PLDF Chapter 13

Chapter 13: My Story Starts Now. Telling You All About My Family and Friends (Sub-Entries 121-130)

Sub-Entry 121: "From the Personal Journal of Asriel T. Dreemurr-Arcade":
I have...put this off too long but it's time to bring this journal log online.

Well. Howdy. I don't know if introductions are needed but...my name is Asriel Tobias Dreemurr-Arcade. Asriel Arcade for short. Or just Asriel or Azzy, if you prefer.

Golly...I don't really know how to lead this off but...why don't I just get right to the point.

I keep reading it in where he left off and...I keep saying it out loud but I still can't wrap my head around it. I guess he meant it. And...now it's starting to feel as true as it could ever be.

This is my story.

For whomever it may concern that is reading this, um...well...it's been a long while since. In fact it's been a year now.

It seemed like only yesterday when...we said goodbye.

While these logs are brand new and my own to write, I...still find myself continuing them from where he left off, making this...entry 121 of his third file on me. I mean...I did inherit the research on Undertale, so it makes sense. More or less.

I've...never really done this before so...I guess I should say that it's...kind of a whole new life to talk about. Maybe not brand new, anymore but...it's a life worth living and it feels like I've come back to where I was always supposed to be.

In a year's time I have so much to talk about, so much to explain, and so much to remember. But wisdom has granted me patience so I'll get to each and ever part of it in due time. In several entries, in all likelihood.

One question I'm sure you're asking is...haven't the two of you y'know...visited each other since the long, long goodbye?

Well....no.

I suppose there are reasons. Reasons for both of us, though I can't speak for him. But for me? It's...a little hard when you no longer have a way off world.

Guess that kind of puts this on him, right? Well...before you start accusing him of being a bad friend, let me stop you there. It's just like Bunnie told Aunt Vi back then...if they really cared about me, they'd have to be willing to let me go when it was my time to find my place in the world. And that's what I'm doing...taking a long journey, ironically back home, to discover where it is I belong. I mean...I have so many people to get to know. A role to fit into. Besides...there's another side to this, too. If I really cared about him, I wouldn't try to hold onto him...beg him to stay. I would be as brave as he is and have the courage to let him go as well. It was our time. But now it's his time there...and my time here. It only sounds selfish on the surface. Underneath...this is part of growing up. Honestly...it hurts. Time will make it better. I may not have nearly as much as him...but I'll make the most of what I have now.

Letting go. Wow. What a seemingly innocent thing that ended up ending my innocence. It's better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. You have to let go. I...I learned that lesson once. Now I know. I know the dangers of holding onto someone...being unable to let go of them when it's time to say goodbye. I lost a sibling but couldn't accept they were gone. In many other lifetimes holding onto them with everything I had cost me the ultimate power that we'd attained...the ultimate power I never really wanted. I couldn't cross the line. That's what saved my soul, metaphorically…but cost me both my soul and my life in reality. Life isn't fair but...it doesn't have to be without conscience.

Wow this has turned into a speech, hasn't it? Really. I'm too good at these. And if I don't put limits on it, it's going to get too long winded. Sorry about that. I guess...he and I just can't help but man-splain everything in our hearts.

Thoughts aside...maybe I should shift the focus on less what's going on in my head and more of what's going on around me. In my world.

Well...I'm in my pajamas, really. It's right before I'm about to go to bed. The whole town's asleep by now.

I'm alone.

It's not terrible. Really. A table for one can be fun...so sang Baby Fozzy Bear once, but that's a story from the past. Hey! I can still make references like my old crew could back in Miranda! I'm such a nerd that way, y'know? And sounding like the Uzumaki kid, all the way. Believe it (and not because Roman Reigns tells you to.).

But seriously. I'm living on my own now. More on that when I'm well-rested and can calm my brain down.

So. Checklist. Teeth brushed, hygiene of all manner taken care of, reading glasses on...only to write this, mind you. Horns retracted. I can pretty much keep them in or out at will and subconsciously. To avoid accidents, injury, or just plain discomfort while I sleep.

Though...the still look distinguished when I've got them out. Did I ever used to give this much thought to bony growths that curl out from my own skull and don't serve any real evolutionary purpose for an anthropomorph like me?

Random thoughts aside...

I said I'm alone. But only in the physical sense. The truth is...I'm never really going to be alone again. So...I hope that puts your minds at ease, whoever might be reading this. I'm not going to return to that dark place that I spent a hundred years in. As much as it was easy to sympathize...no...empathize with Aunt Vi...she spent so much effort with the others grooming me to be my own brand of cool dude that I'd never know that feeling that she knew all too well ever again.

Home is where the heart is and I have a lot of heart and a lot to fill that heart with; past, present, and whatever the future may hold.

It's not bad being on my own. After all this time I can say it and not actually try to convince myself. I believe it, now. So this is independence. You can take care of yourself. You might distance yourself from people you couldn't be without. But they're never really gone and the people that are still within walking or driving distance on this world will always be there to turn to. Alone but with benefits. That came out wrong...and probably sounds as awkward out loud as it does written here in this journal. Eeeesh.

So to clarify...this is life now. Rather than cram it all into this one entry...I'm going to spread it out over time and hopefully I'll explain just why it's a good life and why I'm glad to live it.

But for now...let's hit the hay. For tomorrow will be a big day. Yay.

Yeah, I think the rhymes were a bit much, too. I've embarrassed myself and there's nobody here to shame me. Is that good or bad? Both? Neither? Never mind. I must be too tired to really keep my thoughts cognitive.

Incidentally...I'm yawning at this very moment in time. Discrepancy noted for the time I had to put down the pen and physically yawn and stretch before logging this. But you already assumed that much, I should think. That said.

It's a night. But it wouldn't be a night without a proper last checkmark on the routine.

Off comes the heart-shaped locket and into the case next to Chara's it goes. But also...right next to it goes the heart-shaped pocket-watch.

Best friends forever.

Well...good night for now. Let's chat in the morning, okay? It'll be a brand new day with a fresh outlook to give. Huh...by the way...what day is...tomorrow...? *snore*

Sub-Entry 122: "I Wake Up to Start My Day in Newest Home":
"Oh boy...it's gonna be a case of the Mondays..."

First words after turning off my good old Elec Man alarm clock. I knew those eight syncopated electronic tom beats kicking off the introduction to that 8-bit rendition of that robot master's stage music. You know, I do hear it...the song DOES sound like "Faithfully" by Journey. Seriously, look that song up and give it a listen. You'll see what I mean.

Ahem. Morning tangent thought out of the way...

Well. I guess I walk you through my day, then.

Soooo..yeah. Shower and dress. I think my parents are still getting used to me being the first Dreemurr to wear something on his feet, though it is only sandals. I mean...Doggamy and Doggaressa both wear them.

Why do I feel the urge to want to give Aunt Vi frowny faces, if she were here? Volt, I'm sure you'd agree. Plus she'd try to get Volt to crack a smile by drawing attention to the heart-shaped pads on the bottom of my feet. I get it. A soul sole. Go figure.

Well, before this gets weird...it already has for me...let's move on to actually greeting the day.

As I thought this I drew open the curtains of my window.

Ah. There it is. That which I still don't take for granted after a couple decades of new life after an old one ended 100 years prior. The good old sun. How I live for that sunrise. There isn't a monster alive that hadn't dreamed of it all that time before the Barrier broke. Now we get to share it with the humans that one moment, 365 times out of the year, with an extra one on Leap Years. Been a while since one of those.

I'm one of those goats that just doesn't overlook the little things in life no matter how deep into this life I get...no matter how much responsibility piles up.

"That's better."

Now that I'm showered and dressed, let's pop on into the kitchen and get something to eat.

A two-level apartment is something to cherish. I could have ended up in any old dump or cramped space. But I sprang for something that would be livable and comfortable with a little extra.

"Don't forget to pick you up and practice." I looked at my old guitar. Still in good condition, dusted and cleaned and tuned recently. Amp is a bit of an upgrade from the old one. Installed a version of my sound dampener from my old room into this one so I don't end up causing the neighbors to call the police to complain about the noise.

And here we are. Time to make some breakfast and start the day--

"Oh.  You're awake."

That deflated grumble could only be Flowey. Yeah. In the end I decided to keep him. I figure maybe I just need a counterbalance to my optimistic personality to give me a challenge and keep me humble while reaching out and trying to make my other self a better person.

Papyrus seemed to approve.

Sans took it well. Maybe too well. Should I be seeing some kind of dark irony to his chuckle when he headed off, wishing "The Weed" well?

Secretly...I think inside he was laughing his skull off, certain that one day Flowey would be burning in Hell. Not to quote Weird Al Yankovic's "Amish Paradise", mind you but...the lyric did seem to fit the situation when I read between the lines. I don't think he fully forgave my counterpart for his roles in the resets and with terrorizing the kid.

"Don't waste your effort." Flowey smacked away the watering can. I kept a firm grip on it.

"You must really want to dehydrate."

"And you must really enjoy treating me like--"

I grinned. "A plant?"

Flowey hissed.

"Okay, if it'll appease you..." I got a bottled water out of the fridge and started to bring it to his soil.

"Give me that!" He snatched it with a  vine and proceeded to sip it like normal. "You have any idea how annoying a pot full of mud is?"

I shrugged, cheerfully. Clearly I didn't.

"Whatever my little brother wants."

"Don't start that again!" Flowey snapped.

I opened  container and offered a spoon-full of its contents.

"That better not be--"

"No offense, Flowey, but I know an Undertale AU where that's a thing.  While it WOULD be relatively funny to feed you manure, I'm not that cruel."

"So it's...?"

"Just chemicals.  Nice and artificial and containing all the essentials a growing flower needs."

"Better be true.  Because I'm not eating what belongs in a toilet."

I really tried not to laugh. I mean it's low-brow humor. I'm better than that, right? Eheheheh...

Boy, you were right. Violet was a terrible role model at times.

After I got done making sure Flowey was well fed, I took care of my own nutrition.

Breakfast. Cereal and milk. Something I've never grown out of. Though it's hard to find brands and varieties on this world that compare to the merchandizing tie-in discontinued lines that Vi used to have in abundance. You just don't replace something like the taste of ninja nets and ninja marshmallows that has that...funky smell after the milk has sat for a few moments. But wow, even as an adult, it made my teeth wiggle. In a good way, mind you.

A little toast and jam. No time for bacon or something. Milk and juice to wash it down. Yeah...tradition just works for me. Sure beats tofu and granola bars or something weird. Though...I do confess there are days that a slice of left-over pizza I made myself the night before is...just that touch of nostalgia that I need to make sure I never lose my roots.

By the way, I should mention I'm living in my own place. While I did have 6 months rent-free at Mom and Dad's place...I wasn't going to be a sponge. I did promise I'd make something of myself while here.

Though it wasn't without complications. Like figuring out how my high school and college diplomas would transfer over to a completely different world. Sure I had an education but...how exactly do you make use of it on Undertale?

Well...thankfully, Dr. Alphys had her ways of making it happen. So...yeah, the future is still mine for the taking. The world is my oyster, etcetera.

"Mmm...still miss the good stuff."

I got my start with part time at Dad's gardening service. Then started interning at Alphys' laboratory. I also supplemented over the summer by taking a job as deputy mayor in City Hall. I'm sure Volt would be shaking his head that I got into politics.

I did a little bit of everything until I managed to fine-tune just how much employment I could hold down without spreading myself too thin.

Today...assistant teaching with mom in the morning and work with dad at the flower shop after school lets out...then the rest of the day would be mine to work with.

Both don't particularly pay well but every little bit helps.

"Take care now.  Don't get into trouble while I'm gone.  If you need anything I've left the spare cell phone with Frisk's contact data in it.  She can be here in a flash."

"Oh lucky me.  Deciding between the farm animal and the flirt machine."

"Hey now.  Be nice.  She doesn't do that...as...much.  At least I don't think."

"She flirts with YOU every day but you don't always get the message.  Remember the choice between "a meal...a bath...or..."me"...?"  And what did you do?"

"Ohhhhhh..."

How embarrassing that I missed the signals and got cleaned up for meal-time.

You know, Volt's research warned me this exact situation happened in other AU's where we apparently ARE a couple. It's...not inevitable, right? For our AU? Seriously? Seriously. Ahem.

But seriously...it's not like we're seriously dating. We're just...getting to know each other...casually. Right? Tell me you're buying this excuse...

Think I can use another variation of the word, serious, again in this paragraph?

Hah. I'm nice and pure but still sassy. Chara still has an influence on me. Oh wait...I was talking about the possibility of Frisk and me........

Ugh...

"Just kiss her alright.  You know you wanna." And there was devilish Flowey again. it was rare he found things to amuse him for...all but three seconds but he always had a way of pushing my buttons as much as I could push his.

But in my case it wasn't on purpose. Really.

In his case...it always was.

"This discussion is over with." I sighed, not really wanting to banter with him. Usually I would but, sometimes he made it too personal.

Though...is that really fair to say when he's me and I'm him? You know what I mean.

"One last thing!  Keep that * FLOWEY CACKLE* rodent away from me!  If he nibbles on my leaves one more time I'm gonna--"

There in the corner...slept my pet rabite, Spot. Couldn't leave him behind. I had to have him brought to us. It was...probably unwise introducing an unfamiliar alien species to our world but...Spot was a friend for life.

And really...he was at least SOME kind of company for Flowey when I wasn't around.

"I'll be sure to give him frowny faces and a stern lecture not to eat my time-line twin brother when I get back."

"Could you SPOIL him any more!?!" Flowey snarled.

"I could try." I said with a sly smirk.

"How do you--"  Flowey caught himself too late.

"Live with myself?" I taunted.

Flowey hissed angrily.

"I thought it was funny.  Anyway.  I'm off.  Don't be a stranger now."

"I'd want nothing more than to be just that..." Flowey shrunk down in his pot as low as he could go without disappearing completely into the soil. Even he had his limits how far he could squeeze into it.

Anyway...outside...my chariot awaits.

If you were expecting the car I got at 16.......well, I still HAVE that in the garage. But I ended up getting something more sensible. Not quite a family station wagon, not quite a soccer mom van, not quite our world's version of Prius...though Lupe would have encouraged that or our version of a Tesla...but I did get something more grown up. Responsibility now...fun later. And yes...later WILL come. Easy enough to say when you're still a bachelor.

Though...I do worry what will happen when I do actually settle down. My biggest worry...is that it will be the final nail in the coffin that reads "Goat Son's Adventures". Maybe I'm just trying to get out of denial that I'll never get back to that version of me that was crisscrossing the space-time continuum and doing a much better job than that Sanchez guy that Volt doesn't like...and that grandson of his. You know...I can't help but feel like they're a parody of Dr. Brown and Marty McFly. Tell me I'm not the only one, in the know, who thinks so.

"Double back from that tangent, Asriel.  Before it turns to daydreaming.  You're about to drive to school.  Don't get distracted, okay?  Cool?  Cool."

And I'm talking to myself. It just seems more normal when you're alone. But a cry for help when anyone's around as Violet used to tell me. Feel like that's not the best advice.

Well. Off to the races.

Oh yeah...and before I forget...let's move on to the subject that most directly correlates to my student teaching at school. You see...if you know my world then you know the other person of interest is...!

Sub-Entry 123: "Mom":
Toriel Dreemurr. That's mom. And she's living her own dream of being a teacher.

I pulled into the teacher's parking lot, grabbed my materials, and locked my car.

* chirp chirp*

"Even after this much time...this is still so surreal."

I don't know who I was talking to. It was just me out here, though the students weren't that far behind me. Parents would be dropping them off or they'd be walking their way here. It wouldn't set a good example if a member of the faculty was late, right?

In I went and walked down those halls to the faculty room. While a donut sounds enticing...more pressing matters were at hand.

"Asriel!  Good morning!"

"Good morning, Mom...er...Toriel."

A giggle.

"Tell me, is it awkward hearing me call you on a first name basis?  I mean, I'm really trying to find what's appropriate for a grown man who's long since moved out of the house but...you'll always be my mom."

"My, my.  My little angel, you sound as if you're worried about nepotism in the work place.  Do not fret, my boy.  There's a time and place for it and I understand some things will just slip out from habit.  Do not be embarrassed.  It is no secret now that you are the son of the Dreemurr family.  Our lost prince, finally found."

"Prince.  I still keep soul-searching to find out if that word has any meaning left for me.  I mean I casually describe myself as the Prince of this World's Future but...that's  remnant of the old game.  Carved into my identity.  Flowey has the same thing etched into him by Fate.  Really...there's just now figuring out how it's all supposed to fit when there's no plan beyond the Barrier."

"Listen to you being so philosophical.  Slow those thoughts, Asriel.  There is no shortage of time to figure it out, so do not feel like you have to make haste."

"Yeah...I'm not even sure what my lifespan is anymore.  I don't yet have a family of my own and...I don't have magic of my own so...not sure if my aging process has stopped again.  And if it has--"

"Like a beehive."

"Huh?"

"That mind of yours.  It's so impressive.  I cannot tell you how amazed at how far you've come.  What you're capable of.  So much talent, so much smarts."

"And this is where you mention I inherited your good looks and not Dad's."

That earned laughter. I don't think anyone besides Sans had cracked her up that much. Speaking of...I guess if he's not going to be shipped with her in this timeline...this variant of our AU...then I guess he's still part of the family, somehow. I got it. He's "Crazy Dunkle Sans". Nice? It ought to be. I can't take credit for the phrase Frisk came up with. And she wasn't even the first version of her nor was he the first version of Sans to coin that moniker.

"Okay, okay.  Family talk is over for now." I cleared the air. "This is work time."

"Yes, yes.  You are to the point and most certainly Johnny-on-the-Spot.  Do you know how you're going to proceed?"

"Well...the itinerary and the curriculum only give so much of a guideline.  Real teaching takes experience and I'm a rolling rock only starting to gather moss.  Violet used to warn me that if you show fear and let them get the upper hand, they'll think they're in charge and walk all over you."

"Oh!  You are exaggerating.  They will not present a problem for you."

"Yeah, but I'm still not going to rule out the one that makes fun of me for being the teacher's kid."

"There's that worry about nepotism again.  Asriel, do not place so much worry on such a silly thing.  Just be yourself and I will be myself.  If we have an awkward or embarrassing moment, apologies later.  Endure the laughter and I'll make sure to set the record straight."

There was that look in her eye that showed that she may be nice...she may be kind...but she also meant business. And acting up in her class would not be tolerated.

I sorted my materials and went over things in my head for what the lessons would entail. I also strategized as to how I was going to present it. I mean yes...I'd have mom guiding me. I was assistant-teaching and had to defer to her.

But most of all, my biggest concern was how to make the lessons actually interesting and not the stuff that makes you fall asleep at your desk or play with your cell phone. I had a lot of old-school teachers ranging from legendary Don Herbert and Julius Sumner Miller as a guide for science lessons...with a little Vlad Stokes to spice it up with a voluminous exclamation of "SCIENCE!" as only Tom Dolby would declare in his hit song, "She Blinded Me With Science".

Of course I had my limits so Beakman and Bill Nye the Science Guy were off the table. And I'm sure I couldn't get away with jumping up on the teacher's desk and ranting like one of Volt's old science colleagues used to do.

But science was just one route I'd be going. I had plenty of fallbacks if the lessons went to mathematics and Violet was my first round draft pick for knowledge...but definitely not technique and methods. Pretty sure I don't have the tenure to get away with that.

"Hmm."

Thank goodness physical education, music, and art were still part of the school's budget. I can't imagine dropping any one of those three. I had plenty of mentors to draw from in that case. Bunnie and Sarge...Violet and Jon...and dear old mamma Callie.

"You are not worried you overprepared are you?"

"If I had to do that, I'd have too much of my best friend still in me."

While I was talking about Volt, what I was really getting at was his warning of wisdom as to why he opposed to letting his...previous protégée acquire a Knight Level goddess contract and not one of those base-level immortal scrub ones that most of STC was handed out; while still as timeless as any one of us in STC...it still mean they were all pawns of both Goddesses to be used as the game needed.

Funny I still think about STC even after my own early retirement. I...really thought I could do this whole thing for several decades before I'd have to give it up or before my lifespan ran out. I'd be the minority in their group. Namely...a mortal among immortal time-walkers.

"I am not quite sure what you mean."

Volt said that he saw too much of himself in Adonis. Now I finally understand what he meant. It may seem silly to think I might have inherited his capacity for worry...but then I remember this: I'm Asriel Tobias Dreemurr-Arcade. I'm my own person and even after maturing this much...I'm not the same as my best friend.

"It's just as well.  I'm not sure...I know what I even mean." I shrugged.

So. The first bell rang and that was my sign to get my head in the game.

I was part-time assistant teaching. Did that mean I was intending to pursue a teaching degree? Well...yes and no. Umm...maybe? I guess what I mean is that it's on the table if I decide that route as a permanent career but...I'm still open to something that I want to seriously commit to. Not all these lesser jobs around town. Jobs working for my parents, none-the-less. And in some cases at Alphys' research lab. But...I wanted to find where it is I was needed most. Where I belonged most. A career that was for me.

Okay I'm still talking about my own life. Really. This sub-entry was supposed to be about Mom. About Toriel. My connection to her...which was obvious. But no...what I needed to establish was...what it was about her that I wouldn't have known as a child. With maturity comes the realization that you no longer saw your parents as deities that knew everything and could do everything. You learn their personalities. Their hopes. Their dreams. Their anecdotes about the past. Their beliefs. All the facets about them that remind you that they're people just like you. You're just walking down the path they've been on far longer than you.

You realize they're flawed. They have limits. And with age those strength will start to wither...and low and behold before I know it...I'll be taking care of them faster than you can say "rest home". Ugh. I don't want to THINK about something like that.

So who was Toriel? No, really. Who was this woman I only spent ten years with then lost for 125 plus years...and now she's back in my life? All I have to go on was Volt's extensive research...and my own experiences. She her at both her best...and her worst...and everything in between.

Yet...I'd learn...I'd know her in the moments where our family could be together and not living our separate lives in town...

What I could tell you from personal experiences. From playing really fast catch-up, so to speak...

Toriel had motherly instincts hardwired into her probably as far as she could remember. She was born to do this. But our world...our "game" wrote the biggest obstacle for her to overcome; loss. Ultimate loss. How do you call yourself a parent when all you know is death after death after death. Children you couldn't protect. That had to break her way back when. The pieces of her had been metaphorical glued back together but...that didn't make the cracks disappear completely. Somewhere in her there were still fractures, making her afraid that it could all happen again. How does she get over something like that, even in peace time?

"You're psychoanalyzing me again aren't you?"

And then there's the fact that even in this short amount of time...she STILL knows me too well. And that's scaling up for my mature years and everything she missed out on as I was raised.

"Well..."

"It is for your journal, is it not?  Do not feel ashamed.  You should embrace getting to know us after so long apart.  What you have to say is for you and you alone...unless...you want to talk about it with me and your father?"

"Honestly, mom.  I think I'm good.  I got it handled."

"If...you are sure?"

I didn't want to exclude her but...willingly showing a journal...even online as is the case with social media...part of me still considers that weird. Privacy is all but extinct, you know?

Well. A bit more conversation and me thinking about the woman who had kind eyes...a motherly embrace...a sense of humor...but a buried anger and sadness she was trying to get over now that the old times were over with. She was still sassy with dad...Asgore. While she'd forgiven him...buried the hatchet so to speak...she still couldn’t quite stop giving him the business for when he tested her patience.

I had a list a mile long of the little things I recorded about her. From her collection of books on snails...to the fireplace tools that had been rounded down and dulled so that they wouldn't cause injuries to children.....despite there no longer being any in the Dreemurr residence. I think this was the sign that mom was ready to leave motherhood behind...and start looking forward to being a grandparent.

Oh boy. I guess the weight's on my shoulders to continue the family lineage, right? Unless...mom and dad...decide to try again. Oh boy. Maybe it will be like one of those AU's. I'm going to call shenanigans if it does turn out to be the case...and double down on that if it happens to be a girl. How would their ship their names to name a new son or daughter, anyway?

"Okay, Azzy.  Time to put your worldly thoughts away.  It's class time."

TO put it simply? Mom was mom. I could write pages of what that meant. What she meant to me and what I felt I meant to her. Everything from her favorite color to how she voted in this world's last election.

I took after her. I had the seeds of her smarts and the spark of her compassion. All the little nuances about her still living on in me. Lived on in new forms, so to speak.

All this discussion aside...I guess I have to explain Mr. Dad Guy...

Sub-Entry 124: "Dad":
You know I think she's finally taken his picture down from the dart board.

Just kidding.

In all seriousness, they have reconciled for a significant amount of time before I came back into their lives. Truthfully, I think a lot of the UCIAT were pulling for them to get back together again and let the past stay buried.

If it's a mom's job to nurture, it's a dad's job to protect. While I'm not saying it's universal, in my case I've learned the mother is the voice of reason, the one who we learn our conscience and emotion from. The one who, by example, teaches us how to care for ourselves and for others. While, conversely, the dad is the one who provides. The big, strong guy who can be real hard but with a gentle hand. The voice of character, fun, and how to stand up and find your own philosophy; your own blueprint for living life. The one who you learn to shave from, who you learn what to do if you're ever in a confrontation, the one you look up to. In recent years the roles have reverse with the concept of the stay-at-home dad and the mom who's the breadwinner. It's different for everyone. But in my case...I can definitely tell you Toriel wears the pants in the family...even when not actually wearing pants per se.

Asgore, on the other hand...well...he's Asgore. He's spent a good seven years in self-punishment; mostly so "Tori" wouldn't have to. I think he dreads it more when she does give him the business rather than getting it from his own self. But in no way does that mean he gets off easy. She's just...scarier. And that's something to manage when she's smaller than him. But let it never be known that gender is ever a contributing factor. Based on what I've seen of this...UnderSwap and UnderFell alternate universes...the same can easily be reversed when the roles are reversed. An actually intimidating Asgore is something to be afraid of.

So what can I tell you about dear old dad? Well...he does have a gardening service. While he does have a shop headquarters, I rarely see him in there as he's always on the go.

Thankfully, after being disturbed by what I read about his DeltaRune counterpart, I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that he does not actually sleep in his flower van or pick-up truck or whatever method of transportation he employs.

My heart almost skipped a beat when I saw the containers which once housed the six souls and the seventh that never got filled. For a moment...I thought they were bell jars like the ones in DeltaRune. But they were just empty. No rainbow of flowers populating them.

It's weird that I feel like I obsess over this...theoretical flip side. Over this Kris person. It was Volt's nightmare to begin with...but I'm still seeking to understand it. And...constantly in worry that there's another part to it. That their story isn't finished. Not by a long shot. As long as my question about the "Knight" that turned the Spade King evil...as long as I didn't know the whole truth about the dark fountains...I had no doubt that the Lightners hadn't seen the last of the Darkners...and vice-versa.

"Oh!  It's you, son!   I'm glad you arrived on time!  Give your old man a hug, yes?"

"Okay...but I still value my ribcage.  Don't put me in the emergency room, okay?"

"Ha ha ha!  You sound just like....Dr. Arcade..............oh....sorry.  I did not mean to bring it up--"

"No, it's okay.  When either of us stop remembering, that's will be far more disturbing than always something there to remind me."

Suddenly I feel like a dated McDonald's commercial. Does that make sense?

Well. Mr. Dad guy is the biggest, molten marshmallow wrapped up in a lot of floof. He's buried that anger of his so deep and he's really trying to keep it under lock and key. But with less success...he's buried that sadness and regret equally deep...but just can't keep the signs that it's there from emerging every so often. Self-punishing may show remorse...it may show good character...but it really doesn't accomplish anything. Two wrongs don't make a right; and being cruel to yourself for your past deeds is no more productive than taking abuse from those who won't let you forget. Really...mom's doing better but...it's...still an uphill battle. Those children are never coming back. Their souls haven't been seen since the Barrier broke. And none of us got to say goodbye and that we're sorry for what we did to them. I know...Asgore still wants to so do. I think that's where prayer and faith are supposed to come into play and I'm sure that's the case in DeltaRune. But here? I guess it's more...hypothetical than practical.

Maybe we're just too much like Neo Arcadia; a land which has no established religion but...still has the strongest moral compass I've ever known.

So what else about Asgore? Well, you probably already know the fine details if you've read Volt's logs up to now. He has that loud Hawaiian shirt and shorts for everyday wear...which Toriel still scowls over and insists he wear something decent and less business casual...rather...business REALLY casual. Joke all you want, Vi. I'm not going there. He's not Homer Simpson, you know.

D'oh.

You already know about the Santa costume and the trophy for nose-nuzzling champions; a title which now belongs to Doggamy and Doggaressa. You know about the journal that has pages upon pages of him saying to the effect: nice day. It's no secret that his nickname is STILL Fluffybuns. I make every effort to never bring up the buttercups-instead-of-butter disaster. Chara would still chuckle over it, despite how rotten it STILL makes me feel thinking back to it. Every Asriel in the prime timeline and its branches has had this experience. I'm the only one that didn’t' take it to the grave.

Asgore still keeps in contact with Alphys, and he's still none the wiser about how he's a possessed object rather than a robot with a soul. Believe me, Alphys has TRIED to clear the air with him but he's just too enamored for her to get a word in edgewise. I guess that's a secret that better of being kept secret. He's like that Waterson fellow, though I don't think he'd go so far as to believe a REAL magic wand that grants wishes can be found in a box of cereal. Yeah...dad won't win any intelligence awards but he's not stupid. He's naive but...not  ignorant. I don't think he gives himself credit, anymore, for all the good he did as our king. When everything he did wrong just cascades in a heavy, crushing stack...the bad really makes the good lose its luster.

"Ready to help out?"

"Yeah, and I'm going to ask you not send any free samples of fertilizer home with me again.  Flowey found out what it's made of and now he's on a tirade about eating...*ahem*...droppings.  If you catch my drift."

"But he doesn't mind the synthetic?"

"It's likely worse for him eating chemicals.  But he just won't budge.  I feel like this is universal among all Floweys that went to the surface with Frisk.  It feels very...meme-able.  Or at least something you would see on a video service like MeScreen back in Miranda."

"Oh-ho-ho-ho.  I guess my best nutrient mixture isn't good enough for his refined palette.  Oh well.  His loss."

"In all fairness, Dad, the thought of eating "whatsit" makes me kind of nauseous, too.  And it smells TERRIBLE when fresh."

I pinched my nose to emphasize the point...er...pinched it as best I could considering the shape of my snoot; as a goat I mean.

"Can we move on to talk about actual flowers and not what we feed them?" I put my knuckles to my hips. "It's not stimulating conversation, otherwise."

"Very well, my son.  I did get this shipment of rare marigolds in."

"Tell me more..."

I guess if there's one thing the two of us bond over, it's flowers. I spent a good amount of childhood, post Void Space...and post Chara-death...getting over my fear of buttercups. Thank the stars for Lupe Lycans on that note.

I guess botany could be a serious career choice if I could figure out how I'd get all my credits and my diploma to carry over onto this world and into its University. I could get a second degree and maybe go for an all-out Doctorate. At this point a Masters even seems pretty within reach.

It would certainly be something else to add to my growing list of ways I've surpassed both my parents. Honestly...I don't know what equivalent grade I'd ascribe to Asgore's level of education. Any guess I would make feels like it would be unnecessarily cruel. I mean. I don't know. How did kings get their lessons and education in the before-times? Probably like I would have...homeschooled for the better part of my ten years before things changed.

Beyond that...Asgore is a mound of dad-jokes and dad-isms that are pretty cliche by this point. I'm still anticipating when he's going to get around to some "life hacks" that would likely be pretty basic. Somehow I think most of them involve crackers and jam, for some reason. Don't ask why. I just know I'm channeling another of our AU's, somehow.

But really...if I have to witness him try to be "hip" and "relevant" to "today's generation" or learn how to use "street slang" and "memes"...I'm going to have to excuse myself from the room. Even at my mature age...there's just no living down a tired dad joke like "deez nutz". In case you can't tell, I am very much shuddering in absolute cringe right now. I may be kind and forgiving...but even I know where the line is to be absolutely embarrassed.

You can't choose your family let alone the people they are. Take the bad with the good. It's a lesson in patience and understanding. Everyone should take that much to heart. Honestly, the world would be a better place if we all remembered that from time to time.

"I think I've got a good arrangement for the window-pieces.  What do you think of including a bonsai in here?  Alphys would approve."

"My boy, that sound splendid!"

Splendid? Well. Whatever floats your goat.......heh. Still the pun aficionado. I slay me.

Honestly...clock-out time comes too soon. I get so wrapped up that even I dread quitting time. I was just starting to have fun, y'know?

"Same time again?"

"Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel!"

"Err...I do not understand what bats have to do with this.  Is this an offer to watch one of those baseball games with your old man?"

"Eheheheh...I'll explain later."

I am going to have so much fun figuring out how to introduce him to the Adam West era Batman. I feel like this version of the comic book hero is JUST what he'd eat up like a hot plate of scones.

So yeah. Dad in a nutshell. Oversized in stature but the real him is too good for this world. I understand now why they use the phrase "like father, like son". To some kids the thought of becoming your parents is horrifying. But at this point my life...I'm thankful I'm like the both of them. I think they call that...legacy. People always know you just from your family name alone.

Hey, it beat having the reputation of no McFly ever amounting to anything in the history of Hill Valley. Sorry, Marty.

Man, can I possibly drop any more references that have no meaning on this world? Well...I guess that's my continuing life's mission...to bring that culture and those life experiences to Undertale. Maybe this world will benefit from what I've learned...from what I have to tell. I know Asgore appreciates hearing all about it.

It's good to be able to talk openly with him about stuff. If I'd grown up a total introvert, I'd probably spend more time giving him the silent treatment day to day. Not that that's a bad thing...it just works for some and not for others. I guess you could say I'm just balanced between extrovert and introvert.

And it's a simple observation like that which makes me remember Volt's hope in me...that I was a bridge between two worlds. Just like he was. Being able to adapt and go from one extreme to the other or split the difference. I don’t' know if it's a more learned skill or if it's just talent.

Whatever the case...it sure impresses Dad. And...seeing him impressed makes me feel like I'm doing something right. I know he's not perfect, I know he's just one monster with flaws...but it's still great to feel like I can still admire him and feel satisfaction when he vocally reminds me how proud of me he is.

So yeah. That's Asgore.

You know, all this has been great to explain but...what I haven't explained is how I got to this point.

What happened all that time ago after the others left?

Well...I suppose it came down to Asgore's sudden announcement...his sudden addressing of the whole town. A public statement summoning all Monsters back to Mount Ebott...back to New Home to be given miraculous news.

That news...was my story.

It would have been really great if my off-world friends could have seen it all. To see this "extra bonus ending" to an already perfect Ultimate Happy Ending to the True Pacifist Run.

I know they would have wanted to be there. They were my friends and family and they deserved to know how it all came to fruition beyond. They should know that I was happy.

I never had friends like them and probably never would have anyone quite like them.. Golly...does anybody? Sorry for ripping of Stephen King just now. But I guess as my friends, they would always...stand by me. Heh heh heh heh.

Sub-Entry 125: "The Announcement From a Year Ago..."
Before I go any further with my friends, let me walk us backward to a bit of time after the Ultra Crew Institute left our world.

It took some setup but Toriel and Asgore decided to summon everyone back to Mount Ebott and to our old kingdom in New Home to make an huge announcement to one and all. Something that would be...difficult to explain and difficult to believe.

I was about to be reintroduced to the world of Undertale, officially. We were all going to have to be discreet about how to explain my sudden miracle return from the dead.

I think it was best that we kept Flowey out of it, for now, until we were ready to explain THAT.

More to the point...I think it was best we keep his existence on the down low unless we really needed to tell the truth about him.

"See you back at our place when you get a moment."

"Dad, I've always got a moment.  If you and mom need me for any reason, I'll rush over.  My life is not too important to spent time with either of you."

"Aww, son..."

"Patience, my former king.  Your prince will be there with bells on.  Not literally, mind you...that would get annoying."

"Huh?  Well...I suppose that is true."

Don't ever change you big goof. That's what Volt would say. But what would I say in this situation? I...kind of got nothing. I'm the guy who always has something meaningful to say. I have the gift for grand speeches or so I've been told.

Well...I guess in a way I had to put my money where my mouth was on that one big day...that day that Dad and Mom...reintroduced me to the kingdom...

It started with calls made around their inner circle to warm the waters, so to speak.

Things began to stir from there.

Then came our call to Mettaton. That lit the fire.

So with the waters swirling and starting to heat up...the article in the newspaper and the news groups online brought it to a boil as people were starting to acknowledge the sightings, the rumors and the theories from recently. Those who claimed to see Volt Arcade and the others return after disappearing for 7 years...and the even weirder rumors of a long lost Dreemurr among them? Or at least a really good impersonator as some lazy bonehead put it...wink, wink.

Yeah, so Sans certainly stirred the pot that Mettaton had already gotten aerating; if I may use a chemistry lab term.

That's the point when I knew I couldn't just wing it. I had to prepare. It didn't take me long to figure out where this was headed.

I knew I couldn't be kept a secret. This happened once before. On VGM-098. In the kingdom of Fontraile. I was introduced to a city kingdom through a reporter and her camera rabite.

And just like that my popularity soared.

History repeats. After that day...I'd see my reputation skyrocket here. I was already a household name in memory. Now I'd be something more.

"Destiny really worked her magic to bring me to this point." I sighed as I stroked behind Spot's ears.

Back then...I remember sitting in a recliner at Mom and Dad's place...waiting for it to set in. Seeing the bright light at the end of a tunnel...but not a dark tunnel...a well-lit one. And yet the light at the end was still overpowering the illumination in the tunnel itself. Complicated metaphor. But to simplify...a bright future was about to get brighter.

I asked myself... "What am I going to be after this coming day is over?"

Something more. That's all I could describe it asl. Some time would go by before I had a name...or phrase to accurately put it. But...that will come in due time.

I spent a good while mentally preparing. A little bit of time physically preparing. And just a bit, at Mettaton's request, getting a fashion upgrade or two. He really wanted me to look more...princely.

I reluctantly agreed, citing I'd rather just be myself. But...who can say no to the sexy rectangle any more to his sexy android form?

I had a lot to go over...and rehearse before then.

All the while the build-up was becoming like a pressure cooker. It was...difficult to go out in public without spoiling the surprise. And believe me...Mettaton wanted it to be the biggest surprise; despite the rumors and the eyewitness claims that threatened to spoil it.

"Oh boy.  You'd think the spotlight wouldn't bother me by this point.  I mean...I attended the Chamber of the Gods and got the highest exalted praise from Zeus.  It's just my hometown.  So why does that feel infinitely more intimidating?

I spent some time with Undyne. She really wanted me to show off my fighting skills so...that was one spoiler for the road.

Alphys had a few ideas for me. And I had a few suggestions to collaborate with her. I had...left my NX SwitchBoard Pro and NX Switchboard Lite with Volt...but...I may have neglected to return the classic. Hover technology sure didn't exist here. So I'm pretty sure that was a good eye-opener to show what I could bring to the table if I helped out in Alphys' research lab.

Mom wanted to keep it simple. Dad wanted me to keep it true. The latter would be easier to abide by with Mettaton driving things.

"Sorry, Mom.  It's out of my control as much as it's out of yours.  But you know...you can always remind why the Queen is the one you don't want to try her patience on."

She wrinkled her snoot at that. I don't think she liked me poking light at her smoldering temper, which she kept under wraps at all times...except when Dad made a flub or did something...less than intelligent.

She was still living in the past thinking she could preserve my image of her. I get it. She and Dad didn't get to raise me. And since they're just now getting to know me, they want my image of them both to be pristine. It's okay. I can take reality. I can accept the flaws. To be honest...I just want to know who they really are...not as idealistic role-models.

But...I couldn't blame them for feeling like they'd been cheated out of being role models to me.

That was something that Fate took away that we couldn't get back. So...we'd make use of the time we did have. Gods willing in a couple decades, I could sweeten things with promise of them becoming grandparents. And really...if being grandparents was as universal for monsters as it was for those back home...I think things were going to be A-okay. I'd just have to manage to not be jealous if they spoiled any future grandkids a lot more than they would have spoiled Chara and me.

I really got to get back on task here. I hope this mind-wandering isn't a sign of things to come when I actually DO start showing my age waaaaaaaaay down the road. Stop worrying about the tail end of your life, Azzy. You got plenty of time until then. And even still you don't know how long of a haul you're going to be in for.

The days counted down and monsters and humans throughout the town and neighboring cities....even some who'd migrated across the country...or the world itself were coming back home.

This big homecoming was said to be an event for the ages. I was determined that I wouldn't let them down.

"You're going to do a fine job, Azzy."

"Isn't this an ironic role-reversal?" I looked at Frisk with a lop-sided smirk.

"This Goddess of Destiny you speak of has a sense of humor.  Sometimes it works out pretty well, don't you think."

"Yeah.  She's...been on a win streak for a while."

"What's wrong?"

"She's been on one for a long while..." I rubbed my chin. "Not to sound like Volt but...if Madam Fate gets pushed far enough...the other sandal will drop."

"Hmm..." Frisk looked off to the side for a moment.

"Well...if that day comes, you can count on me to stand beside you and fight for the destiny we both aren't going to give up on."

"Weird of me to sound worrisome?"

"Not at all.  But come on.  Relax.  This is your time."

"Our time, Frisk.  All of ours.  Back home, Volt kept saying that from here on out it was my story.  But I don't want it to just be about me.  I want this to be about everyone in my life.  We're all part of this and...I don't feel right having this much spotlight put on me.  I mean...you're the Ambassador between humans and monsters."

"Awww...you're so sweet!  But I'm not really anything special."

"Just the freakin' eight child!  The one who--"

"No, Azzy.  I didn't break the Barrier.  You did...or rather Flowey did."

"That on the other hand feels wrong.  To take credit for what he did.  I really wanted the whole truth and nothing but the truth to come out but..."

"I know.  One...Mettaton feels like it would be a foolish level of bad publicity.  And two...Flowey gave a resounding no.  Possibly an "unmentionable swear-word, no"."

"Yup.  Thaaaaaat's Flowey." I rolled my eyes with jazz hands.

"Well...the truth can't stay hidden forever." I crossed my arms. "Some day integrity prevails."

Frisk giggled.

"What?"

"That thing your eyes do."

"Huh...oh yeah...I forgot all about that." I guess they'd turned blue. My special abilities were dormant but my soul still housed all seven virtues.

"It's complicated, I'm sure you know."

"Take all the time you need to explain."

"To you, to Mom, and to Dad...that'll be easy.  To everyone else...that's...that's going to be a bridge to cross."

I realized at that point I wasn't even technically a monster any more. I was a genetic hybrid. The change was something I'd need to address as well.

This speech I was writing would have to be super epic...and condense everything down so that I wasn't speaking for hours. I could do that but I'd end up with laryngitis.

"I'll be with you all the way."

Then the day came.

All dressed up and only one place to go.

"Just when it seems like I'll never go back to Mount Ebott.." I didn't finish my thought as I looked at the peak of the mountain, barely visible outside my window.

The drive was uneventful.

The venue...no one would ever forget.

Getting back inside New Home was a task (and a walk). Yet, everyone all managed to gather in the royal court...square...something.

Of course a lot of monsters, before hand, chose to revisit old territory.

"Like our garbage is still here, Bratty!"

"Like I know, Catty!"

Someone also forgot to turn the fountain off in MTT Resort. Burgerpants would never hear the end of it.

"Why do you make my life such Hell!?!" He whined to no one in particular...through clenched teeth and the most hardcore phony grin anyone would lay eyes on...and still pay no heed.

I shuffled through cards back stage as Mettaton EX was a whirlwind of activity and bubbling emotions.

"No need to be nervous, darling!  You'll be fabulous out there!"

"Uh...thanks?"

I waited back stage for my cue. Frisk never left my side.

So...naturally dad started things after Mettaton introduced him.

"Ladies and gentle-monsters...and fellow humans...your former king, now the king of the flowers and your former queen and now our royal teacher of the year...King Asgore and Queen Toriel Dreemurr!"

Of course Asgore did the talking but Toriel was the mind behind giving him the cues and guidance when he...went a little off the path.

"...and she said--"

"AHEM."

"Right.  Um...back to the point at hand."

Asgore cleared his throat.

"Once upon a time...our world...this land...was ruled by two races.  The humans and the monsters.  One day war broke out and no one can really remember the reason why."

Way to brush over the fact that human souls were far more powerful than monsters' souls and monsters had the ability to absorb human souls and power up considerably, Gorey.

"Since that time, we monsters were forced to live underground in Mount Ebott, sealed in a magical prison by the seven human mages at the time.  Any who trespassed into the barrier could cross...but they could not cross back.  There was no way out once you were in; human or monster.

We thought our hopes and dreams died that day...but we pressed on and made our own society. Our world was small but it was all we had. Those of us who could remember the before times spread the stories of the surface world...and the sun.

We longed for that day we'd escape this place and see that sun again.

Time marched onward. Generations passed. Hope and dreams faded. But the thing that kept us going...that kept those hopes and dreams from dying completely was a Prophecy. That one day an angel would descend upon us and the Underground would go empty. Some of us lived in fear believing that we would be visited by an angel of death and the underground would go empty because they would leave nothing but our dust behind as they destroyed our world. But others of us believed that the angel would be a good person and set us free from our prison.

It seemed like that it was blind faith until a human child from the surface fell into our home. They were rescued by our prince, Asriel and would live as one of us for a year. I built them up as the our hopes and our dreams; the one who would save us all. They were our future.

We were so happy and our prince had grown so close to them. Like siblings.

But...I was a fool."

Dad wisely left out the parts of Chara's scheme and my role...rather Flowey's role in it when he was still me. Never gets less confusing explaining that.

Asgore hung his head in shame. "I put too much on their shoulders.  And...I was ignorant to their life above the surface.  We were all naive; and we all ignored their warnings of what the humans were really like.   It was a secret to all but our son how they really felt about humanity.  How they felt...outcast even among us.  How they envied our kind.  We were pure.  We were above the sins that they claimed humans committed.  We didn't know.

"I should have seen the warning signs.  We all should have.  But then...tragedy struck us all.  When the human grew very sick...sick to the point of being on their death bed.

We all feared. We all worried. I cannot speak for all of us but our royal family were concerned for their well-being. Our hopes and dreams waned away with their health. How could we think of our freedom when a life was about to expire.

But the greatest tragedy was about to hit after that. My wife and I...should have paid attention more closely to Asriel."

Remembering this was as hard for me as ever. It was a splinter in the eye that stuck my memories over and over when I recalled what it lead to...when I thought about how much worse it was for other versions of me.

"No one could have seen them conspiring together to do that which was forbidden.

On they day our child died...our son took their soul and crossed the barrier. It was as the first fallen had warned. Our prince was attacked and mortally wounded. He brought the child's corpse back from which he had brought them, crossing back through the barrier...where he collapsed in the throne room and fell down, turning to dust.

Losing one child was horrible...but losing two? Losing our son, too? Why had the Prophecy forsaken this? Why did we deserve this?

In my anger...evidence of the humans' role in this sparked a rage I could not contain. With that rage...I made the single worst decision of my life. I declared a new war on them; decreeing that any human that falls into the Underground at this point...would not be our friend...but our resources for breaking the barrier. My contempt toward even children was the biggest folly of all...for not only had I lost my children...I ended up throwing away my wife. She was lost the moment she saw what kind of man I was willing to become to hold onto our hopes and dreams.

And with that...she abdicated the throne and retreated to the RUINS declaring her own war on me. It was...the moment that broke me. All I had left was...my people. All that was left was to keep my vow to free us all...even if it meant...killing humans. Man, woman...or child."

Toriel had clenched her fists under her robe's sleeves at that moment. Any tighter and it would have left visible red wounds without blood. Still weird how that worked.

"One by one...they fell into the underground.  One by one...my ex-wife scooped them up and kept them from me...but one by one they grew bored and left the RUINS only to meet their doom.  I collected the spoils of war...and dirtied my soul, building my EXP and gathering LOVE in the process.

It all came down to one last soul. The eighth. It was inevitable. So we all thought. But then...this new child...they flipped the script on us, as Mettaton would say. They changed everything by befriending each and every one of us. I was still willing to put someone so kind out of their misery...but I couldn't do it in the end. And as it turned out...none of you would let me do so, either.

While I can't be sure what happened afterward...it is said the angel...the real angel descended upon us...and...the next thing we all know, after being in some...dark place where we could not feel our bodies...we awoke with the Barrier destroyed. And Frisk was the one who set us free. Our eighth child led us to the outside where we saw the sun for the first time. And from there...we all re-integrated back into the world, rejoining the humans in a new era where we'd been forgotten. In an era were we were more or less viewed like superheroes in comic books.

It was a new age with new beliefs. New acceptance. With Frisk agreeing to be our ambassador, peace was assured and in seven years life has grown into a stable norm. We are free and we have our happy ending. That is the story we've come to know."

Asgore paused.

"If only the whole truth could have been told sooner."

Whispers and murmurs rose up.

"As it turns out...there was more to it.  Frisk has...confirmed it.  While it is hard to believe...it is a fact that the Barrier was destroyed by the angel.  We have lived believing that it was an immutable fact that once someone is gone, there's no bringing them back.

Well...it seems our world has...its exceptions. Somehow...some way; perhaps partly due to the research of our own Dr. Alphys...perhaps partly by the grace of the first fallen's unrecovered soul...perhaps a miracle from above...in some form or another, our prince returned and gathered all our souls together from our still living bodies. Somehow...they combined all of us with the six human souls to equal the power needed to break the barrier. And break it they did.

But while our prince had freed us...it was still the eighth fallen who saved us...and him. Saved him from himself."

The murmurs and chatter grew louder.

"It...doesn't quite make sense but...our son left this world to us when the barrier broke.  Without a soul of his own he could not stay in the living world and...he passed on his hopes and dreams to us; choosing to say goodbye one last time."

The truth was coming out.

"It seems that to everything in life, there exists exception.  I thought...we used up our miracle with returning to life and going free.  I thought that Frisk the end of our story and our salvation.  But...it was believed to be true that no one could come back after they were gone.  After they'd fallen.  Dr. Alphys has...certainly bent the rules with the Amalgamates.  Though it seemed even someone complete gone could not come back and stay."

Asgore took a deep breath.

"I stand before you now to reveal the greatest truth of all.  Life has delivered unto us an exception.  Some of you...have had...sightings of someone bearing uncanny resemblance to our royal family.  Someone resembling a Dreemurr.

I am here to day to reveal that the rumors are true. I am about to reveal the biggest, most unbelievable truth of all. And that is that someone can come back after they're gone. Even if it's through a means you'd never expect...a means that proves our world...our universe is bigger than we could ever imagine."

Asgore had fiddled with the cue cards Alphys had helped him write. All that...other universe stuff was hard for him to grasp.

"Everyone...it is time Toriel and I revealed to  you all, the divine miracle.   He has...journeyed far from a place beyond our reach.   He has...led a life that none of us could ever dream of.  He has...grown and matured away from all this drama...all this...hoping and praying for freedom from Ebott.  He has crossed space and time and even...reality, if that is to be believed.  But...we all stand before you now with honest to goodness proof that he does exist.

Without further ado...Toriel and I are proud to present..."

Asgore swallowed hard as he started getting misty eyed and sniffled.

"Our son...the prince of all our futures..."

The drumroll came. Yup...Mettaton was going to milk it.

"...Prince...Asriel...Dreemurr."

Sub-Entry 126: "My Grand Speech":
That was my cue. I took Frisk's hand...and she walked me out to the stage as the spotlight came down on both of us. Gasps and whispers and murmurs and commotion swelled. Camera flashes started erupting in waves. There was no turning back.

The princely outfit was...nice. At least he left off the pauldrons. Those things were heavy. The cape was a bit much.

But I was really glad I got to wear my Delta Rune buckle sandals. Those felt like they'd become a part of me. Besides, now I could hang out with Doggamy and Doggaressa and compare footwear choice. Hahahahhah......oh, boy, Violet. You're going to sneeze right about now and Bunnie is going to whap you for it.

"It's him...it's really him!"

"It couldn't be!"

"That's the spitting image of Asriel!"

"But...he's all grown up!  Look at those horns!"

It would have been a mistake to come out with them retracted. I'd...let them ease into the weird facets behind me.

Toriel took over for Asgore at this point.

"It is a very long and complicated story but...*sob*...but my child...our son.....our sweet prince has returned."

She and Dad couldn't help but hug me and Frisk together.

I think a lot of people noticed us holding hands entering. Let the rumors begin.

But for now...that was being overshadowed by the fact that...I was seemingly back from the dead. I planned to set that misconception straight right now.

Honestly, Dad's speech was kind of hard to top. But...I was up for a challenge.

I took a deep breath as I stepped behind the podium and adjusted the mic as I looked out at everyone. I had envisioned doing this from the open balcony on above the castle entrance but...I didn't like the idea of looking down on people. I wanted to look at them; call it humility in the face of being royalty. A prince shouldn't feel like anyone is beneath him in any way. He should be at the same level, whether an important noble or a common street sweeper. We were all the same main race with a lot of sub-species in between. From the smallest Froggit to the anthropomorphic goat people our ruling family once was...to quote Pit...everybody's here.

So how to incorporate that?

"A long time ago, this world was ruled by two races...humans and monsters.  Humans whose magic was rare but they pushed it to reach the arcane stage...whose souls were magnanimously more powerful than our own, allowing their physical forms to persist even after death.  And Monsters whose magic has always been second nature; so much so that most of our very being is composed of magic.   Weaker by comparison, we turn to dust upon falling down; yet we carried the capacity to take a human's soul and absorb it, thus amplifying our power to levels unimaginable to both races.  One day war broke out between our two races and the Monsters were soundly defeated.  We were forced underground where we made a living here under Ebott.

Out plight remained the same for untold centuries. While we had little there were always three things that could never be taken away from us. That's how it was for a long time.

Hopes. Dreams. Wishes. The three things that we've all carried with us since the beginning. Generations of Dreemurrs have been both destined and fated to rise and lead our people through good times and bad.

The Dreemurrs have always been the ones to shepherd all of these hopes, dreams, and wishes in the faith that we would one day escape our prison. Each Dreemurr generation these thee things shone brightly in our souls.

The latest heir was said for these three concepts to shine brighter than any before him. The king and queen shipped equal parts of their names and named him Asriel. He was a frail child...kind but shy. Patient but lonely. He was many things but let himself be held back by his meekness and he ran from confrontation...no doubt former Captain of the Royal Guard was annoyed to no end."

"Hmmph." Undyne crossed her arms, trying to shrug off the moment of frustration from being on the spot. Toriel tried not the smirk. Former queens shouldn't gloat.

"Yet he was adored and well-received by all.  At the same time...his royal status made him seem...unapproachable.  Thus...he lacked the bravery to make friends.  To which he hoped and dreamed...he wished and he prayed for a friend.

And the first fallen human child arrived. He felt his life was complete. But...one year hence, it became obvious to him that his adopted sibling was...not completely happy. They...could not condone the sins of their race and...wished to be like us. They felt...we looked upon them differently because they were human. Asriel...didn't care what species they were. He assured the Dreemurr family loved them all the same. Which is why...it only compounded things when we put so much on their shoulders. That they were deemed the hope and dreams of our future.

From there...came the plan; collaborating with Asriel...they plotted to sacrifice themself so he could take their soul, cross the barrier and convince the humans to help break the barrier. But...instead they were frightened of their ascended form; believing...believing Prince Asriel had taken this child's life as he carried their lifeless body back to the bed of flowers the longed to see one last time. And thus...became a dark period of history when he returned home...badly wounded where he fell. The king and queen lost two children...and they lost the better parts of themselves. In anger...the king declared war on the humans; decreeing that any human child that fell into the underground...would be hunted and harvested for their souls. In doing so...he threw away the last person in his life that mattered.

The queen...abdicated her throne, leaving her king and retreated to the RUINS to thwart his plan at the source. So desperate was she to be a mother she would raise any human child as her own, hoping to keep them in the RUINS for all their life. But...children...grow bored. One by one they left and they left their caretaker heartbroken and gave the king another of the souls he needed. And yet...each soul did not bring hope to the Underground. They just slowed everyone's decline as Monsters had been tainted by the darkness brought by the humans that defeated us, banished us, and took the hope and dreams in the form of its two royal children.

For a long time, the Royal Scientist researched alternative ways to break the barrier. Alternative ways for Monsters to endure; to be a match for humans. Even a way to escape from...falling down. Experiments took place with faith that they would bear fruit. But...instead she fell into seclusion as her research proved to be more and more of a failure in her eyes."

Alphys hung her head, rubbing the back of her hand with her fingertips. She let out a sad moan, feeling the regret come back to her.

"All the while...she watched and waited as the King's behest for humans to enter the Underground.  And they did so.  And they were harvested.  What all monsters thought was hope was growing desperation.  One soul was left to collect and all would go free.  Surely the prophecy was at hand.  But...did the prophecy speak of our salvation?  Or of our extermination?

The eight child came at last. And try as we may...tempted as we were...as many attempts we mustered to capture them..."

"Hmm..." Papyrus cocked his head, feeling sad but not quite knowing why. These feelings...what were these feelings? Guilt? Regret? Perhaps...his conscience objecting to the duty that the Captain had placed upon him.

"...they instead faced every challenge with courage and were all too happy to put right what they felt was wrong...such a strong sense of justice.

Many of us backed them into a corner but they persevered."

Asgore's gaze fell a little. Undyne looked away, keeping a derisive expression.

"But...they had the one thing going that made all the difference.  The gift the first fallen had...the power to never give up and never back down.  That power was Determination...and with it they chose not fight us...but befriend us.  It was that determination...that awoke Prince Asriel from the afterlife and brought him back.  Once they best him in a challenge for the fate of our world...he relented, remember who he was.  With that memory fresh in his mind and the combined souls of every monster in the Underground with the six fallen human souls...he broke the barrier...and quietly chose to accept his fate that he could not stay with us...not without a soul of his own."

There was sadness among the whole kingdom. Sniffling, flat out crying, murmuring, whispering."

"For seven years Monsters enjoyed their freedom...but only one was left to his prison, somewhere beyond all our reach...even beyond the power of the Eighth Child to bring him back for good.

Given all this backstory...it should...it should be understood that the departed can't come back. No one can bring them back. That...that was established as an immutable fact. So...after having said all that...you are left with many questions. How can I be Asriel...when Asriel died long ago...Asriel cannot come back.

To understand this...you have to understand what our world really is. And there's no easy way to explain it. No way to cushion the blow. It will...be hard to believe. It may even be possible. But...as a talking little yellow flower once explained......this world...our world. It's all just a game."

Overlapping murmurs and chatter filled the room.

"You ask what I mean by that?  Exactly what I said.  By the will of a deity far above us...far above our understanding, our world exists like a computer game.  Run in a virtual cyberspace in a quantum realm that persists all around us.  Each of us like a simulation to this higher power.  Each of us...their creations.  Created for what purpose...I do not know.  To what ends...I do not know.  All I can know for sure...is that our creator didn't just create us and our world...our scenario and history...he created it hundreds of thousands of millions of times over as copies; each occupying its own dimension...each dimension having an infinite number of circular timelines where our story keeps repeating after being reset or erased by entities beyond our understanding...entities akin to players...gamers.  Unknown names and faces as numerous as the copies of our world.  And in each of these copies, our story happens the same way...over and over. And in this story...Asriel has no future. He's only a throw-away character who exists just to be the key to the plot points for the eighth fallen...controlled as an avatar for the players...to set free from their pain. And despite everything...they could never bring him back."

By now everyone was looking at one another and looking so lost.

"So...the deities that control our world...our timeline...those deities specific to us are twin goddesses...but like day and night.  One good, one evil.  One who seeks order and prosperity...the other chaos and despair.  And they've played our game within a greater game of ultimate good and evil...to the point of changing our game...changing the rules...changing our very natures...even changing our scenarios.  Thus creating...variants.  Variations that...can often be unstable.

That is where I come in. I was an Asriel...from a timeline of this universe. A Genocide Timeline...where all of us were simply brought into existence...to be slaughtered by an evil version of our Eighth Fallen just so they and the First Fallen could destroy our world and bring about entropy."

Gasps and utter horror gripped the room.

"I came from this world...meant to be first of the ones to die.  But...the Goddess of Destiny had a different plan for me.  And so...she sent her White Knight to me...a person many of you have become familiar with.  HIs name...Dr. Volt Alessandro Arcade."

The chatter turned to recognition and excitement.

"He is...not of our world...not even of our galaxy.  But somehow of our universe.  Somehow...he is of ever timeline in our universe, existing as one prime iteration combined from every instance that he should exist.

He came to my rescue and took me off my world before it was erased. He took me to the world he once called his origin...his home. And from there...he and his friends and family...raised me as one of their own."

The story had grown unbelievable for many in attendance...but one by one, a lot of people were starting to become open to the possibility that this was no tall tale. This...this was true. All true.

"I was adopted by, irony of ironies, a human couple; a former soldier turned into a superweapon/superhero...and a doctor with psychic powers.  Hard to swallow but...even I couldn't believe it.  For fifteen years...I lived under their roof, I breathed their air, ate their food, drank their water and refreshments, wore their clothes, and learned their ways.  I was given an education.

I was given love. I was given friendship. I was given every building block I'd need to grow and build myself up...to become independent...and then...

...then they helped me become something more."

By now all eyes were fixed on Asriel.

"From the moment I stepped onto their world...something of me would be lost...but something would take its place.  Slowly...I was losing my magic.  That which makes up most of a monster's very being was leaking away and disappearing.  I should have stopped existing but...in its place...something else filled the void.  And gradually...I became like them.  Not monster...not human...but something as powerful as both combined.  They called their species...genetic hybrid.  And I was becoming one as well.  It changed me inside...at a cellular level.  I'd become more matter than magic.  But also...it didn't just change my body...it changed my soul as well..."

With that Asriel cupped his hands around his chest and went through the quick ritual Megami had done to manifest his soul.

And low and behold it emerged, pulsing super brightly with the seven colors of the virtue rainbow in sequence.

The clamor had swollen to intense levels. The kingdom roared with excited if not completely flabbergasted talk.

Asriel motioned for the chatter to cease so he could talk again.

"If the barrier still existed...I could cross it freely, now.  Without having to absorb a human soul.  And knowing this...those of you who knew Volt Arcade and his friends...you must now realize it."

"They were coming and going through the barrier...!" Someone gasped.

"Hee hee." Gerson seemed quite amused by this. He'd known for quite a while now. "Things have certainly gotten quite lively and quite interesting, haven't they?"

Seeing Asriel's soul for themselves...not a person in the room had a doubt that this was all true.

"I gained so much from them all.  I mastered so many skills.  And...I met many challenges.  And from this...my own Determination exceeded levels that Dr. Alphys would consider beyond what even an Amalgamate could even withstand.

But my story only got bigger. Like every Asriel...I was the first to see a sunrise. But I was also the only one...to live to see sunset...and many more beyond that.

As if all those amazing things weren't enough...I'd so have my ultimate wish granted...and see the stars...not from just the surface...but my adventures would take me from the planet itself into space. Where I'd see them...I'd see them all."

Alphys was practically gnawing at her notepad with how she was about losing it over the scientific discovery of a lifetime...and their prince had witnessed it.

"And it wouldn't just be to space I'd go...but to other worlds...other points in time...other points in space...and other dimensions, entirely.  I'd...I'd become the next generation of child adventurer...like Johnny Quest just to name-drop someone you've never heard of.  But I assure you he was pretty famous and a pretty big deal in the 1970's...and somehow again in the 1990's...?  Not sure how that "reboot" dimension thing works, but I'm figuring it out...I'll explain another time.

Ahem...back on track. I didn't just adventure...I became a hero. Kind of...embarrassing to brag about something like that."

"Duuuuuude!" M.K.'s exclamation rose above everyone else's voices.

"Dude,  indeed." I pointed to the yellow dino dude.

"I saw things...and even acquired things beyond imagination.  Things which could change our world.....that is if I ever figure out entirely how they work.   Not to um...show off again but..."

I pulled the NX Switchboard from my holder on my back and unfolded it and climbed aboard as it dropped but stopped from hitting the ground and just hovered.

"Things which could elevate the world we live in...even if it starts with just elevating...me."

And Asriel ascended as gasps turned to cheers and applause and outright amazement.

"Mettaton insisted I give you a little bit of a show during my speech, just so it doesn't get too long-winded.  It's already become pretty epic compared to what I used to give on Thanksgiving.  Heh."

A bit of laughter and more than a few people not knowing what the joke or reference was.

I hovered back down, stepped off and stowed the board.

"I just know every human and monster kid in the town...heck the world is going to want one of these if Alphys and I ever figure out how to reverse-engineer it."

Laughter.

"There's my first joke of the day...but you never know when I might be serious about this..." I was sly.

Though if I ever DID consider mass producing hoverboards, I'm sure I'd have to somehow get Nikita's name on the patent. It just wouldn't be right if Alphys and I took complete credit.

"Yet...all this going for me, but my life wasn't all sunshine and roses...as lovely as that sounds.  The Goddess of Fate does not like us having...happy endings to our stories and...she had many hardships for us to endure.  She endangered many lives and hurt us in ways that...just still don't make sense.  All for her amusement.

By this time the clamor quieted down and had reached a dead silence with all eyes looking very concerned.

"Like how Lady Destiny has a White Knight in the form of Volt Arcade...Madam Fate had her Black Knight who hatched scheme after scheme and did horrible things across the InfinityVerse.  I found myself...swept up in a war.  Despite how much Volt Arcade wanted to avoid me from ever knowing what war is...it was beyond his control.  It was beyond his ability to shield me from the darkness that this universe was capable of.  We all...even nearly lost our lives and our world almost ended because of this scourge."

Mutters laced with shock, anger, and despair began to rise.

"I found myself back to back with Volt Arcade as the generals leading these "Crossover Wars" and despite many setbacks...despite many things hurting us to our very cores...despite how personal the denizens of Chaopolis made things...we beat them back, broken their ranks and brought them to justice.

With his final act, he tried to bring about an end to all realities...all dimension...all worlds...with our own Undertale being the focal point. When our own Ambassador...the Eighth Child, Frisk was fighting for your Asriel's soul against insurmountable odds...while the Black Knight had captured his nemesis, Dr. Volt Arcade and imprisoned him, making him the unwilling part of his scheme...I could not stand by and let things be the way they were. With the power of seven of the universe's greatest Psychic Minds, I astral projected into the Barrier and fought alongside the Eighth Fallen and brought a final end to the evil Dr. Allouicious Adonis and his Chaopolis cult. And together...all of us in some way or another worked together with your Asriel Dreemurr to break the barrier and save the entire InfinityVerse...the Axis of Reality itself."

"Wow..."

"Did all this really happen?"

"I...remember something but...I thought it was just a dream."

"It must be true!  Prince Asriel wouldn't lie!"

I continued on. "It is all true.  And when all was said and done...I went back to the world I called my adopted home...VGM-098 and spent the next 7 years...finally becoming a man.  Getting a college education......it's going to be interesting to see how these credits transfer over from another world."

Laughter filled the room.

"But...I achieved all my goals and I had everything I could ever need or want and more than I...honestly, I just don't want to say "deserved".  Deserving anything in this world is irrelevant.  You get what you get and if you worked hard for it, that makes it all the more worth it.

I had everything...but a past. A legacy. I needed to know...where I came from. That's...where all of you come in.

Volt Arcade contacted King Asgore and Queen Toriel and arranged...for a reunion. And I...I was meant to be the big surprise. The big reveal. And the payoff of a decade and a half of preparing to return what this game our world used to be continually took from Monsters. Hopes, dreams, and wishes. Its prince would return in the form of this variant you see before you now. I don't want much from you...just to know you...to live with you...to work alongside you. To find my place. I want to know...if I can belong here. If this is the home that Volt sacrificed so much for me to return to. The timeline may not be my own...but I'd like it if it could be.

I've long since changed my sur-name to Arcade to honor the man who gave me everything. And I can tell you this much about Arcades. We believe in second chances. We embrace adoption. And that's why I'm glad to have lived with a foster family for so long. If I had but one wish now...it would be that someday my birth family...and my foster family could meet again...and be regular friends. If our worlds could connect again...then we could all know each other.

The biggest truth that's always eluded our world...many a world...is that we are not alone in the universe. Our Undertale has been visited by aliens. Aliens who've come in forms so similar to our own. Aliens who've wanted to share their civilization and return to Monsters what has been taken away.

So...in conclusion...here I am, rock you like a hurricane. Heh. Sorry. Song lyric. You'd have to be there to appreciate the band known as the Scorpions. That said...I am here now. And...all I ask is for a chance to walk among you. And prove myself that I might not be the Asriel you lost. I might not be the one you...deserve. I might not even be the one you want back. But...I am four things:  I am the Asriel that never took a human soul by his own choice and free will. I am the Asriel that never crossed the barrier. I am the Asriel that was never attacked by the humans and died from his wounds. And...I am the Asriel that calls anyone and everyone who is willing to be so...my best friend.

Yes. My wish now is for every one of you, whether I know you or not to be my best friend; for I've come to realize...I've always considered EVERYONE my best friend.

Volt Arcade was not my first...but he was the best friend who lasted the longest. He in no way replaced the first fallen child...he, in no way replaced Chara. I've come to realize I can have as many friends in my life as I can handle. So. To quote a Mr. Fred Rogers...will you be mine, will you be mine...won't you be...my neighbor?

Let me share your hopes. Let me share your dreams. And let me share your wishes. I am Asriel. I am the Prince of this World's Future...and what a magnanimous responsibility that truly is."

I let it all sink in. I felt Frisk grasp my hand firmly and clutch it tightly.

And then...the standing 10-minute ovation filled the room.

We did it, Volt.

I'm here.

I'm home.

Sub-Entry 127: "Sharing the Wonders of a World Beyond Ours":
After a bit of  catching my breath and Frisk and the parents embracing me...a handshake from Mettaton and a gentle pat on the back by Napstablook as well as a bouquet of roses handed to me by Muffet...wasn't expect that...the applause was still going on.

But I still had more show to do. Mettaton wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh sure, the Soul and the NX Switchboard were nice parlor tricks...but I guess if I was going to play prize pony, I might as well give the carnival its money worth, right?

Eeesh. That metaphor stinks worse than Al Dente's socks.

It took me a while to even figure out what I was going to do with it.

I turned to researching the owners of the six human souls for inspiration, hoping that Mom's memories of each of them might give a well-rounded insight to putting my talents on display with a "through the ages" curve to lightly season it but not shape it. I was me after all and I had grown up in the most modern era in my archival records of placed I'd been. Though hardly the most futuristic...there were no shortage of those from Earth in the 23rd century to a brief visit to Galvan Prime.

But no...I didn't want to get to...alien or sci-fi. Just...enough where applicable.

So with Burgerpants being the stagehand and Mettaton choreographing, me and the sexy rectangle agreed the opening act would be a trial spinoff of Cooking With a Killer Robot.

I'd certainly learned my way around the kitchen thanks to my stint at Totsuki Academy and learning from the God Tongue herself, Eren Nakiri. But also how to keep the heart in my dishes thanks to Mitzi Mozzarella and Hestia.

I'm not sure how much trouble it was to get an ENTIRE kitchen ensemble on stage; counting the working fridge, freezer, oven, sinks, and more appliances than I initially knew what to do with...but I was going to put on a show like a Food War without an actual opponent, per say.

Soma Yukihira, don't let your style fail me now.

As for Mettaton's stake in this...rest assured I would not be using anything human as an ingredient. Human substitute in a can or otherwise as much as it might actually make Flowey grin at home.

Did I mention he was broadcasting this to all over the Underground AND outside of Ebott itself. If he had his way, he'd take it completely global. But I assured him...baby steps. Let's get situated locally before I took it nationally or globally. And besides...cooking wasn't going to be a career...just one of my many hobbies.

As I cooked I rattled off exactly what I was doing, dropping buzzwords like "the acidity of this" and the "sweetness of that" and the use of honey as a core ingredient.

I almost considered using bear meat just to make it exotic but I figured I'd go with something Megami (both Kobayashi from Bunnie's dojo and Todokoro from Totsuki Academy) would approve of. Figuring I could do something with sushi, ramen, tsukimi dango (it was September after all and Jang's moon festival was certainly nigh), and some sweet bean pastries. Already I had a combination which would win Alphys' approval a thousand times over.

And just to top it off.

"Your order's up!" I yanked off the cloth headband. "You're welcome!"

Yeah. I'm sure Soma just sneezed. But more than that...the Child of the green Kindness Soul was looking down with a smile. I wonder if Frisk ever returned the apron and non-stick pan to the kid's surviving family?

Just to seal the deal...I passed out as many samples of it to the audience I could before I had to prepare for the next act. And Mettaton had scheduled seven of them to showcase what alien world talents I picked up.

Moving on to the virtue of patience...I had to ask myself what I learned from Lupe that I could apply to a setting like this......wait, that's it! Setting! Lupe was an experienced jeweler as one of her lesser hobbies. While her knowledge leaned toward geology, she had her moments of refining precious gemstones into suitable trinkets and jewelry that was top quality.

So...I showed the process of what I could do with a few rough cut diamonds, a lot of elbow grease and some metal fittings I had Alphys manufacture in advance with 3D Printing geared for metal-work that she  had only recently refined.

It took a lot of patience, some grinding and polishing, work with a few polishing chemicals and such and before long...

"Shine, crazy diamond!  Shine! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!!"

Yeah. I was going to do a lot of anime bits. Asriel tested, Josuke Higashikita approved. It wasn't that much of a departure from the Patience Soul...was it?

Just as a final touch, I announced I'd be putting the finished piece up for auction, with the proceeds going to charity. Frisk was delighted.

Anyway....for Integrity? It was time to throw down and spin up! D.J. Sol Aire CX4 lives again!

"I took inspiration from my mentor and personal hero, one Sally Alecia "Lightrunner" Acorn and inspiration from sources all the from Aelita Stone to Jazzy Jeff."

I was going to give these turntables a workout. The highest difficulty of D.J. Hero on the hardest song would have nothing on me.

I spun together plenty of mixes featuring a crop of groups this world had never heard of. From ACDC to ZZ Top, to put it mildly.

Like that, I'd turned a 7-act show into a rave. Party down, yo. Somewhere I know you're grinning ear to ear, Aunt Sally.

"...ohhhhhhh...he's really good..."

I wonder how many people have actually seen Napstablook smile.

"Look at him, dear Blooky.  Our prince is a rising star.  Some day he may even become as big a star as me."

"...ohhh...is that okay...?"

"Of course, Blooky.  I've changed since those days.  Why feel threatened by one could replace me when I could wait for the day that we could collaborate together and make each other even greater stars on the stage?"

"...that would be nice..."

Bravery. It goes without saying the child that sported the tough glove and the manly headband was a fighter. So...it only made sense I went with a martial arts show. I might as well showcase my best martial arts performance.

While Undyne was chomping at the bit to see my moves which I kick butt, mom was most certainly dreading that aspect. But at the same time she was remembering what Volt had shown her that that Martial Arts are more than just beating people up. The martial arts are the single most perfect contradiction in the world. We learn to fight so we don't have to fight. That should be the goal of any martial artist; to resolve a conflict without having to resort to a fight. Granted...the most ideal way is to strike up a conversation and diffuse an otherwise volatile situation. But...sometimes conflict cannot be avoided and your opponent may press the fight. In this, a true practitioner must never try to take out his opponent. A master of martial arts knows to meet an opponent with discipline and self-control. In short  The martial arts teach courage, kindness, integrity, fitness, loyalty, and discipline.

While it might bore Undyne a little to see the curtain go up with the spotlight on me in my gi while meditating followed up by warming up with katas. Mom would most certainly be reminded of my best friend's introduction to the more peaceful aspects when they met in Snowdin Town.

So I crammed the best of all worlds; emphasizing more of the high-flying, gravity defying kung-fu just to look a bit impressive; while also minimizing the use of actual punches and kicks and chops. A little Jackie Chan to liven things up and appease Mettaton to boot. A little Power Rangers flash to keep Monster Kid's attention peaked, and just a few surprises that ranged from breaking boards to some ninja cliches and staples that didn't involve shuriken and blades...well...mostly no blades. Miyamoto Usagi certainly showed me the way of putting on a show that would appease a crowd. Buuuuuut...I wasn't confident enough, YET...to let a pair of swords stab down to the left and the right of my neck while ending by catching the third one in my teeth. Even Santouryuu has to have its limits, right? Roranoa Zora wouldn't do something THAT stupid with three swords...would he?

By the end of that show, all in attendance were on the edge of their seats.

Moving on to Justice...how does one showcase marksmanship without using live ammo?

Lazer Tag, thou art the answer to my grand dilemma.

All it took was a little electronics knowledge to craft targets that would make hitting a photo-transistor sensor a little more flashy. A brilliant show that Dynamites Neon would approve of. Am I right, Trigun fans?

"You can call me Photon Pistol packin' Asriel.  While I don't like guns much, a little Lazer Tag definitely brings the video games to life."

When it came to matching Gadget in marksmanship, I sure made everyone believe.

Perseverance was one I had to get creative with. And inspiration from the Kingdom of Science was just the ticket. No paper mache volcanos with baking soda and vinegar lava. No potato-powered clocks. Nah. This required something special that a couple of Tesla Coils, a few robot arms, and some fun with lasers and holograms could pull off.

But what capped it all off was use of my NX Switchboard to really make avid minds grow and appreciate how "bad like Michael Jackson" science could be.

As a bonus round or two, I got my Bob Ross on with an live oil painting on the spot with canvas and easel at the ready. I was bound and determined to show off that I had surpassed Callista Brighton in skill.

As a last bonus, I announced the painting would be auctioned off for charity after it was dry and ready for transport.

So that brought me to the seventh and final virtue. Determination. How do you showcase it?

Well...this time I invited Frisk to show off that I could dance with the best of them. What better way than to pay homage to Mettaton's greatest and last show in the Underground?

As it turned out...as good a dancer as I'd become under Honey's er...crash course lessons...?...I'd met my match with Frisk. She was every bit as good as Mettaton said and more.

Honestly...this would be a time I'd be glad my arms and legs wouldn't explode at the climax of this dance-off.

"Oh wow..." I uttered, wondering if I could keep up, much less outlast her. Her determination was at least equal to mine but neither of us showed any time of slowing down.

Just when I was starting to wonder if she'd finally best me on the dance floor...she had go and flip the script and take a page out of Honey's book by turning it from competition into co-op.

"Ohh!" I wasn't prepared for us to be dancing together. Still......I was not complaining. This was nice. This was really nice. I wish it could go on forever. The touch of her hands...how could anything without fur feel so soft and smooth. My heart was pounding a mile a minute and I was actually starting to worry if I'd get too sweaty and lose my grip.

What is this feeling?

"Big finish?"

"Oh yes."

There was so much more I wanted to share with my people. I just couldn't bring all of my adventures to the Underground in some form or another and even with Alphys' help I couldn't set up all the gear and technology to wow them all. And I'm pretty sure some of the things I'd learned how to do weren't fit for the stage. Also...how would I ever show off how good I was behind the wheel. Kind of promised some individuals I'd never do another Ekimae Hiroba Drift again; the Fast and the Furious movies were not to be emulated by anyone but professionals under proper safety conditions after all. I'd also never fit a giant gestalt super robot into the Underground safely so recreating Voltron or Megazord moments was a no go. And of course, it went without saying anything related to space and work aboard the space station...out of the question.

Too many skills, too many experiences, and even I only had so many home movies stored on my NX Switchboard to show off in the movie theater when I had a chance to rent it. But I think...I picked a decent slice of my life to brag about.

As the final note, Frisk landed in my arms just moments before I dipped her in an extravagant pose.

Silence and awe...and I think she was as surprised as I was.

"Wh...what's wrong?  D-do I have something on my face?" I nervously whispered, also distracted by how many eyes were on us.

"N-no-no!  It's f-fine!"

We were both red as a beet from how intimate this was.

This....!....this isn't a date! Just...friends putting on a show, right? *gulp*

"Ladies and gentle-monsters...your Prince and Ambassador!"

I couldn't tell you how long the standing ovation lasted for. To be quite honest...I hadn't planned for an encore and even if I had I didn't know what I'd give to them. Seven shows in one was already taxing and I was worn out by this point.

After a lengthy round of applause that went for minutes...finally the curtain came down.

I could breathe again and thank goodness for that. I'd held my breath at that last note for so long I think I was going to pass out.

"You okay...?" Frisk asked.

I hesitated. Before I knew it, I responded with "Never better."

Oh wow. If this was the highlight of my new life......the best was just yet to come.

Afterward...

"My son, that was really something!  It was neato!"

Still not going to get used to my birth dad sounding like he rehearsed a script to the old TV series, Leave It to Beaver. Did people really say things like "neato" in the 1950's?

"My child...how much you've grown..." Mom was streaming tears.

"The Prince is a-okay!" There came the hard back-pats from Undyne; darn near threatening to knock me off my feet and face down onto the floor.

"I have SOOOOOO many questions!" Alphys was holding her cheeks with a sparkly-eyed look.

"I think we should let the Prince get his rest.  He has had a big day and he will most certainly be swarmed trying to get out of here." Frisk cut in.

"Oh don't worry about that, dearie.  As a professional performer, I've learned the tricks of the trade of slipping out before the Paparazzi overtake me."

"Sounds good...if I had to keep going for much longer, I think I'd end up falling down...not like that, I mean.  But yeah...I'm ready to pass out."

"Let us retire to our home then.  Frisk is already staying there as our guest and it's only right our son should we welcome in our own house." Asgore offered.

"A splendid idea, Gorey." Toriel let him have that one.

"Well.  Here's to my fifteen minutes of fame.  Somehow I think it's going to turn into fifteen years with how well I won them all over."

"Oh you." Mettaton prodded as Napstablook floated the last of the equipment into his personal trailer.

"Come on.  I have a Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie waiting for us all."

And no less intimidating in size, I'll wager. If this is Lady Destiny returning my stolen childhood, I think I can consider the debt repaid. I had my work cut out for me returning their stolen parenthood. While it was a decade or so late...it was never too late to make up for lost time. Some of those things I had to do; helping mom in the kitchen and around the house...or just having a game of catch with dad. Just...simple things I wasn't too old to do.

While there was no replacing the moments and memories I had outgrown...that I had missed out on...that even Destiny couldn't give back to us...I'm sure Frisk had her hands full acting in my stead as their child.

As we left some of the Underground did catch sight of me and tried to pursue us through the streets of New Home but eventually Mettaton gave them the slip and we would find our way to the throne room exit to outside of Ebott.

But even outrunning them all wouldn't mean outrunning the fame I'd inherit. As it had been transmitted live on television, it wouldn't be long before the whole town took notice of my presence.

If the goal was for my people to welcome me with open arms? My family and friends had most certainly helped crush that goal. It was...truly great being this readily accepted. As far as anyone was concerned I was Prince Asriel...just some Asriel variant. Not copy, not an AU, not a substitute. I was the real deal to everyone in the Underground.

Yet...that made me feel a little guilt about taking all this away from Flowey. Part of me did feel like this should be him in my place. That he should have this body and soul.

"I'm nobody's charity case." He hissed before he crawled back into the soil of his pot...trying to disappear from the world.

That was the guilt talking. But...really...I was living for him not despite him. Better that our people have their hope and dreams restored. It was a shameless Leonard "Spock" Nimoy quote but...the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. While I understood that and accepted it...Flowey was always going to be less understanding about the whole situation. If ever a more sour collective of grapes.

This was the big day and it would shape the course of my life for the days, weeks, and months to come.

Sub-Entry 128: "Acceptance":
From that moment on...I'd become Newest Home's hometown hero. Pretty sure I heard that phrase, somewhere before.

Like a song! You know that one group uh...Tahiti, I think it was...had something that feels appropriate at this moment...

"Hometown hero

Everybody wants to be with my hero

Hometown hero

I knew that you'd come home to me

My hero"

Yeah. I'm certainly home.

"I heard you made the big time

Boy I'm so proud to see

A rising star you've come so far

Your best is yet to be"

As I passed Mettaton I could only seem him in awe of how my debut had been a smashing success and showed no signs of slowing down.

He waved from the window of his stretched limo of course. Huh...reminds me of Aunt Vi's limo...but with a vastly different color scheme and style.

"Hometown hero

Everybody wants to be with my hero

Hometown hero

I knew that you'd come home to me

My hero"

My family had been waiting all this time for my return. They just didn't know it. I mean...certainly a part of them both wished for the longest time that Chara and I could have still been with them. They had been waiting, yes. But how do you even know you're waiting when you've accepted your losses? When you know when someone's gone, they don't return. It's not like someone can bring you back? Yet...that was what his plan was all along. He made a miracle. That miracle, for the people of this timeline, was me.

"I waited such a long time

Cause no one else will do

I can't wait

To finally make

This dream of mine come true"

The dream had come true. His dream. My dream. All of our hopes and dreams were no longer at hand...they were all around. They were alive and well. They had come to pass.

"Hometown hero

Everybody wants to be with my hero

Hometown hero

I knew that you'd come home to me

My hero"

I love it. I really love being a dog...er...goat about town.

"Hometown hero

Every girls fantasy

My hero

Hometown hero

You're the only one for me

My hero"

I think...I think Frisk had long chosen me as their best friend even with Chara guiding them in other timelines. Even when Frisk continued their determination to make things right.

That's just the way it is. She's my new best friend. The third in a line of best friends. But what am I saying? Everybody is my best friend.

(Mmmm, that's right

Dance all night

Dance, that's right

Gonna dance all night

Dance that's right)

I kind of did feel like dancing.

"Hometown hero

Everybody wants to be with my hero

Hometown hero

I knew that you'd come home to me

My hero"

Back in my room, I picked up my guitar and reminded myself not to let my skills get rusty.

* Guitar *

(Ray Parker Jr.)

* guitar solo *

(Ray Parker Jr.)

...one of these days I'm going to have to figure out who this Ray Parker Jr. guy is. I really should have asked Volt.

"Hometown hero

Every girls fantasy

My hero

Hometown hero

You're the only one for me

My hero"

Some things never change. *sigh*  I'm still being followed by every girl in town but the wiser ones are figuring out that I'm already spoken for. Still...it's a vast improvement over being mobbed by a whole college campus full of girls who see me as an eligible bachelor to date; all of them only interested in me for all the wrong reasons.

(Ray!  Can I play?  Ray! Ray!)

I played on, doing a pretty mean solo, I must say.

"Hometown hero

Everybody wants to be with my hero

Hometown hero

I knew that you'd come home to me

My hero

Hometown hero

Every girls fantasy

My hero

Hometown hero

You're the only one for me

My hero..."

And all was quiet again.

I set my guitar down in the stand after unplugging it and switching off my amplifier.

Well. Back to the real world out there.

This is my life. I've had a long period of adjustment.

I accept this.

I think...I even cherish this.

Sub-Entry 129: "This is My Life.  And I Wouldn't Trade it For the World..."
So. Here I am. I look at all that surrounds me. If I let disbelief get the best of me I'd be in denial; proclaiming "this is not my beautiful life" and "this is not my beautiful home"......darn it all...that's a song reference that I can't place, isn't it? Oh well. It'll come to me.

Back to the present, it's the end of another day and I haven't gotten remotely bored of it.

Flowey still gives me grief but...I think it's good for me that I have someone to banter with. It's like Chara never left. But I had learned to think twice about bring THAT up around the former murder-flower. Still a soft spot. Still off limits. Of course...he was thinking of Evil-Chara and not my Chara.

Even now I think back to that guy...and I feel so sorry for him. He found his redemption but at what price?

Was it worth it just to take his revenge on Adonis, even if that creep DID deserve it? I mean...he got even less than Flowey in return.

It is true what they say...no good deed goes unpunished. In this case, I suppose it's more logical to keep in mind, one good deed doesn't erase a lifetime of sins. It just doesn't make up for all the things the both of them had done.

Why is it...that in these timelines...every Asriel and every Chara start out at the most innocent beings in the story...but by they end they're just dripping with their own sins.

Why were my Chara and I such a rare exception? Tell me, Lady Destiny...what was it about us that you made different. What was it that made us worthy...no...worthier of a second chance than all the rest of them?

I was overthinking it, really. It could have been an Asriel and Chara variant that got this rarest-of-the-rare chances. I'd like to think we made the most of it.

I may draw breath while Soul Reaper Chara spends eternity in an afterlife without me...but somehow this is a deal neither of us could object to. We were still connected. We were still linked. I had a long session of explaining it all to Mom and Dad. Many details they still scratched their heads over. For the most part, I think they get it.

It might not have started out right, but after the ultimate detour...I think my life has settled into a nice equilibrium I'm okay with.

I have great friends I love and respect and I have important jobs around town.

I finally have birth parents in my life again even though they're not my timeline's Toriel and Asgore. By now...I wasn't even thinking of them as variants. They were certainly not thinking of me as one.

We were just Asgore, Toriel, and Asriel. The living heirs of House Dreemurr.

When I thought about it...I had all these things back on VGM-098 in similar form. Yet, all on a grander scale. More friends and family than I could keep track of. More fame than I deserved. And certainly so much to keep me chasing my own stubby, puff of a tail.

Downscaling it all didn't take away from that. It just made it a lot easier to appreciate. More importantly, it made it a lot easier to manage.

Miranda City was truly grand and it was an amazing place to grow up in. Alas, it was also huge as far as city-kingdoms went. Much bigger than New Home. And so much bigger than Newest Home. Getting around took a lot. Even on hover boards. Unless I was driving, it was a chore getting from one end to the other. That was good and all for that era of my life. It was time to move on and time to take things in smaller doses I could appreciate with more intensity.

This is the life.

Honestly, it really is. I'm not too rich. I'm not too famous. I'm not buried in responsibility, nor is my life so cushy that I become complacent. It's just right. It's all I've ever dreamed. All I'd ever ask for if I knew this is what I wanted back then. It's home. It's my home.

While I have adjusted...I'm still a long way off from truly understanding my place...no...that's not it. I haven't yet found my destiny. For this point in my life, I mean. Sure, saving seven AU's and the Axis of Reality after being one of the two generals that won the Crossover Wars was a destiny that will forever be hard to top. Only thing is...it no longer is a destiny...it was a destiny. And that destiny was fulfilled. That part of my life is now past. What's past is prologue. So...what is it that it's meant to be prologue to? My life can't get much bigger than it had back then. Even if it can, I'm not sure I even want it bigger. I'm not sure how it can get better than it already is. Experience often surprises me; proving that it always can.

With all these thoughts buzzing in my head...how do I find piece of mind with all these questions for an unknown future.

Certainly it's going to be a peaceful one, knock on wood. Even if it isn't, this world can count on me and all of my friends to defend it, should it come to that. I'm ready for what's next.

So...my gut tells me what's next isn't going to be for a long while. I have time to kill......heh. The ONLY thing that should be killed, mind you. Still believer in don't kill and don't be killed. It gets on Flowey's nerves. I couldn't imagine living any other way, nonetheless.

With all this spare time I might as well rest on my laurels.

This, by no means, is an excuse to get lazy. I'll continue my training and practice; keeping all my skills sharped. While I'm sure the peace around here is going to last a long time...I really do want to be proactive. Somehow...some day...I intend to make my mark. Do something amazing that only I can do. Something that won't have people saying "Son of Asgore" or "Son of Toriel" or "Prince Dreemurr".

No.

I'll figure out what that is some day. Not today. But some day.

For now...this is nice. This is fine.

This is my life and honest-to-goodness...I wouldn't trade it for the world.

This brings me to one point that's held true all this time. A point my best friend made and hasn't gotten any less true since.

A point that carries both joy and sadness at the same time.

That point is this...!

Sub-Entry 130: "...and Yet, Something is Missing.":
When you find your real family you'll give up everything for them. Just to know them. To protect them. To love them. To be part of them as they are part of you. Just to be whole.

While it...may seem like I traded one family for another...a substitute one for my birth family...I don't see it that way.

The ones who raised me gave me my freedom. They gave me an opportunity to explore on my own...to test the waters...to find my place. To see if where I came from is a good fit for me. After all this time I can say...it is. This is where I belong. My last entry hammered that into the ground.

The bottom line is I haven't given up anything. Just put things aside until I can adjust. Until I can mature even further. Until I've built a life that is uniquely me, without training wheels. If that makes sense.

I haven't abandoned them. Really. They're all in my heart. In my mind and memories. In my soul. And they'll always be with me. In spirit.

I haven’t really lost anything.

But...

Is it selfish for me to long for both worlds? I'm...supposed to be the bridge between them, right? I shouldn't have to abandon one for the other. Is it wrong to want it all if it's something this important? Family and friends are irreplaceable. While they may come and go as part of life, you don't throw them away. You just...say goodbye for a time and hope you'll see them again someday.

That longing. It's so pure. It's so unspoiled but...it's on a razor's edge that could...lead to a path that could go either way.

I don't want this to be the obsession that Adonis had. I don't want to get them all back at any cost. There will be a price to pay if I want to see them all again. And...I'd like to think they'll pay half of that price, if they want to come back to me someday.

Right now...it's just an idea.

Yet...I've made the impossible possible. I've done so much in my lifetime up to now, something like what I want to do one day.....it should be child's play after all I've learned.

I can't go fooling myself. Child's play is one thing. But I can't do it alone. Right now...I don't have anyone on the same page, yet. But...given time...I think we can all agree what our next big step will be.

It will take time. A lot of it but...I think we can do it. I know we can.

It's become a wish.

A wish that I want to come true.

A wish is a powerful thing, you know. Powerful and dangerous. But also a well spring of limitless potential when the wish comes to pass without horrible consequences. I believe they call that a miracle. Miracles don't punish for reaching for the stars. They're a gift to us. They're a gift for when we're pushed to our limits and we have nothing more to give but our hope and our dreams. Our faith and of course...our common wish. Our unifying purpose. It's kind of like that Star Force tale in one of the Mega Man universes. If we all work together and pour forth a ton of energy toward one common goal...we can make our own Purpose Wave. And that is the essence of making miracles happen.

I'm patient.

I can wait. But while I wait, I'm not going to just sit around and wait for it to happen.

I know what it is I want; because I know that something is missing. A lot of somethings are missing.

We've given each other our space. We've gone on with our lives. We've let everything ferment like a fine wine. It's just going to take a bit longer before it's reached maturity.

It'll be ready someday. What that is? That is a secret for me to develop in the back of my mind. A time capsule for the future.

For now...I live for the present. And I've found a lot more people I want to live for and who want me to live on  now that they have me back.

I've been whole for a while but that pretty big piece was removed a time ago and put on the shelf. Just like my memories. That piece wants to come back and be put in its missing space again. This metaphor could go on and on but...I'd just be talking in circles.

I do love my life.

But it can only stay this way for so long until that next big change. And I intend to bring about that big change when the time comes. When it does...I won't be alone in this. I will get everyone behind me. I've dangled the lure in front of them all that time ago when I was officially welcomed back into the kingdom...when my father, the former king and my mother, the former queen reunited at Castle Dreeemur one last time to address every monster in attendance. To put the rumors to rest and show that miracles do happen.

I came back to life without explanation. And I was the one to give that explanation.

It was hard to believe. It was difficult for them all to process. I'm sure someone among them had to think I was telling a tall tale. That I was lying.

So...imagine my surprise when...the approval rating for the whole thing...was a complete and total 100%.

That...that can't happen, right? A whole kingdom just can't buy what you're selling without doubters...right? I'm...I can't be that credible. I just can't. Have I honest to goodness earned their just...just for being me. For all that I have done in my life? All the good I've done. All the good I am doing? All the good I still can do? This...this is so unreal.

It's just like it was when I found out how revered I was by humans, non-humans, machines, aliens, gods, and the like throughout our InfinityVerse for my role in the Crossover Wars.

I'm about to go on another tangent...but not unrelated to what I'm getting at.

This situation. It's happened before. Over and over for me.

Every time I thought something was too impossible to happen...the impossible did happen. It didn't make it any more believable when it did happen but...it happened.

I survived 100 years...and was granted a reprieve...and a new life where I could be happy when I didn't think I wanted to be. I got a new best friend when I thought Chara was all I'd ever need and all I'd ever want...that I could never let them go. Everything taken away from me...came back in spades. It was too much. But...deserving it...was irrelevant. This was my life then, now, and forever.

Five years after I established that I could be happy...I found myself walking the path with all around me. It began my ascent, so to speak. And it all led to a destiny I couldn't have dreamed of. But the dream became real. And my dream became everyone's dream. And we fought for that dream and won.

Within the more than three years after that, another seven went by to total 10 and my age to 25...minus the 100 in the Void. And that's when the shaping of the clay was complete and all was left to refine the details and paint and gloss it. I had a full education, college, and everything I'd ever need to be self-sufficient. Everything...but a past. And then Volt gave it back to me.

This past  year has been a year of discovery. Discovering where my path even was...and where it would lead. And that brought me here.

I reiterate. I love my life. But it is honestly missing that plus ultra.

Not subtle enough?

That wanting, that desiring, that needing would have to wait.

Right now, I have to get situation with what I've found...with whom I've found.

I know I won't have to go on this journey alone...but...it's my hope a certain someone will be the first to join my cause. I just hope...she can see their world through my eyes and appreciate it for what it could be.

For now...let's...take it one step at a time.

I am Asriel Arcade. And I need to get some running room before I make that jump.

To be honest? I hope it's a nice long run before the jump. Hope you're with me when I do, Frisk. I think...we both need our world to be bigger than it is now.

When something is missing...whether an object, a person, or concept in your life.....you go looking for it. In due time  I'll start the search. And I will have the former Monster Kingdom behind me. I just know...we're going to find it.

Sub-Entry XXX: "My First Birthday Back in My Place of Birth":
Has September 15th come already? Gosh...I'm getting up there, these days. I'm going to be in my 130's before long, y'know?

Mental note to self, try to stop this habit of saying 'y'know' so often like Naruto Uzumaki's mother. Alphys' otaku-dom is rubbing off on me. Though...Violet gave me a pretty big head start.

So...what is an appropriate way to celebrate a birthday this late in my life?

Well. Obviously no party clowns, no kiddy games, and no embarrassing singing of the Happy Birthday Song...well, maybe that last one is merely optional. I think I've grown past the cool teen parties I had. And really...I really didn't have much of a template to work off of when I turned 20...er....120 back in Miranda and left my "teen" years behind.

Honestly I wish I had given myself time to better prepare a day that adults used to tell me has less and less meaning the older you get. Your closest ones will still make a fuss over it even if you say you don't really want any big celebration or anyone spending a lot on you.

I know I'm in the prime of my life...well...life by human standards, but...I just can't help but feel like my 30's and 40's are going to be closer to my age then my teens before I know it. Everything from Violet's jokingly referring to the "dirty thirties" and "lordy, lordy look who's forty" lay ahead. I don't even want to THINK about what happens when the ripe age of 50 is knocking on my door.

To say I'm...starting to notice? Yeah. Visibly, not so much but...I think the seeds are planted in my mind and in my heart. I'm going to graduate from noticing to worrying about it at this rate.

Okay enough bellyaching about age.

Can I stop myself for just a moment to think like a kid and remember just how happy I was to celebrate a birthday even way back when? I was always thankful for them. I may not have really asked for much each year but those around me...Toriel, Asgore, and Undyne...even Gaster from what faded bits I can remember of him...they made sure my always felt like the day just stopped and revolved around me for 24 hours. The other 364 held the unspoken lesson that you're not the center of the universe; a life's lesson I learned on my own without anyone having to lecture me, mind you.

But for one day...my world made it seem like this was the case. Now that I look back...there can never be a moment I take that for granted. Never a moment, even if the temptation is there, to feel entitled on my day of birth. The reality, as a grown-up is, that the outside world on average just doesn't care unless it's social media or your digital organizing gear that auto-reminds you based on a yearly notice you've set on your profile.

It's refreshing that here in Newest Home, I don't even have to rely on that. Every monster on the street...every September 15th of ever year since my arrival... All of them wished me happy birthday. This should be the fantasy, not the reality...right? That's...how adulthood is supposed to be? To be this cherished is something you only see in movies and Broadway plays.

I'm so lucky. I really am.

We should all be able to feel this way on our one special day of the year; our annual celebration of the day we first drew breath and came to life.

I wonder if any other world is as this generous with remembrance as ours?

It opened up with an unexpected knock at my door, rather early but not so early I was still in bed.

There's no shame in answering the door in your pajamas and bathrobe, right? At least you're decent. Eh-heh.

"Surprise!"

So I guess there was even less reason to be embarrassed when it's your own parents greeting you with, of all things, a birthday cake with lit candles on it. And who was with them but Frisk.

"Oh wow!" Was all I could say. In that moment it was like I was ten again. Something had completely overridden the reflex to handle this like a grown adult. I'd been told many times at a certain age you stop taking pride in the number and start lying about it just to pretend you're still young in the hopes that you'll pretend it long enough to believe it. At least until the aches, pains, and cracking bones tell you otherwise. Eeeeesh. What a downer. Though...in all fairness, I don't think Monsters really experience that sort of thing. And Hybrids sure don't go through it until they're at the end of their lifespan when the extended youth suddenly sputters out.

Okay, enough about age. It's starting to get really depressing and I don't have any reason to be.

"You're the best!" I invited them in so they could set the cake down in the kitchen area; how else would I be able to get into a group hug with mom's hands full?

I hadn't felt this way since Mom, Dad, Chara, and I were a happy family back in the Ruins during our time away from the castle.

"We wouldn't forget your special day, Azzy!"

I think this was the first time I could remember Frisk calling me "Azzy". And really...it was a piece of nostalgia I just couldn't get over. Sure it made me miss...them...a lot more but...at the same time, it made me appreciate the simplest of nicknames.

Hey, at least no one was calling me "cinnamon roll" around here. And maybe I'd make sure that no one ever learned that embarrassing nick-name. Sorry, Aunt Vi. But this is between the two of us and it's just not something I wanted spreading around. Sure enough, I was right all these years. I really hadn't grown to like that nick-name.

Oh yeah...I forgot it's still morning. A bit early for cake but that's what a refrigerator is for.

"Make a wish, son!"

Buuuuut...not too early to blow out my candles.

Sorry. But this one's private. You'll just have to guess.

And no...I didn't have one-hundred and X number of candles on the cake. That would set off the fire alarm, y'know? Just a couple of those number-shaped candles are enough.

* PUUUUUUUFFF*

Guess my wish is coming true!

That said, once the candles were removed, the cake was going in the fridge for later today; Mom, Dad, and Frisk promised to come back after my obligations for the day were over.

"I appreciate this. I really do."

"It is no trouble!"

"You are our son, and we wouldn't forget your big day."

"It's all for you, Azzy!"

They're clearly too good for this world. Too good to be true. But they're real. They're my family and my best friend...er...on this world.

Well, once everyone had headed off...it was time to get the day situated. Fortunately...I was lucky enough all of my places of part-time employment scheduled me off work for the day. Overlapping reprieve? How cool is that?

But that still meant I had to drop in on town and give everyone my best. And most assuredly more than a few people would remember what today was.

"Happy Birthday, your highness!"

"Asriel, please. I haven't been a prince in a long time now.  But thanks for thinking of me! "

"You'll always be our prince!"

Thanks, Inn-keeper Bunny. You know how to make me feel welcome in this timeline that isn't mine.

Not five seconds after that...

"DUUUUUUDE!"

Is that M.K. with a gift-wrapped box balanced on his head? This is too much. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

"Alright!  You totally remembered!"

"I'd never forget your B.D, Azz.  You're like a totally cool dude!"

"But not as cools as Papyrus, right?"

"Nyeheheheheheh!"

"Sweet impression, dino dude." I gave my thumbs up. I'm sure in another timeline or AU, we were probably besties. But what am I saying? We're besties, here! Then again, everyone was a bestie to me.

"What are you waiting for, dude!  Open it!"

Inside was--

"Oh sweet!  Early access gift card to Tomato-potamus 5 on Mobile! This thing's not do out for another month!"

"Dude!  My parents know a guy!"

"I guess so! This game is going to be sweet! They dialed him back to classic appearance."

"Yeah, what was up with them coloring his legs like flesh-tone? "

"I know right. And all those side-quests for his friend characters you can't even play as.  Really, you gotta stick to the basics of what worked.  And definitely not turn him into a mummy with monster truck wheels for feet.  That's almost as bad as stretchy arms and spiked cleats on his shoes for no reason."

"I know, right!"

Somehow I think this conversation would be VERY meta on some other world.

"They still do what Video-mundo don't.  Am I right?"

And in unison we chanted a sing-songy "O-MEY-GAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Gotta hand it to those folks at Omega Super System. They know how to make a good platformer and not resort to silly gimmicks. I mean really what was up with making Tomato-Potomus a samurai in the last game and partnering him up with a talking, wise-cracking polearm? And I won't even get into the who thing with the weird anklet while going through ancient Desertopolis mythology while partnered up with a floating jackal-god thing.

Oh! Helloooo, Azzy! You're rambling about something that anyone reading this journal isn't going to have a clue what you're talking about! Where's my head at these days?

"Keep it real, M.K. Scan ya' later."

"Scan ya' later, dude!"

I'd have some errands to run including dropping off some supplies for Grillby. He had a nice mug of spiced apple cider for me on the house. Yeah...it's getting to be the Autumn season again. Normally he would have offered me a pumpkin spiced coffee, but...I don't touch the stuff. Too bitter and it makes me jittery. Plus I'm pretty sure the natural acidity is bad for my fangs.

"I'll probably be back in again for lunch, later.  Keep the grill hot and clean, Mr. Grillby."

"...you don't have to address me as "mister".  At my age I still look over my shoulder for my father."

Where have I heard that before?

"...I do appreciate you going out of your way for me."

"Least I can do after my pet Flower was rude enough to mouth off to you after breaking a glass. He's not leaving the house for a least a month, now."

That was my first and final lesson about slowly introducing Flowey to the town. They weren't ready to meet their...real prince any time soon, much less be told he even WAS their Asriel.

What am I going to do about his rebellious streak? And honestly...it was a pretty somber warning that I could have ended up that way if I'd continued to idolize Chara. She were from a broken home on the surface with a past I was still trying to pry out of her...but that still didn't stop her from being mischievous and using me as her...heh...scapegoat a few times. Though I'm pretty sure in the end, Mom and Dad retroactively figured it out.

That said.......yeah...I was missing her. I didn't know how I'd press on without being able to visit her. Honestly I don't know if I could even get to the Soul Society from here so...if I didn't know I could I sure didn't know if she could come here. And really...there's no telling what world in what universe this world of "Bleach" even existed much less if it was accessible from here on Undertale.

"Hmm..."

My momentary thought of course was interrupted by the weeb lizard herself.......still feel bad about using that euphemism for everyone's favorite anime nerd. But truthfully I think she was beginning to take it as a compliment. I bet you're just smug about that, aren't you, Aunt Violet?

That said...

"Are w-we s-still on for m-m-movie night?"

"You know we are. Your turn, Alphys.  You get to pick the feature presentation.  And I know it's going to be some dynamite anime, yes?"

"Oh, indubitably! I've got the perfect one picked out and it's just so kawaaaaaaaiii!"

I chuckled.

"Oh, by the way I checked in at the post office on the way here.  You can expect your life-sized Mew Mew Kissy Cutie pillow to arrive later today!"

And then came the "SQUEEEEE!" followed by her rattling off in Jangese...or rather Nipponese as we call it on our world. I think Earth calls it "Japanese"? What's in a name, right? About 95% of the language is identical to Grand Master Rabbotou's home tongue so...it still takes a bit of research to figure out the words that don't quite translate. Oh well.

Soon after...

"DAMMIT!"

"Another job interview didn't go that great?" I asked as Undyne stormed out, Water Spear in her grasp. I was sure I saw trickles of water slip out through the bottom of the door. Oh no. what did you do, this time?"

"What was the position this time?" I recalled last time her attempt was for a security guard position. She almost had the job but...things...happened. Most of which involved that very spear...or getting carried away and taking someone to Suplex City.

"Well, I know you're having a better day than I am, Prince.   Birthday going well?"

"Yeah, but now I feel bad that I'm having such a good day in light of your hardship, Dy-Dy."

"Ahh, don't be that way, ya big fuzzy goof!" And Undyne suddenly changed her tune as she one-arm hugged me with the force of a vice...with hydraulic assist. Owww. Owww. Owww. Those ribs will heal...right?

"As long as you're doing great.  Say, how's the punk doin'?"

"F-F-Frisk? Great.  She and the 'rents dropped by this morning."

I was fortunate that Undyne was...I disappoint myself for thinking it but...dense as a brick and hadn't put together yet what everyone else was insisting on was the case; namely shipping Frisk and me.

Really...we're still just...really...good friends, right?

Crap, I'm blushing! Oh double crap, you wouldn't even know that if I weren't writing it down! Retreat, Azzy! Abort, abort, abort!!

"Say, how come you haven't started teaching the kid how to do that kick-butt stuff you do?"

"Uhh, Undyne? The Martial Art's aren't just for beating people up--"

"Are you kidding I'm chomping at the bit to see you two battle and see who's stronger."

"Eheheheh...yeah...I'm sure that would be something to find out."

I was remembering how the "FIGHT" part of my old H.U.D. projection was broken off...when I still had that pseudo-quantum-code embedded in me. I mean I didn't even learn what it was until I overheard Volt and Violet talking about my last bevy of tests in LYOKO. And really, having a dedicated option to get into a FIGHT? It made me sick to my stomach.

Still taking Mom's philosophy to heart after all this time, and letting Bunnie put it into words that the Martial Arts had been teaching for years.

"Anyway...I guess I'll try again somewhere else?"

Jeeze. If Papyrus was employable, then Undyne of all people had to be qualified enough to land a job SOMEWHERE?

I'm surprised she hadn't turned to UFC fighting...or...whatever we call it on this world. I was never into watching *real* sports. Honestly, I still don't know why I got a kick out of "professional" wrestling. Chalk it up to all those times Vi had some WWE Superstar's entrance music and light show in her lab.

It was a guilty pleasure, but I'd even gotten my own official John Cena cap and tee-shirt a long while back. Still had it in my closet. Even put it on for Halloween one year here in Undertale. I turned a few heads as no one had any idea what I was even talking about. But Pappy sure enjoyed the message he had. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect. No truer credo to live by, y'know?

"Good luck, Dy-Dy. Try...to use more people skills and less...um...poking with sharp objects.  And do TRY to resist the urge to suplex even though that's a great display of your power and strength?"

"I'm not making promises, fuzz-face!"

"You do you, scaly-hide." Okay that was one I picked up from Violet when she was harassing Chameleon. For reasons unknown, Undyne really liked that "dis". I lucked out that she didn't take it as an insult.

And it was like this all day with more and more people. Some I did know from memory...

"Take care now, Loox!"

And some I read from research.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! How clumsy of me... I've bumped into you I'm such a klutz. I was just here to find something to draw, and... Oh no, it's ok! It's OK! I'll give you a gift to make up for your troubles. Let me look in my vest!"

"It's okay...I got a spare shirt in my inventory." I sweat-bulleted from the paint splatter. as So Sorry scrambled to pick up his scattered stuff...and in the process ended up sweeping my legs out from under me with his tail.

Jeeeeze. I think Officer Fackler from the Police Academy has met his match in spreading bad luck.

"Oww."

I'd better step up this quick hello and goodbye before the Doodlebogs come out. Aye-yai-yai-yai-yai, as Alpha 5 would say.

After somehow surviving that encounter, long enough to change my shirt and fix myself up after getting accidentally scuffed up and roughed up...

"Eeesh...for a goat kid who doesn't go looking for a fight, I sure ended up in a pretty nasty one-sided one..."

I'd rather not get into details about my encounter with Glyde.

"I think I understand why Volt hates big egos so much..." I felt like I was going to drown under all his self-adulation and arrogance.

At least he remembered it was my birthday. But that was about it. He lost himself thinking out loud how big and exclusive his birthday was going to be.

I dropped in on Grillby around lunch-time, true to my word. Not that Muffet didn't try to lure me away...having set up her bakery across the street.

I don't think I wanted to have my wallet bled dry on my special day. But I thanked her for the offer and suggested I'd stop by for a quick cupcake.

Which for some reason...made me think of that alternate Videoland in the deluxe edition of Maniac Mansion. That really pink room gave Volt and I the heebie-jeebies for some reason and I could not count how much of the room seemed to be centered around decorations of cows and cupcakes. And I was really sure there was an infant Metroid hovering around the room, staying out of sight whenever I turned to check. I'd come to recognize that familiar chirp-screech.

I...really needed to deal with all this nostalgia I keep bringing up. If I let it, it's going to overwhelm me and that's going to lead to feeling homesick for...my old life.

"Like oh my gawwwwd, Bratty!"

"Like, I totally know, Catty!"

"It's like the Prince!"

"For sure!  He's like such a dreamboat!"

"He's like a total hunk!"

Well THIS is familiar but at least it's in a small dose.

Rescue? The names were Bratty and Catty.

So of course I was all to glad to part with my recyclables for the week. I told them that it was like trash only it could be traded in at the recycling center and then they'd have ways to re-process and reuse it so it could made into new products. I can't say how many aluminum cans I'd traded in alone for some extra change to use in vending machines when I was running too late to get something decent to eat on the fly.

"Meee-yow!"

"We are rolling in it!"

"We are totally crashing in!"

Now to get out of here before I'm asked out on  date. Yoink!

I'd gone into the encounter sighing, but I came out of it, chuckling. This was what I needed to be reminded...it's still my day, darn it all!

All over town, I tended to my rounds and my additional responsibilities. Before I knew I'd headed back home with some groceries. I could have sworn I saw Sans loitering outside the grocery store whiiiiiiich made me immediately recall Volt's research about DeltaRune.

It was a quiet but heart-felt celebration with Mom, Dad, and Frisk.

The cake and ice cream were eaten, the gifts were given and I gave my thanks for each of them, and of course there was the no-so-traditional playing of Weird Al's "Happy Birthday" which made Mom raise an eyebrow and Dad look befuddled. Even Frisk's laughter was a bit awkward. No doubt it reminded her of Chara and her own twisted sense of humor.

No doubt Chara would have loved this song with its somewhat morbid description of World War III, punks in the alley looking for a fight, the Earth crashing into the sun, and something about a can of Cycle 4......Jon once told me it was a discontinued brand of dog food.

I assured everyone present not to take the lyrics seriously. I guess Chara did rub off on me after all. And hey...it was still a song that beat the pants off that tired old traditional Happy Birthday song.

I seem to remember Violet trying to play Master Shake's collaboration with Zak Wyld for a "birthday" song revamp. Volt would neither confirm nor deny that the explosion at the closed Chuck E. Cheese knockoff was directly tied to that. Oh boy...

I really had become repository of references no one on my world would get, hadn't I? I guess this was the tradeoff of growing up Mirandian, right?

"Thanks for coming, everyone."

While that was the end of the party. But not the end of my night. I still had something to settle with Papyrus.

And frankly Undyne was one-hundred percent behind this. But under no circumstances was anyone else besides the Skelebros and Undyne going to know about this.

A trip up to the race track. Paps and I were finally going to pit our cars against each other to see whose was the faster ride.

"Nyeheheheh!"

Oh boy. Sally would eat this up and I don't know how many between both worlds would forbid this. Let's not tell Toriel. Like...EVER. I swear this drag race is something the both of us will take to the grave.

It is not too late to talk your brother out of this, Sans.

* snooooooooooore*

Only he could fall asleep at a drag race.

Well, place your bets. But as to who won? I'm not going to tell you. But suffice to say, some bookie is most certainly walking away with all the cash of everyone who actually DID wager money on Papyrus or myself...

I'm so bad.

Back to the homestead again. Late but not late enough to be the next day.

Flowey was as...jovial as ever.

"If you're waiting for me to ask how your day went--"

"It went like AWESOOOOOOOOME!!!" I hollered, raising my fists in the air.

Flowey growled, the jealousy dripping.

"I wasn't going to ask, horn head!"

I retracted my horns with a smirk and replied. "Who's horn-head?  I don't see anybody with horns around here?  You talking to yourself again?"

"You smart--"

"Ah ah ah. Language.  Or you'll nibble on the soap again."

Flowey hissed.

"Oh lighten up, you." I shrugged as I hung up my keys and slipped out of my sandals.

"I'm going to sleep." He pulled himself below the surface of the soil or as much of himself as he could. I'd have to get him a bigger pot just so he could turn completely invisible. I was also worried that he might try to bust the pot with his roots. Something that made me remember back to the ending of Little Shop of Horrors.

In case it wasn't obvious, having brought that movie along with countless digital recordings from home...Little Shop of Horrors easily became Flowey's favorite movie. It was the one time he was some semblance of civil to me. He preferred the made for theaters version with the sad ending of Rick Moranis' character getting eaten and the Audrey II spawns taking over the world. Spoiler. I preferred the ending with Seymore Krelborne and Audrey getting that picture-perfect happy home after Moranis' character managed to explode Audrey II with a sparking electrical cable. 'Oh shucks', indeed. Though I'm pretty sure the actual lines were edited for TV.

I shrugged and shook my head. I was about to leave the kitchen when I noticed it. A piece of paper with some broken crayons nearby.

There was a scribbled picture drawn on it...one of a little yellow flower-looking thing and the other a white blob of fur with horns and wearing semblance of clothes...

"Awwww..."

I took the picture and hung it up on the fridge with a magnet.

While my intention was to praise him, no doubt Flowey would be annoyed by me making a big deal of it.

Thanks, little brother guy. This is the most civil you've ever been to me and it's the best birthday gift of all.

Volt was right....maybe there IS still a spark or ember left of this timeline's Asriel's soul.

Well...all's well that ends well for a good day. So, that said...I went about my usual routine.

The lockets went in the holder. The pocket watch went right next to them.

A clap of the hands and the lights went out. Those "Clapper" units are really something. Who'd have guessed that they're a technology a couple decades old. Buuuuut...maybe Undertale was just behind the times; even with cell phones and internet and a "robot with a soul"  (I mean you, Mettaton).

But somehow I was watching as our town was slowly becoming a city of its own nostalgia...except what was old on VGM-098 was now new on Undertale. And most of it, I'd introduced.

Though...I was still holding off bringing Disco music to our fair city. No doubt Dad would eat it up and run it into the ground...he seemed like the type who'd get addicted to bell bottoms and shimmer balls...but the idea of disco coming back bigger than ever? I think one run of Aunt Vi's parody, "Stayin' Online" was enough for me.

Well...I guess that wraps up my first ten...eleven journal entries for this month. In actuality this was the first time I wrote it down in digital form. Some day I'd have to transcribe the hardcopy of my physical journey to these log entries...just for kicks.

What a day. What a birthday. Another year older, another year wiser. And golly...I felt like I was simultaneously 10, 15, and 21 years old again. Yes, all at the same time.

Well...happy birthday to me. And if Undertale itself has some kind of anniversary of being...imported by the goddesses into the UltraVerse, I guess...a happy anniversary to that, too.

I closed my eyes and lay my head back as I retracted my horns once again, having deployed them after picking on Flowey.

Good night, world.

I nodded off right as that annoying white dog pulled itself up and peaked into my window before slowly lowing itself back down.

"Yknow....Tobias......rather...Toby is still the coolest middle name..." I muttered before passing out.

-Asriel T. Arcade, signing out...

Chapter 14

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