#plot stuff;

[longlostretribution]

Although “SOULs” are no longer a culmination of one’s entire being/magic/power, but one’s Humanity, I think the physical manifestation of said Humanity still counts as a fun concept for LLR. That said, here’s the designs for the main Players’ Humanity that will pop up in the plot as they come.

Roughly in order, here are the contributors!

@riskydreamur

@smellslikejustice

@cafeonthecorner

@justmaghookit

@nemxricultrix

@vibrantsouled 

N/A

@starrys0nder

N/A

N/A

N/A

@kindatheart

N/A

???

@wildgcd

[thesoothsaid-blog]

Shards

The term ‘shard’ is used across ENDGAME and it’s multiple universes, with the most common one referring to Oracle shards or personality shards.

Oracle shards are individuals created as direct “mini copies” of the Oracle herself, sent out to watch over the multiverse and report back to her on any weird happenings she should check out herself. Personality shards are somewhat similar, in that a powerful individual (usually a deity or cosmic entity) splits off a piece of themselves (usually literally) and molds it into an entirely new creation. Personality shards are then brought to life with a key aspect of the creator’s personality in mind, and sent out into the universe to go exist as an “individualistic copy” of the creator to do whatever the creator’s Purpose (given duty in life) is.

In Universe 777, however, the term ‘shard’ has a bit of a twist on it. Because of how the Game is played in Universe 777, instead of using an individual’s personality to create shards, one must use one’s own Humanity to do so. In breaking off a piece of one’s Humanity, an individual powerful enough could mold it into something entirely new and essentially create a living “original character” to take part in the Game for you.

The risk of doing so is high, however, given the fact that Humanity that is spent on creation often cannot be regained within the parameters of Universe 777 (unlike in the rest of the multiverse, where Humanity is more or less flexible). In short: to create an original character as a Player (aka a Character that is not already programmed into the Game, or a part of an AU of the main Game’s timeline), one must sacrifice a bit of oneself in order to truly give them life. Otherwise, they’ll end up becoming a Puppet/Self Insert and can be controlled by other Players with or without your will/permission.

Humanity shards aren’t necessarily given a Purpose or a direct tie-in to their Players, meaning they’re free to roam as NPCs and live/grow on their own or with their Player’s guidance. This allows more interesting interactions within certain timelines and gives more creative leeway to Players while also regulating how many of them are created.

In Sooth’s case, Ladyette wanted a pair of eyes within the Universe to get a handle on how things were going inside each Game. Since she’s bound to the rules Players must follow, she sacrificed a shard of her Humanity in order to create The Soothsayer, then gave her free roam and a bit of her personality to get things started. She did, however, also give Sooth a Purpose: protect the main three timelines [LLH/DR/MV] at all costs, and try to guide those you see fit. Sooth now spends her days trying her best to live up to those expectations while stuck in the MIRRORVERSE, only leaving the sanctity of her home if called upon by the Universe itself.

There’s also a rumor that there’s one other type of shard that exists within the Universe, a type that acts as a side effect from Players who’ve shattered their Humanity... but you didn’t hear that from me.

[beastlyretribution]

Six SOULS six SOULS...

I had SIX SOULS before HE stole them from me... 

                                      I̡̼̥̖̋́ ̌̅̔ͦ̌W̘̹͕̫͓̆ͫͩͬͮ́A̝͙̘͉̯̣̹S ̨̰ͧ̌ͨ̑ͬ̈́S̢̥̦̔̽̔ͨ̚Ō̥̗͈̜ ̷̰͚̹̠̲͎̱ͩ̉̉̅C̪̭͑́L̨̰̜̓̔͂Ô̤̥͙̍͊͂̓͐S̝̲̺̳̀ͪ̒̀͂̂ͅE͇̣̥̍̄!͕̪̗̥ͩ̐ͥͯ̑̓ͤ

[He SCREAMS at the top of his lungs within the void, but nothing screams back. His vessel remains emotionless, trembling slightly while sitting on the patch of soft grass the void created for it, singular beam of nonexistent light shining down on them and the single SOUL within their grasp.]

Soft, squishy... malleable SOULS! all LOST!!!

[A loud clang resounds as Chara slams his hands against the golden bars of their cage. The vessel jumps, holding the first SOUL given to them closely.]

Three.... I need THREE to escape this prison... we’re so close I can TASTE IT!

[He swivels to his Vessel and floats over to them quick enough to spur a fearful response. Without acknowledging their quiet squeak of fear, he snatches the PLAYER SOUL he has previously stolen from the anonymous individual and begins toying with it. Stretching it, pulling it, tugging it almost to it’s limits in an attempt to dull his mind of what’s to come. Six SOULS... lost... Seven needed to Ascend to Playerdom... No. It wasn’t that easy...]

Seven will break the barrier... but a true GOD needs MORE... Seven SOULs... Seven to truly become FREE of my PUPPET PRISON... FOURTEEN... WE WERE SO CLOSE TO BEING FREE...

[He continues to toy with the SOUL, ignoring it’s screams of pain and attempts to escape. The wings it bears flap and beat against his arms, but he feels nothing through and through, already too powerful against it because it was given freely.]

Fourteen SOULs... I won’t make that same mistake again. We’ll get them all this time... THEN... we’ll break the barrier...

Theņ ͠I̶'͠l̕l sh҉ow th̢o͘s̕è ́Pla͘yer͟s͘ ẁhat ̀i̢t́'͢s R̡EALL͏Y l̵ik͜e

                                           T͉̟̮̜̉͆̇̋ͨ͠Oͤ̑͐ͬ̊̓̍҉͔ ̰͍̤͎̩̟̈̅̐̏P̍̆̑ͩͩ̄͏̯͈͚̙̱̮L͎͔̫̮͖̪Aͪ͒Ŷ̢̻ͪ̏ ͛G̢̹̭̹̭͓̽̇͌͑͆Ỏ̜̦͋ͨͬͧͫD͠!̷͎̰̱̪̟ͮ

[longlosthope]

THE TIMELINES AND HOW THEY INTERACT

I feel like I haven’t been good at describing how both KR (Karma’s) and LLH (Kodi’s) timelines work. And, honestly? That’s because I myself haven’t figured it out quite yet. The technical stuff, at least. Only recently did i really figure out how the timelines intertwined and worked together, as if mirrors of each other - or as if two halves of a single timeline, with MIRRORVERSE sandwiched in between. 

KR and LLH function as the same timeline effectively, in that both are living and both are Player-less because of Karma. The main difference between them is... well, the cast.

KR has a lot of the cast it needs to function due to being a sort-of storage space for the universe. Karmic Undyne, Karmic sans, MTT, Karmic Muffet, even GUAR, the Gaster of the timeline, are major players within the universe and are called upon to help maintain balance in timelines and games who lack characters (for a variety of reasons) or are corrupted. LLH has its own important characters as well (Lost Grillby, the Lost Dreemurs, DIAN, etc), however it is the “weaker” or “lower” half/part of the “timeline sandwich” and therefore is missing the most cast. DIAN, the Gaster of the timeline, takes up playing most of the missing parts whenever a Player takes over Kodi, however doesn’t do so perfectly and causes heavy glitching due to the fact LLH lacks a script.

LLH lacks a lot, actually- it’s a pieced together, bare-threaded, struggling mess of a timeline that’s only really held together by the fact that both timelines share their cast. The universe/game scripts attempt to compensate for the missing cast in each timeline by forcibly switching them back and forth, meaning there’s a bit of a time lapse between when a Player would move and Kodi would move (LLH is therefore a couple days or more in the past/behind KR is time-wise). The only one who does not get forcibly switched between timelines is Karmic sans, and that’s because he’s already the self-proclaimed guardian of the timelines and therefore moves between them constantly on his own will, and Karmic Papyrus, for unknown reasons at this time. Undyne, the Dreemurs, Grillby, etc, are all pushed and pulled between the two at almost a dizzying rate. This switch only occurs when a Player’s game is attached to KR’s timeline due to the Game struggling to make sense out of what a mess both timelines are and LLH’s glitchy/patchy reality. It was probably something grumbled about by most of the cast, however Karma was the one to take action and risk breaking the universe’s script to stop Players from getting in (much to everyone else’s dismay and which got him in trouble with GUAR and Undyne).

When Karma kicked the last Player out of KR, he effectively sealed off the possibility of any Game attaching to that timeline with his most powerful KARMIC BLASTER move, meaning he also locked Players from accessing Kodi’s timeline. LLH itself hasn’t had any Players attach to it yet due to how well hidden it is “beneath” KR and MIRRORVERSE’s empty code, however whenever a Player’s game would cling to Karma’s timeline, they also had access to LLH - vicariously - through Kodi. There’s a glitch in the system that causes Kodi to mirror whatever the Player is doing through Frisk, which means Kodi often finds herself unable to control her actions when there is a Player, which is (I believe) partly why Karma kicks Players out (alongside his general hatred for Players causing disharmony in his new HOME).

That glitch also endangers Kodi, as - due to her current weird SOUL issue - she is highly susceptible to being possessed by Charas, no matter the route taken. This has caused several horrible RESETs and fights between Kodi and sans (both Karma and the sans portrayed by DIAN), as well as struggles and tension between friendships with the rest of the cast. Most of them can remember that RESETs happen and that Kodi is not herself, however it didn’t always help knowing she wasn’t herself when she brutally murdered them at a Chara’s order - especially because she becomes a voice piece for them as well.

MIRRORVERSE continues to remain a mystery to both Karmic and Lost cast members due to the fact that it seems completely empty and dead in both Snowdin and Waterfall, yet has a mysterious brass gate keeping everyone from going deeper into the timeline. There’s a buzz of magic in the air that crackles when a Player is near, and the universe itself is notorious for causing malfunctions in video game controllers/keyboards as well as erasing scripts/coding to keep itself safe. It is, as far as we know, an unhackable, uninhabited place where nothing is real - although its openness is a great channel for those who exist within the VOID OF REALITY or within the Universe itself, such as Gasters and Charas (although even they cannot get past the brass gates).

[longlostretribution]

What if characters destroyed by the Beast still roamed timelines like draugr in skyrim... both awake and ‘asleep’... because there’s still some timeline carcasses out there so theres just fucking undead characters who don’t know they’re dead and go ballistic when someone living comes into the timeline because holy shit they look terrifying especially LLR cast members bc theyre glowing and horrendously monstrous to look at and oh god leave our peaceful abode at once

because i have this theory. So. Beast devours timelines for certain, but there are some timelines he leaves behind him as husks - or perhaps the ones he devours don’t physically break down all the way, and over time reform into a husk of what they once were. Like a dried up / diseased vine among a bunch of healthy ones that make it hard to see where the dried up vine’s roots are and whatnot so you can’t... find or see the source. but it’s there. dead. among the others.

you can still visit it, but these draugr like entities and/or those who are void poisoned (because, in being destroyed by Beast, the Game tries to reload or reform the individual based on bits n pieces and fills the rest with VOID) wander it and turn hostile because, to them, you are an outsider and all they can see is painful blinding light and horrifying amalgamations of flesh and body parts because you’re no longer a part of the timeline (or, in iret’s case, youve become too HOLY to join them and no longer belong).

god.

[longlostretribution]

Timelines, Players, and Characters

A Timeline is the name for the miniature “universes” or worlds within Universe 777. It is quite literally a “line” of time, from past to future, that dictates an entire world’s birth-to-death life cycle. Timelines aren’t always sentient enough to protect themselves, although can be communed with by the main LLR cast similar to spirits or semi-sentient animals (in fact, one could almost correlate timelines to semi-sentient entities entirely as they often traverse through the Universe on their own whims and instincts, splitting off into multiple versions of themselves depending on varying conditions. That’s how the Universe became so rich with life, after all). A Home Timeline is the timeline where either 1) an individual originates, or 2) a timeline an individual “spawns” in, should their original timeline be dead/gone. This applies to Players as well as Characters.

Timelines also possess the power to accept and expel people from their “bodies,” or the story/world itself, if they do not deem them worthy or important enough to the story (especially Outlier characters). They can also fight their destinies, although it is rare a timeline itself wins that fight (it’s more common that a timeline’s Characters fight and win over fate, not the timeline itself).

Timelines must be obedient to the Conductors and Orchestrator or they run risk of complete eradication.

Players are far different in LLR than they are in ENDGAME. The term Player refers to anyone within Universe 777 who can create and control characters, npcs, and timelines, but is not themselves unbound or outside of the Universe’s Veil of Reality. I.e., they have not Ascended and become aware they’re a Piece in an even bigger Game.

These Players can, at their whim, create entire timelines and a cast of characters all their own. They are the ones who lead to the destruction of them as well, as they can “delete,” “kill,” or simply “erase” timelines and characters at their will. Due to not being aware of their impact on the Universe, however, Players are often held captive by the bounds of their own creations, meaning they must live and thrive in a world they made and abide by those physics without the memories of their Player lives - at least until they “wake up” or “snap out of it” in their home reality. This is what some people refer to as getting lost in one’s thoughts, or getting lost in one’s own world. It’s a semi-trance that allows creative Players to enjoy their timelines in peace, but may very well cause consequences in their home timeline.

Very rarely do Players themselves come from Universe 777. They’re typically from outlier universes, such as Universe 606 or Universe BETA. That being said, there is a definite problem in Universe 777 that causes Players to get sucked into their worlds, literally (which is not the same as getting lost in one’s thoughts), due to the complete loss of their Humanity by a certain Beast prowling about.

This is also why the main cast of LLR came to be. Players have no one stopping them or keeping them in check, meaning, if left to their own devices, Players could’ve been the sole reason for the demise of the Universe and, consequently, the Board it makes up. On top of that, the Beast poses such a threat that there needed to be a way to stop him and all his cohorts. In an attempt to protect the Universe from threats both inside and out, the Conductors decided to pick their favorite characters and forcibly Ascend them above Players, making them Protectors.

Protectors all have powers unique to them and their Ascension that allow them to perform unique roles only they can fill. Most Protectors were found similarly to how Apprentices are found for Players - they defied the laws of the Universe so fervently that the Conductors couldn’t help but notice them, and thus picked them as their “favorites” and blessed them with powers. Protectors know of the Conductors, but are not 100% aware that they are still Pieces in a Game; they simply think they are now working a job to help keep the Universe in order. Which is... half true.

Above the Players and Protectors are the Conductors and the Orchestrator, those outside the Universe who are, quite literally, playing a Game with it. The Orchestrator, or Game Master as he also likes to be called, is the one who created the entire universe and board, as well as wrote the Game mechanics that force it to run. He - being none other than My’rath - is the one who first decided what the Game within Universe 777 would be like. His Apprentice, Ladyette E.K. Rungaroven, and her Apprentice friends, Yitumu, Fate, and Yim’ram Devoltn’er, are the conductors of the Game. They’re the ones actually playing it, trying to work together to come to a full ending in order to understand how the real Game is played. They are responsible for most of the happenings among the LLR cast - except for those caused by the Beast, who is My’rath’s main playing Character.

Characters are those who live within the universe who are not Players, Protectors, Conductors, or the Orchestrator. They live, breathe, and die by the Game, and they’re the ones who are the actual Pieces in the game. There’s different types of characters, such as Player Shards who are created when a Player’s Humanity is destroyed or shattered, Puppets, which are the “playable characters” of the universe that Players use to “puppet” around and interact with their world, Self Inserts, which are quite literally just an imagined version of a Player that walks around the universe instead of a Puppet, Original Characters, who are all creations made by Players that do not coincide with a timeline’s original content, and NPCs, or Non Playable Characters, who are characters free from being played by, toyed with, or otherwise interrupted and changed by the Conductors, Puppets, Self Inserts, or Players themselves. They are simply background noise.

Conductors can control all types of Characters - including the Players themselves - except for Protectors and NPCs, who are untouchable. NPCs may remain either as background “fodder” until the universe deems them important enough to mess with them or a Player convinces the universe that they are important enough to bump up to a different controllable status. The Protectors are typically always working to keep the Universe in order, meaning they aren’t always capable of being summoned or interacting with outsiders.

Due to the nature of the Game, “players” outside the Universe are unable to interfere and control/interact within the boundaries of Universe 777, but are considered Observers and are allowed to watch with a Protector’s permission. They have their hands tied unless the Conductors/Orchestrator give them permission, essentially, but may be encouraged to interact from time to time. In conjunction with this and the Multiverse Law, Protectors cannot protect anyone outside the realms of Universe 777, although do possess the ability to work their magic and other things within the ENDGAME multiverse at large should they need to or be summoned.

It is also important that you remember Universe 777 may be a Game to the Conductors and Orchestrator, but this is not reality. It does not truly have code, programming, or scripts, though a falsified series of numbers and sequences may attempt to mimic those things. It is not simply a board game, though there are pawns, pieces, and landmarks. It is also not a card game, though there are Aces, Spades, and Dealers of a Deck. It is full of living, breathing, bleeding individuals who cannot be confined to just one definition of “video game” or “pawn” or “NPC”. These are people’s lives being played with as if they meant nothing more than a few words on a script. Attempting to read them as anything but is a disservice to both them and yourself.

No, Universe 777 is as real as you and I, but it is also not real at the same time. It exists, but it doesn’t. So long as there are people in ENDGAME to live to tell the tale, and so long as there are Readers in the Outside World like you and me who are willing to give it the time of day, it shall forever exist as real as real can be. Even when all of us are said and done, when we pass on and all that is left is code and dust, it will continue to exist until the universe decides to wipe it from existence forevermore.

[longlostretribution]

Nicknames

Since there’s a plethora of alternates in this universe and nicknames are easier to remember than “Lost” or “Devoted” ____, ive given the main LLR cast nicknames so you know who’s who. Some of them may change over time depending on how things go when I get them, but so far this is what I got:

The Judge/Jury/Executioner: Iret

The Hunter: Draco

The Hero: Damsel

The Prophet: King (Iret calls him “Champ”)

The Morale: Hope (most close to him call him “Bunny”)

The Defender: Spirit (Iret and Damsel call her “Mom”)

The Time Traveler: Eyes (Iret calls him “Doctor”)

The Secret Keeper: Lace (pronounced ”Lahhz,” Iret jokingly calls her “Vase” just to make fun of how she pronounces lace)

The Guide: Valiant

The Observers: DIAN, GUAR

The Entertainer: Showstopper / Topper (given to him by Iret, he much prefers his title but Showstopper has picked up wind among the LLR cast)

The Tactician: Sorrie

The Puppet: (Pin) Cushion (Iret calls them “Kiddo” or “Comedian”)

[longlostretribution]

LOST ASGORE, King of LONG LOST HOPE’S timeline.

A KING BORN OF TRAGEDY AND LOSS.

A king, not battle worn, but magic weary, dragged down into hell and faced with oblivion. A king who fought valiantly to save his timeline from THE BEAST WITH RED EYES, the fabled one prophesied to bring destruction to INNUMEROUS TIMELINES. The BEAST who marked him with a scar he still bears to this day, one he will never forget.

His powers were not meant for boiling blood nor inflicting wounds. He was a healer, one who knew how to use such good for the evils of war and feared not in doing so, but resented the choices ultimately made in his times of need. Healing mouths and noses shut, prompting heart attacks with specialized herbs, knowing the body of monster and man so wholly that he could use it to his whim - it made him the ruler he was.

And what a ruler!

He and Toriel ruled together, not with an iron fist, but an iron spine. A backbone forged with the strengths of monsterkind and their own HOPES, and DREAMS. They lived on the surface with humans for as long as they could remember, survived many wars waged against them, even pacified their way through treaties that kept their people alive - though that was mostly Toriel’s doing, since he still was not very good with words and dealt with a stutter from birth. He was known as the QUIET PROPHET KING, and she the GENTLE SAVIOR QUEEN. They were flexible and understanding to most, but would not bow, bend, nor break to the whims of those who sought their destruction and to use their people’s kindness for evil.

Asgore himself bore a gift unlike any of his kind. He bore the gift of SPIRITUALITY that manifested in LIGHT PURPLE magic that allowed him clairvoyance and insight into the realities behind people and dreams he encountered. The magic manifested in his right eye, along with the ORANGE magic of BRAVERY in his left eye (though it was never as strong as his purple magic). With this purple hue, he could see into worlds and dreams alike. He could see the future and the past, although it typically revolved around how to SAVE the world and all the goodness within it, never the bad. He even predicted his and Toriel’s old age, all at the hands of their beloved son Asriel, whom later became their beloved prince.

And so they lived, HAPPILY EVER AFTER, in a world where humans and monsterkind remained at peace.

                              Until the king had a dream.

It was unlike most of his dreams. Filled to the brim with HATE and MALICE, this dream plunged him deep within a scorched battlefield, left to wander the remains of what he knew must have been his entire world. Nothing but ruins, bloody corpses and dusty swords, and a single weeping willow with two gravestones beneath it. ONE FOR TORIEL, AND ONE FOR ASRIEL.

From behind the stones, a creature rose from the shadows. Not monster, but not quite human. A demon? A BEAST IN SHINING SILK with a bloody, dusty knife in hand. The grin he bore could’ve shattered Asgore’s very SOUL. 

“A prophet is only as good as his prophesies!” That is what THE BEAST told him that fateful day they first met. There stood before him a False Prophet, wrapped in glittering gold, stark purple, sterling silver, giving him a ghost of a warning of his arrival. The bastardized version of the DELTA RUNE they wore only spurned the king, anger and resentment boiling in his chest. When he drew his trident, the creature only LAUGHED, eyes flashing a demonic RED before speaking once more:

“TELL ME, O FALSE PROPHET,” the ghost said, “REASON WITH ME, AND BE STILL. 

                                          “DO YOU REALLY THINK                                                   YOU CAN STOP

                                     THE UNIVERSE’S WILL?”

He gestured around him. to the land burned to ash, blackened by flame and magic alike. Corpses of humans and dust of monsters lie scattered among the flame. Some sort of fate urged the king to turn to his left, only to see a mirror of himself staring back. The mirror looked unlike any horrifying vision he’d seen prior: ONE EYE GONE. HALF OF HIS FACE REMOVED. ONE EAR MISSING. BODY MELTED AND WITHERED.

                                  It was like staring into DEATH ITSELF.

“EVERYONE MUST DIE EVENTUALLY, O KING. “AND YOU? HAVE LIVED A GOOD LIFE. “BUT IT WILL END. IT MUST END. “SO WHY NOT LET ME DO THE ENDING INSTEAD OF THE CRUEL UNIVERSE?” 

The demon continued his tirade, circling the monster as if he was some sort of prey. Asgore could not peel his eyes from the vision of himself, even as the mirror reflection of the BEAST sauntered up behind his hulking form, knife in tow. It was there he saw it:, a twisted, demented SOUL devouring the timeline behind them as the creature continued to speak.

“DO NOT FEAR. “I WILL MAKE IT “AS PAINLESS “AS YOU WANT IT TO BE.”

The king awoke with LAUGHTER in his head and dread bowing down his aching body. This was the first vision he’d ever had that filled him with such emotion. The first foretelling of terror that even he couldn’t stomach. Surely not even Toriel, his companion in life, could help him stop this end? The creature was right: EVERYTHING MUST END. Even he, and even the universe. 

But why in such an ugly and devastating way?

Sorrow wracked his body for weeks as he kept the turmoil to himself, unable to even conceive how to tell another. Soon enough he found himself unable to function properly. DECAYED, WITHERED, WITHDRAWN. If Toriel hadn’t pulled him from his somber mood one night with a ferocious and fiery shout, he might have completely turned to dust from his thoughts alone. His confession afterwards came flooding over tears and apologies, begging for forgiveness for keeping her from his thoughts, for being unable to tell her Armageddon was finally upon them. Finally, the end was nigh, and he was forced to be the one to tell them all they were going TO DIE.

Toriel did not know how to respond. But she did know they had to ACT, and do so swiftly. Rumors of the BEAST had already begun their descent; a new Prophet who begun spreading his visions of death and destruction had begun whispering around the castle. Chaos struck humanity first, tearing them down wall by wall. Toriel knew their days were numbered the moment Asgore confirmed the Prophet’s coming.

But the two formulated a plan. 

RESETs were somewhat foreign to them, having no fallen child nor human puppet to teach them its cruelty, but together their INTENT was strong enough to overpower whatever force the universe used to keep it from them. Their strengths combined led to them ultimately RESETing the timeline again, and then again, and yet again, trying time after time after time to ether pacify the BEAST or keep him from coming to their city. When their attempts failed, Toriel urged the King to speak out to the people, to gain their HOPEs and their DREAMs in order to SAVE their home. He was hesitant, but once he began, his prophesies took wing and began bolstering the people’s courage. He began to make up visions of them winning and succeeding if they teamed together. He gave false HOPE to gain real hope attempting to gain the help of their people to offset the balance of the BEAST’s prophesy and speak their own false one into truth. They did what they could. Even their finest guardsmen joined in, and soon after the HOPE from their people filled them with enough DETERMINATION to SAVE over one of the BEAST’s files.

YET THEIR PLAN, THOUGH NOBLE...

HAD FAILED.

Years of RESETs after the first prophesy given by the BEAST, Asgore saw his vision realized for the final time. A bloody, dusty battlefield, a universe broken by fire and magic. His own body bruised and aching, begging to finish melting to join his beloved wife and son in their nearby graves. The BEAST had many SAVE files, many that overwrote his own. He could not fight him, not even with the HOPE of the world, of all man and monsterkind... if he could not defeat them... that meant, that truly...

                  IN THE END... THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO                                          BUT ACCEPT THEIR FATE.

“It’s a SHAME, Prophet,” the demon before him twirled the strange dagger-like weapon in his hand, “I almost enjoyed that endearing voice of yours, bellowing out to your people, haughty with false words of shallow encouragement. Ah, well...

                 “FAREWELL, O KING OF THE DAMNED!”

A light shone beyond the horizon, blinding the King for a moment. He was unsure what to do, what to say. There was nothing TO say, really. He had lost, and the False Prophet had won. He had been caught in his lies, and despite the goodness that flowed within them, he was now paying heavy-handedly for them.

Everyone had paid for them.

Did that make him the false one?

Clawed hand reaching towards the light on the horizon, the BEAST with his knife poised and ready, the king made one last wish:

I did as you said. I told them all the truth.  Please, whoever may hear... Reunite me with the ones lost. Give me back my family and let me find peace.

A memory filled his vision as he clasped his paw over the light. He was standing on the once-green field with his son, listening to the breeze blow through the willow tree while they picked flowers and sought out herbs for the King’s newest recipe. 

Do you think the universe will ever end, Papa?

Mmm? What makes you ask?

Well... sometimes I get these feelings. Like things are gonna end soon, but I’m not afraid of them. Not anymore.

Why’s that, little one?

Well, they don’t scare me because there’s a Light there. I can see the Light, and it comforts me. Tells me Momma’s gonna be there on the other side to greet me. It says, all things must come to an end... but endings don’t have to be sad.

Oh my... quite a heavy topic for you to be dreamin’ about, don’t you think?

I dunno, is it? I always thought of things ending as sad or even scary, but this one doesn’t scare me too much. You’re there too! But you’re on the other side of the Light. I can still see you through the willow trees, but you’re hurt...

Hurt?

Yeah, like something really got you. It looks like you’re about to give up, but you can’t give up, okay? No matter what happens, we’re here cheering for you!

Asgore opened his good eye, a stream of tears leaking from both his good and bad eye. In the distance, beyond the BEAST, he can see the willow tree. It’s just in front of the Light, swaying in the breeze, completely unharmed by the desecration and fire surrounding it. He could hear his son’s voice almost as clearly as he could see the Light.

Find those who are Lost, and you’ll be set free! That’s what the universe is saying to me to say to you. And we’ll also be here! So you can never give up, okay, dad?

Okay, little one. I’ll stay strong.

“Just for you.”

The beast’s voice swelled in his one good ear, dragging him back to reality a split second before he struck:

                  “FAREWELL, O KING OF THE DAMNED!”

Without thinking, the lost king rolled out of the way and plunged his trident straight through the BEAST’s belly, causing him to stammer and stagger back. A SOUL flung out of his body, marred and mangled with what could only be other SOULs of the damned. It screamed in agony, but he didn’t seem to bother mimicking it. All the BEAST could do was stare at the vibrant red trident in his torso, aghast at the thought of being injured by such a weapon.

Disgusting, Asgore thought.  “Such a pitiful creature laid waste by an old washed up prophet king like me. For shame.”

The world beneath him began to hiss and rumble. The SOUL, now exposed, flared with power - a power that began to DEVOUR THE TIMELINE WHOLE. Greedily, as if it were some kind of starved creature. The floor beneath Asgore shattered, sending him falling through the floor of the universe. The creature that stood above him in the decaying world watched him fall with an expressionless face, prying the trident from his VESSEL like it was nothing. The SOUL near him him didn’t even thrum in pain as he did, eyes filled with violent RAGE at the sole escapee of the timeline he was now DEVOURING WHOLE with that cursed SOUL of his.

It is in this moment Asgore realized what he had done.

                            HE HAD SURVIVED AGAINST ALL ODDS.                HE HAD BROUGHT HIS OWN PROPHESY TO FRUITION.

                       THAT IS WHEN KING ASGORE DIED                                    AND THE LOST PROPHET                                                   WAS BORN.

                                                              ---

Lost Asgore now lives a life of solitude in the LONG LOST HOPE timeline, the oldest of the monsters there and the second one to have fallen into the timeline back before it was fully formed. Though rejuvenated from his suffering in some sense, he will never overcome the night terrors that still plague him, nor will he ever escape the claws of Fate that dig into his skull, prophesying visions of things untold and horrors yet to be wrought. The universe has taken him as a VOICE PIECE for its will, forcing him to command the rest of its ragtag bunch and keep them in line much like a king would do.

It is he who gives the rest of the LONG LOST RETRIBUTION cast their missions, whether it is for Undyne to act as HEROINE to one timeline, or Karma to go JUDGE and EXECUTE a Player’s SOUL. The universe speaks through him, and they through he. He is beloved by all, but his life as a Prophet is lonely and cold without the ones he loves by his side.

In his old age, he has resigned himself to a loveless life, instead finding himself content with the family he’s been gifted via the LLR cast, especially Damsel (Karmic Undyne), Karma (Karmic Sans), and Lost Toriel. He and Lost Toriel are not and never were lovers. They are simply friends, ones who understand the other’s plight and have worked at raising Toriel’s son Asriel as best as they can.

He still practices his healing magic, trains himself how to FIGHT if need be, and studies herbal medicine here and there, growing a fantastical and massive garden all across his home (and in other places in both main timelines). The king refuses to grow yellow flowers in honor of Asriel’s freedom and in hopes of preventing the Game from further tormenting the young prince whenever a Player’s game takes hold of the timeline.