#'my red-ah' is CRAAAAZZYYY'

[buttercupart]

rambling about poncho human time

this is gonna be long as hell. like im so serious its like a scroll of ancient texts im deeply sorry for this. lets go gang

The eventual head of humankind's soul council and the (at the time) most determined human, the few remaining records note their name to be "Réada".

Further inquiry into the subject would point heavily to their full first name being Mairéada (MY-red-ah or mah-REYDA), though most accounts contested the way said name was to be pronounced, as well as their surname - with human-monster war historians going back and forth on whether it was "Lahmar" or "al-Ahmar". Based on the records of their full name, they are assumed to have had Irish and Moroccan ancestry.

To friends, though? They were just Réada.

Born the middle child of their family, Réada's magical prowess turned some eyes towards their family early on, as did their propensity towards mercy and just treatment... notably towards monsterkind, at a time when tensions between the two were high.

If Réada was consciously aware of any of these things, though, they didn't show it. They spent their days tending to their family's livestock... and goofing off with monster children, including the boss monster prince, Asgore.

No one, monster nor human, expected some human peasant child to worm their way into the monster prince's heart and home... but they did anyways, and it proved a beneficial friendship for both of them.

If there's one thing about Asgore, it's that he is and always was a fuzzy pushover. Réada's strong sense of justice and inability to let seemingly minor infractions towards monsterkind go taught him that even if he struggled to stand up for himself, that it was always worth it to stand up and seek justice on behalf of others who weren't treated kindly... who, more often than not at the time, were other monsters.

Asgore's kind nature and lax personality brought out the latent kindness in Réada that was buried behind a no-nonsense facade, and whenever they weren't getting up to tomfoolery, they shared their visions for a brighter, kinder future for humans and monsters both, that they were sure they could accomplish together, with Asgore as King and Réada as his right-hand man.

Of course, this tentative period of "peace" couldn't last, not with tensions rising higher and higher each day. As the years ticked by, it became more and more apparent that something had to give. But through it all, the monster prince and his human friend stood tall, and continued to give those close to them some semblance of hope.

...until humankind's ruler insisted on taking a young Réada to train with a selection of other powerful soul-bearing humans, to function as a council of magic serving humanity's best interests. Réada wanted no part in this, but as an immensely (perhaps the most) powerful Determination soul, their opinion on the subject hardly mattered.

Taken from their family and friends and pushed into a leadership role they wanted nothing to do with as a young teenager proved detrimental to their wellbeing. On the rare occasions they could sneak from the castle, they'd meet up with Asgore to tell him the current going-ons, and this was one of the only ways they stayed stable. It troubled them to know how their family struggled without them, or how looming the threat of war was on the horizon. Through it all, the monster king and the human pawn tried to hold on to the hope of a brighter future together with everything they had.

The human's ruler wasn't stupid, and knew Réada was meeting with Asgore behind the council's backs - but considering how vital they were to the plan, they couldn't be taken out of the equation and disposed of - and the reins on them tightened to the point they were never left alone - and thus, Asgore didn't see them again for quite a long time.

The breaking point, and largely agreed upon catalyst for the war was the deaths of the monster prince's parents at the hand of humans. Asgore had staunchly refuted the idea of utilizing violence against who he viewed as his friend's kind until this point, where, in grief, he lashed out and declared war against humankind for what they'd done. Young and grief-stricken, the monster prince ascended to the role of monster king.

Réada's strong sense of justice towards their monster friends proved to be a massive detriment to the humans' cause. When called upon to use their magical aptitude to FIGHT, it was impossible to get them to actually do any lasting damage - they would FIGHT monsters under the threat of their own death, sure, but only do just enough damage to get to the point they'd be able to SPARE their opponents. Their mantra was to never kill or be killed in turn.

...the same could not be said for other humans involved in the war, who turned countless monsters to dust under the demands of their ruler. Despair grew in Réada as the war progressed, and they knew they had to come up with a plan, fast, before every last monster was massacred. They partnered with a few other mages in the council to devise a plan that would put the killing to an end - without that end being complete eradication of monsterkind.

Not long before the end of the war, Asgore led a platoon against a group of humans, which Réada was forced to lead - head to head, they stood before one another for the first time in many years, almost unable to recognize one another as the years of stress made itself evident on their faces. As their fists shook, with their weapons drawn... neither could make a move. Neither could understand why they hesitated, why the other didn't just get it over with already and get rid of them the way they should have wanted to. A few spears were thrown, a few magic bullets flew, but nothing more, before both sides shakily retreated.

The next few days were filled with insurmountable confusion and grief for them both.

Shortly after, the monsters surrendered.

The Mages were gathered by their ruler, to utilize their immense magical abilities to finally turn every last monster to dust once and for all.

But Réada still had that trick up their sleeve.

Together with the 1 or 2 other mages who agreed to their plan, they cast a draining spell upon all of them, including themself, and drained every bit of magic out of all their souls, not to turn towards the monsters in a devastating final blow, no, rather... to create an immensely powerful, impenetrable magical barrier to keep the monsters contained and protected - far, far away from the reach of humans who wished to hunt them down, for the end of time, or perhaps until a better time. No human was to lay a hand against their best friend or his kind ever again.

Because he was their king, and they would always be his lionheart.