Golemite held a chunk of ice to his head as Jenny returned with a glass of pear juice for Asriel. One of the benefits of the late shift was the lack of other patrons in the diner, which was good; while he had a few friends in the Skyway Repair Crew, the only people Asriel trusted with the secret of the Everstar were now all in that diner. Even then, he hoped he could keep Jenny out of it.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtR9Nn7fVgz
"Are you sure you're all right?" Jenny asked, putting a hand on the golem's stone bicep.
"I've been bettah." He gently patted her hand. "Don't worry 'bout me, Jenny. I've gotten worse."
She gave him a smile that even Asriel could tell was a bit forced. As she moved back to the register, her tail sliding smoothly over the tiles of the diner, Asriel said, "It was close, Golemite. That bug assassin was really fast. One wrong move, and I woulda bought it big time."
"Not your fault, Azzie." Golemite said, wincing as a chunk of ice slid down the side of his head. "Damn bug probably had this planned for awhile; rent out the next apartment, take me out with an explosion, then move in on you."
"But he was after ..." Asriel glanced at Jenny, who quickly went back to pretending to work at the till despite the fact no one else was in the diner.
Golemite nodded. "Maybe he was eavesdroppin' on ya when ya went to see Mayor Mayor."
"Mayor Mayor lives in the moon, Golemite; I think we would've noticed." Glancing at Jenny again, Asriel said, "Honestly, I'm more worried about Flowey."
"Azzie," Golemite said, setting down the chunk of ice. "It was a tight situation. You were under a lotta stress, and ya just imagined ya saw a talkin' flower. That's all it is."
"But ..."
"No buts; jus' stay focused from here on out, an' everythin' will be fine."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Golemite returning the block of ice to his head.
"'sides, couldn't be Flowey." Golemite said. "Ya said it yerself; you were Flowey. You ain't Flowey now, and even if you was, you couldn't be in two places at once."
"I know. It's just ... it scares me, you know? To think that he ... it could still be in my head."
"Then stop thinkin' about it." Golemite said. "No use worryin' about what you can't change. Listen; you see him again, you do what you did this time; don't listen. Just don't forget to defend yerself at the same time."
Asriel nodded and took a deep drink of juice. "So what now?"
"Now we gotta rebuild our apartment before Bunyat tries to rent out the other apartment. You know that long-eared celery-nibbler'll try to put that hole on us. I'll talk to Vince down at HQ, see if he can't give us some spare materials to-"
"No, I mean about the ..." Asriel glanced at Jenny; she seemed genuinely distracted this time, checking on something cooking in the oven. "About the Everstar."
"Hey, like I said, Saymor was jus' a fluke. He probably found ya by accident; even a blind monkey will find a banana once in awhile."
Asriel frowned. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Shaking his head, he finished his drink and leaned forward "It wasn't a fluke, Golemite; he could sense it. Mayor Mayor warned my this might happen. 'The shards of the Everstar call to their brothers'. It's only a matter of time before someone else tries to take mine."
Golemite set the block of ice down on the table again. "All right, Asriel, you need ta tell me everythin' Mayor Mayor and his sister told you about da Everstar. If someone's comin' after us, I gotta know."
"But if I leave, you'll be safe ..."
"If you leave, I'll be comin' wit ya, so no, I won't be safe."
"Golemite ..."
Golemite crossed his massive arms. "I ain't gettin' talked outta dis, Azzie. We're like bruddahs, I know you feel da same, and I ain't gonna let you get squashed 'cuz yer scared I might get a bit banged up."
Seeing Golemite's resolute face, Asriel couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Golemite."
"Don't mention it." He said, ruffling Asriel's ears. "One more thing before you get started. Jenny!"
Jenny stood straight up, the glass she'd pretended to polish flying in the air. She fumbled with it for a few moments before finally catching it and setting it down. Trying to act nonchalant, she moved to their table and gave them her biggest smile.
"Need somethin', boys?"
"Yeah. Sit down."
"Excuse me?"
"If yer just gonna listen in, you might as well be comfortable."
Sighing, she wrapped her tail in a tight coil and sat on it. "Is it true? You have a piece of the Everstar?"
"Two pieces." Asriel said, reluctantly pulling his shirt down enough to show her the glowing star on her chest.
She brought a hand to her mouth, the other slowly moving to touch the star, much to Asriel's discomfort. Fortunately, she seemed to catch herself and quickly pulled her hand back.
"Sorry, sweetie," She said, "It's just ... I've heard stories about the Everstar since I was a little girl, but I never dreamed I'd ever actually see even a single shard! My sisters and I used to talk for hours about what we'd wish for if we ever found all the pieces!"
"Might as well start there." Asriel said, letting his shirt shift back into position. "The rumors and stories about it are true; Mayor Mayor used the Everstar to create the Deep, with Nowhere as the Hub. According to him, that was over three-hundred years ago; since then, the Deep has spread even further ... no, not spread. It's grown."
"Do they know how big it really is?" Jenny asked.
"Huh. I could tell ya dat." Golemite said, shifting in his seat. "After all, the Skyway connects everything, yeah?"
He grabbed the condiments from their holder and started arranging them around the table. "All right, dis salt shaker here's Nowhere, yeah? We're in da middle, like Azzie jus' said. You head straight north, an you'll get to the Brass Woods. Ya head east instead, and you'll end up at the shore of the Glass Ocean. To da west, you got da Drifting Meadows, and finally to da South, ya got da Chorus Mountains."
"And beyond them?" Jenny asked.
Dolemite laughed. "Ain't nuthin beyond them! Dat's as far as the Skyway goes!"
"The Skyway stops, but the land keeps going." Asriel said quietly.
Golemite stared at Asriel. "You mean dere's more?"
"Mayor Mayor's spoken with explorers and adventurers who tried to explore the outer reaches of the Deep." Asriel said, "Those that came back told of crystalline towers beyond the Chorus Mountains, and of a desert of blue sand past the Glass Ocean."
"And past the Drifting Meadows and the Brass Woods?"
Asriel shook his head. "None of the adventurers heading to those places ever reported back. I mean, they might have just went somewhere else; there are little villages and towns all over the place, and maybe they just haven't made it back yet."
"Wow." Jenny said, rubbing her arms as though cold. "It's weird to think of there being places in the Deep that no one's explored."
"Or survived." Golemite said grimly. "But what does dis have to do with da Everstar?"
"Mayor Mayor thinks that the presence of the shards might be prompting the growth. He thinks that the Everstar remembers the previous wish, and is continuing to create the Deep around the pieces."
"Hang on," Dolemite said, "If dat's true, wouldn't we know by now? I mean, you and me, we've been all over Nowhere deez past few weeks, what wit all da breaks in da ..."
Dolemite stopped and looked at Asriel, who blushed.
"Sister Mayor told me they've reported several feet of growth across Nowhere, mostly in Central Nowhere. She thinks the Skyway's breaking down because it is stretching itself thin."
"Now jus' see here a sec!" Golemite said, standing up. "Even if all dis stuff 'bout da Everstar is true, it ain't yer fault. It ain't like you knew, and even if you did, dat thing's actin' as yer soul; it ain't like you can get rid of it!"
"The shards are your soul?" Jenny asked, to which Asriel nodded.
"I have two shards; if Mayor Mayor is right, there are four more in the lands beyond the known areas of the Deep. As for the seventh ..." Asriel stopped, thinking about the mysterious shadow child. "I think she's on my side, at least right now. As for me, well ... I'm not going to wait for the others to try and take mine."
Asriel lifted his backback from beneath the table. "That's why I'm leaving."
"Leaving?" Jenny said, sounding startled. "You don't mean ... you're leaving Nowhere? Because this Saymor guy tried to kill you?"
"It's more than that." Asriel said. "I can feel the other shards, Jenny; it's vague, but with two, it's grown even stronger. If I can feel the other shards, they can feel me as well. I can't just stay here and hope the next shard-bearing monster isn't the kind of person who would kill anyone in his or her way to get to me; I'm going to go find them first. Shards aren't always bonded to a people, Mayor Mayor said so. If that's the case, maybe I can reason with them and somehow earn the shards."
"And?' Jenny said, crossing her arms. "What if they say no? What if they need their shards as much as you need yours?"
"Then I'll come back here and forget about the whole thing." Asriel said firmly. "But I need to know that they aren't coming after me."
"But what if you're walking into a trap?" Jenny pleaded. "Asriel, please, think about this; if you stay here, we can help keep you safe!"
"That's the problem!" Asriel said, "Saymor saw Golemite as a threat and tried to kill him before attacking me."
Patting Golemite's arm, Asriel said, "I'm just glad he didn't realize how tough Golemite really is."
"Don't you know it." Golemite said, bumping his massive fist carefully against Asriel's clenched paw.
"Next time, we might not be so lucky. Next time he might hurt Golemite ... or he might hurt you."
"Me?" Jenny said, surprised. "Why me?"
"Oh, come on." Golemite said. "If I'm da big bruddah, yer his big sis. You have been since de first time I brought him here."
"I can't help it." She said, ruffling Asriel's ears until he ducked away. "He's just so cute and fluffy, I wanna hug the heck outta him."
"An' pretty much everyone knows it." Golemite said. "It ain't hard to see why someone like Saymor could try and take advantage of dat."
"I ..." She sighed and slumped over the table on her elbows, her head resting in her hands. "I see what you mean."
Asriel climbed out of the booster seat and hefted his pack. "That's why I've got to go. I't okay if I die; I've already had more than my fair share of being alive as it is."
"Now dat's not fair." Golemite said, rising as well. "What happened to you in de Underground was not yer fault; you said it yerself, livin' witout a soul does tings to ya. Besides, what about us? What about how we feel? I know you got parents up there, and your girlfriend Frisk-"
"She's not my girlfriend!" Asriel said, his cheeks feeling suddenly warm.
"-but we're yer family too, right?"
"Right." Jenna said, rising from her coils.
Golemite and Jenna hugged him. Asriel rested his head against Golemite's massive chest, his arm tightening around both him and Jenny.
"You don't hafta do dis alone." Golemite said. "We're wit you all of da way. If dat means you gettin yer soul back and goin' to the surface, you bettah believe I'm comin' along."
"Me too." Jenny said, smiling at Asriel. "Besides, with our help, how could you fail?"
Now Asriel knew he was blushing. "Y-you want to come with us?"
"I would, Azzie, but I can't; this diner's barely afloat as it is." She said, "But I can still help. My sisters are out in the Deep too; I'll call them up and let them know to keep an eye on you. While I can't say you can trust all of them, our hearts are in the right place."
She deftly plucked the cellphone from Asriel's shirt pocket and held it up, adding, "And if you ever have a problem, just give me a call. I hear all sorts of things here, so maybe I can help you out."
He looked at his two friends, feeling more grateful for their presence in his life.
"Okay." He said. "We'll head out in the morning."
They met the next morning just as the Foundation came to life. Shops opened, factories slowly came to life, and fast food workers put coffee on the grill as Asriel, Golemite, and Jenny met at the road leading to the Brass Woods.
"I told da boss we were gonna take a little trip." Golemite said.
Asriel winced; the squat goblin who ran the Skyway Repair crew was not the most pleasant of monsters. "Was he mad?"
"Mad? You kiddin'? He's been tryin' to get someone out there for ages; roads in all kinds o'bad shape. Paid me a hundred gold in advance. I tell ya, we'll have our work cut out for us, but when we get back, we're gonna be lookin' at a pretty sweet payday."
"Just make sure you both come back." Jenny told them, "Night shift's gonna be lonely with our you two keeping me company."
"Still not to late to tag along." Golemite said, hefting his rutsack.
"Tempting, but I'm going to have to pass." Jenny said. "Someone has to keep the home fires burning ... and make sure you still have an apartment waiting for you."
Silence fell over the group as the time to depart finally arrived. Jenny gave them both a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, though she had to rise up as high as she could on her coils to reach Golemite's cheek.
"Good luck, you two." She said, a big smile on her face. "Remember to keep an eye out for my sisters; they'll definitely be looking for you."
"We will." Asriel said.
"And remember to call me if you get stuck! Heck, call me if you don't get stuck. Say hi once in awhile!"
"We will." Golemite rumbled.
As they started down the skyway, she waved at them for a moment before calling out, "And be careful! Watch out for strangers, and if you run into danger, don't be afraid to run away!"
"We will!" They both called back.
Jenny continued calling after them well after they passed the point where they could make out what she was saying. They turned and waved one final time before Golemite helped Asriel climb on his shoulder.
"She acts like she's my mother." Golemite complained as Asriel made himself comfortable.
"I kinda miss that." Asriel said, thinking of his own mother. "It's nice."
"Yeah, it is." Golemite sighed and said, "You ready to get this train goin'?"
"Full speed ahead!" Asriel said, holding on tight as the golem started to run.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvpSSseVjQ
