since the war started. I wish your father was here to see you."

I felt something wet slide down my face. Mother pulled me onto her lap, something she hasn't done since I was very small. It was a tight squeeze since I was almost too big to fit on her lap now, baby or no baby, but it was comforting.

"I miss him," I said quietly. When I left the Capital, I expected Father to be here welcoming me when I returned. It was not the fact that Father is not here that bothers me, since he and Mother used to leave for political trips all the time, but it is the fact that I know he will not come back.

"I miss him too," Mother said, "I am so sorry that you have to grow up in this situation, Azzy. You and Toriel both. I will do my best to make sure that both of you have the best childhood you can have."

"Can I go into Father's office sometime?" I asked.

Mother raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"He is not using it anymore, and most of his things are there," I said, "The office reminds me of him."

Mother smiled sadly. "It reminds me of him too," she said, "You can go as long as you don't disturb any of his things. It had not been cleaned for almost a month, so I will probably get one of the servants to dust it off, first. After that, you can go in whenever you like."

She gently pushed me off her lap, to my disappointment, and left, telling me to wait for her to get something. She came back a few minutes later with a red trident that was almost three times my height.

"Is that-"

"It was your father's trident," Mother confirmed. She set it on the rug in front of me and asked if I would like to keep it.

"The ruler of the kingdom is supposed to have it," I said, "It should be yours."

"Yes," Mother said, "But you will be king someday, won't you? I can get my own weapon, but the trident was always passed down from parent to child. Your father inherited from his father, and he inherited it from his mother, and she from her parent, and so on. It was always supposed to go to you."

I rubbed the handle on the trident. It was so big. I could barely wrap one hand around it. I have held it before, but I had never imagined that I would use it. How does one use a trident, anyway?

"I was meaning to tell you I've found someone who can teach you how to use it," Mother said, "You haven't learned any combat at all since you came home, anyway. You and Toriel both go back to classes in a week."

"It is too big for me to use," I said, "I can barely hold it up."

"We were planning on having you train when you turned sixteen, since you would be much taller and stronger then, but I don't think I can afford to have you wait that long anymore," Mother said. I did not think I could wield the trident very well even if I was sixteen. Why would I need to use it? Mother said that I was going to stay in the Capital.

"Are humans going to attack us, Mother?" I asked.

"No, of course not," Mother said. She paused when I frowned at her. We both know that she was lying. "Actually," she said, "I think you're old enough to handle the truth. I don't know if or when humans will attack, but they might at any time. I will do anything to protect you, and I'm sure Toriel will too, but what if you're left to fight humans on your own? I don't want you to fight anyone you don't have to fight, but if someone attacks you, you need to know self defense."

I thought about what Toriel wrote in her last entry, about how she would sacrifice her life for me. The thought scared me. I did not want her to die for me. I did not want anyone to die for me. I do not know what I would do with myself if Toriel died.

"Where is Miss Hadriel's staff?" I asked, "You know, the one with the spiral blades and the round tip that shoots fire?"

Mother took on a painful expression. "We...we don't know, Azzy," she said, "Your father and Hadriel were both killed in an ambush while their army was travelling at night. Paz's people have a habit of taking prizes from their opponents. With humans it's more gruesome-they take part of the scalp-but they're not interested in monster dust. Paz's people have been taking armor and weapons from fallen monsters. Whoever killed your Father took his cape and left his trident for one of the soldiers to bring back, thank goodness, but the humans have Hadriel's staff now."

"But it belongs to Toriel," I said.

Mother shook her head, "According to Paz's culture, if you defeat someone in battle, you have the right to take whatever spoils you want."

I wanted to say that that is sick and wrong, but then I remembered how monsters used to take humans souls from corpses, even if they did not defeat the human in battle.

"What will Toriel be doing when I am training with the trident?" I asked.

"She can use a regular spear to train," Mother said, "You will be learning two very different forms of fighting. You will learn mainly self defense, but Toriel will learn more offensive moves."

I have learned how to fight before, but every time we spar, Toriel always have better defense and I always have better offense. That's why she always wins-she wins because I cannot win against her. We should just work on the parts we are good at. We can fight together, although I guess that was not what Mother wanted us to do.

Maybe I will pick a special name for the baby. Something that shows where they came from. I should mix together Mother and Father's names to make my little sibling's name!

I think I like the name Amyras. I will ask Mother about it tomorrow.

~Asgore

Aaaaand I've finally introduced all five main characters. It only took me thirty chapters to do that but oh well.

Remember that's it's an incredibly bad idea to wear a hat made of technetium!

Review!

~Pandora