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Chapter Text

GASTER II, Emperor of Monsterkind ruled over his people with an iron fist as a royal Boss Monster, fostering an ignorant yet proud nationalist culture which favoured brawn over brains, and hypocritically, magic over technology. Any academics, such as the non-royal Boss Monster Dr. Asgore Dreemurr were forcibly drafted into military roles and made to engineer weaponry in secret, with the most prevalent example of such being METTA, a robot designed to be a Human SOUL incubator which concentrates and brings out its subject's potential. In Gaster's increasing efforts to match the exponential growth of the Human race, he funded Asgore's research under the expressed purpose of creating a work of machinery so powerful it could equal and even possibly overcome the Humans' native advantage over all of Monsterkind's magic: the power of DETERMINATION.

He fathered two children whom he sought to ruthlessly train in order to continue his lineage. This resulted in the youngest son, Prince Papyrus suffering from abuse and neglect, and his eldest, Sans put on a gleaming pedestal as his next heir. Much like with his policies, what little love he had in his cold SOUL was tough, and his singular involvement in their lives was more about self-validation than any kind of fatherly duty. It was no surprise to either one then when he declared war on Humanity in a fit of paranoid rage, concerned over their potential to wipe them all out on a whim, and was adamant that he could defeat them with the suddenness of their attack, Dr. Asgore's arsenal of gadgets, and his own foot soldiers, among those being the non-royal Boss Monster Toriel. Many crimes and atrocities against both sides were committed in this war, almost all of which were under Gaster's orders, and many involved Metta, who had found a disturbingly willing host beforehand.

Monsterkind was completely trounced, and repercussions for Gaster's misdeeds were harshly set upon the Monster people by Humanity after the war had been won. Among numerous punishments, the Monsters were evicted from the Surface world and forced into the underground region of Mt. Ebott, sealed by a great magic spell. Beforehand, Gaster and many of his conspirators—most being relatives or close friends of those who were spared—were rounded up and executed in a public, vengeful display deliberately to instil fear into their aggressors. Asgore was spared after an investigation proved he was under threat of persecution to carry out Metta's development, however the robot itself was destroyed, with the malefic Human SOUL it once held being unknowingly released in a limbo state, forever cursed to haunt the ridges of the mountain. Gaster's sons and Toriel, the latter of whom was ignorant to Asgore's involvement, were spared in a similar fashion.

Most Monsters despised Humanity afterwards, many as a direct result of Gaster's indoctrination, though there were some who felt a deeper pain from more personal losses. The culmination of everyone's grief led to widespread animosity and a desire to take revenge, but this did not unite as much as it divided the population. Sans, who was still reeling from the guilt of his father's crimes, refused to take the mantle, and resulted in the Monster people aimlessly claiming and terraforming various parts of the Underground for themselves, creating new biomes that catered much to their physiology. Some types of Monsters who were indifferent to the climate were afforded the luxury of inhabiting many biomes, whereas some species such as the spiders found themselves cut off from each other, and begun to build interlinking networks over the course of time. These biomes would settle and all merged to form three distinct administrative regions:

• The Furnace, a volcanic hostile landscape formed by hotter Monsters with an affluent or military background to deliberately and spitefully isolate from other parts of the kingdom. The land is made up of long, carved canyons surrounded by thick lava and is an incredibly industrial area, becoming a major technological centre due to its open hot environment allowing for the easy construction of huge power plants such as the Mountain's Soul. Its capital is Moltensprawl, and the vast majority of living infrastructure within this region is present there. The population became heavily religious after a Human was found within the region, subsequently kidnapped and then slaughtered for their SOUL, with an old book from the Surface that they were carrying becoming worshipped and used as a testament for the basis of life and morality.
• Frosted Fields, an icy and snowy tundra known for its incredibly sparse population density, containing many different villages and settlements. People in this region are generally friendlier than in the Furnace, and a lot of the industry within is local for the purpose of building a strong and loyal community force throughout. Its capital is Flurriville, however it barely differs from surrounding neighbourhoods, instead being a checkpoint in the intersecting path between the Fields and Wetlands. 
• Wetlands, a bridging point between the Furnace and the Frosted Fields that consists mostly of pouring waterfalls and moist, rocky structures, inhabited by poorer populations. Its surface infrastructure is generally archaic or destroyed and not many Monsters actually live there, tending to roam about or live in the waters themselves. South Wetlands in particular became a central hotbed for criminal activity from disillusioned Monsters who were not able to fit within either of the major regions, due to its shadowy, labyrinthine nature. Most commercial parades and events are hosted in North Wetlands for its ease of access from both sides of the temperature spectrum, and the tourism and travel industries, including umbrella lending to help with navigation, make up the vast majority of its economic returns.

Amidst the formation of these, many went against the mould and tried to band together to restore what once was. This attempt resulted in the founding of New Hope, a grand metropolis which was situated at an entrance to the Surface, where the Monsters were herded into originally before it was sealed. An unnamed capital was designated which contained the central conference where discussion of politics and development of the Monster race was carried out. However, it would not be long before a series of major battles were waged within the the area, inevitable thanks to disagreements on how the society should be ran, combined with raw emotions and bigotry towards those who did and did not agree with Gaster's declaration of war. The city was soon overran by disaster when a particular conflict destroyed a large chunk of the mountain's interior, and a major flood and landslide ensued which wiped out most of the Monster population, smothering the city in an ocean of stagnant water and leaving only the elevated capital intact. 

Seeing the destruction and near extinction of his own people, Sans would reluctantly be talked by his brother into assuming the throne and becoming king. He resented his father and did not wish to rule like he did, but did adopt the King's Scribe as his emblem, an old war rune of the Monster kingdom during his reign, in order to appease and unite the people under a universally understood symbol. This worked for the most part, though the deep wounds of his people took longer to be mended.

Presiding as one of two members of the desolate New Hope's committee alongside his brother, where he also lived in order to keep a constant reminder of why he took this role close by, he ordered the designation of a new capital near another sealed entrance to the Underground after it was discovered by excavators in the Frosted Fields region, dubbed Home's Heart. This was the first controversial decision of his ruling: New Hope had been a tremendous failure, Monsters who weren't used to the coldness of the Fields, such as the Furnace's grizzled residents could not access it reliably without having to permanently migrate, and the discovery of yet another entrance alone had left its fair share of anxiety in the hearts of a dismal some who believed Humans were going to strike again.

As a result, only a small handful (consisting of mostly spiders, Wetlands residents, and commoners in the Frosted Fields) actually volunteered to migrate. Papyrus agreed to oversee and even participate in the building of its infrastructure to make up for the lack of population, frequently taking trips and growing endeared with the natives and their vibrant culture. His ideas, even if a tad childish were accepted and deeply ingrained within the capital, mostly centred around the culture of challenging others by constructing elaborate japes and mini-games, abiding by a rigorous puzzle-solving etiquette wherein they must be solved, assuming good faith on the creator's behalf. The area around Home's Heart was gradually expanded until it all became affectionately known as Old Home by Monsters whose ancestors had resided there.

A formerly infinitesimal collective of rebels began to grow their numbers significantly amidst those who did not feel inclined to abandon their regions. While a majority of those people did not resent Sans himself, the sentiment grew strong enough that Papyrus faced a series of assassination attempts in his trips to Home's Heart, so much so that the Solar Guard (related by name to Gaster's own police force but rebranded as wanting to "see the Sun") was formed to act as the two's personal police force, while generally enforcing order across the kingdom. In protest, the Solar Warriors (named directly after Gaster's) were officially created, demanding a rose-coloured return to Gaster's way of ruling and for Sans to be deposed.

Taking advantage of the Guard's limited capabilities, being made up of volunteers from the Fields and Old Home areas, the Warriors set their base in the Furnace, officially in Moltensprawl but had many camps interspersed elsewhere in the event of a bust. This worked against them and stunted their growth in the long-term due to being restricted to only radical Furnace residents, something which a lazy Sans, growing evermore sleazy and entitled due to the nature of his upbringing and the stresses of dealing with his detractors, was complacent with as long as their influence continued to stagnate elsewhere.

In the advent of the Solar Guard's formation, Toriel enlisted after becoming disillusioned with her tropical brethren in the Furnace and their desire for rebellion, simply wanting to restore order and peace. She quickly rose to the rank of Captain thanks to her industrious work ethic which cut the Solar Warriors' numbers by more than half, in large part due to her tenure as a soldier for Gaster's army during the war. She remained the leader of the Guard for the rest of her life as each generation passed by, due to her nature as a Boss Monster keeping her from ageing whilst she abstains from conceiving a child. She outlived the rest of the Furnace's original colonisers, and soon became seemingly the only person to remember the previous ruler before Sans and his fervent history-erasing agenda scrubbed all of the records detailing his rule, including the original meaning of the King's Scribe.

In this time, the Warriors became splintered due to discord over their goals, and further diminished in numbers; older members formed the highly conservative Gaster Whisperers and proceeded to focus their efforts towards preserving the titular monarch's memory, passing their knowledge down through generations. Furthermore, Toriel's heavy connection to the Furnace motivated the Warriors to migrate into South Wetlands and become deeply entrenched in its extensive criminal network, additionally strengthening their reach in the Frosted Fields. Despite the convenience it would grant for her, she refused to follow their lead and live in the Wetlands, holding too strong of a connection to her home in the Furnace.

Chapter Text

Back on the surface, a relentless witch-hunt was taking place against the host body of Metta's family, when their once highly prestigious name had become notorious by the end of the war. Although the leading patriarch and matriarch were quick to exonerate themselves, and condemned the violent crimes (both in peacetime and wartime) committed by their child, other less influential members were sceptical of the verdict against one of their most famous members and made their grievances known. This culminated in some of them being arrested with dubious legality and put on trial before Mt. Ebott, sparked by one particularly hysterical cousin's attempt to scale it by herself and unearth the body she assumed was buried there. When she saw that the trial was taking place in a kangaroo court, and her family had already been decidedly put to death, she attempted to escape deep into the mountain before ultimately meeting her demise from a high drop she underestimated. The rest of them were hung in a public display near the ledge where Metta was executed, and their bodies—spare for that cousin's which was left inside—were buried at the base leading up to it.

Meanwhile in the Underground, it took some time, but the Solar Guard had finally formed a firm structure with Toriel's help. There would be troops stationed in various security stations across the areas, even in the Furnace when her involvement managed to convince some from the warmer side to join the ranks, and a communications network that spread over the entire Underground was established in large part thanks to the spider networks that existed prior. While not everybody was enthusiastic, the consensus towards the Guard was positive among civilians, and immense fearmongering over the Solar Warriors made them a highly unpopular group; it convinced even the most sympathetic of Monsters to at least avoid association. The Gaster Whisperers, already being a problematic example were ostracised even further and forced into hiding.

Toriel became close with Sans and his brother during this time, with them regularly convening over official matters and sometimes a meal or two. Still ignorant of Asgore, Toriel tried to disassociate Sans from his father and see good within him as one of the only living Monsters she knows from that era, even if his official decisions were often objected by herself. Papyrus's zany ideas often made for highlights in her evenings, though she did not connect with him as much as she did with Sans. Sans grew tired of her constant judgement and comparisons to his father, yet saw great value within her leadership abilities as well as the favours she did for him in effectively fixing his Guard, so he kept her on nonetheless and simply hid his displeasure.

During that time, a depressed Asgore would have spent his days stalking the depths of the Wetlands homeless, riddled with self-hatred for the technology he created which assisted in the senseless torturing and killing of countless lives from both races. His gardening efforts that served to put his mind at ease breathed new life into the desolate region overtime, creating a dense ecosystem that he continued to maintain. As he tended to a row of golden flowers one morning, he was visited by a blackened Human SOUL left astray and on the brink of shattering. It explained that it had travelled long, and witnessed the fractured state of Monsterkind, simply asking for closure by knowing its purpose for existing. Asgore woefully advised it to rest in ignorance, to which it had no response, finally passing on as its ashes grazed the petals of his flowers.

Afterwards, despite the bleak outlook on his life and witnessing all of those he once knew perish to the sands of time, his eye kept keenly focused on Toriel, and soon grew enamoured with her. Very often he tried to send her some of his own flowers, only for them to end up ruined in the intense temperatures of either region, so he took advantage of every opportunity he had to interact with her when she passed close to his garden, often through elaborate mechanisms which would not indicate his identity or presence. 

One fateful evening during a heavy rainfall as Toriel was passing through to tend to a call down in the south, she would wind up being captured in a trap set up by local criminals. Caught by surprise and approached by thugs, Asgore leapt to action through the shadows, using plants he had engineered to deliver a gadget he had been tinkering with. However, due to his abashedly limited creativity it had not worked at all as planned, but did distract them long enough for Toriel to break out of the trap effortlessly and apprehend them herself. After he awkwardly introduced himself when she requested to know who her 'saviour' was, the two quickly bonded over their identical physiology and experiences on the Surface.

Despite his former occupation as the Royal Scientist for Gaster, Toriel began seeing Asgore, believing the verdict that the Humans had come to compared to his employer was accurate. Asgore still refused to come out of hiding, falsely citing his garden's upkeep as the major reason why, so their amour was kept from the public eye. Sans particularly saw through Toriel's stone demeanour in their meetings and began to suspect that she was lying to him, but before he could press any further, reports surfaced that, allegedly a Human child had fallen into the kingdom.

The child despite her kind attitude was met with uproar in the Fields where she was held captive by a community of lizard-like Monsters. Sans ordered her immediate arrest by the Guard, and since the community were made up of royalists they managed to secure her without much harm. News of the sighting had begun to disseminate at the pace of a snail throughout the kingdom, resulting in a fractured and very subjective understanding of the situation. Throughout the process, Papyrus was keen to see her alive and encouraged his brother assure her a safe passage to New Hope, terms which he agreed to uncertainly. Toriel travelled to Moltensprawl to meet the girl herself en route, putting her faith in the Guard, and wound up being attacked by a mob of confused protestors who had only just heard of the news.

When the Guards in the Furnace escorting the girl erroneously went to assist their captain, she ran away in fear and fell to her death after fainting due to the intense heat, a factor which was not accounted for. Toriel dove into the lava to try and rescue her, only to retrieve her charred corpse and SOUL, a sight which struck an immense chill in her spine. In the Human's attempt to flee a pair of golden bracelets were left behind, which were eventually taken by residents of Moltensprawl who were ignorant of their origin to be used in bartering deals.

Upon hearing of the Human's demise and witnessing their corpse, the prince Papyrus fell ill with overwhelming grief and had to be put on administrative leave from his duties. However, Sans was seemingly unfazed, and set a meeting with Toriel to discuss the matter, seemingly only concerned for his brother. In the meantime, he kept their SOUL preserved in an underground bunker originally built to be a panic room in the event of a Human-led invasion on the capital. Asgore was the first civilian to hear of their verdict when Toriel would vulnerably confide in him the next day, the incident reopening deep scars of the war within her mind.

The kingdom whipped up into a massive frenzy thanks to the lack of official response to the incident. For the first time, Sans thought to host a public conference in order to quell the unrest, marking an incredibly rare moment of publicity for the otherwise obscured king. The venue was uncertain; he wanted to host it in the throne room, but representing the people of the Fields and Wetlands in this manner was untenable since they would have to pass through the Furnace, so he ordered the emergency construction of a new building in North Wetlands—away from the criminals—wherein the conference will be presided over. Asgore would assist in its construction anonymously after being urged by Toriel.

After a week had passed, Sans publicly showed up in the Wetlands—having teleported to get there—and gave his verdict alongside Toriel to an angsty crowd within the shoddily-built venue: the magical barrier containing the species could be breached with the power of the Human SOUL obtained from the girl, posthumously found to be named Vera. Toriel additionally asserted the fact that with enough they could shatter the barrier entirely and potentially be free to roam the Surface. This revelation caused Monsters from every corner of the Underground to cheer for the liberation of their kind, successfully turning the fearful populace into a hopeful one as Sans had intended. He also anticipated that they would heed his word when he digressed, stating that the Monster kingdom should unite and come up with a plan to mitigate the risk of a second war. They grew discontent with this prospect, instead each faction demanding that the SOUL be trusted with their respective peoples.

Suspending the conference with an empty promise to keep the people content, Sans urgently convened with Toriel after arriving back at New Hope. When she expressed anger over his wording, Sans explained that he wanted to avoid using the SOUL entirely to avoid the possibility of another war, instead electing to call off the idea of it destroying the barrier at all and to instead focus on uniting the people. Toriel was outraged at his cowardice, and at the peak of her emotional distress began to storm out in objection, until Sans stopped her by threatening her secret relationship with Asgore, whom he had recognised working on the venue and since linked to her distant demeanour. Laughing off Toriel's omissions regarding his return, Sans offered the chance for her to publicly date Asgore without his scrutiny, in exchange for Asgore's services as the Solar Scientist. Feeling trapped, Toriel reluctantly agreed that it should be called off, but an intense hatred would begin to brew in her from that point on.

Supervised by local guards, Toriel arrested Asgore in the Wetlands and transferred him to the Furnace's district to be processed. It was there that he was made to pledge his allegiance as the Solar Scientist before the king's emblem, which he only did after Toriel explained the situation. Given his own lab in the Furnace under the Dreemurr name, he was set to be regularly commissioned by the Solar Guard who were obliged to assist in the building of his infrastructure and inventions, and given a limited annual budget. Owing to Toriel's unrelenting pressure, Sans would allow him time off to tend to his garden in the Wetlands.

Asgore's first official task was to investigate determination, the substance which Sans's father grew obsessed with. He was allotted windows of time in New Hope in order to extract samples, though Vera's SOUL was never fully loaned to him out of Sans's fear that it could fall into the clutches of the Solar Warriors. In fact nobody, including Toriel was permitted to even see it other than him. Swearing to do better than he did before, Asgore swore off of machinery that operated on live subjects, such as Metta, and focused purely on the substance's reaction to other chemicals.

When this tactic repeatedly yielded negligible results and Sans's deadlines grew stricter, Asgore set aside his morals in a last ditch effort to produce something substantial, looking to his garden for answers. He gathered a portion of determination and injected it into a handful of his flowers, but they ended up just wilting. Not wanting to disappoint his boss, he looked to the patch of golden flowers that he remembered the SOUL had visited him over and, just before he called the experiments a failure, gave one of them the last dose he had been allotted for that day. What followed was a reaction he could never have predicted given the constant failures: the flower came alive.

At first, it was frightened and tried to hide behind the rest of its kind, until Asgore assured it that nothing was wrong. Next was profound confusion as it, like before questioned its purpose for living. Asgore enthusiastically explained the experiments and how they were the single indication of their success, but its reaction was the very opposite to his excitement as it grew a teary-eyed face, simply asking to be left alone. When Asgore gave it a moment to comprehend its situation, he came back to find it completely missing, and felt sympathy for the flower's torment. When Sans demanded a report on the experiments, Asgore reluctantly lied and told him that they were a complete failure, enduring the shame and discipline to protect its dignity.

Chapter Text

Cracks of modern society began to shine through, with yet another Human being discovered in the Frosted Fields. His attitude was largely enigmatic, though what he held as a person would not be nearly as important as what he kept on him, a mystical ritual book from the Surface known by the inscription on its cover, the Borh'ën. After evading capture in the Wetlands by the Guard, he would flee to Moltensprawl and face his capture in its city chambers. Those who witnessed the event saw the immense trust he had put into the book, appearing to pray before the members of the Guard who were on scene. Though no harm came of the altercation, the magic conjured by the prayers had an intense aura that could be seen by every resident of the city. The Borh'ën would be confiscated by those Furnace Guardsmen, but while the Human was detained and sent to New Hope to be prosecuted, it remained in their custody.

Having been briefed on the situation before the Human's arrival, the king was prepared for their arrival in New Hope alongside his eager brother, and toured them across the capital road as a courtesy while an excited Furnace crowd watched in anticipation. When they got to the throne room for the supposed trial, the three would disappear within its castle walls. Papyrus advocated for the Human's survival, but Sans slew them without a moment's hesitation, having fabricated the trial to put them at ease and desired their death to be over with as quick as possible. This utterly devastated Papyrus, and as Sans was gathering their SOUL into a tube for preservation, he sprinted out the door, stopped only by a silent Toriel who was ordered beforehand by his brother to help calm him down as a precaution.

Displaying the tube to a great cheer from his denizens, Sans declared the trial over and sent them home. Toriel tended to a shell-shocked Papyrus who had collapsed on the floor motionless, soothing him until Sans returned from the bunker. When Papyrus mustered to ask why he killed them, Sans ordered Toriel away and told him that it was the only policy that his people would accept. Later, when he had time to understand his brother's reasoning and managed to restore his trust in him, he announced his resignation and left New Hope permanently to become a civilian, moving to Old Home and becoming personally involved in its cosy community. Having empathised with his pain, Sans continued to reside in the capital alone and occasionally visited his brother's settlement to catch up.

It took the people of the Wetlands and Frosted Fields a far greater deal of time before they were informed of the Human's execution, and the only way they could bypass this long wait was to shell out a ridiculous sum of money to the spiders for access to their communications network. This inspired a young girl from a line of sea-based Monsters to venture into the blazing Furnace in order to reach New Hope and express her dissatisfaction directly to the king. The girl, Undyne fully braced for the sweltering heat and managed to make it to Asgore's laboratory through sheer determination before she collapsed. Asgore found the girl and brought her inside, using Toriel's healing magic to resuscitate her. When she came to, Asgore grew endeared by her vibrant and positive personality and, having been stuck for ideas after the determination trials, was very receptive to her complaints.

He formulated several plans from her ideas that would not only make it easier for Monsters of differing physiques to traverse the extreme climates of each region, but also disseminate news across the Underground easier, and he swiftly began the drafting process to produce the schematics for a mass communications network. Despite assuring him that she could make the trip back, Asgore elected to modify Undyne's magic to make her more resilient to the scalding temperature, an idea which Toriel was initially heavily against, but brought herself to trust in after Undyne was excited at the prospect of being a messenger across every biome. Soon, she would arrive back to her home in the Wetlands and brought news of her victory to her family, becoming a local hero for her efforts in the coming years and even earning a name in the other regions.

Asgore created a series of navigational aides for the Furnace in the form of robot handymen, and began to draft the infrastructure needed to power such a network. This would end up being the Mountain's Soul, a gigantic power station that would be powered using the lava from the Furnace and cooled with plants situated across each region, using the ice from the Fields and the water from the Wetlands. When Asgore pitched the Soul to the king much later on, Sans would authorise its development under the condition that it would also double as an Underground-wide energy source to power all sorts of appliances, such as lighting for houses, a prospect which would extend its development for years.

It was around this time that the child of Toriel and Asgore was born. A baby boy, he was named Asriel and took the Dreemurr issue as did his mother. Asgore's laboratory was also formally called Dreemurr Labs, in celebration of the birth. Toriel elected to finally move to North Wetlands to provide a safer home for her child, near where Asgore's garden was situated, and the both of them happily raised him. Despite the fact they lived in the Wetlands, Toriel insisted that Asriel regularly attend school in Moltensprawl, in which he became a star pupil thanks largely to how eager and curious he was, though his extroverted attitude made him a rowdy kid.

The 'Solar' brand of products was soon established to distribute goods across the Underground and test inventions, named unceremoniously after Asgore's title of the Solar Scientist. These products ranged from television sets and simple deodorants, to highly volatile prototypes for things like heat-repellent umbrellas and fertilisers that could triple a plant's rate of growth. The Furnace inevitably became Asgore's primary sample hub for these brands, and the idea of a network was realised in the form of monitors that would broadcast messages all across its fiery domain, particularly concentrated in Moltensprawl. The technological renaissance also helped boost a growing religious movement centralised around the Borh'ën that the second Human (found to be named Jonah) fell down with, the Church of Moltensprawl replacing its original city hall. These efforts also helped the treacherous Furnace become more accessible to those from other regions, and tourism became a booming industry in the Wetlands particularly.

As Undyne grew up and became increasingly more involved with Asgore, she found herself becoming the face of the Underground's news network, and enjoyed her journalistic duty. This was especially vital for the Solar Guard when another Human was located in the Wetlands, a boy named Skyler. The news allowed the Furnace Guardsmen ample time to detain him, as opposed to before where the only way they could learn of Human sightings was through word-of-mouth, and he was soon executed by Sans much like with Jonah before him, making for three SOULs in total. 

However, the more educated populous began to doubt the king's word more, especially regarding the amount of SOULs needed to destroy the barrier totally and free them all. The Solar Warriors' numbers grew as a result, and while they still weren't big enough to pose a direct threat, a large portion were becoming increasingly radicalised, and every mistake Sans made was put under intense scrutiny. The newfound coverage encouraged Sans to be more public, sometimes making speeches and announcements through the Solar-branded televisions and screens, which helped to garner more support in spite of his perfidious platform.

One day, while visiting his brother in the lively Old Home, Sans himself would witness a Human girl falling through a tunnel from above, having heard her screams. Owing to his instincts within the heat of the moment, he rescued the girl from the plummet, who was barely clinging to life and mortally wounded from the way down. Urged by his brother to do the right thing, he visited Asgore in his lab with an urgent request to treat the girl. Later, Toriel would learn of her existence, but only because Asgore had confided in her while tending to his garden, as the sight had shaken him greatly. Angry that Sans would keep this from her, she confronted him in New Hope, but Sans was unusually distant and demanded her to leave. Regardless, her motherly instinct compelled her to keep tabs on the girl for her own safety, suspecting that Sans was up to no good.

Undyne was busy making her start as a musician, using her platform on the Underground's news network to promote her songs under the alias "The Undying". Her popularity skyrocketed and a fanbase was formed around her performances, though she donated most of her profits to Asgore. Her music would reach the flower that Asgore had brought to consciousness, who had been aimlessly searching for some meaning to their life, and upon listening would become inspired to join the scene themselves to achieve that, assuming the identity of an exceptional male drummer called Boogie. He, alongside Shyren, a timid small-time singer and eventual pianist from South Wetlands would form a band with Undyne, and their tours would attract everybody from all corners of the kingdom, uniting them through music.

The spider population, still upholding that network of their own would be motivated to capitalise on the tourism industry in the Furnace due to the lack of interest in their services, the extravagant aristocrat Madame Mufé reserving the region at the intersection between New Hope and the Furnace in order to construct a ludicrously expensive hotel. One of the main goals of this endeavour was actually to raise enough money to lobby Asgore to construct a transit system for spiders and unite the ones from opposite sides of the Underground. It was through this that she met the reserved restaurateur Grillby, whose bar chain was highly popular around Moltensprawl, and their ensuing relationship together would encourage him to co-fund the project, in return for a lucrative partnership where her spiders would open up restaurants bearing his name across the Underground, receiving a share of the profits. The hotel would become a hotspot for wealthier Monsters to stay at when on holiday or at gatherings due to its exclusivity, with the spiders providing a deluxe transit service.

Asriel developed his taste for home economics during his time at school, and he earned the respect of his fellow classmates in no time thanks to his cooking skills. When visiting his father in Dreemurr Labs, he would often be given early access to prototypes much to Toriel's worry, many revolving around cooking appliances such as ovens. He would then act as a tester for the prototypes, usually loving them even if they exploded in his face (Toriel was always there to counteract the force of the explosion with her magic). He grew to immensely respect his parents and wanted to join his mum in the Solar Guard, a prospect that Toriel often shut down carefully.

When all seemed to be going positively for the kingdom, a great disruption would occur one evening: an announcement that split the loyalties of the entire kingdom. Calling a general meeting in New Hope, believing the citizens of Frosted Fields and Wetlands would be complacent with it being televised by Undyne, Sans would meet his people in the throne room after about a year of general abstinence from public speaking. Accompanying him were members of the Solar Guard due to growing support for the Warriors, with Toriel commanding them. In this announcement, he revealed the existence of the young Human he had rescued, presenting her scared figure beside him. After a round of befuddled Monsters' inquiries, a brawl would break out in response to his pardon and subsequent demand for the people to absolve her. With Sans's suspicions proving correct, he would disappointedly leave with the Human as the Solar Guard handled the disruption, leaving them to brawl.

Toriel, having had no idea of the meeting's purpose, would chastise him after the fact for what she saw as a heinous weaponisation of the girl, with years of tired malice finally being given light through her words. She would ultimately force Sans to give over custody of her, lest she wrangle the Guard and heed the Warriors' requests to overthrow him. When he did, she would raise the girl herself in the Wetlands, keeping her hidden due to the incredible backlash from the Warriors which led to calls for her demise. Undyne was among those whose loyalties were questioned and, after the broadcast had concluded, resigned from her duties as a reporter to concentrate on her musical career.

Solar Guard enlistment was tripled to fend off the Solar Warriors, whose forces were stronger than ever, and progress towards the Mountain's Soul was halted due to several employees of Asgore's quitting their job. Asriel was pulled out of the school in Moltensprawl due to Toriel's fears that he may be targeted thanks to the strengthening of the Guard, especially in a region which she was already sceptical of being dominated by the rebel group, which severely afflicted his mental state and caused him to depend largely on his new Human sister for comfort. Calling herself Chara, the girl was upset even more by his fearful clinginess, spawning a tense rift between them when she would not reciprocate.

To make matters worse, Toriel found herself slapped with a sudden, devastating admission from her husband: he had built the psychopathic machine Metta in the past. Despite saying that he was beyond that, Toriel could not forgive him for his part in the torturing of many, including some of her own peers, a stance which Asgore solemnly accepted. The two divorced not long after, though Toriel did not relocate from the house near Asgore's garden, and she could not bring herself to issue Chara his name. The split inevitably hurt Asriel even more, who was still reeling from the disruption to his school life.

Conflicted over whether he should bend to the Warriors or make forgiving Humans part of his policies, Sans expressed the hopelessness of his situation to his brother in Old Home during one of his visits, and consulted with him on what he should do. Papyrus staunchly advocated for their survival still, but Sans made it clear he intends to act in the best interest of his people, as opposed to what is morally right. Despite that, Papyrus believed that the people would change from the ways of their father if he just made an effort to deviate from the norm, and was confident that Sans could steer them in the right direction. Sans knew his brother to be honest, and for a moment he did consider.

Among Asgore's men to quit was the only one to do so in the Frosted Fields, a coolant plant labourer dubbed Ice Wolf. They found themselves swept into the Warriors, becoming an invaluable member of the Fields division. When they found that the consensus in the Frosted Fields was still more favourable to the Solar Guard, they advocated for a complete overhaul of their methods. Their new ways would push them towards antagonising the Guard, treating them like an avatar of Sans, and ostracising anyone who supports them. Ice Wolf would go on to lead the division entirely, using their unwavering intimidation to pressure villages in the Frosted Fields to act as micro-bases for the Warriors, most notably the town of lizard Monsters who captured the first Human to have fallen, Vera.

This would inspire a lowly resident of that town, an intelligent but meek engineer by the name of Alphys to volunteer as a Warriors scout for Old Home, an area that was deemed too unknown to risk setting camp in. With Ice Wolf's wishes, she would depart and find a way to breach inside, with the village setting up a series of devices with her help to relay information to and from. From thereon, she became a major pest to Papyrus and his police force of local spiders led by Webb, utilising her elaborate traps to disrupt the area and put the locals—occasionally Humans—in jeopardy, and always managed to evade capture no matter how hard he pursued her. Through her efforts, the Warriors had an idea of any impending Humans, allowing them to better plan ways to capture one for themselves. Though even with the benefits that come from foresight, their plans never amounted to much, and they were frequently beat to the punch by the Solar Guard.

Starting school in the small capital of the Frosted Fields, Flurriville, Asriel struggled to fit in despite the peaceful environment. To cheer him up, Toriel allowed the two of them infrequent visits to Dreemurr Labs, trips which she subconsciously also looked forward to. This worked to moderate success, but it was when his Solar heritage caught the attention of an awed reptile-like kid whose parents had just moved to Flurriville, known simply by his initials MK, that his attitude changed for the better. Chara was home-schooled in the meantime, as Toriel could not find anywhere she could trust to take her in, yet the situation did not seem to have the same effect on her.

The young girl was grateful for Toriel and viewed her life in an optimistic lens; despite the many attempts on her life by the Solar Warriors, she never lost faith in her mother's ability to protect her, and even seemed to view herself as an impediment for needing it. Toriel would train her vigorously in the ways of self-defence and, moreover, would inherit some aspects of her magic. She would also be taught a set of moral principles which would form the backbone of her sense of belonging in the community, becoming an incredibly selfless and friendly person, even if it came at a cost to her own wellbeing or dignity.

Boogie became increasingly reserved, appearing absent at tours and preferring seclusion from his fellow band-mates. It got to a point where Undyne considered letting him go, but gave him a moment to explain himself. Boogie cited stress to excuse his reclusive behaviour, and brought up the idea of a surrogate for himself in his absence, introducing a prototype he had been working on during his time alone in Asgore's garden using some of his inventions, dubbed a choir flower, that would mimic his drumming style. Undyne was sceptical, but desiring their careers to be steadfast passed the idea onto Asgore, along with the prototype.

In the meantime, Undyne's songs resonated with Chara, them connecting with her on a deeply personal level as the singer morphed into an idol for her. She still felt uncomfortable around her brother when he wasn't out hanging out with his friend, with him often wanting to play 'Capture The Human', a game inspired by his mother's job, so she found peace in listening to the music to distract herself from that and society's shunning of her, even if it meant feeling agonisingly lonely. Her luck would change on one harried stroll, when she met a guiding voice behind the door to Old Home, belonging to none other than Prince Papyrus.

Papyrus was eager to get to know Chara; though the king had consulted him periodically during the time he had her, he never got to meet her for himself after her initial fall. The two became incredibly close friends and he acted as a mentor figure for her alongside Sans, teaching her how to live in and appreciate the Underground, while she enlightened him on her days in the Fields. She would also be inspired to meet with Sans himself every month despite Toriel's objections, discovering more about herself and her peculiar abilities.

Following the implementation of the choir flower prototypes, Boogie would lose all of his interest in music and grew to rely on his new inventions for a purpose, a change which enraged Undyne and led to them having a huge falling out. The aftermath of this resulted in the band breaking up and Undyne becoming a solo artist again, but Boogie did not get over their spat and became incredibly vindictive. He populated the Wetlands with his new, novel friends and hurt Undyne's career prospects, less people willing to buy her songs and tour tickets, which forced her into retirement after her plans to navigate this did not work out. When Boogie realised that creating new things and even ruining his enemy were not helping him gain closure, he instead left society entirely, expelling himself to Old Home to reflect. He ended up joining the Warriors after meeting Alphys, still trying to obtain any kind of belonging in the world around him.

The Church of Moltensprawl continued to proselytise the people of the Furnace further, becoming a vast powerhouse and attracting the wealthiest few, such as Mufé and her husband Grillby into investing in it. Racked with guilt over Undyne's downfall, as well as the reopening of his old Surface scars, Asgore devoted his days purely to finishing the Mountain's Soul, neglecting his own garden in the meantime to get the project done. Hit with deadline after deadline, the work almost killed him, and Toriel found herself empathising with their mutual hatred towards Sans, recognising him as the one who likely split them in the first place. When the Soul was finally complete, in an experimental but ultimately functional state, he allowed himself to return to his garden, finding that it had tended to itself completely autonomously. Even after all of that, Toriel still could not forgive him.

As the children grew older and weaned from the ignorance they were afforded in their youth, things had resolved into some kind of happy ending. Chara finally understood the value of her brother with help from Prince Papyrus, bonding with him by playing along with his games and sharing her love for Undyne's music. Soon after meeting MK, she became part of the trio that enlightened the frightened hearts of Flurriville, even if some still did not take kindly to her race. The rebellion flared with every new SOUL that was added to the pile and lied about, suppressed only by Toriel and her mighty police force, and Ice Wolf commanded the Frosted Fields division's efforts towards capturing Chara specifically, growing a fervent hatred for the girl. Even with the odds against her, Chara managed to soldier through and enjoy the moments that mattered, soon letting her discordant past fade to distant nightmares.