Asriel Dremurr sat alone in the small patch of golden flowers long after Frisk's departing footsteps faded. Part of him wanted to run after her, to see his parents again, but he couldn't; already he could feel his form beginning to slip away from him.
He buried his head in his hands, trying to force back the tears. Would it hurt? Would he go back to the way he'd been instantly, or would he gradually lose the remnants of soul that had filled him ever so briefly?
He hated it. He hated to go back to being that ... that monstrous little flower. It hadn't been so bad the first time; he had been dead, after all, and suddenly finding himself with form, looking up at the astonished face of his father ... it seemed too good to be true.
Things had been good for awhile; he and his father spent a lot of time together, talking about how happy Mother would be when she found out, and how maybe Dad's new scientist could find a way to either restore his old body or build him a new one. Maybe things would be better ... or as better as they could be without Chara.
The loss of his soul was an insidious process that slowly left him unable to feel true happiness, unable to feel joy at the sight of his father or at the thought of reuniting with his mother. All too soon, he found it unbearable to even be around his father.
Then he found out about the reset. The determination in him had given him a power that he barely understood himself. His father entered the garden, saw him, and acted as though he'd just discovered his son's presence. At first, Asriel thought his father was joking, a poor attempt at humor that only made Flowey more angry. Then it happened again the next day ... and the next. Every time Flowey slept and wished that things were different, he'd wake up and find himself back at the garden, staring at his surprised father's face.
Mobility wasn't an issue; his soul was gone, but his magic was still partially intact, allowing him to travel through the dirt. His first thought was simple; if his father had failed to help, surely his mother would do better.
He knew the moment he saw her that it was no good. The sight of his mother should have filled him with ... with something. Joy, happiness, relief. There was nothing. Butterscotch cinnamon pie stuck in the throat he no longer had as she fussed over him until he finally reset. Once again in the royal garden, he decided to look for answers.
Alphys had been tight-lipped; it took several resets to figure out the best way to torture the information out of her, and even then, it was hardly satisfying; his soul was gone. Without it, he couldn't have a body, couldn't feel happiness or joy. No matter how hard he tried, he could never reset time back to his earlier form. He couldn't save Chara ... he couldn't even save himself. The determination that gave him the ability to reverse time also bound him to that pitiful form; he could never go back.
He tortured Alphys for so long that he lost count; he told himself he was being thorough, but the cruel wickedness of his actions was the closest thing he'd felt to emotion. Eventually he tortured all of them: his parents, Alphys and her fishy crush, those ridiculous skeletons. Sometimes it was direct, sometimes the torture took a more subtle form; either way, the thought of it made the vestiges of a smile form on his face.
His smile faded instantly. It was starting already; Alphys, sweet Alphys who was no doubt looking forward to a future on the surface with Undyne. How could her death bring him joy? How could the thought of killing any of them bring even a twisted form of happiness to him?
His form wavered in front of his eyes, his limbs gradually losing shape. he cried, for his mother and father, for Frisk, for Chara ... for anyone to help him, to stop it, even though he knew they would be long gone. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to focus his thoughts on the good feelings that still remained within him, even as they seemed to be slipping away ...
Only they weren't slipping away. He felt the warmth of emotion filling his chest, warding away the darkness that was closing in on him. Opening his eyes, he saw he was his normal self; his arms and hands as normal as they ever looked. The horrible sensation of his limbs melting away was gone.
There was one difference, however; on his chest, directly over his heart, there was a small shining white five-pointed star. It felt warm to the touch like ... like a soul.
He was still trying to figure out where it had come from when a deep voice said, "Behold the power of the Everstar."
Asriel looked up sharply to see a thin figure with a bowed back looking at him, its slightly warped skeletal face smiling eerily at him from beneath a heavy hood.
"W-who are you?" Asriel asked, a little frightened; he thought he'd seen every monster in the underground throughout all his resets, but he didn't recognize this skeleton at all.
"You were moments away from being lost." The figure said, his voice strangely disjointed, as though he was having to consider each word carefully. "Without a soul, monsters become naught but dust. Your determination saves you from that fate, only to give you another some would call worse ... but with a mere fragment of the Everstar, you are restored."
"The ... The Everstar?"
The figure nodded, eerie smile widening slightly. "The culmination of the hopes and dreams of our kind. Your desire to remain as you were must've been strong enough to call a piece of it to you."
Asriel slowly rose to his feet, and was relieved to find them strong and firm. "And it's in me now?"
The figure nodded. "It fills the absence of your heart ... your soul. It gives you form, and allows you to feel."
Hope blossomed in Asriel's chest, buoyed by the warmth of the star on his chest. "Then ... then I can leave the Underground? I can see mother and father again ... I can be with Frisk and Sans and all the others?"
Without waiting for a response, Asriel ran for the entrance to the ruins. Frisk had only been there a few minutes ago; if he hurried, maybe he could catch a ride with the river monster and catch them all before they left. As he passed the threshold, however, a great pain shot through his chest. He collapses instantly, one claw clutched to the star. To his horror, cracks began to spread through the shining white light.
Panic gripped his mind; he scrambled away from the door until he bumped into the legs of the strange skeleton, who put his hands on Asriel's shoulders. Asriel saw the cracks in his star slowly vanish, leaving the star once again complete.
"I am sorry child." The skeleton said. "Truth be told, I feared as much."
"I don't understand." Asriel said, saddness filling him. "Why I can't go?"
"The Everstar is bound to its brothers and sisters. It cannot exist far from them."
Asriel sighed, sadness once again filling him.
The skeleton patted Asriel's shoulder. "Do not lose hope, child. There may be a way."
"Really? How?"
"It is said one who collects all the pieces of the Everstar will be granted their dearest desire. If the return of your soul is what you wish, then you need but find them."
"But how can I find them?" Asriel asked. "I'm stuck here!"
"The shards of the Everstar do not rest within the Underground; they rests within the Deep."
"The Deep?"
The skeleton turned to the wall of the chamber and held out a hand with a large hole in the center of the palm. To Asriel's amazement, the bricks moved and rearranged themselves until they formed a large archway, beyond which lay a stone path floating in what appeared to be a starlit sky.
Floating crystal torches lined the path, providing an eerie light on the floating stones as it led straight into the star-filled void. Asriel remembered other such rooms within the underground, their ceilings lined with luminescent crystals, but none were nearly as massive; the chamber must have been bigger than the rest of the Underground put together. Asriel couldn't even see the outer walls. He couldn't even see the floor, for that matter.
"What is this?" Asriel asked, eyes wide.
"The Deep." The skeleton said, slowly walking through the archway. "A place between dreams and reality. The pieces of the Everstar are there. Find them, and your soul yet be restored ... but be warned. Other forces seek the Everstar for their own ends. They will not hesitate on taking your shard. Do not let them."
Asriel clasped a hand to his chest as the skeleton continued, "I would help you in your quest, Prince Asriel. Should you need my assistance, please visit me in my lab. Until then, I wish you luck."
Asriel stared after him for a few moments before turning to the entrance to the ruins. It was heartbreaking to think of being so close, yet so far to everything he wanted. For the first time, he wished he had asked Frisk to tell his parents; even with Flowey's memories of manipulation, he found himself wishing he could talk to them.
But Frisk was gone. Her friends, his parents, they'd soon reach the surface and begin their brand new life. Asriel couldn't follow, not as he was. Looking down at the star on his chest, he felt strangely conscious of its warmth spreading through him. Even as he felt it, he could feel something else, something beyond the gateway that seemed to resonate ever so slightly with the star.
There was, ultimately, only one choice.
He turned to the doorway, only to find the skeletal figure gone.
"Hey!" Asriel called out, "Mister! Mister, are you still there?"
Getting no answer, he hurried out of the chamber, stopping only a moment for a final look at the small patch of yellow flowers.
The stone walkway hung over a dark abyss, broken only by the pinpricks of distant light. Again, Asriel was struck by just how big the cavern holding the Deep must be. The road certainly seemed to have no end; it simply continued on and on. Oddly enough, there was no sign of the skeleton man ahead ... no sign of anything, really: just the stones of the long winding path.
The path was lined here and there with remnants of stone handrails. Some were still attached, others floated in the air. It seemed strange to Asriel; he was used to seeing magic, but magic implied a caster; the entire path was just floating in nothingness.
Occasionally, the path would branch out, usually all but one ending in dead ends. It was usually pretty obvious, but with the way the path twisted, sometimes he found himself at an impasse and had to backtrack. Sometimes the path stopped altogether, breaking off entirely from the rest and requiring Asriel to hop over the gap. Sometimes the path was fragmented all over the place, making progress a high-stakes game of hopscotch.
It was after one of these areas that Asriel realized he was being followed. Turning back, he spotted a dark figure, only slightly less dark than the rest of the chamber. It stared at him, its eyes two bright points of light. It would've seemed much more threatening if it hadn't looked shorter than Asriel.
"Hello?" Asriel called out. "Can you hear me?"
The figure cocked its head to the side before vanishing from sight. Asriel wasn't sure what to make of that. Shaking his head, he continued walking alone. He rubbed his elbow, uneasiness slowly spreading through him.
His star shone brightly, sometimes providing better light than the blue crystal torches that floated alongside the road. It was reassuring at first, but as time passed, Asriel felt very exposed on the lonely road, and kept his shirt covering it. He caught sight of the strange figure behind him a few more times; it became a slight obsession, and soon he spent more time looking back than looking forward. The figure never grew any closer, though it didn't seem malevolent; if anything, it seemed merely curious.
Unfortunately, Asriel was so focused on catching a glimpse of his mysterious companion that he didn't see the golem until he ran into him. Made of the same gray stone as the rest of the path, it was outfitted with a pair of massive denim overalls and wore a tool belt that appeared to contain nothing but cooking appliances and a single massive mallet.
"Gah!" The massive stone golem roared in surprise. It turned around and looked over Asriel's head for a few moments before scratching its head.
"Huh. Dat's strange." The golem muttered, scratching it's smooth stone head with a massive rock hand. "I coulda sworn somethin' jus' hit me."
"S-sorry, mister!" Asriel said, rising to his feet.
"Who said dat?" The golem said, a definite tremor of fear in his voice.
"I-I'm down here." Asriel said.
The golem looked down, a curious look on its face. "Oh! Dat's a relief. Thought maybe one of those whuzzits was tryin' to pull somethin'. Who are you, anyway, kid?"
"Asriel." Asriel said, hesitantly offering his hand. "Asriel Dremurr."
The golem carefully shook his hand, leaving Asriel's arm only slightly sore. "Skyway worker DM-173, but you don't hafta call me dat. Just call me what everyone else calls me: Golemite."
The golem's friendly demeanor made Asriel feel more at ease. Smiling, Asriel said "N-nice to meet you, Golemite."
"Likewise." Shaking his massive head, the golem said, "So whatchoo doin' walkin' round here witout looking where ya goin? Good way to fall of da path, an' let me tell ya kid, it's a long drop."
"I was following someone." Asriel said, "But I lost him. He was a skeleton, I think."
"Skeleton? Don't know any skeletons, kid. Ghosts, sure; zombies, okay; I even met da elusive Yak-face once, but I don't know no skeletons. Sorry, kid."
"It's okay." Asriel said. "I'll keep going. I mean, if the road doesn't branch, it's not like I've got another choice."
"Whatchu mean the road doesn't branch?" The golem said. "It branches all over the place."
"Oh. Well, maybe they were broken-"
The golem's stones ground together slightly. "Hey, Dis road's in perfect shape. Every single branch works perfectly ... except exit thirteen, and I'm on my way dere now."
"I'm sorry.' Asriel said, "But I passed a bunch of broken roads on my way here."
The golem's eyes were red. "You sayin' I ain't workin'? Jus' who do you tink you are, kid?"
"I'm sorry!" Asriel said, raising his hands in supplication. "I just ..."
The golem picked up Asriel as though he weighed nothing and set the young Dremurr on his shoulder. Without another word, he ran down the path Asriel had previously taken. The road seemed to shake under every massive footstep, and Asriel spotted stones breaking away more than once. Asriel looked for the dark figure, but it was hard to see much of anything while bouncing up and down on the Golem's shoulder.
Golemite carried him all the way back to the last break in the path. As before, it just seemed to stop, as though the path had been broken off by some massive hand.
Setting Asriel down, the golem said, "Okay, so what's wrong wit my road?"
"It ... it's broken." Asriel said, wondering how the golem could miss the obvious problem.
"Whatchu talkin' 'bout? Road works fine! Look!"
Asriel's stomach lurched into his throat as the golem shoved Asriel toward the empty expanse. Asriel tried in vain to stop himself from going over the edge, but as his foot came down on the air, it hit something.
Looking down, Asriel realised there was a stone beneath his foot that definitely hadn't been there before. It wasn't even attached to the rest of the road. After a few moments, more stones came up around it, creating a wider space.
Asriel looked back at Golemite, who gave him a thumbs up. Taking a deep breath, Asriel took another step; once again a stone rose to meet his foot. After a few more steps, thousands of stones flew from all directions and formed along road that veered away from the road he'd previously taken.
"See?" Golemite said as Asriel stared at the path in wonder. "It's workin' jus' fine!"
"I'm sorry." Asriel said, "I didn't know."
His heart sank. He'd passed dozens of branches already, any one of which the skeletal figure could've taken without him knowing.
"Hey, kid." Golemite said, crouching down to look Asriel in the eye. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get ya down. I mean, clearly you ain't from the Deep."
"It's not that." Asriel said. "It's just ... I have no idea where I'm going. I was trying to follow the skeleton man, but how am I supposed to find him? I just ... I wish I could go home."
"Well, what's stopping you?"
Asriel looked down at his star, hidden under his shirt. He considered telling Dolemite, but ended up sniffling instead. He rubbed his eyes angrily, trying to force the tears back.
"Hey, little guy." Golemite said, his tone softening. "It ain't dat bad. I mean, I got lost up here once too; that's how I got my job on the skyway crew. Now der's nowhere else I'd rather be!"
Asriel didn't know what to say to that. Dolemite didn't wait for a response however; he picked up Asriel and plopped the young boss monster on his shoulder. "You just hold on; I'll get you to To Mayor Mayor, and I bet ya he'll be able to help ya find yer skeleton friend."
"Mayor Mayor?'"
"Yeah, but most people just call him Mayor. Nice guy, for a sprite. Most respected Don'tchu worry; we'll be dere before ya know it."
