[audio] username: thebeginning

[starpulse]

[ There's a new username on the block and it appears that thebeginning does not believe in texts posts, so come click play on this audio! You'll be treated to a young-sounding female voice that has diction and inflection like your grandma. ]

Attention, people of the wondrous tome!

I have been following your conversations for a few days now and I am most entertained and at the same time most confused. Just what are all of you? Am I truly speaking to mortals of far-away lands?

I do not wish to bother you only for trivialities, however. Relay to me your most entertaining story. Where I am, it is always so boring and I am so... [ yaaaawn ] sleepy...

Comments

[the_obedient_servant]

Very well.

Centuries ago, a great war between the Kingdoms of Humanity and Monsterkind raged. Over territory, resources, zealotry... even now it is unclear what truly started the war. Just that humanity struck first, and upon the defeat of the Monster Kingdoms, they were sealed underground with an enchanted barrier. For centuries, they yearned to escape, to expand their horizons from the limited space they had been allowed by their jailers.

[ Yet another reason to despise humanity. An inherent poisonous attribute to the lot of them. Except Frisk. ]

One day, long after they were sealed, a child climbed the mountain they were sealed under, hoping to escape from the misery of their empty life. They fell through a ditch in the ground, tumbling down into a large cavern. Even those who knew the child aren't particularly sure if they did this on purpose.

[ They're not entirely sure themself. It's been so many years. ]

They landed on a bed of flowers. Buttercups. Pretty, but highly poisonous if ingested.

[ It's a surprise tool that'll help us later. ]

Lying in the bed of flowers, surprised at their own survival, the child was discovered by a boy. The Prince of the Underground. He lifted them up and took them to his parents, intent on saving them despite their peoples historical mistrustful and violent past. His parents, the King, and the Queen, took the child in, nursing them back to health after their fall. There was no escape for them, not from the Underground. They experimented with whatever they could access, attempting to brute force their way in through the barrier, climb their way back out to find some way to lift it outside and free everyone. It was on one of these ill-advised rock-climbing ventures that they discovered they had an ability. Something called "DETERMINATION." When they lost their grip and their footing and started to fall in a place where there was no flowers to save them, they broke their neck. And woke up the morning prior.

I'm sure you can imagine what a child could use such a power for. Regardless, it allowed for further experimentation. Over time, the Royal family began to see them as one of their own. They even gave them the title of Prince, and their own surname. They were content that things should stay the same. They discovered the prophesy while reading in the local library. Most books stolen from what scraps flowed from the trash heap atop the mountain, but some written by the monsters themselves. The prophesy talked of an angel who had seen the surface returning, and that they would cause the Underground to go empty.

Naturally, as is the hubris of children, they believed themself to be said angel. They did more digging, searching relentlessly, with the help of the Prince, who had become their brother over time, in all but blood. At this point, they discovered that there is a way for an individual to get through the barrier, and even more so, there is a way to break through it.

The Royal family are a unique kind of monster. They are called Boss Monsters, and they have a unique soul that persists after death, unlike all others. And when the soul of a monster, and the soul of a human merges, the host body can pass through. However, that doesn't break the barrier. Breaking the barrier requires seven human souls, which means seven humans must die.

So, this child who wanted to be a saviour had two options. They could kill one of their family, take their soul and merge it with their own. From there, they could pass through the barrier, kill seven humans and lift the barrier. Or, they could wait until they died of natural causes, offer their soul after death and allow their family to do their duty in freeing their people. Or the third option, the one that they chose, was to die and to manipulate the Prince into taking it and dispatching of the seven humans himself. They knew that this would hurt him, and their parents, but everyone was already hurting, and it's not as if they were losing anything particularly valuable. At least in the child's eyes.

[ And they were right, of course. Their parents moved to replace them immediately. Toriel with every wide-eyed child who fell down, Asgore with empty promises of hope to his people built on the corpses of the children that Toriel mothered over. And Asriel... well, Asriel was dead. He had been for years. ]

They experimented with a lot of methods, but they realised that in order for the death to take, it needed to be slow enough that no amount of resetting could save them. Now, I mentioned buttercups being poisonous before. They wanted to test this method, so they baked them into a pie and offered it to the King. They tested it several times to ensure that it wasn't a lethal dose, they had no intention of killing him. But the King ate it, and was bedridden for days. The Queen was quite angry, but she never suspected it was on purpose. Then, they solidified their plan.

[ This story is getting quite long. ]

They would eat the buttercups. Enough to kill them, but not enough to do it quickly, and they'd give their soul to the Prince. Together, they would cross through the barrier, into the nearby village that the child had come from, and together they would kill seven people the child had selected.

And so, they ate the flowers, after pushing the Prince into accepting the plan. They knew he had his doubts, but they trusted that he would be brave enough to follow through regardless, especially after the child had made their sacrifice.

[ And they were w̶̝̪͙̘͈̜͛̔͐̊̈́̀́̑̓̾r̶̬̭̮̪̘̞͙̝̲̒̅͑̓̾̆͆̂̉̿͛̂̊̀ͅͅọ̶̡̦̙̺̲̖̩͛̓͆̈́̂̑̃͒̊̓͝n̵̦̪̐̀g̵̡̞̳͙̮͕͎͓̊̈̆̇͆̒̃͋͒̌̅͠. ]

And so, they followed through. The King and Queen sat at their bedside, often weeping. The King informed them that they have to pull through, because they represent the hope of humans and monsters. A sentiment that I have no doubt was amusing to them.

Eventually, however, they died. And the Prince took their soul, as promised. They travelled to the surface while their parents were burying the child's body. Their souls were merged now, and they could understand each-other entirely. The Prince could feel the poison inside the child's soul. The hate for humanity, the desperation to be a hero, even the small details like how they intentionally poisoned the King, how they had planned this for months.

And the Prince met with humanity. And he was scorned and attacked by the masses of ignorance, hatred and fear. The Child begged the Prince to fight back, but the Prince refused. Wounded and half dead, the Prince stumbled back into the hole that the child had fallen, and jumped.

And in that moment, both the Fallen Child and the Prince of the Underground were dead in an instant. That would be one of the faces of the self proclaimed angel of the Deltarune prophesy. There are two others, if you're still interested. I apologise if this was a bit long.

[ Hm. Wow. They're still mad, all these years later. ]

[leopatraofficial]

[What the fuck, Kris?]

[the_obedient_servant]

[ Well, they never said that the child was them. ]