I have heard that a story begins when a change occurs in the protagonist's life.

However, I don't suppose I can really start at the immediate instant of the change. There would be far too much information left out. You would, eventually, understand what I spoke of, but in the beginning, little would make sense

So, I must move farther back along the timeline.

I will begin in the Canadian Rockies. Where, exactly, I do not know, only that it is where this story begins.

I had lived there alone for some years, completely isolated but for the occasional trip into the nearby monster town. Nearby being relative, of course. It was an almost two day drive away, longer if you were walking. It was merely the nearest town there was to my residence.

I lived in a cave system I had found and renovated. Three caverns made up my living space, and the rest of that system was my "laboratory." I say that the way I do, because, compared to some of the places I have had the pleasure of working in, this was a rather rudimentary workspace.

But, considering I had built it nearly entirely myself, it got things done reasonably well.

Now, I lived alone in the mountains for several reasons. The official reason was because the projects I worked on were 'too dangerous' for an official lab to facilitate them.

That's the official reason.

The real reason was because none of the universities wanted to accept the fact that I was smarter than all of them, and knew what I was doing better than they did. They had the nerve to kick me out before I had even spent an entire semester at university, simply because I had corrected some of the professors!

... ah. Okay. I suppose I should be a bit more honest. I did not merely 'correct' them... I made a habit of tearing apart their lessons, bit by bit, merely for the sake of showing off my superior knowledge... ah... um... on a daily basis.

They were all idiots anyway. I only gave to them what was coming to them.

Regardless, they didn't like me. So they stuck me out somewhere in the Rockies, and said "knock yourself out."

I think they actually wanted me to literally knock myself out. Probably under an avalanche or something.

Again, though, I digress.

So I lived there in near total isolation, free to pursue whatever interest I might have, whenever I might like to.

At the time, and for the last several years, my main focus was to do with runes.

Let me explain runes.

For all life, there is the genome, made up of chromosomes, made of DNA. Simply put, DNA controls what the life is. If you can control the DNA, you can change the life. In overly simplified terms, runes are the DNA of Magic. You can do amazing things if you can put together the right runes in the right sequences.

... So, yes, I guess they can also be whatever mystical magical written language from whatever fairytale book you might want.

But, monsters seemed to have a fear of runes, as runes were most often used by humans.

You see, unlike monsters, humans are not born with much Magic, and the rare few that are born with enough to actively wield it need something to channel it. These usually take the shape of rune-inscribed staffs or batons- wands, whatever. So the use of runes became a definite human thing, and monsters tended to avoid them.

Because then tensions between the two species were rather high. I might say unfortunately high, but the upcoming release of said tension would have never occurred had the tension never occurred, and that would mean I would never have-...

But we'll get to that.

That was also a part of the reason I was out in the mountains alone. I had a fascination with runes, and, well, being a monster... people didn't like that, which led to my proclamation that people are idiots (an idea I still find to be true quite often) which ended up with me out in the Rockies.

I did a good many things with runes. My cave systems were lit by a series of Magic crystals I had grown into the cave walls using runes. I could seal off certain sections of my cave system by creating barriers with runes. I had made a variety of unusual contraptions inscribed with runes, each performing some distinct task.

Usually, after cleverly disguising the runes on these contraptions as to not freak the monsters out, I sold them on my occasional visits to the nearby town, using the profit to purchase any supplies I might need.

However, the contraption of my work at the time was one I intended to keep for myself.

You see, there is a dream.

This dream holds the whole of sentient beings captive, even those who have achieved it, have been born with the ability to achieve it. Monsters and humans both have strove for decades to achieve it. Every being, at one point or another, has been rapt with the dream.

I was no exception.

But, I had an advantage over everyone else.

Humans used runes only for channeling their own Magic into attacks. Useful, sure, but a complete waste.

Monsters didn't use runes except for a few unusual cases such as myself.

So I would succeed where others had failed.

I would fly.

... That's not what you were expecting, was it?

I assume that, you, as either a figment of my imagination, or a being beyond my world (if you can call the Void a world), know a bit of who I was in a time before. The brilliance I possessed, the things I built.

... So. Yes, I know. In comparison, it doesn't seem like much, does it?

But you must remember, this was... decades before any of that. I had to start somewhere, so I decided to start with the dream. I would build a single-passenger-powered aircraft.

In addition to my mastery of runes, I had a few other advantages. I was a skeleton, so that meant I was already much lighter than many of the creatures my size. On top of that, I was on the larger side in terms of the size spectrum, meaning I had a larger Magic capacity. That, of course, meant I could power the aircraft for longer.

I had been working on this for nearly four years now. In the first while, I was able to make a lightweight glider that, when not in use, folded up against the back like wings. Things got better later.

The flyer was made of two parts. First was a harness, made from light, black nylon straps. I designed it specifically to fit me, and it did. Well. It was a full-body harness, crosspiece over the ribs and sternum, straps over the shoulders, straps around the femur, leading down to allow for balance and directional control from my legs.

The second part was the wings. Mounted on the harness were skeletal batlike- or dragonlike- frames made of carbon fiber rods, etched with runes. When not in use, carefully placed springs along guided tracks folded up the wings against the back, so they were no bigger than a backpack. When in use, the wings spread wide, and the runes used the monster's Magic, my Magic, to create a sort of barrier across the frames, like the membrane of the wings.

It really was a beautiful piece of work. This particular model had to be... oh, mark XLIX? L? LI? Somewhere around fifty.

It was my flyer.

Granted, I couldn't just take off. I had to have either a running start and an updraft, or leap off one of the many cliffs near my mountain home and dive to get some momentum. And landing was still a tricky thing, too.

But when I was actually in the air... oh, was I a sight to behold!

I was nearly as graceful as a natural-born flyer.

Granted, there were still a lot of things that needed work. I was still figuring out how to keep the runes from burning out with the amount of Magic I was constantly pouring into them, and then there was still the whole thing with the taking off and landing. On top of that, fun as it was to fly around, I could carry no cargo beyond what fit in my inventory.

But I could fly!

... And those idiots at the university said my ideas were stupid...! Ha! Shows what they know.

... Er... knew. Past tense. I... I suppose they are all dead by now, or at least retired. But that is only greater testament to my abilities, as I am here, telling this story to you, and they are not!

... To be honest, I would rather not be here. The Void is a cold place, and at a certain point, even we skeletons feel the cold.

But!

Back to the story.

Living in the mountains had other effects, too. As I was so isolated, I only knew the vaguest details about the rising tensions between the species. What I did know was gained only from overheating monsters talking about it on my visits to town. And that was especially difficult when you consider that, having no one to speak it to regularly, the Common language had begun to slip from my memory. By then, I remembered little more than what was necessary to buy the materials I might need.

What I did know then was only that tensions were high between the races, and King Relgore was doing his best to keep the tentative peace between monsters and humans.

But my lack of knowledge in the political world was fine with me; I was sure that I could wait out any social upheaval and remain unaffected in my mountain home.

... So long as, that is, I didn't have any...

... Visitors.

And I suppose that is where the story truly begins.

§

A/N

THAT'S RIGHT AN ENTIRE STORY TOLD BY EVERYONE'S FAVORITE GOOP SKELEJERK!

... Really, though, that begs the question. Is this a sequel to The Time Before, because it's being told by Gaster who's already fallen into the Void? Or is it a prequel, as he's telling the story of before the monsters were sealed Underground?

... Ah well. It's gonna be fun, anyway.

But, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Votes and comments are my Favorite Things, and every notification I get makes my day!