all those fearful eyes

[journalname]

Who: Asgore and OPEN
What: Asgore revives in the Temple after completely beefing his trial, and finds that he has lost his sight
When: December 19th
Where: The Storyteller's Temple > Islet #1 > Islet #3
Warnings: Don't anticipate anything; will tag if it comes up

Asgore wakes in the dark, on stone, a blazing golden soul still burning in his mind's eye.

At first he thinks he is still in the dark tunnels of the Trial, with no torch yet to light his way. But the sun is warm on his fur, and the air smells like the islands. It's still dark. His eyes are open, so...?

He sits up, hands going to his face in a sudden panic. No scarring, no dust, and he can't think of any reason why there would be. The child hadn't aimed for his face. Justice called only for his death, not putting out his eyes first.

After a frantic moment, he remembers the goldenrod that had adorned his head for weeks after his previous death. There's always a price, isn't there? This must be what it is today. It's much, much worse than a crown of flowers, yet still a small cost to pay in the face of being resurrected after so much death. Even if it weren't, there's nothing to be done about it.

Asgore rises to his feet and takes a few small, cautious steps. The stones of the temple floor are not quite even. He'd never noticed before. He remembers where the mana pool is, in relation to the temple, and that path must be well-worn. But his home is a fair distance and more than one island from here. That's going to be a difficult walk.

Still, Asgore makes it down to the mana pool before giving in and summoning his trident.

You may encounter him making his way slowly across Islet 1 or Islet 3, using the handle end of his huge red trident to feel out his path. He moves slowly, face drawn with weariness and anxiety. Though his eyes have gone milky-white, they still dart about as he tries to navigate his surroundings. He'll likely get used to being without his sight after a little time, but that's later. Today, he just wants to go home.

Comments

Islet 3

[flower_of_innocence]

[Lillie does not leave home any more than she has to as a general rule. Unfortunately, with the rising waters, she'd been wandering the island to escape the ocean's persistent grasping. So when she does at last return home to change clothes and get some food, she is tired.

Tired enough to miss a large white goat monster, who she bumps into lightly on her way back towards the shack.]

Oh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going...Are you alright?

[It's...not like she did any damage, most likely, but she still asks.]

[journalname]

Ah!

[Lillie has a light step and Asgore was focused on other things, so he completely failed to notice her approach right up until she bumped into him. It's like walking into a brick wall. He doesn't stumble, but he does automatically let his trident dissipate into little scarlet sparkles.]

Oh - no, I am alright, thank you. [He turns to face in her general direction, and wow he doesn't like this at all] Are you okay?

[flower_of_innocence]

[She remembers Asgore. Not by name, but they do live on the same Islet and she's seen him around. She doesn't remember him ever having cloudy eyes like this. It's not difficult to tell his sight is either gone or reduced, given how he's not quite looking at her.

Honestly, Lillie isn't up to speed on what happened during the Trials, but she suspects this might be related. She knows it was a dangerous task and she knows that people don't always come back whole from dangerous situations like that. It must be scary to not really know who you're talking to, or where they even are in relation to you, so when she speaks, she tries to make it clear where she is by facing him completely and trying to make her voice carry.]

Yes, I'm fine, but...I don't think we've met properly. My name is Lillie.

[journalname]

[His big ears twitch a little, and he reorients himself to look more directly at her. Her voice is familiar enough, though they've really only spoken in passing.]

My name is Asgore. It is...good to meet you.

[Halfway through that, he started to offer a hand, and then hesitated. Though he thinks he's got a decent idea of where she is in relation to himself, it's still just a little alarming to reach out into the darkness - and towards someone else at that. It would be terrible if he accidentally hit her.]

I'm sorry, I...seem to be having some trouble at the moment.

[flower_of_innocence]

That's alright, I understand...

[Would it be more impolite not to take his hand or to try and ease his insecurity by reaching out and meeting him halfway? Would that be too forward? She hesitates, too, but does decide on (attempting) to clasp his large hand in her own smaller hands, giving it a light squeeze of acknowledgement.

Lillie doesn't want to make assumptions, but...She also doesn't want to remind him of difficult things if she's right. So she refrains from asking about the Trials, despite her curiosity.]

Do you need help getting home?

[journalname]

Ah.

[He smiles a little, giving her hand a very (very) light squeeze back. Her offer isn't the kind of thing he'd normally accept, but they're already close, and the walk over here has been trying...]

Well - if it is not too much trouble. I do not think it is much farther. It is on the eastern point of this island, unless I am very much mistaken.

[flower_of_innocence]

[Lillie nods, even though he can't see it. She can only imagine how terrible it must be to lose your sight. She knows she would personally feel helpless and scared...it might be different for someone as large and imposing looking as Asgore, of course.

She takes a moment to locate the shack she thinks she's seen him coming and going from.]

Okay. Would you like to keep holding my hand, or would you rather follow my voice?

[journalname]

I believe I can follow your voice, thank you.

[At the very least, that seems less imposing than holding her hand, which he's certainly going to let go of now that the moment has passed.]

I hope we will not be going too far out of your way?

[flower_of_innocence]

Oh no, Guzma and I live just by the bridge. [So she'll be escorting him across the islet, in exactly the opposite direction of her home, but really that's okay!] The islet isn't all that big, I don't mind.

[She releases his hand and although her voice tends to be small and quiet, she tries very hard to get it to carry for him as she starts heading towards his shack. Small talk was never her strong suit, but she tries anyway in order to give him something to follow.

Lillie has heard of the death penalties on the islands, but never experienced one herself. When she disappeared, it wasn't due to any kind of death, so she came back in one piece. So it stands to reason Asgore must not have survived his Trial, and lost his sight as a result. Yes, that all sounds about right...she doesn't want to outright ask, but she is extremely curious.]

Your Trial must have been very difficult...I'm sorry you had to go through it.

[journalname]

[Asgore doesn't bother to hide his grimace. Without being able to see Lillie, it's easier to act like he's not being watched.]

Please, do not give it a second thought. [Not like he didn't have that coming.] You did not have to go through any trials?

[flower_of_innocence]

[Lillie glances back at him, feeling slightly embarrassed for mentioning it when she sees the grimace on his face.]

No, thankfully...Guzma and I stayed away from Maati, so we were spared from participating...Enso had its own troubles while everyone was gone, but it wasn't nearly as dangerous.

[journalname]

Oh, dear, I hadn't heard about that. Is everything alright?

[Perhaps it was a little much to thing that Enso would've just been fine.]

[flower_of_innocence]

Oh, yes - the water has gone away now, but it was rising for a while. It wasn't...natural, though. It didn't behave the way water should.

[She shudders, recalling the imagery shown to her when the water pulled her and Guzma under.]

It showed us strange visions when it caught up with us...I think it was trying to tell us something.

islet 1

[counterblows]

[The routine, looping trauma of dying over and over again isn't even the worst thing to ever happen to him, but he's still raw from it, a bundle of nerves spritzed in gasoline, and attempting to pour that lingering energy into something productive hasn't been successful.]

[He's fully armored-up at the moment, patrolling the islets out of the same methodical rote that's plagued him since his arrival, the festering need to do something with himself - not that it matters.]

[All told, Asgore is difficult to miss. He's moving slowly, tentatively, in a way that doesn't suggest injury so much as it does something less immediate.]

[Wash calls out loudly - clearly.]

You injured?

[journalname]

[The sudden voice startles Asgore somewhat, though it's really only visible in just how quickly he turns to face Wash. That call was clear enough that he's facing in pretty much the right direction; it's just that his cloudy eyes fail to focus on anything.]

No, I am not hurt. I...my most recent death seems to have affected my sight, that is all.

[He seems sort of embarrassed to admit that? Or maybe he's just tired.]

[counterblows]

[It only takes a minute to parse what's wrong with him. His eyes look filmed over, milk-white, and his gaze doesn't settle on anything in particular.]

[The way his stomach dropped out from under him when he figured out what dying took from C.T. had been abrupt and unavoidable. By contrast, now there's only the muted hook and drag of revelation.]

...the Trials, right?

[journalname]

Exactly so.

[Asgore's smile is small and forced, and vanishes quickly.]

Were there very many trials? I have only spoken to the others from my own group. There were seven of us, I believe.

[counterblows]

You remember the symbol you got on your hand?

[He didn't think those deaths would have the kinds of repercussions that they, apparently, have - but you learn something new.]

Mine was yellow.

[journalname]

Orange, for me. The Trial of the Brave...

[He says, more wryly than he usually allows.]

I do not suppose yours was the Just?

[counterblows]

The Forgiving, actually.

[His tone is equally dry. Forgiving being what all of them had to learn to be, presumably.]

We all died. A...number of times. But we came back, like it was nothing. [The question there is implicit - so how come is it that someone else would come back with a penalty yoked around their neck?]

[journalname]

Us as well.

[Yeeeeah, he gets it.]

But we were only given ten attempts. After that, I suppose it stuck. I do believe most of the others made it out, at least.

[counterblows]

Ten for us, each. [Washington nods, wearily. Goddamn miracle he managed to make it out, given the circumstances. Raises the question of what, exactly, was so difficult that it killed this massive, physically imposing creature ten times over.]

What did you have to do?

[journalname]

[In retrospect, Asgore realizes that he should have seen that question coming. Instead he just flinches a little.]

Ah...we were in a maze, and had to fight our way out. It was filled with shadows from our pasts. People we'd known...

[Things we regretted. The words die in his throat.]

[counterblows]

You got a maze.

[He muses it aloud, seemingly unbothered by the hedging and stopping and starting that Asgore's giving him.]

We just had a straight walk. Like - was it like the way things were in October?

[journalname]

[If anything, that makes it easier. Asgore doesn't really want that kind of attention on his own difficulties.]

Similar. These were much more direct in their attempts to kill us. We could see each other's this time, but we could still only interact with our own. There was no chance of helping each other fight.