Welcome.

[trustfellowship]

The last thing you remember hearing is static. There were words in there, perhaps, quiet whispers like the rustling of leaves, like the crinkling of paper, like rust being scraped off a knife. The words aren't anything you'll remember, but they're there, and there are a lot of them washing over you, and it might be concerning if it weren't so warm where you're lying. You wake feeling disoriented, like you've been asleep for a long time. Of course, it's probably odd that you're waking up just now - perhaps you were in the middle of something important, perhaps you were waiting for something, or maybe you were just going about your day, but even before the whispering came you can clearly remember doing something back home. Can't you? Something else. Something that wasn't looking around the room you've found yourself in. It's not your room, either. Not the one you're used to. The room here is grey and white and tile; even if the bed is nice (and the bed is nice, it feels like it's been designed to cater just to you, maybe if you keep your eyes closed you can pretend it's a favor), the room itself is spartan and oppressing. The walls are cracked and the floors are in disrepair, but despite that there's not enough noise - it's silent, the quietness of it pressing in on you, and even if you can't see any cameras you get the distinct feeling that for good or ill, someone is watching over you as you get up. That might be enough to make you move, to make you not want to stay there. But even if you stick around for a while to look around in there, the walls hold firm despite their decrepit state and the pervasive silence isn't going away - if anyone's in the rooms near you, you can't hear them. If you want answers, you're going to have to leave. Be sure you grab the key sitting on your desk on the way out. Once you step out of the room into the hallway you'll most likely find yourself face-to-face with other confused people who feel as though they don't belong here either. Maybe you'll find something if you explore together; maybe it's safer in numbers. Wherever you end up going - and there are several places to go - you might want to check the large room toward the center of the communal area of the building. A subdivided foyer is here; at first glance, it even seems to offer you a look at the outside. Of course, once you've gotten over that particular disappointment, you might want to check out the walls, where you'll find some very interesting information about yourselves hanging on the walls. There's some other framed information that you'll most likely want to get a look at as well, seeing as how it could be the key to escaping this place. Although, speaking of keys... Despite your best efforts, you won't find any doors. The windows you find here and there are far more durable than they should be as well, and any attempts to break out won't work. It seems you're stuck here for the time being. Maybe your fellow captives have some thoughts on all of this. Welcome to Beacon General Hospital.

Comments

[heritrix]

[She tilts her head curiously at his first statement.]

It's unusual?

[journalname]

That her profile would say something like that, I mean, if she has never even met a monster before. Mine is a little incorrect, too, but most of it has the right idea.

[heritrix]

I've heard that from others. Were there any in particular that were wrong on yours?

[journalname]

I am a few hundred years younger than it claims. And I am not sure why it would say I dislike myself.

[That is very presumptuous! And not really true. He likes himself fine!]

[heritrix]

[She doesn't look as bothered as she should be that his age is only a few hundred years off.]

I can see how the mistake would be made. That's not uncommon with brooders.

[journalname]

It is a little pessimistic...

[But he supposes she's right that it's not all that rare. Shame.]

[heritrix]

Oh, no, I meant you. [She points at him, then the window.] You were staring into nothing for so long, the way a person does when they hate themselves.

[Archer does that. He's kinda an idiot.]

[journalname]

...oh! Oh, gosh, no. It is just that I have not seen the outside in a very long time. I wish that a little more of it were visible, but it is still good to see.

[heritrix]

[...He hasn't seen outside? Not even a little? Rin wonders where was he, that a blanket of fog would be so captivating.]

You don't look like a prisoner of war. [She muses this quietly, observing him. He seems to be in good health.] And you indirectly admitted you're a king, as well. Was there a revolt or something, and you had to hide for your safety?

[journalname]

There was a war, many centuries ago, one which we lost. The humans banished us underground. There is a hole in the mountain near my home where the sun shines down, but it is far too high to look out of.

[heritrix]

[...oh.

Awkward.]

Do you hate them for what they did to you?

[journalname]

[.....sigh]

No. I do not hate humans. Judging people based on their species is why we were banished.

[heritrix]

When you don't get mad in the face of something as oppressive like that, people will only walk all over you. If I were you, I would be furious.

[Rin turns her head to watch the fog with him, calmly in spite of her words. Breaking that tranquility feels like it'd be betraying something.]

But that capacity to forgive your enemy is impressive. You really are noble.

[journalname]

[He seems slightly flustered by the compliment.]

Why...thank you, I suppose. But truly, the war was very long ago. It is only their children's children who still live now, if that - they bear no blame.

[heritrix]

You can hold a grudge while not acting on it.

[Despite saying this, she seems pleased with his response, smiling even.]

But you're more right than you know. Humans aren't so long-lived. If it was hundreds of years ago, they could be up to six generations by now. Their great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren, conservatively.

[If it's been 200 years, that's her ballpark estimate. Even mages, who tend to make families slower, would be close to that.]

[journalname]

All the more reason to let it be. I do not anticipate we will those humans again easily - only the power of human souls can break the Barrier which keeps us trapped, and they are unlikely to do so. After all this time, perhaps they have forgotten about us.

[heritrix]

[...That sounds like an intense bounded field. She kind of wants to see it.]

I don't want to give you false hope, but it's possible. [She frowns.] Have you no way to get their attention? You mentioned there's a hole. I know you said it's high, but someone could climb as far as you can go and send a signal, couldn't they?

[journalname]

We have had monsters fly up there before. Long after the war, of course, when we were no longer quite so afraid of retaliation. But we cannot extend anything up past the Barrier, and no humans live on the mountain to see it if we could.

...I do not know if they would help, even if we did make contact.

[heritrix]

Can the barrier be penetrated from the outside, then?

[journalname]

Oh, yes, things can enter through. Weapons, for example. They took no chance of us drawing near while the Barrier was still being created.

But it is the leaving that is the problem. Even a human could not leave again on their own, unless they were somehow the equal of the seven humans who created the Barrier.

[heritrix]

[Rin nods, following this.]

But you're out of the barrier now. If we leave this place, you'll have the chance you've needed to free your kingdom now. You can break them out.

[journalname]

Very true! I do hope that is something I can do - but I must leave this place first.

[One thing at a time and all. And, well...

...no. He will think about ways to shatter the Barrier if the opportunity arises. There is no reason it could not be accomplished peacefully, with time and care.]

[heritrix]

[And they still have no idea what's going on. Rin nods in affirmation of Asgore's point, remembering the important reason she came to this window for.]

So we need to find out where we are. Can you see anything?

[Because Rin can't, even as she strains her eyes. Just a lot of white. But maybe a monster's vision is better.]

[journalname]

I cannot. The fog is much too thick. But it must lift at some point, or that itself may give us some clues. Not everywhere has such dense fogs.

[heritrix]

No. [She says softly, as if speaking from a place far away.] They don't.

[But she knows a lot about barriers, and not the kind that trap monsters. If this is the work of a mage, she thinks, it could last longer than we do.]