"I know you like my tail, but is there a reason you're almost dry humping it?" Heart asked as King clung to their lower half like a second skin.
“Because I need something to feel better…to not feel like I’ve been used and abused…” King explained sadly.
"Still can't believe they did the whole book." Heart said, patting King's head as they were moving from the kitchen to the couch, using their long lower half to drop King onto the seat next to them.
“At least they gave me a chance to…at least attempt to revive four of our kids…” The den mother said sadly. “Cause apparently…when Lord said he took everything from me…he meant everything...and it was in Rune’s book…”
"Well, the two of them are Admins of Fetishes, and yes, Fetishes, so I guess that would have happened at some point. Accident or not. And I'm sure Lyra had a part in you being able to revive them. She is a Goddess of children so, she wouldn't let them stay dead."
“But…even if I’m the Admin of Nothingness, one of the many area’s that revolves around the soul…” King said bitterly. “I…we couldn’t bring them back fully…they’re missing pieces of their soul’s and I don’t know how to fix it…they’re hurting in ways I can’t imagine, and not just physically…”
"Well, Cript told me there hasn't been an Admin of Souls in…ever. Likely not since the first cycle and all he really knew about them was how to get them to multiply in a similar way to, well, having a kid but… given what happened with you… well, maybe you can make an artificial soul? Didn't a few Undertale AU's do that?"
“Yeah, and I would love to figure that out…” King sighed. “I…I’m just so tired…”
"Wanna nap on the bed, here on me or in me?" Heart asked.
“On you…” King said. “I…I need someone…” The wolf whimpered. “And…it kinda hurts how I’m probably never going to forgive either Rune’s…even if it is all Lords fault…”
"Knowing Lord, I doubt he cares if you do or not." Heart shrugged as King laid down, resting their head atop their lowest breast to use as a pillow. "I was gonna watch Turning Red. Think you'll be up enough to watch it with me?"
“Yes.” King nodded. “I need something nice and sweet after…everything.”
The two watched the movie in silence, only the movie and the crunch of popcorn and sip of soda made any noise. When it ended, Heart quickly put on another movie. Movie after movie well until King fell asleep.
Heart sighed as they held onto King's sleeping form. "What can we do…" They muttered, thinking about how best to help King and the four children.
King awoke with a yawn and the scent of bacon in their nose.
“Oh the sweet smell of bacon.” King smiled happily.
As they got up and opened their eyes they saw Heart in the kitchen, massive trays of fried bacon filled multiple plates. "Morning. For being, well, beings not needing sleep you sure did sleep in."
“Yeah…it’s been a trying time.” The den mother shrugged. “Especially when half of that trial was me being unable to sleep because of the cold.”
"Fair." Heart said, picking up two of the many stacked plates and placing them before King, who began eating them readily. "So… I was thinking over the last… week you slept."
“Damn, a week?” King asked in surprise even through a mouthful of food.
"Well, technically eight days but it was late afternoon when you fell asleep so I don't count it. Anyway, I was thinking on how to best help make new souls… and realized there are really only two people in existence that can help you."
“Who?” The wolf asked all too readily and quickly.
"Well, based on the info in that scroll, Vincent would be one but I doubt he'd want to help you. Especially for a personal reason. Which leaves the only other being in existence as old as him… Lord."
“Oh come the fuck on…” King growled. “I’d sooner split his skull in half right now…”
"I know, but he is the only being old and strong enough to make it work, plus he is on our side unlike Vincent. Plus, if this all works out well, there could be a new Admin of souls, the first in forever."
“I mean…that would be great.” King nodded. “Well, they all should be finishing up destroying the Chaos God’s in the Warhammer 40K world that’s just outside our borders…hopefully the many races there will be at least friendly enough to not try to be hostile immediately.”
"Weird. Well, come on, eat up and then let's head off to Lord's lab." Heart said, putting a handful of bacon into King's mouth.
“Alright.” King nodded. “And also…well I sent them their cause I wanted to see how…badly their souls were affected against the very being’s that embodied what they were cursed with.”
"And I'm guessing it's bad." Heart said, heading back to the kitchen, putting more bacon on the skillet to fry.
“So bad that they not only killed those Chaos Gods, metaphysical embodiments of certain aspects in that world, but did so by using ‘cleansed’ versions of their powers. Like Smoke using the Ultimate Plague to literally purify an entire realm that’s supposed to be of Rot, Decay and Death, Obsidian using Ultra Violence to spread Non-Lethal Mercy to those that deserved it, Apollo bringing Understanding to the Unknowable, and then Angel…well it was a little extreme when the last one literally devoured the Chaos God of Excess because they couldn’t feel anything.” King sighed out. “And each one’s powers are based on how…they died as either infants or…in the womb…”
"That would do it… still, it's actually surprising that being born without or with so little of a soul did that to them."
“It might also have to do with how they were ‘born’, cause Smoke was killed by an insane cocktail of every disease, virus, and parasite those two could come up with, Obsidian…” King put a hand on their stomach. “Was literally beaten out of me…Apollo was killed due to magically infused psychic powers cause that’s a thing…and Angel…” King shuddered in horror, tears forming in their eyes again. “I know…we’re supposed to be relaxing, and not talking about a bunch of grimdark bullshit…especially me…but my little Angel was…”
"Don't think about it." Heart said, their tail coming up and shoving more bacon Into King's mouth. "Relaxing and with luck, this will get them their souls back. Try and think about that, getting them new souls."
King thought about it, how they’re fully healed soul’s could either get them back to normal, or if they were stuck with those powers…at least end their pain they were constantly going through, Smoke’s eternal torment as he decayed and regenerated with such insane speeds, Obsidian’s burning, insatiable thirst for martial combat, Apollo’s frail physique literally making them unable to do much without their powers…or Angel’s ability to feel literally anything. “Seeing them all smile again…with genuine joy as their pain is gone…it would be the best thing to happen for me at the moment.”
"Then eat up." Heart said, quickly placing two more huge plates of fried deliciousness before me.
“You know just how to cheer me and my stomach up.” I chuckled.
"King, please, I'm a Floof Noodle. Food and happiness are my specialty." Heart said with a chuckle, finishing off the last of the raw bacon and now bringing out eggs.
“You are a wonder Heart.”
"If I'm being honest, I also binge watched a lot of Cooking Channel while you were out and now I just want to cook everything." Heart admitted. "Also, if you get fat, good. More for me to grab~"
“Exactly.” King chuckled happily.
After a long and filling breakfast King and Heart finally began making their way to Lord's lab. Upon entering they saw all the various items and objects around the two and Lord, seated at a desk in his new form as he worked on some small machine.
“Sup asshole.” King stated simply.
"Nothing much." They responded plainly. "So, what brings you two fucks to my lab?"
“Because we’re going to be doing something insanely stupid, and that’s getting my kid’s soul’s fully healed, and considering it was exclusively your fault, you have to help us.”
"And you plan on doing that how?" He asked, not even looking back at King or Heart as they tinkered with the machine on the table.
“By making a new Admin of Souls.”
"You want to make an Admin of Souls?" Lord asked, finally turning to look at King. "Huh. That's… actually not a bad plan."
“Considering it’s most likely the only way to fix them, cause even my powers of Soul’s and Lyra…neither of us could do anything to fully give them their full soul’s back.”
"Well, yeah in terms of soul death it's almost the equivalent to complete code deletion. Not exactly the same but pretty similar. I remember the first, and so far only Admin of Souls explained it as the soul being a far more mailable variation of code for mortal life to learn about and use. Course it wasn't and he was just stupid smart and made the soul way more complex than he lead on."
“Fair enough.” King nodded. “So how are we going to start this? Cause as far as I know, I’d really not like to commit genocide on a planetary scale to gather enough soul’s to artificially create one.”
"Bitch please you basically do it all the time. Er, making new souls, not the genocide thing… that's my thing. Anyways. So, new souls are made the same way most life is made. Sperm hits egg, multiplies. It's basically the same, but usually this happens alongside the bodies growth. Unless Reincarnation happens, then once the sperm and egg mix the reborn soul gets yeeted into it while a new body grows for it."
“Alright…so how will this help us create a literal Admin?”
"Well, now that I think about it it's kinda easy, you just need to make a form of a being that can create souls in a 'womb' of sorts the same way you all make kids, and just make sure the souls it makes lack bodies so they don't imprint on anything until they are placed within a body.
“That sounds…correct.” I nodded. “Not sure how we’re going to do that because that’s a lot more complicated than one would think.”
"I… might have an idea." Lord started. "The original Admin of Hearts, from way back in Cycle 1, was very similar to the Admin of Souls. Hence why the heart you deal with is akin to a soul, yet the soul stays inside the body making a Nobody, aka, your shtick. If you two make one of those Fusion things, I'm willing to bed with some minor code modifying that entity can do exactly what we need."
“Huh…that…sounds a lot simpler than it has…literally any right to be.” King frowned.
"Well, odds are the solution was going to be easier than expected." Heart stated. "So, what do you say, wanna make Kart into the new Admin of Souls?"
“If it’ll help my kids then sure.” King nodded.
Kart was, for some reason, always in feral form despite King often fusing in anthro form. They looked themselves over, their larger than normal Dire Wolf Den Mother body only matched in size by the hulking long and fuzzy snake tail where a normal tail would be.
"Ya broke my roof." Lord said, the large fusion noticing the partly broken lab around them.
“While I’d say sorry, you still fucked with King to such a royally degree that you literally forced four of their children to be murdered.” Kart stated bluntly.
"Does it look like that bothers me?" Lord replied flatly. "They asked for the power and trials Cript has. I gave it to them. That power has a price, if they regret it, not my fault." Lord said, snapping his fingers as suddenly Kart found themselves on their back. "Now hold still. I gotta modify your code and possibly add some stuff."
“You still don’t fuck with a Den Mother’s children asshole.” Kart countered.
"Yeah yeah. This is gonna tingle." Lord said, Kart now struggling not to twitch or laugh at the odd feeling through their body. Thankfully it didn't last long.
“Alright, that was a lot of tickles, so what’s new with me?”
"I'm not done yet." Lord stated. "In order for this to work you'll need to be a unique individual from King and Heart. Kart the fusion will still exist, but Kart you will be your own independent entity. I need to mix and change a lot of stuff here. Thankfully since Nothingness and Balance are two sides of the same coin, in a sense, it won't be too difficult to mix the two and create a new energy that should allow you to create and store new souls within you."
“Getting some weird Yu Yu Hakusho vibes with your explanation…” Kart pointed out.
"Whatever helps you understand the process."
“Fine.” Kart nodded. “So…when I become the Admin of Souls…what’s gonna happen?”
"Well, if it's anything like the last one you'll generate raw, un-imprinted souls within you that you can use to then place within gods, mortals, animals, planets, lesser Admins, ECT. Anything that has a soul basically. Or can have one. And because King's doing this cause of their kids I'm adding in a script similar to how The Mother's Womb works where there's basically a copy of the person's soul in you at all times as well. In a sense you'll basically be a less powerful but still important variant of The Mother."
“Wow.” Kart said in surprise.
"Yeah." Lord said plainly as Kart felt another odd but short tingling along their body.
As they laid there, they had to admit there was genuinely little Heart and King knew about Lord aside from he was ancient, powerful, and trained Cript.
“So…” Kart started. “Besides being a raging asshole…who are you?” Kart asked, such a simple phrase holding a whole lot more meaning that Lord picked up on.
"I am whatever I need to be whenever I'm needed." He replied flatly.
“That’s not really much to go on ya know?” Kart pointed out. “Come on, who are you really? Not just some ‘I’m here, whatever’ kind of deal…who are you really?”
"That depends on what form I have at the time or what job I have to take." He stated simply. Another tingle went through Kart but again it was short lived.
“Yeah, I’m not asking about that.” Kart stated simply. “I’m asking who you are as a person, not whatever form you’ve taken or what job you have, but who are you?”
"Is there a point to me telling you or why you want to know?"
“The point is that King and Heart know shockingly little about who you are, or what your about besides being ancient, powerful, trained Cript, and just kind of a vague asshole.”
"Live as long as I have and vague asshole becomes a default personality." Lord stated. "Besides, how much would you believe if I told you?"
“That all depends on how nonsensical it is, cause Heart and King have seen some shit.”
"And yet they haven't seen everything." Lord said. He was quite for a while before talking again. "How much do you know about the Dream Project Nexus did?"
“Even though King and Joy have found numerous amounts of paper’s from Nexus about it, even managing to get a lot of the redacted parts out of it…not much really.” She explained.
"You destroyed them?" Lord asked.
“After King memorized every single bit of information from those papers, from what was allowed to all the redacted stuff.” Kart answered. “He did not like what he was reading.”
"Don't tell Cript that. He will erase your memories. He's done it before." Lord warned, before continuing. "Well, like all things, best to start at the beginning. How much do you know about this world, and I don't mean this machine. I mean the one outside it."
“Well…considering Grey’s evil half is going to be chucking thing’s from the Outside world at King sooner or later…” Kart said, going through King’s memories on what Grey told him. “Grey said it’s an uninhabitable deathtrap filled with creatures of unimaginable power, to the point that even Grey in all it’s power mid way through fucking with the Machine…couldn’t really stand up to the damn things.”
"More or less. What exists outside this machine is a world filled with a primal, unfiltered imagination. For lack of a better word." Lord said with a laugh. "It's chaotic, making things sentient beings just can't comprehend or fathom. After all, imagination without something intelligent behind it is unpredictable and unknowable."
“So why haven’t we randomly seen Mister Mxyzptlk or other such being’s of pure Imagination just appear in here whenever they please?”
"Heh, that's not how it works Kart. See, that wild and unpredictable imagination is only half of what makes up the outside reality. Like the machines have realms, multiverse, so do does it. For the unknowable, unpredictable imagination, there also must exist the knowable, the predictable and the factual."
“The machines are the knowable and predictable stuff?” Kart asked. “And whoever the hell made them?”
"Close. They are but pockets of the true other side of this reality. See, while this side can only naturally breed the monsters outside, the other side was able to breed something different. Something with intelligence, something smart and clever, that can see and be aware of the logical world around it. The original, first sentient life. But, like this world held two sides, so to did they. Over time they began to wonder and ask what if's. They began to imagine what their world would be like if it were different. That wonder and thoughts linked them to the other side of their existence, and for the first time ever, intelligence began to mold raw Imagination. Stories, fantasy, all existing in a place real to it but not to the one making the story, and yet the story affected the world of it's maker in ways that birthed creativity. What was fantasy many sought to make fact. The two worlds, the two halves were improving and building one another up in ways alone they'd have never achieved."
“So the Fourth Wall?” Kart inquired. “Cause…that’s kinda sounding like the Fourth Wall.”
"Kind of. What you perceive as a fourth wall would be the barrier that keeps the two halves, Imagination and Fact, separate. Now tell me, what would happen if one of those beings from the Knowable, predictable, factual reality appeared in the unknowable, unpredictable imagination?"
“Well…they’d be fucking stoked.” Kart answered. “It’s almost like there's at least ten different people that were in a situation like that before all this nonsense happened.” Kart explained, due to God’s Matrix style nonsense, King, Heart, Eclipsa and many many others went through a world just like that.
"Yes but there is a difference." Lord said. "King, Eclipse, Heart, and all the others were on the same level, the same, well, everything. You all had to work to become what they became. The ones like that, come here as beings stronger than anything. Because here, all they need to do is imagine it, will it and reality bends to make it so. Erasing and rewriting itself to follow what they want and will to exist. They had many names for what they were. Gods, All Makers, even the name Admin was one used to describe them. They were unstoppable, and unrivaled in power. It's these first beings that built this machine. Well, one of them. Each built their own. Now all that seems to remain is this one."
“That’s…disturbing.”
"Now, let me ask you. Why do you think this and the other machines were built?"
“Uh…to have some normalcy?” Kart guessed. “Cause even in a realm of unfiltered imagination…too much nonsense can do bad things to people.”
"I guess that's part of the reason. The main one however was to preserve the imagination of their world, their home reality was creating and pouring into this reality. They built the machines to collect and house them all, safe from the full force unknown of the reality outside. They were built to be havens for the world's their people made, Intentionally or not. But, that all changed the day… I showed up."
“What did you do?”
"I existed." Lord said, another tingle, a slightly painful one flowed through Kart's body and ended just as fast. "The machine didn't just collect the imagination and world's their home reality, for those with a will and an imagination strong enough it pulled their minds too. One being, like them, but in mind only with a body made and born from imagination, unlike them who came here flesh and blood, soul and mind all together. I was an oddity, a curiosity. I was like them but not, I could be in both Imagination and Fact just by Dreaming. Sleep there I was here. Sleep here I was there. I even learned you could pull it off by day dreaming if you were good enough at that. I was never as powerful as them but I was still powerful… but my body, was discovered to be just as… moldable, as the rest of Imagination."
“And I can immediately see what bad thing’s are going to happen.” Kart sighed.
"You don't need to remind me. I lived it." Lord stated firmly. "At first, they had the decency to experiment when I was asleep here. But after a while they stopped caring about secrecy. Not all of them did though. Some were against it, and tried to fix the damage. But others like me started popping up. It… became a fight to keep them from suffering like I did. Then, it became a war. I don't remember much after that war started but all I remember was waking up in the first cycle. No idea how much time had even passed and even if a body of mine did die I'd reincarnate endlessly in whatever was available or of my choosing. For a while I lived life in Factual reality as normal… then, I died, and found myself here. Permanently."
“O-oh…” I started. “That’s…that’s definitely a thing…”
"I discovered beings like me, Dreamers, we're often called, if we die back home, we're stuck here. And if we die here, well, the link is broken and we can't come back."
“Damn.” Kart said in surprise. “And…can anyone do this? Or is it just some special few?”
"It takes a special person, back in Factual Reality, to get picked up here. They can technically achieve this whenever but it's easier with children, I've noticed. Still, adults can manage it and with practice, arrive here. A weak link is still a link. All that's really needed is a strong imagination and the desire to see all it can offer."
“That’s…interesting.”
"Well, that's my story. Satisfied?" Lord asked as a few more tingles hot Kart and finally ended some minutes later.
“Well…I’m satisfied with knowing your backstory.” Kart said. “So…you’re just roaming around being whoever you want?”
"Not really. It took a while but I found out I'm drawn to other Dreamers. And I will either look after or train them to achieve some grand goal."
“Right then.” Kart nodded. “Good to know there’s…a whole lot more to this weird world than we already knew…”
"Yes well, it's none of your concern regardless." Lord said. Another slightly painful tingle gone as fast as it happened.
“Kind of is if it involves special Souls.” Kart started.
"No. It doesn't." Lord stated.
“And when it does become my problem?” Kart frowned. “Cause the fact we’re talking about this…”
"Never." Lord said.
Kart sighed out. “You’re not going to budge on this are you?”
"The only person I trust with this is Cript. I don't care how strong you get, what you do or become capable of. I will never trust you lot with the Dreamers."
“This’ll bite you in the ass sooner or later you know that right?”
"It bit harder when I let too many people know." Lord replied. "Too many mistakes. Too many dead."
“O-oh…” Kart muttered.
"Do yourself a favor. Let this go. You have your own shit to deal with."
“It’s gonna be a bitch if we magically have to deal with one…” Kart muttered. “So how goes the coding?”
"Thankfully, well."
“That’s good, cause those tingles are getting a bit painful.” Kart pointed out.
"That's expected. I am adding, splicing and rewriting bits and pieces of your code to make this works."
“Right then.” Kart nodded. “How long do you think this’ll take?”
"Well, thankfully it looks like the Admin of Hearts code isn't too different now from how it was way back when, and the Nothingness here has some stuff I can repurpose. Maybe thirty minutes or an hour? Depends on how long it takes me to safely add and edit stuff."
“Understandable.” Kart nodded. “Let’s hope this will all work out in the end…”
The remainder of the time was spent in silence. Kart occasionally feeling either a painful tingle or ticklish one.
When it was finally over, Kart felt different. They felt… alone, for lack of a better word. They still had both Heart and King's memories, but could no longer sense the two through the Starfish Clones hive-like mind. They also felt their powers, that of Balance and Nothingness were different, weaker, yet still they felt a new power, something completely new to them and them alone.
“This…is very different…” Kart said. “I…also feel…alone…”
"Well yeah. You started off as just a fusion, now you kinda aren't anymore. While before you could differentiate between what parts of you came from Heart of King, you won't be able to do that any more as now that you aren't really a fusion anymore, your code doesn't have to keep the two codes separate anymore for when/if you split up, cause you can't split up any more cause as far as your code is concerned you're not a fusion being, you're just a being."
“Right…” Kart nodded carefully. “So…how do I work my wonders now?”
"You should be passively generating souls, and once you get one made I can analyze it and make sure it is actually a soul."
"Cool." Kart nodded. "And King is probably getting his four soul chipped children as…proof of concept for my new powers."
"Most likely." Lord shrugged.
"Can't wait to help out." Kart said readily.
"Yay for you. Now are you gonna fix my roof?"
Kart was with Heart and King. It felt weird to them to not sense them as they were used to, but she was still happy to be with the two.
"So, how long til you make a soul?' Heart asked.
"No idea." Kart shrugged.
"But when it does happen…I have my kids on standby." King added.
"So, what do we do until then?" Heart asked.
"Hang out?" Kart suggested. "I'm my own person now so…gonna have to figure out my own likes and dislikes from you two."
"That's fair."
The trio spent time together, watching movies, playing games and even cooking together.
Several hours passed before Kart felt they had produced their first soul. And by late in the night they had the four King needed.
"Alright." Kart said. "I've finished all four souls." Kart said readily.
"Oh thank god…" King sighed out thankfully. "Come in kids."
Each teenagers walked in, all of them equine dire wolf hybrids, but physically the all ended there as each one was physically changed due to their birth and fractured souls.
Smoke, the oldest, had his fur tainted green from illness, his body looking more like a zombie rotting away as patches of fur were gone and left small parasite colonies acting like some rotting shell for him where his fur couldn't, a simple looking flower blessed by a Goddess of Life the only thing on his body not rotting away or somehow cycling back to looking healthy enough to not fall off. “Yes mother?”
Obsidian, the second oldest, his fur tainted red and black as if blood and bruises were apart of his fur, he was the biggest and bulkiest of the four who looked like self restraint was the only thing keep himself from mindlessly attacking those around him in a state of panic induced rage, his eyes pleading for some solitude from the pain and voices. “What…do you want?”
The third, Apollo, was a gaunt greyish brown wolf that was damn near skin and bones, everything about them had their physicality thrown out the window but magically and psychically they were extraordinary powerful, the only reason why he was able to move around and do many thing’s was due to his psychic and magical abilities. “Did you finally come up with a solution?”
Then Angel, the youngest and only female of the four, was a blue furred with patches of brown, and looked completely healthy compared to the other’s, a warm smile on her face…but cold unfeeling eyes begging for any feeling in the world, her body hiding scars and pain as she was a black hole of any and all feeling and emotion. “Are…are we going to be better?”
*Yes, thanks to Kart here. Former fusion of your mom and I, now her own being and the first new Admin of Souls since the first cycle." Heart explained, motioning towards Kart.
“Oh…oh god…” Kart muttered, seeing all four of them and going beyond the physical, seeing into their souls and…how many holes they had. “How…how are you all…still functioning?”
“My plagues can recycle everything into life again.” Smoke said.
“Self Restraint that can even put Cript to shame.” Obsidian growled.
Somewhere in creation, Cript took offense.
“Magical and Psychic Prowess.” Apollo said.
“Spite.” Angel said in fake happiness.
"Well, how does this work?" Heart asked.
Kart let out a breath, letting the energy flow and act on it's own. It flowed from Kart's belly towards the four, splitting into four lines of energy until it reached them and began flowing into them.
Slowly but visibly they began to change. Smoke began looking less and less ill. Obsidian began to calm, Apollo's body grew more and more mass, and Angel's body began completely growing a healthy coat as she sighed, feeling increasing levels of peace.
When it was done, the four were transformed into healthy Dire Wolves. Their powers still present, if a tad weaker. Not that they cared.
“The…illness is gone?” Smoke asked, looking over himself quickly.
“The voices…the pain…” Obsidian teared up. “It’s gone…”
“I…I can actually move?” Apollo asked, stretching and moving his body in many ways, as he was weirdly flexible.
“I…I can feel…” Angel muttered, feeling warm fresh tears as she lightly patted herself, emotions and her sense of touch telling her that she was in fact able to feel like a normal person, both physically and emotionally.
King quickly embraced their four children, glad something good came out of all that suffering.