Not a demon...?

by Microwaved_Pasta

Summary:

Kris sets up a place to finally, finally talk to the soul.

Chapter 1: Grey

Finally. An in between space.

In this place, whatever Kris did would have no effect on the real world, other than their relationship with the soul. It was weird seeing it in a form that wasn’t a heart. Unfortunately though, it was necessary for it to have a form here, to be able to communicate. They were glad that it was trapped in a gray monochrome body as opposed to a pre existing person being brought into this space to do its bidding.

This form wouldn’t be as easy to beat with a hockey stick. A shame.

It was laying on the ground. It looked a little bit like it was about to vomit in its sleep. Kris kicks it. Possibly a little harder than they should have. Maybe this form would still be adequately puntable after all.

“Get up”

It groans, and turns over while holding its stomach, mumbling something they can’t quite make out.

“Get up” They repeat, kicking it again.

“What -” It finally looks up, and goes wide eyed. It scrambles halfway to its feet, and looks at its hand, panicked. “How - how the hell am I here?”

Kris was only slightly ashamed to admit that they enjoyed hearing the fear in its voice. Served it right, after everything it had done to them.

It locks eyes with them. Its voice was laced with fear. “Was it all…?” it doesn’t finish the sentence.

It’ll get over this soon enough. Kris decides to ignore it. “We’re here to discuss what’s going on. I think we both owe each other some answers. You more so than I”

“Y-you don’t understand.” it runs a hand through its hair. “I shouldn’t be - there’s no way to-”

“Calm down,” Kris interrupts. A tinge of annoyance could be heard in their voice. They should be fine here. “Just calm down. You’re fine. Now, you’re going to explain to me what you are, how you got into my life, and whatever the hell has been going on. I can’t hurt you here. Not in any way that matters.”

It gives a joyless, nervous sounding laugh, before running a hand through its hair again. A few locks fall to the ground, which promptly disappear soon after with a small flash of light. It takes a small shaky breath. “Well, I - Oh god, how do I even explain this to you?”

“Just try. I want answers, and you surely owe me them. How about we start with a pretty simple question; what’s your name?” They asked, trying to sound as patronizing as possible. Kris didn’t particularly want to know that, to humanize it, but maybe this could get it started. Maybe this could lead to actual useful answers.

It opens its mouth, then freezes. “I- I can’t remember my real name. I remember the vessel’s name, but not… mine”

…Or maybe it would just lead to another breakdown.

“What’s the vessel’s name, then?” They were trying to be patient, but goddamnit, was it hard when this was the person, thing, whatever, who had been making their life feel like hell for who knows how long now, was right in front of them. Right within throttling range, and Kris was just standing there. Not demanding answers, asking for its stupid name.

“It’s Zed, but -”

“Alright then. Zed” Kris doesn’t let them finish their thought. They’d wasted enough time already. “What are you?”

“I- I’m a human. I’m - I’m like you” they sound slightly taken aback by the question.

“Don’t you dare make that comparison.” Kris takes a step towards it, and it moves back. “I am a person. I have thoughts, I have feelings, and I have a life. I don’t barge in, and take other people’s free will just for the hell of it.” The soul/vessel had backed itself into a wall. Or what would be a wall, if this place were real. “You are not human. So what are you?”

“K - Kris, you don’t understand - Agh, how can I even begin to explain this to you?” Kris hated the sound of their name in its mouth.

“Just TRY. You have nothing to lose! Do you have ANY idea what it’s like for you to always be -”

“You’re not real” It blurts out, stopping Kris’s rant.

“What?”

“You’re not real!” It looks like it’s about to start crying. “You’re not real. Your world, it’s all fake. A… A video game.” it flinches at its own words, while Kris just stares at them in stupid disbelief.

“I didn’t know you were real. I did everything I did because it was just pixels on a screen that brought me some enjoyment in life. I didn’t mean any of it. If I hurt you at all, I didn’t mean it. I’m a human from, well, another world, who’s controlling the soul, who’s controlling you”

…And they were beginning to think that this was some sort of eldritch abomination beyond their comprehension. This was much harder to wrap their head around than the latter, though.

“I just went to sleep, and then I woke up, here, where you’re real. I don’t know where this place is, why I'm in the body of the vessel I created at the beginning of the game, or why I can’t remember my own name anymore. Maybe I'm hallucinating. Maybe -”

Kris lets the ranting fall into the background, and tunes them out.

A video game. That wasn’t the worst medium to be trapped in. But was any of it real, then? Any of their life at all? It felt real. All their pain couldn’t have been ultimately for nothing. All the joy they’d ever experienced couldn't just be thrown out the window just like that. Right?

“How do you see us?” Kris asks, ignoring the fact that Zed, or whoever they really were, were in the middle of a sentence.

“What do you mean?” It asks carefully.

“Do you see my world as a story? Just a narrative to be progressed, with no real feelings attached? Or do you actually care about us, as if we were, I dunno, real in some way? Some people feel like that for video games.” They desperately hoped it was the first one. Then they could at least cling to some of the beliefs they had about this person before. If it was the latter, they sure would have a hard time accepting that the soul really had feelings.

“I see you guys, as well… I can’t say I see you as everything, since real life takes precedence, but your world means so much to me. It’s a much needed escape from everything going on. I’ve become really invested in your stories, and the lore around everything. I honestly don’t really know what my life would be like without this game.”

Looks like any hope of them being heartless was just thrown out the window.

Maybe things would be easier in the long run, then. Once their view of the situation was done crumbling, and an understanding had been adequately rebuilt.

A faint light seems to flash in the distance. Their time here was almost up.

“Well. It looks like it’s time for the story to continue. I guess I hope that you manage to make it back to your own dimension?”

The soul nods. “It… It was nice meeting you Kris”

The light grows brighter, and begins to swallow the darkness whole.

Time to go back to being a slave, then. Would it be for better or for worse now that they knew the name of the person controlling them?

The soul smiles, and waves goodbye, before the light successfully disintegrated the place, and the floor falls out beneath them, leaving them both to fall through the void until reality finds them again.

And with that, Kris had successfully made it through the entire meeting without revealing one of their own secrets.

Mission accomplished.

Notes:

I'll write a second chapter if the people crave it

Chapter 2: Please don't make any stupid choices

Summary:

RAHHHHHHHH WHY AM I HUMANIZING MY ARCH NEMESIS

Notes:

Wow! Turns out the people most definitely did crave a second chapter. I did not expect that much support within one day of posting. This fic now has more kudos than one i've been working on since April. Thank you!

Carol’s house always had a somewhat unpleasant smell of peppermint/candy canes and laundry detergent. It could be overwhelming at times, but for once, Kris was actually grateful for the smell. It was what snapped them back to reality from the gray space.

They were lying in the giftbox room, which they always considered as a weird room to have in a house. Zed was stuffed inside one of the larger giftboxes, the vessel seeming to have very little regard for ways that real humans were actually able to bend their bodies. It was… slightly disturbing, to say the least.

All their memories returned to them from that gray incorporeal space a few confusing moments after their body did.

Carol had offered to create the in between space for them. Kris had, by some miracle, managed to pull away from the soul’s influence for just barely long enough to quickly talk to her about how annoying the soul always was, to put it lightly. She said that knew someone who knew someone that could help with meeting up with the soul. Kris imagined that Carol thought of it as having a civil conversation over a cup of tea.

At the time, slaughtering it sounded like a much more desirable option, but they agreed anyway. It had proven to be valuable. It seems that they did learn something from it after all.

Wait a minute. Where was the soul?

They stand up as quickly as they can, and lean against the wall for support as the blood rushes to their head. They feel weak, as they always do when the soul is away for a little too long.

They were shaking, like a pathetic leaf in the wind. How long has the soul been out for? The entire time they were asleep? How long was that?

They stumble over to Zed and try to shake them awake. It was a pitiful attempt. They could barely stand up on their own anymore. Regardless, Zed’s eyes open.

“Where are we?” It asks, looking around the small room, which bordered on closet. The game must have not led it to this house yet. That was for the better, now that they thought about it.

“No time,” Kris breathes hurriedly. As much as they despised being controlled, it sure would be nice to be able to stay alive. They point to the soul, which is glowing from inside the vessel. “Please. Hurry.”

How much time did they have left before their body wilted into nothing? They might have a few hours, but it sure felt like death was lurking right around the corner.

Understanding flashes in Zed’s eyes. “Right. You need the soul. How do I…” They trail off, and frown. Then, the soul starts emitting a bright light, and detaches itself from the vessel, leaving the body limp, crumpled in the box. Kris quickly scoops up the small heart into their palms.

“Home. Fast as possible” They slur, before forcing the soul back into their body.

Here we go again…

The first thing the soul does is gasp for breath. “So, this is really happening…” Kris hears themself murmur, using words and a tongue that didn’t feel like their own any more. It felt so wrong, despite the fact that it had been going on for a while now. It still made them want to crawl out of their own skin, and beat Zed to death.

It had never been this… animated before while controlling them. Normally it felt like they were being controlled by some confused creature on autopilot. This was certainly a bit of an improvement. They hated being forced to be completely stoic almost all the time.

It still felt very, very wrong not to have any free will, but maybe it could be slightly more bearable this way. Emphasis on slightly.

After failing to find the way to the front door a few times, and making a bit too much noise in the otherwise silent house for Kris’s comfort, Zed managed to find the way out. Thankfully, from there, it knew the way to their house. They manage to slip back inside without waking Susie, who was still asleep on the couch. They slip under the covers on the chair to the right of the now- broken TV, and pretend they were asleep the whole time they were away.

 

“Wake up, Sleepyhead! Breakfast is ready!” They awoke to Toriel rubbing their head. Normally, Kris didn’t particularly love this, but Zed seemed to lean right into it. Mild discomfort didn’t matter right now though, the stack of pancakes was all they cared about at the moment. The food that the soul normally forced them to eat in the middle of battles did very little in the ways of nourishment. Nothing in the dark world really did. When was the last time that they had actually eaten a proper meal…?

They needed to establish some sort of way to communicate with Zed during the day.

Doesn’t matter. Pancakes, my beloved.

Zed walked to the table much slower than they would have liked, and Kris was too tired to try and force it to speed them up.

 

Dear soul,

Please take as many pancakes as you can possibly stack on your plate, or I might go ahead and kill you right here, in front of Toriel/mom, and Susie.

Sincerely, your local mistreated neighborhood Kris

 

They seemed to be about as hungry as Kris was, and wolfed down the food, nearly beating the speed at which Susie was eating, which had to be a record time.

“Man, living like this has got to be some kind of sin. This is amazing” Susie says to them, and Zed nods eagerly.

It must be incredible for them to be able to truly experience Toriel’s cooking in the flesh, without being divided from it by the game.

God, they would never stop appreciating their mom’s cooking.

“Oh, speaking of sinning!” Toriel says, glancing in Susie’s direction. “I was wondering if you would want to come to service with us today!” If Kris had any choice in the matter, they would have frozen on the spot.

Oh no.

That would not end well.

Did Zed even know how to act in a church? What if they ruined something important? Kris was too exhausted right now to take back the small shred of control they usually could. Using that shred, they’d managed to prevent quite a few potential disasters caused by the soul’s hand, but now it would be different. Now, they weren’t just tethered to the dialogue options they were offered, they would have full control. The thought terrified them.

Before, they held an assumption that the soul always generally made decently rational choices, because that’s what they preferred. What if that wasn’t actually the case? Kris had never been exactly a model example of how to act during church, but would Zed be worse?

Better question, would Susie know how it worked?

She had a reputation to not exactly be the calmest person out there, and Kris knew for a fact that she had never been in a holy building or anything before.

This was going to end in disaster, wouldn’t it?

Zed turns to Susie, and sees her freeze for a moment at the question.

Please say no, please say no, please say no, church people should not mix with school people.

“Oh, uh” She clears her throat. “Sure! I’d love to come”

…Damn it.

Notes:

Kris loves misinterpreting people

Chapter 3: Church-o-rama

Summary:

Certain mysteries vaguely discovered while author panics about postponing the plot for too long, and trying to figure out what the hell to do with this story

Notes:

Honestly, I'm a tiny bit scared of the sheer amount of positivity this story got. I didn't expect this many people to like it, and now it somehow become the most popular fic i've written within a day. This hasn't happened before, and I don't know what to do with so many people following me.

Well, happy reading. Thanks for reading :)

They should never have been worried. Zed was better behaved in the church than they’d ever been. They were quiet, they were respectful, hell, they even fully listened to the sermon. Normally Kris would zone out through about three quarters of it, and only halfway pay attention to the rest. As a result, they did not know nearly as much but the religion they were supposed to be following as they should.

Susie did about as well as they did when they weren’t being possessed. Distracted. Kris felt bad for doubting her. Of course she knew how to be calm.

Maybe they assumed that she wouldn’t be calm, because the louder part of her is what they felt that they saw more often? Or maybe they were only considering the part that they loved most. The side that was appearing more and more with time, that was not afraid to be who she was. She wasn’t bound by the decisions of a soul that didn’t belong to her. She was learning to be authentically her after a few hardships.

She was free. And it was beautiful.

Speaking of decisions of the soul, Zed was apparently able to stay attentive for only the first reading, before falling asleep, which was completely fair. They were pretty sure that being in the gray space didn’t add to the amount of sleep you got, so both of them had pretty much stayed awake nearly the entire night.

Church was the best place to catch up on lost sleep, anyway. Second to the middle of class.

 

“Kris! Hey, Kris, get up!” Susie decides to wake them by punching their shoulder. It hurt a lot more than she probably meant it to “We don’t have any time to waste!” Two cups of juice were in her hand.

Ah, church juice. Whenever this juice was created was the peak of inventing times. They were only going to go downhill from here, because there was no way that anything could possibly top this masterpiece of a drink. They had genuinely considered creating a sign for their room that said “LIVE LAUGH LOVE CHURCH JUICE” before deciding it would be too much effort. And money. But the dream still lived.

They pour it down each other's throats like the maniacs they are. Possibly the only in character thing to Kris that Zed would ever do.

“Mmm. Church flavour.” Susie remarks.

She was right. Kris would not be surprised if that’s what the actual flavour listed on the jug would be. The food at the church, when there was any, always had such a strangely distinct flavour that couldn’t seem to be found anywhere else. The foods couldn’t be found anywhere else either, such as those little hard strawberry candies with the shiny wrapper. They seem so normal, like they would be found in the dollar store or something, but the only place they ever seem to be found are bowls at the front of churches, and stale, in the purses of grandmas.

They begin to wonder if the church has some sort of dealer who provides church - only food, until Susie’s voice cuts into their thoughts. They would have to look more into it later. This might become a genuine concern. “Anyway, you go ask around about the shelter codes”

“What about you?” Zed asks

Me? I’ll make sure there’s nothing hidden…. In here. The juice must be investigated.” She begins pouring cup after cup into her mouth. Kris wanted more than anything to join, but the soul had other plans. Zed apparently really did want the shelter code.

That would pose as an issue later on. They’d have to put all their remaining energy into shutting down any conversations that might get too close to an answer. Or just desperately hope, if they were still too weak. Some people in here were concerningly relevant to quite a few things around Kris. Hopefully they knew how to keep their mouth shut.

Zed decided to immediately beeline towards Noelle.

Did they know…?

No, probably a coincidence. She was the closest person, after all. Just a coincidence.

“Hey! Noelle, uh, your singing today sounded nice” they still felt like cringing whenever they heard Zed’s voice in their mouth. It sounded so wrong, yet somehow, nobody noticed. Man, they sure had some great friends.

“Oh! Hi Kris! Kinda funny seeing you here without Asriel, fahaha” That… stung. It had been really hard for them when Asriel left, and everyone knew it. Maybe she was just trying to address what seemed to be an elephant in the room to her. Zed didn’t seem to be very bothered by the remark though.

“Ah, yeah. It’s been awhile since he left, hasn’t it?”

“It really has. Do you know when he’s coming back?"

Zed seems to freeze for a minute. This was information they knew Kris absolutely should know, but couldn’t seem to bring to mind. Kris would be laughing at them, if they were watching the situation from any other viewpoint.

“I’m not sure. I knew at some point, but I guess it slipped my mind” As if that would ever happen. The day that he got back was circled on their calendar in multiple colours, multiple times over.

“Wow, Kris, I thought you cared about your brother! Fahaha!”

God, they were hopeless without dialogue options. Why did Zed feel so awkward around her? Their body was stiff, and they kept rubbing their neck, and looking over their shoulder.

“I- I do! I- ah, whatever. Do you know anything about the shelter?” That was one way to get to the point.

“The shelter? No, not much. I’ve gone down there once, and I thought I was able to hear someone.. Shouting? Even though it’s supposed to be abandoned. That freaked me out enough, so there’s no way I'm going back there. Why are you asking?”

“Oh, um, no reason. Just curious. I mean, why do we even have the shelter? It doesn’t seem like anything serious has happened here before. I mean, not serious enough to need the shelter. And what could possibly happen so that we actually need it?”

“Isn’t it good to have it regardless though? You know. In case something did go wrong. Not that it will, but you know?”

“Yeah, you’re right. This place just seems so peaceful. Well, thanks anyway” Noelle nods, and Zed successfully escapes the awkward conversation.

They skipped Rudy, which worked out nicely. They didn’t know whether or not he knew what was going on, and Noelle successfully didn’t give away anything that might be important to Zed. Now Alvin and Jockington would be the only potential issues. There were plenty of other interesting people in the church though. There wasn’t any reason to go to those two specifically anyway.

But of course, Alvin was exactly where they decided to go next. Zed better not be able to read their thoughts.

“Ah, Kris. It is most wonderful to see you worshipping here today. And with a friend, too. Did you seek something from me?” They were glad that he started the conversation first. Zed wouldn’t know how to address him properly.

…Kris wasn’t entirely sure either.

“Yeah, actually, I was wondering if you knew how to get into the shelter?”

“Kris, I do not know what you have been experiencing recently” His tone sounds careful. As if he knows he’s dancing around a dangerous topic. “But Kris, please, look to the angel for guidance at this time. I knew of a few folks who have tried to enter. One has come back. His sanity was not the same as it was before. I urge you, Kris, please do not look further into this investigation. The history of that place is not one that should be explored”

And there it was. He had just increased Zed’s curiosity of the shelter by a million percent, with no way of them able to do anything about it.

What would they have to do to keep them out of there?

Notes:

This chapter was a little bit slow. Sorry. I have very little plot so far. I expected this to be a one shot. I’m incredibly glad that it turned out not to be but, I only have a small idea of what’s going to happen next. If anyone has any thoughts/theories/things they’d want to see later, I'd love to hear them!

If I don’t learn the concept of self control soon, I'm going to pull some insane Gaster Bullshit™ and call it a day. And let's be real, there's no way i'm going to learn self control quickly enough to prevent that from happening.

Chapter 4: THE VOID

Notes:

I put no effort into attempting the legendary practice of self control. Here's a self indulgent mini chapter to keep my W.D Gasterlings fed while I keep working on Zed and Kris shenanigans

INTERESTING.

VERY, VERY INTERESTING.

THE SOUL HAS NOT BEEN INTERACTING WITH THIS NEW VESSEL AS ANTICIPATED

I SENSE

AN ANOMALY

MUCH AKIN TO THE ONE

THAT CAST ME HERE

 

THEY ARE CLOSE

VERY CLOSE

TO UNDERSTANDING THE TRUTH

WILL IT SERVE THEM?

OR WILL IT DESTROY THEM

AS IT BROKE SO MANY OTHER

OF MY EXPERIMENTS

 

THERE IS NO SENSE IN ERASING THIS TIMELINE NOW

NOT WHEN WE ARE SO FAR IN

 

I SEE MANY POSIBILITIES

MANY TURNS THIS STORY COULD TAKE

SO MUCH POTENTIAL OF WHERE THIS TIMELINE COULD LEAD

POTENTIAL LIKE NONE I’VE EVER SEEN

YET

GREAT DANGER

MAY AWAIT

 

THE DELTARUNE

IS AT RISK

Chapter 5: How do I learn to trust you?

Summary:

Noelle's house shenanigans

Notes:

CHAPTER TWICE AS LONG AS THE REST, HELL YEAH

I'm honestly not sure how i'm writing this much

Of course, after what Alvin said, Zed naturally decided to go straight to the shelter the moment that church was over.

“What are we doing here? We still don't know how to get in” Susie asks, as Zed examines the door.

“I just want to see it again. You know, to see if it’s possible to get any more information from the door.” Right. Zed hadn’t actually seen it before, had they? Not in person, at least. Kris didn’t know how detailed the game would be about things such as that.

A muffled crashing noise sounds from inside, followed by a shout. The symbol of the police badge on the door flickers for a moment, and Susie grimaces. “We need to find out how to get inside. Quickly. It doesn’t sound like Undyne is having a very great time in there”

Zed snaps their fingers. “Who do you think might have the code? City hall, maybe?”

Susie nods. “That seems like a pretty good bet. The only problem is that I’m pretty sure it’s closed on Sundays,”

“Noelle’s house, then. We can see if Carol's home.” That made Kris pause. How did they know Carol? If the game had in fact already shown Zed who Carol was, then things might already be over for them.

They caught Noelle right at the gates as she was coming back from church. Rudy wasn’t with her anymore.

“Hi Susie!” She waves. “Oh, and Kris. What are you guys up to?”

“Um, Well, we were just, uh -” Susie couldn’t very easily say that they were pretty much planning to break into her house. What else were they going to do, if this exact scenario hadn’t taken place?

“We were wondering if we could study at your place? The project is due this Wednesday, isn’t it?” Zed interrupts.

Ah. The project. Kris had completely forgotten about it. They didn’t even know what it was about, being in the dark world the first day, and sleeping through the second.

Then here was Zed, wanting to work on the school project, while stuck in a video game. Did they know what it was about? Did they like studying? Something must be seriously wrong with them if that was the case.
Noelle nods, glancing over at Susie, not doing very well at hiding her excitement. It was beyond Kris how Susie didn’t notice Noelle’s crush. Speaking quickly, she says,“Yes! Uh, yeah. Sure, I'd love to. Should I invite Berdly, or…?”

They both rapidly shake their heads, and Noelle seems a little relieved herself, as though she’d hoped they’d say no. “Great. Follow me”

“Welcome to my ho-ho-home” Noelle says, leading them inside, cringing at her own joke. The smell of the house felt like it hit them full force. They didn’t understand how Noelle was ever able to get used to it.

“Great. Kris, let’s search the place” Susie marches ahead, then gestures for them to follow.

“Search?” Noelle asked, trailing behind. “Right. Search. Of course. I guess we can meet back at the couch… when you guys are done??”

Zed, seeing one of those Santa ringer things across the hall, goes straight towards it, lightly pushing down on its head. Kris wanted to strangle them for that. This Santa in particular had been almost, but not quite out of battery for years now. No one had ever bothered to change it. Now that insufferable “Ho ho ho” would be ringing through the house for 3 minutes, with no hope of stopping it. Breaking it was the only way out of this hell. Which they couldn’t do. But if they had free will, that thing would have been gone a long time ago.

Zed, however, did not seem to have the same opinion as them. “Ha! What the heck is this?” Susie asks before they have the chance to.

“My mom collects them… I’m not really sure why.”

They all stand there, watching it for a few moments, until Susie finally says “Alright, how do you turn it off?”

“This one can’t be. For some reason, turning them off takes power, and the battery has been low for a really long time. We don’t know how to change it. It’s from a different store than the rest, with a stupidly complicated mechanism to open it”

“You know what -” Susie grabs it, and shoves it in a drawer, throwing a few things on top of it, which greatly muffles the sound. “That’s better. Let’s go”

About time. Kris was nearly ready to tear out their soul in front of both of them, so they could bring the thing to the kitchen, and stab it to death. That would be very satisfying, considering how many years it had been tormenting them by now.

The group moves upstairs, and Kris finds themselves holding their breath. Noelle’s room, Dess’s room, and the bathroom. It was a little bit terrifying how close Zed was to learning almost everything without even knowing it.

Zed walks past Noelle’s room only giving it a glance, and mutters something like “weird route” under their breath, and tries the handle to Dess’s room. Kris manages to summon enough energy to make them stall for a moment or two, before Noelle saves them.

“Oh, sorry, guests aren’t allowed in there”

“What? Why not?” Damn it Zed, you’re treading on VERY dangerous territory here

“They just… aren’t”

“Cool. Sounds, uh, suspicious” Susie says. Zed decided to start the study session after that.

Almost as soon as they sat down, Noelle had to take a phone call from Berdly, of all people.

Berdly being, well, Berdly, and not knowing how to interpret anyone’s real feelings through tone of voice and body language, invited Noelle to the festival. Noelle, being Noelle, who didn’t know how to tell anyone ‘no’ in fear of letting them down/hurting their feelings, agreed.

Susie, wanting the best for Noelle, and possibly eternal damnation for berdly stole the phone out of Noelle’s hands, gave Berdly a very firm ‘ NO’, and threw it behind the couch, never to be seen again.

“You go investigate some more. I’ll keep her busy” Susie mutters to Kris, and turns back to Noelle.

Zed took this as an opportunity to run as quickly as possible back up to Dess’s room.

Of course. When you tell anybody not to do something, or go somewhere - especially someone who plays video games regularly - it'll pretty much convince them to do it. Curiosity seemed to run very strongly in Zed’s blood, and it felt like that trait was currently trying to ruin Kris’ life.

Dess’ room was oddly quieter than the rest of the house. As if her absence had taken away all the light and energy that was there while she was still alive. Everything was still in here, in nearly its exact place. The Holidays had decided to keep it this way since the day she disappeared.

The bright orange guitar stood out sorely amongst the darker tones of the rest of the room. Or maybe Kris just saw it that way because they knew what was inside of it.

But Zed didn’t go towards it immediately, as Kris expected they might. Instead, they wandered around the room for a bit first, looking under her bed, and rummaging through a few boxes. It felt strange to know that Zed had never known Dess. They didn’t know how important this room was as a memorial of a sort to the family. Kris felt as though they were the one who was disturbing some sort of precious, ancient relic.

They couldn’t help but feel like the soul was tarnishing her memory just by being in the room.

Finally, there was nowhere left to check but the closet and the guitar.

They pick it up, seem to have the intention of just moving it aside, and for one fleeting moment, Kris thought they might be safe, until Zed pauses. They saw the paper on the inside. Before they can get a proper look at it, Kris summons as much strength as they can and takes out the soul, throwing it to the ground. They fall to one knee, breathing heavily.

Why did it always take so much effort to do that?

The vessel slowly materializes around the soul, gasping for breath. “I knew… there was something important in there!”

“It’s not your concern”

“But it is! Kris, I know you’re hiding something that’s very important. I don’t want to make any accusations, but there is a lot of evidence towards some things that I'd really like the answer to. So if I could just get the guitar -” they make a move towards it, but Kris pushes them back to the floor. They look hurt. They stay there for a few moments, before saying,

“...You know what’s funny?”

“What?” Following this conversation would give them a little more time. Enough to quickly regain the energy it took to take out the soul, and be able to properly protect the guitar.

“When I first came here, you said that we both owe each other answers. But all you’ve done is drill me with questions, while you’ve told me nothing about what’s going on with you. I’ve told you my side of things. Now it’s your turn.”

Kris had said that, hadn’t they? They didn’t mean it. They just thought that they’d be more likely to get answers if they promised they’d give something in return. Looks like it came back to bite them.

“What are you so afraid of?” They ask, addressing Kris’s silence. “It can’t be that bad. I won’t try to sabotage you. I might even be able to help? I have a few theories, heck, everybody does about what’s going on with you. It can’t be worse than some of the things a few folks believe is happening.”

The last time someone had promised wouldn’t sabotage, said person most definitely did. Kris still hated themselves for what had to happen as a result.

“...No” they reply plainly.

Zed’s eyes darken. “Why can’t you just TRUST ME?” They lunge at the guitar for the second time, this time catching Kris off guard. They still manage to tear it out of Zed’s grasp without them getting a solid grip on it, but not before they accidentally strum it uncomfortably loudly, and they both freeze.

Noelle’s and Susie’s voices could be heard from downstairs.

“Hey, did you hear that?”

“It’s probably nothing”

...

“Oh hell, it’s gone! The angel fell over! That thing could be anywhere! It had to have been coming from…”

They could hear footsteps getting closer.

“Um, in here, but -”

“Let’s go!”

“Wait, Susie, I don’t think -”

Just before the door opens, Kris shoves The vessel into the closet, and follows after, making sure they had the guitar far away from Zed. The voices outside were barely audible anymore.

Zed sighs, curling themselves into a ball. “I’m sorry. I can understand why you don’t trust me. After all, I am just some being that randomly walked into your life, completely unannounced. I wouldn’t trust it either, if that happened to me”

Kris doesn’t bother replying.

“Look, this is a lose - lose situation. I just want to go home, but I'm trapped in this world instead. You want to be free of my control, but you can’t survive without me. Neither of us like these arrangements, these roles we’ve been forced into, but there’s no way out of it. I don’t want to do things you feel very uncomfortable doing, and I don’t want you to keep misunderstanding everything I intend to do”

“What are you suggesting?” They ask carefully

“We need to find a way to properly communicate, and work towards both our goals simultaneously. If you help me find a way to get home, I can try to help you find a way to live without me, or find a replacement soul or something. We might not exactly love being stuck together, but we have to deal with it for the time being. We need to figure out how to make a bad situation work decently for both of us.”

Kris finally makes themselves look at Zed. They looked so earnest. So honest.

They were going to regret this, wouldn’t they?

They offer out their hand. “It’s a deal”

Notes:

This time there was, in fact, a mouse/severed hand underneath the angel in this version. Which one, you ask? Great question! It was [SEVERED CONNECTION]

Chapter 6: Knighting

Summary:

Dess.

Notes:

FEED, my W.D Gasterlings, FEEEEEEEEED

The shelter.

Dess didn’t know how to exit anymore.

She was left alone in the never ending darkness, left alone with nothing but her thoughts, and the pain.

People came in every so often. People that she’d only just begun to recognize again, after so, so long. Kris, Carol, and one more, who she still couldn’t place her finger on.

The last one, she felt like she knew him, but he also felt so distant at the same time. A mystic sort of person. Someone who was not completely bound by the rules of time and space as the rest of them were. Someone who felt almost like an old friend, a horrible enemy, and a god all at one.

Undefined.

She knew that he was the one who had saved her. He had given her this terrible new form. He had given her new life, when she hadn’t asked for it. When she didn’t want it. Not if it came with this price.

She knew what she was. A weapon. A weapon to be used and improved, not a person to be saved.

Carol thought she was in charge of the situation, when really, she was just another pawn of the mysterious man. She didn’t know how far his power stretched, and she was afraid to know. Something was different about him than the others who visited. Something huge, that they both failed to notice.

Mom was so desperate to see her daughter again, to cure her of this unimaginable thing called death, that she was willing to do almost anything. That’s how he held the power in the situation. He was capable of keeping Dess alive. If Carol didn’t allow him to alter her into whatever new being he pleased, he would leave. Kris and Carol might be able to figure out how to keep up life support for a month or two, but she would ultimately end up dying.

Without his help, she’d have long since faded away.

Sometimes, she wished that they would just let go. That they would allow the inevitable to happen. They were only prolonging it.

She felt so helpless. So useless. She couldn’t talk anymore. At least, nothing intelligible. Walking was a huge struggle, and felt virtually impossible. Her entire existence by now was just full of experiments. The mystery man injected new, strangely coloured chemicals into her veins. Toying out loud with the ideas of adding another arm, adding another leg, removing antlers, adding brand new telekinetic powers.

She just was tired. She was so tired of all of it.

Kris was the only thing that made it worthwhile in the slightest. Kris, with their perpetually slouched posture and their regular sarcastic remarks were the only thing that was worth it to keep moving forward. The only person who still treated her like a living being. When Carol visited, she looked as though she was visiting a grave. Staring upon an empty carcass with very little hope remaining.

Kris though. They gave them information about the outside world. What was going on while they were trapped in this hellscape. How their plans to make everything right were progressing. How the side quests for Mystery man were going.

They’d made a fountain for her. Maybe it was two. Maybe Dess had been the person to make one. The memories were all a blur. But no matter who the fountains were made by, life in dark worlds was so much easier than in the light world. They could fly there, whereas here, they were almost always bound to the earth. They could speak some sort of semi coherent language that other people could actually understand. The constant pain that always plagued them in this realm of existence was gone is the blink of an eye. They were powerful. They were safe.

They were free.

Kris told them about an event that was prophesied to come to pass. The roaring. They told her that they planned to try to speed it up. “Imagine the entire world as a version of the dark worlds. Nothing more to fear. You could finally move freely! I have a plan to turn you back into your normal self. Trust me on this”

That was the first time she’d mustered something akin to a smile in this form.

Kris cared. Kris cared more than her own mother did.

Dess was incredibly grateful for everything they’d done for her, but she also had a sinking suspicion that there was more to this than they let on. She’d gathered that the Mystery man was in this plan as well. Whenever they accidentally mentioned it in their one-sided conversations, they always managed to talk themselves out of the hole they’d dug, but not without leaving Dess with a few more suspicions than before.

Something was off about the plan. There was definitely something that they were hiding, or conveniently leaving out. A key detail that was missing. The question was, why didn’t they want Dess to know about it?

The worst part about it was that she couldn’t even ask them about it, which just left her to spiral, alone, with her increasingly deranged theories. Whenever she tried to ask about it, the sound just came out as a garbled garbage noise, which Kris normally took as a cue to leave. Company was valuable. It was the only thing stopping them from going truly insane. They’d stopped attempting to reply.

FRIEND was teaching them sign language though. Irregularly, and probably very incompetently, but a form of sign language nonetheless.

FRIEND had been a creation of Gaster and Kris as an attempt to keep her company in the dark, when no one was around. It mostly just succeeded in being off putting though. Its glowing pink and yellow eyes pierced through the darkness in a very strange way. She was also only about 85% sure that it was actually sentient.

They still worked to improve it every so often, and by now, it looked something like a cat that was capable of transforming into a giant… something. But that second form was capable of teaching her sign language.

It was some strange mix of English and Wingdings that only the three of them would be able to understand. She didn’t learn very often, since some parts of it involved detaching and reattaching her fingers. The mystery man had been working a lot on making that possible over the last while.

He’d also been working on attacks. Sometimes, if she had the strength to stand up, he’d teach her how to use them.

She was afraid of them. Afraid what she’d be capable of, if given the opportunity. She was scared of what would happen if something went wrong, and the attacks got out of hand.

She didn’t want to hurt anybody this way, but she was being primed to. What was he setting her up to accomplish?

Notes:

I won’t be able to finish the next chapter before I go camping for almost a week, but I’ll work on in when I’m there. I might even be able to finish two chapters

Chapter 7: Church-o-rama (dark edition)

Summary:

Kris and Zed learn how to sort of communicate without ripping out the soul, and a trip to the dark world

Notes:

Turns out that the day i'm releasing this chapter is actually my 6 month anniversary of writing on ao3!

Communication turned out to be much easier than either of them thought it would be.

Zed managed to learn relatively quickly that they were able to partially relinquish control to Kris for a minute or so. It would allow them to actually speak their mind for once, instead of solely choosing the tone of the words that Zed would pick for them.

Unfortunately, this wouldn’t allow Kris to all of a sudden reclaim full control of their body. Zed would have the first move to allow them to speak of their own accord. They liked to think of it as some sort of off brand version of free will.

While Susie was busy bringing Tenna over to castle town, the two were practicing this. They sat on the front steps to Kris’s house, doing their best to avoid getting wet, and only partially succeeding.

“It’s sort of funny being here,” Zed says. “ Yesterday, this was all just pixels on a screen. Now…” They knock twice on the door to the currently empty house. “It’s real. I feel like I should be more bothered by it, yet I'm not. I think it’s because, well, I guess I've always wanted to be part of something bigger than myself. I’ve always been more immersed in fantasy than reality. At times, I feel like it’s for the better” Yet, as they say those words, Kris feels their face twist into something reminiscent of disappointment, or regret. They decide not to push it.

They honestly couldn’t tell if they were just being polite, or didn’t care about the story.

“What was it like playing the game?” Thinking about it now, Kris had been strangely calm about everything regarding that aspect of the situation. Maybe by now, they’d already accepted that most of their actions are useless. Or perhaps everything just still felt real enough, that they didn’t care.

“Well, the graphics aren’t the most astonishing thing in the world, but I'd say they’re pretty good. It’s interesting to see the tone you actually speak in, because in the game, you don’t actually have any dialogue. Whenever you say anything, it just gives a sort of run down of the concept you conveyed to everyone listening.”
“I got a few spoilers for the game beforehand, unfortunately, and usually through brainrot, so a lot of the time I'd look at someone’s words, and an image of bright red lights would appear in my head.

 

“Brainrot?”

The entire conversation felt very weird. To a bystander, it would look like they were talking to themselves, while slightly altering voices. What a strange life this was.

Zed laughs. “I think the fandom has some of the strangest brainrot ever.” They pull Kris' phone out of their pocket, but doesn’t try to open it immediately. “Do you think if I tried to sign in to my account that I used back home, it could work? Do you think internet can stretch between dimensions?”

Kris shrugs, dreading what horrors their eyes would be subjected to if it worked. “I guess it might be worth a shot? I doubt it, though”

Thankfully, Susie saves them from the possibility by returning around the corner, and they stand up again. “The door’s locked” Zed says upon seeing her. “I don’t think I have a key on me”

Susie groans. “Seriosuly? Well, your mom would be at church for choir right about now, right? I guess we could head there.”

Zed nods, and Susie falls into line behind them. After only a few steps, they pause. “What if you walked beside me, instead of following me? I just kind of realized how weird it feels.”

“Oh, um, sure!” She replies, sounding surprised by the request, and moves up. They’re quiet for a little while, before Susie speaks up again. “...Thanks. I was considering saying something about it a little earlier, but I wasn’t really able to find an appropriate time. This way feels much more natural” She offers Zed a smile.

So their usual formation wasn’t Zed’s choice then. Just another product of the game. Kris had to admit, it did feel a little awkward to be leading everyone like that, even if they weren’t really the ones to be doing it.

Once they got to the church, Susie moved to open the doors first, while Zed stood back. “Hope she doesn’t mind us ruining choir practice” She hesitates for a moment longer. “You’ll go get her, right? I don’t want her to blame me for barging in. I’m also not exactly a known member of the church either, and… agh, whatever”

She opens the door, then slams it shut again as quickly as possible once she sees the dark smoke billowing from the fountain within.

Kris would have laughed if they had control. The look on her face was amazing. If this was her reaction to every dark world, The Evil Ass Fountain Makers group chat would have to work together to make a lot more dark fountains so they could see this expression more often.

Susie was the best.

“The goddamn Knight. Making one right where everyone can see it. Kris, if Toriel is in there…”

Zed nods. “Let’s go” and pushes her through the door, before barrelling inside themselves.

 

“What’s with this place?” Susie asks as they land. “The other dark worlds weren’t like this. This one still looks mostly like the church. Kinda gives me the creeps.” She takes in her surroundings for a few moments before saying, “Let’s go”

Susie had a point. It all did have a bit of an eerie vibe to it. Maybe it was just the lighting, or the way the silence felt as if it was pressing in on you, but something was off.

They walked through the long hallway without conversation, before Susie finally broke their slightly tense quietness. They were starting to notice that Zed wasn’t exactly awesome at starting conversations with her.

“You can be kinda weird sometimes Kris”

“Thanks for telling me…?” Zed replies uncertainly, having no idea how to properly respond to that.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re awesome. It just feels like something is, I don’t know, wrong with you? Agh, this is all coming out wrong. Forget I ever said anything”

 

Did Susie know about the soul? What would it mean if she did?

“No, it’s ok, I want to hear what you have to say.”

“I wouldn’t give me another chance if I were you. Not when I started like that” She laughs.Kris liked hearing her laugh. It always sounded so genuine.

She shakes her head, but gives it another shot anyway. “What I mean is something seems off about you some of the time. Most of the time, now that I think about it. As if you try to stop some of your own actions. Like you’re fighting with yourself. Sometimes you seem like almost two different people? I don’t know, I sound crazy. I’m probably imagining things.”

“Susie, you…” Zed seems at a loss for words. She was so close to the truth. Thankfully, Zed recognized that it wouldn’t be a good idea to reveal it to her.

The moment Kris feels Zed loosen their control, they jumped at the opportunity to make sure nothing was unintentionally revealed. “You’re probably just tired. We all start to see things that aren’t there when we are.”

They offer her a smile, and she weakly smiles back, as Zed takes back control. There was a hint of suspicion still lingering in her eyes though. This wouldn’t be the end of this conversation.

Kris just hoped that Susie wouldn’t catch on to anything more before the time came.

Notes:

Man, if I were in Zed’s shoes, I would just constantly be bombarding Kris with questions about the Knight and Gaster and stuff. I think I need to make Zed go feral at some point, because they’ve been MUCH too respectful for a Deltarune player this far.

Also, I’d like to hear your opinions. Would you guys want to see Zed show Kris the brainrot memes at some point, or should we leave that as it is, with Kris blissfully oblivious to our insanity?

Chapter 8: *Sigh* Brainrot...

Summary:

Idiot #1 laughs nonstop while Idiot #2 fantasizes about beating them with a chair

In other words: Pure brainrot, per the request of nearly every comment I got on the last chapter

Don’t read this chapter if you value your sanity. There isn’t anything very plot important in here except minor commentary about the knight, which you already know about.

Notes:

I'm going to pretend that everything that happens in the dark world takes longer than a day. In the light world, it's still only a day, but this works better for what i'm hoping will happen.

All the maps are pretty much just stretched a lot

 

Time worked very weirdly in this dark world. It was as if every hour was a randomized time of day, and only affected their mental sense of time passing. They may feel wide awake one minute, then feel as though they were going to pass out the next. Ralsei assured them that they would get used to it eventually, but for the time being, they were just exhausted. That, paired with seemingly endless hallways and flights of stairs, were not a good match.

 

The group had fallen asleep under the prophecy panel “The light and dark both burning dire, A countdown to the earth’s expire”, which led to a few strangely disturbing dreams that were already starting to fade from their mind. 

 

Kris awoke to Zed standing over them, in their vessel form. “Kris, before Susie and Ralsei wake up” they whisper, holding Kris’s now unlocked phone. “I think someone created a cross-dimensional VPN as a joke, and I thought it would just download some sort of virus, but it somehow actually worked.”

 

“You - what?” They were too tired to understand what was going on. 

 

“Earlier yesterday, I told you I’d find a way to show you the brainrot. I actually managed to connect to my account from your phone.”

 

“How did you get access to my phone…?” Kris asks, rubbing their eyes.

 

“1234 is not a secure password”

 

“That was really the first thing you guessed?”

 

“Well, it worked, didn’t it? My brother had the same one for years, and you sort of remind me of him”

 

Kris sighs. “What do you wanted to show me?”

 

“Follow me” They lead them down the stairs to the last panel of the prophecy they’d passed by. They open the phone again, and the first image pops up. Kris was genuinely unable to comprehend what they were looking at, and stares blankly at the screen, while Zed looks like they’re trying very hard not to laugh.

 

 

“...What is that?” 

 

“It’s - Well, this is the -”  They weren’t able to finish the sentence before breaking down laughing, and shaking their head. “Nevermind. This one’s impossible to explain. It’s just pure chaos. I don’t know why it’s funny”

 

This was not a good way to start the day. They needed eye bleach. They needed to invent some sort of eye bleach to get this out of their head. By the Angel, they had been right to fear the brainrot.

 

They swipe to the next one. A video of some sort, on a platform they didn’t recognize. “Alright, this one should be easier to understand. Well, hopefully. For some context, this started as a real theory. I’m pretty sure it did, at least. Someone theorized that Asgore had some sort of hand in Dess’s disappearance, and that was why he was kicked off the police force. Another person added that he may have run her over with his truck, and, well… a lot of songs were made. This one is my personal favourite”

 

They play the video.

 

 

 

That would definitely hurt if they still thought Dess was dead. They had to admit, it was funny though. And much more accessible than the last one… whatever it was. A faint smile was on their face by the end.

 

Zed looks over to them. “See? Some of them actually aren’t too bad. I just chose a horrible one to start with.”

 

“This is definitely an improvement from the last” It didn’t make them want to kill somebody, so that wasn’t exactly a very high bar.

 

They nod, and hesitate for a few seconds, before swiping to the next. “I’ve been meaning to ask… how did Dess disappear? I mean, if you’re alright answering, of course”

 

Their smile disappears. The worst of the grief had passed years ago, but it still stung a little to remember that she wasn’t how she used to be. That she would probably never entirely recover. Not with the amount of experiments that have been done to her. Not with how much she’d been changed.

 

They could give Zed a run down of the story though. They hadn’t told them anything yet, and this would be pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

 

“Well, she was just going into the woods for fun, like normal, but she didn’t come back. There wasn’t any warning. No big moment. She just… faded away. No one even began to worry until two days later. Occasionally, she would spend the night in a tree, and that was normal for her. I just wish…”

 

They leave the sentence unfinished, hanging in the air. There were a lot of things they wished they could change. They wish they could have prevented Dess from ever going that night in the first place. They wish they could have at least accepted the invitation to go with her, so they could have run to get help when she got really hurt. At the very least, they could have started the search before the strange person with the cracked face stumbled across her, and changed her into whatever the hell the knight was.

 

He said that she was dying when he stumbled across her. He said that he saved her. They were grateful he did so, but at the same time, wished he could have kept her… intact. Was saving her out of truly good intentions, 

 

They shake their head. “Let’s just go to the next one”

 

 

“Who is that? Better question, kind of soulless, lifeless stare does he have?”

 

Zed laughs. “Togore Dreemur! The fandom imagined him as a joke, saying that he’s the forgotten character of the game. I think that he’s supposed to be the middle child, between you and Asriel.”

 

“He looks a lot younger than me”

 

“It’s because this sort of an altered Asriel sprite from a parallel game to this world - Undertale. Asriel is just a kid in that one. You don’t exist there”

 

Zed swipes to the next.

 

\

 

“Hang on, now that I think about it, I actually don’t know what her last name is” It had never come up in conversation before, and Kris had never really thought about it before now. “Why is the knight there, though? Along with those floating hearts?”

 

Zed scratches the back of their head. “This is pretty much just a toned down version of the first one. I don’t know why, but it’s the humour style of the fandom. You kind of learn to accept it once you’ve been a part of it for a while. ”

 

“How many are there like that?”

 

“Oh god, you don’t want to know. The majority of the brainrot consists of that, and the ‘Human I remember you’re genocides’ meme.

 

“Could you show me one of those?”

 

“Yeah! Just give me a second, I'd like to find a few variations”

 

They shake their head in bewilderment. “I think something is seriously wrong with the people in your world. How do you even come up with this stuff?”

 

“Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve tried a few times to contribute to the endless cycle of memes, but none of mine are good.”

 

“Can I see some of yours anyways?”

“HA! Let’s look at the next one” they say, and swipe hurriedly.

 

“Rory - Oh. Roaring Knight.” That was a little bit too close to the truth for comfort. Did Zed know?

 

“Because of the antlers, most people think that the knight is a member of the Holiday family, more specifically Dess or Carol. Personally, I still want to believe it’s Papyrus. The antlers could just be part of some sort of helmet to throw people off”

 

They almost laughed. The thought of Papyrus actually being the knight actually sounded hilarious. He’d be talking to the opponent nonstop. Hell, he’d probably just try to befriend them, and not even bother fighting. He was way too sweet for that position. 

 

Instead, they just nod. They were lucky that Zed was so far off.

 

Next image.

 

“Oh! I don’t remember saving this one…” Zed sounded nervous, but hesitantly let  Kris see it anyway. “This one isn’t exactly a meme, and more of a concept. A few people decided to draw the main characters as adults, and, uh -”

 

“Is that… you possessing Noelle? Why do I only have one arm? And - Is Susie dead?”

 

They turn to Zed’s panicked face for answers, which aren’t able to be provided before Susie calls from the staircase above. “Kris? Why are you down there? Who are you talking to?”

 

“No one!” They both say at once.

 

Damn it. They were not good at hiding this.

 

The moment of concentration that Zed needed to morph back into their heart form was much faster than it had been last time. They only barely managed to take control of Kris again before Susie appeared from the higher platform. 

 

“Seriously, who was that?”

 

Zed shakes their head. “Just talking to myself. Sorry”

 

She frowns, clearing not buying it. “Well, we’re about to continue on the path. Get up here” They hurry up the stairs, and re-join the rest of the !?!? Squad. Although Ralsei still refused to call it that, and just stuck to the Fun gang, they knew he would have to cave eventually. Only a matter of time.

They were having way too many close calls. They’d gotten lucky so far, but soon enough, that was going to run out.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

I regret everything

I hope you enjoyed suffering through that chapter

 

(I would like to formally apologize to all Papyrus knighters reading this fic. The author can not be held accountable for Kris’s opinions)

Chapter 9: But lo, on hopes and dreams, it sends four heroes to our world’s edge

Summary:

Addressing the prophecy (Zed doesn't like this)

Notes:

BOY OH BOY, ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE

I was honestly astounded by the amount of positivity the brainrot chapter got. I was expecting to lose at least a few subscribers because of it.

You guys are all amazing, thank you for reading this mess of a fic <3

Sharing the brainrot with Kris was kind of comforting, in a way. Even though it was kind of stupid, It felt like a connection to home. A reassurance that it still existed, when they were a whole other world away. It just was just inaccessible for the moment.

They were scared. They were worried that they would never be able to get back home. It was cool to be here for the time being, but they had friends and family. People they couldn’t bring themselves to leave behind forever.

They were legitimately considered trying to find some way to contact Gaster. Most evidence was pointing towards that he likely did exist in this world. With all his space-time stuff, maybe he could… transport them back?

If they somehow did manage to contact him, what if he just messed things up even worse than they already were?

If something did go wrong, what would happen if they died here? Would they be brought back home? Would it just be permanent? Would they just be brought back to their latest save point, like how it was in the game?

Now that they thought about it, they hadn’t seen any of those yet. They really, really hoped that Kris could.

Relax. You’ll learn what happens when the time comes. For now, just… enjoy this while it lasts. It won’t be here forever.

Distract yourself. It’ll do you some good.

The prophecy panels were beautiful. The floating panes of glass shimmered like water, yet the image displayed on it never wavered. Ralsei barely spared them all a second glance, while Zed was awestruck. They wished that they could show this to people back home.The graphics of the game could not possibly do justice to it’s actual beauty.

 

But lo, on hopes and dreams, they send three heroes at the world’s edge

 

“Hey, that’s us, right?” Susie pauses in front of the panel.

This one was more reflective than the rest. Their reflections were almost perfectly matched with where the heroes were engraved.

“Yes, Susie! We are the heroes of the prophecy”

“Yeah, guess you said something like that back when we first met you, huh. Still kinda cool to, y’know, see us up there. Kinda makes me feel like -”

Before she can finish the sentence, she’s cut off by something being thrown from behind them, shattering the prophecy, turning it into nothing but sparkles, which sunk into the ground, and disappeared with a flash of green light.

But just before the hammer collided with the sacred glass, Zed saw their reflections glitch, and change. Time seemed to slow for them.

 

A fourth hero had appeared, fainter than the rest, lacking features of any sort. Something was wrong with it, but they couldn’t quite place what.

Ralsei was simply gone.

Susie was covered in blood.

 

And Kris…

Kris…

 

You couldn’t find

 

Your hand.

 

Something else.

 

Something else was present as well.

 

Something.

 

Beyond.

 

That moment felt like it stretched on forever, before it finally broke.

They staggered backwards, the image burning itself into their mind. They subconsciously grabbed hold of their arm, the one they were suddenly very aware didn’t belong to them.

“Kris, are you alright?” Ralsei’s voice sounds distant. They faintly register him putting a paw on their shoulder.

That last image. It only showed up for a split second.

And yet…

 

Zed was suddenly aware how limited a mortal’s comprehension of the world really was.

Infimitecimal.

Infinitecimal, compared to that of a -

 

They shouldn’t be messing with forces they didn’t understand.

This was something they most certainly didn’t understand.

They weren’t sure if they wanted to.

 

When they finally snap back to reality, they find themselves leaning against Susie, shaking. They step back from her, and let go of their arm, which was starting to go numb.

“Dude, what happened?” she asks, concern in her voice. “Your breathing got really fast, really quickly. You look like someone was just brutally murdered right in front of you”

“There was this…” they flinch as the memory resurfaces, and they take a sharp breath in. They do their best to bury it, but something like that can never truly be forgotten.

On second thought, maybe it would be better if Susie and Ralsei didn’t know about this.

Zed shakes their head. “It was nothing. I don’t think I could tell you even if I wanted to”

Ralsei’s expression seems to darken at the words. A look of understanding flashes across his face. “What if we keep going?” he suggests nervously.

“What? No, Kris isn’t -”

“Susie. I think they’ll be ok. Kris, do you feel well enough to continue?” Zed nods.

“Perfect! Then it seems like we’re all ok”

Susie looks like she’s about to protest, but ends up deciding against it, and follows Ralsei’s lead, who was already almost halfway up the stairs.

As they went further, the path began to get darker.

Darker.

Yet darker.

There were glowing plates on the ground that briefly lit up the surrounding area when Zed stepped on them. They tried to move between plates as quickly as possible. They weren't scared of the dark, exactly, just this darkness in particular was strange. When the light faded, they felt like something was watching them. Something felt wrong about the whole thing. Unnatural.

“Do you guys hear that too…?” Susie asks, pausing when Zed guessed they were about halfway in.

It takes them a few seconds to be able to hear it. A ringing noise, which sounded slightly reminiscent of a growl. It was slowly getting louder as it approached.

“Kris! Run left, now!” Ralsei shouts.

They follow the instruction almost without thinking.

They notice that they start to take a different route back, but don’t care enough to try to set themselves in the right direction. The thing was chasing after them now. They stole a glance behind them as they stepped on one of the glowing plates.

Pink and yellow eyes were staring at them down through the darkness. A hazy red circle outlined it. There was a symbol bobbing over its head, but they weren't able to get a good look at it, before they finally saw a light ahead.

More of them appeared as Susie ran in front of them, and ducked under the lamp. More eyes appeared, encircling all three of them.

They reminded Zed of something, but they couldn’t place what.

Whatever it was, it terrified them.

Before the eyes could do anything, an overhead light turns on, chasing them all back to the shadows from where they appeared.

 

“What’cha doing?”

Gerson stood at the lightswitch, and they were overcome by relief. He’d saved them, without even knowing it.

He’d be able to help, wouldn’t he? He knew a lot about this world. If he was the same as he was in Undertale, he might understand the mechanics of the game.

He might know how to get them home.

Notes:

The hand.

 

The hand.

 

The hand.

 

Condolences.

We could not find.

Your hand.

Chapter 10: CONNECTION

Summary:

BRO

WHY DO YOU

KEEP ASKING ME

TO WRITE

CHAPTERS

FOR YOU?

Notes:

Managed to get service while camping :)

STRANGE

VERY

VERY

STRANGE.

IT SEEMS THAT

THE ANOMALY

HAD INITIATED

CONTACT WITH ME.

IT SEEMS THAT

IT DOES NOT ENTIRLEY

ENTRUST

IT’S FATE

IN THE HANDS

OF GERSON BOOM.

I DO NOT

KNOW WHY

IT CALLED UPON ME

AS AN ALTERNATIVE.

I AM

MUCH LESS…

RELIABLE.

CORPOREAL.

TRUSTWORTHY.

 

I DO NOT KNOW

WHAT I AM

IN IT’S WORLD

BUT IT SPOKE

TO ME.

OF ME.

AS IF

MY PRECENSE

WERE FAMILIAR.

 

ITS DEMANDS

ARE RATHER SIMPLE

AT LEAST

SIMPLE TO A BEING

SUCH AS I.

 

IT REQUESTS

AN UNDERSTANDING

TO THE MANY SECRETS

OF OUR WORLD.

AND IT WISHES

TO RETURN

 

HOME.

 

I DID NOT KNOW

IT WAS AWARE

OF MY

CAPABILITIES.

REGARDLESS

I BELIEVE

THAT I CAN BE

OF ASSISTENCE.

 

IN CERTAIN AREAS

THERE IS

A THIN VEIL

SEPERATING OUR WORLD

AND OTHERS.

I AM CAPABLE

OF SHATTERING THIS

BARRIER

IF ONLY FOR

A FEW MOMENTS.

 

I HAVE DONE SO

ONLY ONCE

BEFORE

ALTHOUGH

I THINK

THE PROCESS

SHOULD BE EASY

ENOUGH.

 

I WILL ASK

FOR ONLY ONE THING

IN RETURN.

I WISH

FOR MY FORMER

FOLLOWERS

TO BE RETURNED

TO ME

ALONG WITH

ONE OTHER.

 

THAT SHOULD NOT

POSE MUCH

OF AN ISSUE

SHOULD IT?

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK

OF THIS PLAN

MY FRIENDS?

Chapter 11: Gateways

Summary:

A chat with Gerson, some piano playing, and convincing Susie to stop being mean to older people

Notes:

School is starting in about a week :( Updates are probably going to be less frequent. Then again, the bus ride there and back is almost an hour long, so I’ll still have time.

 

Also, somehow I wrote this entire chapter in one sitting??? The wonder of being on ADHD meds again...

Kris didn’t get to know Gerson very well before he’d died. They’d only been a few years old. All they really remembered of him was one brief conversation, and passing by his funeral, being slightly disappointed, then being quickly distracted by the prospect of fruit snacks.

They’d heard the stories, of course. How much his writings had affected their town, and sometimes even beyond. How kind he was, how he’d changed so many people’s lives for the better.

Seeing him here felt sort of like seeing some figure who originated from a legend that you didn’t know much about. You recognize that this moment might feel like some sort of crazy dream to a certain demographic of people, but to you, it was more like spotting something mildly interesting in passing.

If that was the metaphor they were using, then Zed would have most definitely been a follower of said legend. They looked delighted to see him. It seemed like they were attempting to inconspicuously fall behind the group to talk to him, but Susie shouted at them to keep up each time.

“Susie, maybe you… shouldn’t be so rude to Ger- I mean, the old man?” Zed suggests after they managed to open the door to the maze.

She rolls her eyes. “Kris, you know he’s just slowing us down. We might actually get him to leave if I keep this up!”

 

“I mean, you’re right, he is slowing us down a little bit, but don’t you think you should have at least some respect for him? I think he’s kinda nice, and I don’t want you to chase him away”

“Dude, since when did you care about the whole ‘respect your elders’ thing? The way I like to see it, they’re just going to be the next ones to die, so all you gotta do is ignore their wrinkly faces while they’re here, and wait for their sorry asses to finally decompose.”

“Oh, um, Susie, that’s… that’s bad” Ralsei says, shaking his head. “Your elders are who helped to build the world you’re living in. They’ve experienced things that you can only read about now in textbooks. They can pass down knowledge that you never would have gotten otherwise. Maybe don’t just brush him off like that?”

“Maybe you could at least pretend to care about him? Or stop insulting him?” Zed adds. “I think he’s going to turn out to be more important than you think”

She groans. “Fine. Just remember that it’s your fault if we’re stuck in this dark world forever because we decided to follow him everywhere we go”

Zed seems to be satisfied by that answer, and moves down through the corridors, until they come to a large piano, placed in front of a gate. Kris couldn’t tell if the route was intentional, or not. As they sit down, it takes Kris a moment to realize that they’d relinquished control to them.

No words. Just an offering.

They tentatively reach out, and press a key, as if to make sure the piano was real. That this was really happening. The note echoes through the halls. That was all they needed before letting loose.

The first song that came to mind was a familiar song from church that they’d memorized. They started with it as a base, then built from there. It became greater than anything they’d ever played before.

The sound exploded around them, a song of both loss and greatness, that always had an undertone of hope, growing, and shrinking, but never truly disappearing. No matter how loud the song got, how tough that battle was, it never truly burnt out.

It told a story, as all songs did. One that Kris was weaving. A story they had nearly full control of.

They hadn’t had that feeling in a long time. Being in charge of something. It felt freeing.

That freedom wove its way through the song as well. Unlike hope, there were moments in which it disappeared. The whole song couldn’t be built around it, after all. There were times in life that you did feel helpless, and there was nothing you could do about it. That, Kris was all too familiar with.

Zed’s influence came in every now and then. Including an extra chord here, a collection of notes there, but left most of it up to Kris. If anything, the small bit they contributed only made it better. They knew what they were doing.

The close was more melancholic than most of the rest of the piece. When the joy had passed all too quickly, and the adrenaline wore off, all that was left beneath the many layers was a feeling of bleakness. Grey. When all that was left was the memory of what was there so recently.

They ended off with the same few notes they started with. It felt symbolic, in a way. It had all come full circle.

They hadn’t realized how much they’d missed playing.

When the trance finally broke, the gate had opened, and a small audience had accumulated. Susie and Ralsei were staring in awe, while Gerson looked mildly amused.

“I knew you could play the piano, but…” Susie says, trailing off, and shaking her head. “This is something else”

“It seems as though you’ve found the way to my study, all right. Well now, I think I can find my way back from here” Gerson walks through the gate without so much as glancing at the piano.

“Don’t worry about him, Kris” Ralsei puts a paw on their shoulder. “I’m sure he appreciated it. I know… I know I did” he blushes slightly.

“Yeah! He’s an idiot if he didn’t!” Susie gives their shoulder a friendly punch. “C’mon, let’s keep going”

They walk through the gate, and into the old man’s study.

It was a cozy place, built of wood, with a fireplace, and bookshelves lining the walls. Gerson was sitting at his desk, in the center, writing something down.

Susie beelines to the fireplace, looking at the poster hanging above it. Some story about a magical axe. “Hm.” She says. “That seems pretty cool. Ralsei, d’you know anything about this?”

A look of recognition passes over his face, though it disappears almost as quickly as it appeared. “Maybe the old man can tell us something about it?” He suggests. Susie shakes her head. “Nah. I bet we can find it ourselves”

“You coming?” Susie asks, already halfway up the stairs, Ralsei trailing behind. Zed shakes their head. “I think I'll stay here. You guys go ahead though, i’ll catch up with you”

“You’d rather hang with the old man than search for an awesome axe with your friends?” She sighs. “Fine. Suit yourself.” And continues up the stairs.

Zed waits until they’re out of sight, before going to talk to Gerson. “Hey, I'm sorry that Susie has been so rude to you”

He just smiles. “Eh, it’s alright. Really just a shame that older folks don’t get quite as much respect as we used to. Can I help you with something?”

“Yes, actually. There’s this little problem that we’ve been trying to sort out, but I think we’ll need your help for it to actually go away” They were going to tell him, weren’t they? Kris braces themselves for the incredibly awkward conversation to come.

“Oh? And what sort of problem is that?” He asks, putting down his pen.

“Well, there’s this… I’m not exactly… Here, it’ll probably just be easier if I show you”

They take a deep breath, and rip out their own soul. Kris hurriedly places it on the ground, and the Vessel materializes around it. Zed quickly brushes off their clothes, and stands up next to Kris, at the exact same height.

Gerson just looks between the two of them, and simply laughs. “You know, I had a feeling there was something fishy up with you two.”

“You did?” Zed asks, as if they hadn’t been making the whole thing so painfully obvious this entire time. Maybe it just seemed that way to Kris.

“Ah, ‘course I suspected it was just the old mind playing tricks on me, but yes, I did notice there was something odd. Now, how did this happen?”

“That’s the thing. We’re not entirely sure” Zed glances at Kris, as if expecting them to make a contradiction. The thing was, they did know at least some portion of how this had happened. None of the specifics of course, but definitely a few key details.

Man, if Zed weren’t so ridiculously polite, all their secrets would have been spilled by now. They shift uncomfortably.

“All I really know is that one day I was in my world, and the next, I woke up, and I was here. Where I'm from, this world is just, well, a video game. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s been really cool being here, interacting with everyone who previously didn’t exist, but I wasn’t prepared to spend my entire life here. I want to have some way to get home. I thought that you might be able to help with that?”

Gerson hums. “Interesting. Very interesting conundrum indeed. Well, I believe I may hold a potential solution to this”

Zed’s face morphs into one of relief. “Really? Can you explain it?”

“Hm, let’s see if I can. Well, all worlds have their own gateway. For example, the gateway to reading a good book is your eyes, and your mind. You simply need to have an understanding of it. Other gateways, such as the one you’re searching for, are well… less literal. One of those gateways must have broken when you arrived here”

“Gateways between worlds are not often this fragile, which is why to be in a situation such as yours is so rare. Normally, they can only be broken with intention, by a powerful entity who wills it, such as, let’s say the Angel. You two believe in it, don’t you?”

They both shrug.

“Well then, I suppose that’s good enough. These barriers that stop two worlds from colliding, or spilling into another, can be frayed, or worn. In these cases, it takes much less effort to break them. Or perhaps, no effort at all. It may just crack, and break completely on its own.”

“I can’t be completely sure which of these instances occurred in this case, but one of them transported you here. Tell me, upon arriving, were you greeted with some sort of grey area? A fuzzy inbetween?”

“Exactly that” Zed says, and snaps.

“Then perhaps both occurred at the same time. “It must have broken at the same moment that a greater being had the intent of destroying it as well.”

It was crazy that they were walking on such thin ice, and didn’t even know it. Kris was trying not to look too tense, but they were fairly certain they were failing miserably.

“This means that this wasn’t an accident. Someone in our world must have had the intent to bring you here. Either you need to find this person, and get them to return you home, or…”

“Or what?”

“Well, it would be a relatively complicated process, but we may have a way at our disposal to
bring you back”

Notes:

Originally, for the piano scene, Zed was just going to play Megalovania. I think I like this better.

(But if you guys still want them to play Megalovania, that can be arranged)

Chapter 12: Didn't mean for that to happen...

Summary:

An uncomfortable conversation, a brand new discovery, and something slightly resembling a falling out

Gerson gave them the tools that, allegedly, would be able to break this barrier. Zed had no idea what to do with any of them, and all he’d said about it was that it would become clear what to do in time. So for now, everything was just stuffed into their bag, as they went up the staircase to find Susie and Ralsei.

“Find anything?” they ask upon spotting the two among what felt like an endless amount of bookshelves. Susie shakes her head. “Nah. doesn’t seem like there’s anything here.” She looks behind her at Ralsei, who had picked up a book off of the nearest shelf. “I don’t think we need to get it. I already have an awesome axe as it is. Dunno what we’d do with another”

“Should we keep going, then?”

Susie nods, and grabs Ralsei by the collar. “No time to read during this adventure!”

“No, wait Susie! The book, it was really interesting, it was about the history of -”

Zed lets Ralsei’s protests fall into the background, and Susie leads them into the next room. There were somehow even more bookshelves in this one. Zed noticed another piano sitting on top of them.

“Hey, is that -” Susie runs towards a shelf, dropping Ralsei. “Oh, sick!” She picks up a little whale figurine, and turns it over in her hands. A few more, of varying species, were lined up next to it.

“The same one as last time” Ralsei mutters to himself, relieved. He dusts himself off, heads to the shelf opposite Susie, and picks up a book.

The piano on the shelves catches Zed’s eye again. They’re tempted to play it for a second time, but they had too many questions right now. They duck into a corner, out of Susie and Ralsei’s line of sight, and rip out the soul.

It always felt really weird when they did it themselves, rather than Kris. It was as if they’d just thrown themselves onto the floor.

 

Strange how this had become almost a regular occurrence, despite having found a way to communicate without needing to do so. Maybe it was because these conversations were easier to have face to face, rather than just talking to yourself.

“Why did you do it?” Kris asked as soon as the Vessel finished forming.

Great. If they started this conversation, then they’d never be able to make their own point.
Why was it so hard to accuse Kris of things most of the time? Actually, not even accuse, more like simply asking what the hell is going on.

“Do what?” Maybe they could find a way to circle the conversation back to what they were originally trying to say. They had never been particularly good at naturally redirecting conversations, but it was worth a shot.

“Let me play the piano. Was that just for yourself, or…?” They trail off.

“Is it that hard for you to believe that I don’t actually have any intentions to hurt you?” They reply jokingly. “No, it wasn't just for me. I know you like playing the piano, and I guess I used that as a way to apologize. To give you a break from this whole…” They wave their hand. “Possesion thing. It’s not exactly an ideal situation for either of us, so I figured that I could try to make it a little more bearable.”

They raise their eyebrows. “...Thank you” The words coming from them sound like they haven’t been spoken in a very long time.

“This is unrelated, but…” God, they were going to butcher this question so badly, weren’t they? “Well, you seemed to be really nervous while Gerson was explaining the whole gateways thing. Can I ask why?” Not exactly what they had been trying to ask, and in no way seamless, but good enough.

“Oh. That” the words were spoken with a strange mix of boredom and bitterness.

A well practiced apology was already on the tip of their tongue, before Kris had even finished talking. But, it was never spoken. They couldn’t let this slide again, just like last time.

They take a deep breath.

“Kris. I know that you’re hiding something from me. A lot of things, actually. The more time goes on, the more evident it’s becoming that it’s something really big. I’ve said this to you before, back in Noelle’s house, but looks like I need to remind you of it again: You promised”

“You promised to explain to me what’s going on. We can’t work together if you keep acting like that. I have my own suspicions, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions. I know that you don’t believe it, but I'm trying to help you. I want to trust you, I just…”
“I was lying,” Kris blurts out, cutting them off.

“...What?”

“I lied. I never actually had any intention to tell you anything. I just said that I would, because I was only trying to get answers out of you. Some of the things I’m keeping, I can’t let you know, because it’ll jeapordize everything. I know you want to help me, but I can’t be sure where you'd stand on the situation. And until I’m able to know for sure, I can’t take that risk. Everything I've been working for can’t just go to waste now.”

“...Kris?”

They both turn around, and find Susie standing there, Ralsei a little further back, staring at them, wide eyed. “Kris, what’s going on?”

Horrible timing. Zed knew that Kris didn’t want anybody to learn about their existence, and they’d done their best to respect that, but…

They realized that they didn’t care anymore. Kris could do what they wanted with their life. Zed had no say in that. They’d just do what they wanted with their own, too.

They don’t even attempt to try and convince Susie that it wasn’t real. They don’t try to make some sort of recovery. They just absorb their soul again, and storm off.

“Kris! Wait! What was that?” Susie tries to grab their shoulder, but they just brush it off. “We need to keep moving, Susie.”

“No! No we don’t, not right now. Not after that! Who was that? What just happened to them?”

“That’s not important right now”

“Kris, if something -” Ralsei starts.

“I’M NOT KRIS!” They whirl around, yelling at the two of them. Ralsei flinches at the sudden outburst. Susie looks both hurt and bewildered at the same time.

“My name. Is not Kris” They repeat shakily. “My name is Zed. I am my own person, with my own thoughts and feelings. I am not Kris, nor do I want to be controlling them. I’m just stuck here, by some shitty luck of the draw. All I want is to get back home. So please, if we can keep moving, that would be appreciated.”

When they started walking again, there were no more protests from either of them. It was completely, eerily silent. They walked farther behind Zed than they usually did.

When they finally had to give in to sleep again, Susie made sure there was plenty of distance between her, and the person who might not actually be who she thought they were.

Zed regretted everything by the time they’d reached that point.

“I’m sorry” They whisper to themselves, to Kris, once they were pretty sure the others were already asleep. “I’m sorry for ruining this for you. I’m sorry I told them about me. I’m sorry I got angry at you.”

Tears start welling in their eyes.

“I’m sorry that I ruin everything”

Notes:

I'm realizing as i'm posting this that the Jackenstein fight is pretty much the next thing coming up. I can't make it as funny as I hoped it would be with the gang in this state.

....

GET READY FOR SOME REALLY LONG HALLWAYS, PEOPLE, THE CONVERSATIONS NEED TO HAPPEN SOMEWHERE, AND FAST

Chapter 13: Dream

Summary:

A disturbing dream with possible consequences

Zed was an angel.

Whether or not they were the angel of the religion the town followed, or just a regular angel, for the moment, it was unclear.

They were walking through a bright field full of golden flowers. The sun was shining down on them, illuminating their wings. They twirled, and hummed a familiar song, without a care in the world.

But the further they walked, the more the feeling of being watched grew. They tried to ignore it, but that feeling of dread never went away.

They started to run, thinking that maybe it would pass in a few moments.

It didn’t.

The feeling only gripped their chest tighter, and tighter, until it became hard to breathe. Guilt and terror were added to the dread, making them feel almost as if they would implode.

Before they knew it, they found themselves standing at a crossroads. None of the 3 paths continued on the slowly darkening field. 

On one path, they saw Kris. They looked happy, simply going about their daily routine. On that path, there was nothing that they had to worry about. They were free. Zed though, was gone. Permanently erased. Not quite dead, but something close to it. 

On the next path, Zed saw themselves. They were back home, but.. they didn’t seem to be entirely happy. Of course, they were momentarily glad to be back to the familiarity of everything, but the look in their eyes… 

It looked like a mix of haunting memories and longing. Wishing for a world that they could never go back to. A world that they had been responsible for the loss of.

On the third path, they saw both themselves, and Kris, lost in a sea of darkness.

Panicked, they turned around, only to find that the paths had moved to be there instead.

No. No, they couldn’t be the one to make a decision like this. Their breathing quickens, and a booming voice sounds from everywhere around them.

“The choice is yours”

“No! There has to be another way!” These couldn’t be the only options. These couldn’t be the only ways it all ended.

“These paths have been created based on your every action. The only way forward is to make a decision”

The ground breaks beneath them, and they find themselves standing in front of another prophecy panel.

The angel, banished, will finally meet with its desire. 

There was no photo. Only a mirror. The image of themselves was flickering within it. 

The Vessel. Their true form. And the Angel.

So many facets of the same person.

“I can’t. I can’t make the decision” 

“Well, then. Refusal has its own road attached to it”

“Wait, you can’t -”

“Now, it is written”

Notes:

CHOOSE WISELY

Chapter 14: The Elongated Hallways of Confessions and Friendship

Summary:

An even more uncomfortable conversation, and lots of inner turmoil for Susie

She's not having a great time

Notes:

Shoutout to LostGirlDess for the title of this chapter. I honestly considered putting a sign up in front of the hall that said that, but I ended up deciding against it.

By the way, if we're on the topic of scenes I cut, it feels necessary to inform you all that I had to cut out a scene where Susie learned what Flappy bird was :(

Not Kris.

It wasn’t Kris, it was Zed. Whoever they were.

Susie didn’t know what to think.

Had they ever known Kris, or was it always just Zed? Was Kris dead, or just somewhere else for now?

…Was any of it real?

She’d been so glad to finally have a friend. Someone she could trust. She’d lived in a lot of places before, and there hadn’t been many people like that. Most of the places her parents decided to move were largely human communities. And there, she was often seen as nothing but the big scary purple dinosaur.

She’d tried to make friends. For longer than she’d like to admit. But it was always a futile effort. Whenever by some miracle, somebody began to finally warm up to her, they’d just move away yet again, and have to start from scratch. All that progress undone.

Looking out the window, as they crossed the city limits out of yet another town, she always imagined that all the inhabitants were all breathing a sigh of relief. That she was finally gone.

Eventually, she’d given up trying, and let just it happen. Falling into the role of scary dinosaur was much easier than it should have been. From town to town, she kept up the act, because the result of how they saw her, in the end, would always be the same. Hometown shouldn’t have been any different.

But then there was Kris.

Even when she’d tried to scare them off, when she’d tried to push them away, for whatever crazy reason, they stayed. She’d threatened to kill them, she’d hurt so many Darkners in that first dark world, She’d been nothing but mean to everybody.

But, they stayed. Seemingly unafraid of what she was, they let her grow out of that role. She became more than she ever really thought she could be. She loved that about them - how they could be so quiet, but comforting at the same time, just by being in their presence. She loved that they were there for her.

But suddenly, it wasn’t them.

Everything she thought she knew about Kris, everything she thought she felt, was falling apart around her. She was starting to rethink all of their actions. Was it Zed or Kris who asked to walk side by side instead of in a line? Was it Zed or Kris who’d done the lawnmower snackplate with her? Who had it been when they’d dumped the juice in each other's mouths?

She didn’t know. She couldn’t be sure, and she hated that. She wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea of Zed being in her life, but she wanted to have a clear differentiation between the two of them. She didn’t want to be talking to an imposter, believing they were her friend.

That was, If Kris even was her friend. If Kris was anything. If it wasn’t just Zed the entire time.

“Susie” Ralsei says from behind her, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Are you alright?”

She was crying, and hadn’t even noticed. She rolls over to face Ralsei. He looked tired. As if he’d been up the whole time. “I -” her voice cracks, and feels another wave of tears incoming. “I’m scared. I’m scared that Kris isn’t really in there after all. I’m scared that Zed isn’t going to help us. I -”

Ralsei wraps his arms around her as she breaks down crying yet again. Admittedly though, he helped. It was like hugging a soft pillow.

“It’ll be ok. We’ll get through this, no matter what Zed turns out to be like. I’m sure it’ll all be fine” Despite his words, there was a hint of doubt in his voice. Susie chose to ignore it for the time being. For now, she was just trying to find comfort when nowhere else seemed to provide it.

Ralsei was the last one who cared.

 

~~~~

 

She wakes up again to Ralsei tapping her. “We should probably get going”. She must have fallen back asleep without realizing it.

She nods, and gets up. Zed was already awake, sitting against the wall. Neither of them have to say anything, before Zed falls in line beside them.

“...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you guys like that. I was angry, and wasn’t thinking properly. I know that I made things really confusing, and you guys probably hate me right now. It’s -”

“Kr - Zed” Ralsei interrupts them gently. “We don’t hate you. We just want you to explain to us what’s going on.”

They nod. “Right. Sorry, I -” They take a deep breath. Their next words sound like a script. They’d clearly been practicing how they were going to answer this question for a while.

“I’m not from this world. I don't know how I got here, or how to get back to my own. In my world, this is all supposed to be a video game. In the game, we control Kris. Although, on our own, we’re a soul” A glowing red light briefly shines from within their armour.

“It’s because of the soul that we’re able to control Kris’s actions. That’s the manifestation of ourselves within the game. Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t want to be controlling Kris. We were never supposed to. Originally, at the start, we were going to get a vessel. A way to exist on our own inside the world, without the help of another already inhabiting it. It was supposed to have been destroyed, but now… I have it back”

“When the soul is taken out, the Vessel appears around it, and I'm my own person again. The only problem is that Kris can’t survive for very long without the soul, so I have to stay controlling them. Neither of us want it, but we’re stuck like this for the meantime.”

Another world. Zed was from another world, where she - where none of them were supposed to be real. That was a little bit of a terrifying thought.

Now was not a good time in the slightest to go down this rabbit hole. She takes a deep breath. “How… How long have you been controlling them for?”

Zed shakes their head. “Since the first dark world. But I've only been trapped here since you guys woke up before church.”

So that explained the sudden shift in behaviour. That was why they were so much less stoic than usual, so much more talkative. Because it wasn’t them.

Maybe the version that she knew wasn’t them either. Maybe that was also just a byproduct of the game. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t exactly known them before the first dark world. They’d been classmates, of course, but they never spent time together.

What if Susie had never actually known them at all?

She swallows, and nods. She couldn’t start crying again.

“Sorry, this is probably a lot to take in, I -”

“Zed?”

They look up from the floor for the first time this entire walk.

“Thank you. For being honest.” Because, at least now she knew what she was dealing with.

The walk is silent for a little while longer, before Ralsei speaks up. “Belive it or not, this was actually in the prophecy”

“Wha - really?”

“Well, not this scenario exactly. But further up ahead, there’s a panel, ‘A cage, with human soul and parts’. I’ve been wondering what it means for so long, but… here you are.”

A cage. Was that really all Kris was described as? Just a force to limit another person? They were more than that. So much more.

There had to be some way for them to survive without Zed, right? That couldn’t be all there was to it. Zed couldn’t control them for their entire life.

She’d find a way to get Kris back. Somehow.

Notes:

I feel like the tags of the fic capture what it’s about well enough, but the tone of it isn’t addressed. Would Hurt/comfort be right for this, or something else? I’m still relatively new to ao3, and don’t really know much about the options.

Chapter 15: YOUR TAKING -

Summary:

A mind to be brainrotted, A beloved, familiar enemy, and horrors beyond comprehension,

Notes:

Well... school has started again :(

Thankfully, I managed to post this before I actually got any schoolwork. I really hope that I can keep up consistent - ish updates

Zed knew that the Jackenstein fight was next.

As one of the spoilers that they’d unfortunately gotten from brainrot, they didn’t know anything about the fight, other than ‘Your taking too long’. They’d googled roughly when the fight would happen, out of curiosity. That was the main part they were looking forward to, once they were finally able to buy the game.

This was going to be amazing.

When the hallway came to an end, they were met with another puzzle piano. As they sat down, they felt Kris trying to take control. Maybe they would have let them under another circumstance, but there were a few things they’d been hoping to play for awhile. Just to see if anything would happen.

They’d bought the Undertale piano books a few years ago, along with some sheet music online. They hadn’t played in awhile, so it all sounded a little rusty, but they got the hang of it quickly enough.

Halfway through Gaster’s theme, the gate hadn’t opened, and no mysterious figures had appeared asking for their soul. Ralsei seemed to be panicked by the sound of it. He was repeatedly looking over his shoulder, and fidgeting with his sleeves, until finally saying, “Kri - Zed? What if you… played something else for now? The song kind of… It’s stupid, but it kind of makes me feel like someone’s watching me”

Was Ralsei finally beginning to acknowledge his own self worth, and the fact that he is allowed to ask for things, or was it something else?

Susie nods. “Yeah, now that you say it, it sort of does”

Weird. It hadn’t affected Zed that way in the slightest. Well, there were always more options.

Megalovania was one of the few pieces they’d actually worked on polishing. Probably because their younger sister had been the one to introduce them to Undertale in the first place, and this was by far her favourite song. She couldn’t play the piano very well, Zed felt a little bit like they owed her for introducing the game to them.

And, would you look at that? It opened the gate too.

“What song was that? It sounds slightly familiar” Susie asks.

“Megalovania. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist in this world.” along with the rest of the brilliance that the Undertale OST was.

She laughs. “What other things have you brought to this world that shouldn’t be here?”

Well, there was themselves for one thing, but also -

The brainrot.

They had to show it to Susie. It would probably be closer to her humour style than Kris’s anyway. They grin. “There’s something I need to show you after this”

The passages start to narrow, and darken. Before they knew it, in the middle of the pitch black, the fight started.

It seemed as though some sort of hologram appeared before them. A green-tinted veil in front of their eyes, which they were also able to easily look past to see what was actually going on.

It showed exactly what they would have seen if they were still at home, sitting in front of their computer. The battle menu, the map, the music, with everything finally being pixelated again.

A wave of familiarity washes over them. They knew what to do here.

Vaguely, they were aware of their physical form, guiding the others through what seemed to actually be Jackenstein’s house. As their TP bar rose with the collected yellow dots, so did a feeling of elation. Must be connected in some way.

Second room.

Now as their own independent member of the party, they had unique ACTs as well. Pattern recognition, Freeze, and Unleash. The last one needed 60% tp to use. They decided to try out Pattern recognition first. With the description being ‘Gain TP by shouting’, it sounded promising.

A countdown appeared on the screen, and as it got to zero, almost by instinct, they yelled “YOUR TAKING TOO LONG” at the exact same moment as Jackenstein did. Zed started laughing maniacally as they sprinted to the door. They were hit by a few of the hopping white things on the way, but all it felt like was a subtle buzzing sensation, thankfully.

Man, this was amazing. Like a hyper- immersive version of actual Deltarune.

“Z-zed? Are you alright?” Ralsei asks, as they don’t stop laughing when they pass through the doorway. They nod. “I’m fine, I'm fine, sorry”. They were having too much fun right now.

They did the same thing for the next three doorways, and Ralsei’s concern only grew.

When they tried Freeze, it was a little underwhelming. The spell caused the bouncing enemies across the house to be momentarily trapped in blocks of ice for the first few seconds of the attack. When the cage broke, it looked as though they were moving in slow motion.

They still yelled with Jackenstein, but didn’t gain any additional TP as a result. It didn’t quite feel the same.

Your will is changing… FREEZE became !

Weird. They’d never seen an ACT without a name before. Maybe something was wrong with it somehow? They decided to leave it for the time being, to see if it was a minor problem that would resolve itself.

As the rooms went by, and Unleash had already been used twice, it became apparent that it wouldn’t. If anything, that blank space on the screen only appeared to grow. An emptiness that wasn’t really empty. Darkness that held volume.

When they selected it, it felt more like they were in a trance, rather than making a conscious decision. A sort of lull that a name couldn’t be put to.

The hologram collapsed in on itself, and the world around them blinked out of existence, accompanied by a loud, crackling, buzzing noise.

The sound invaded their consciousness. It wasn’t just a noise, it felt almost like a living thing. Taking over every corner of their mind, moving in ways that they couldn’t comprehend, gleaning every bit of information that it could. Everything they’d ever known, everything they’d ever felt, everything they’d ever been, all of it was now freely at its disposal.

Each moment felt agonizing in a way that couldn’t be described. Not pain. Something else beyond that. Something that gripped their entire being with a fear that wasn’t fear. A sensation that didn’t exist. That shouldn’t exist.

Zed tried to cover their ears, tried to block it out, but it only got louder.

And louder.

And louder.

Until suddenly, they were transported back. Right to the beginning of the battle. Nobody else seemed to notice that anything was wrong.

The trail that the creature had made, burned into their mind. It wasn’t there, but the memory of it lingered. They fell to their knees, holding their head.

Or they would have, were they still the one in control.

They weren’t sure whether they were functioning by their own subconscious, or the will of another, but they were moving through the house at a normal pace. The hologram was gone. Their voice didn’t sound like their own.

The battle ended quickly. Much quicker than if they had been the one directing it.

The time was all a blur. They couldn’t remember most of what happened, but once the worst of the effects of the sound had worn off, they slowly regained their control.

Control that shouldn’t have been theirs.

Everybody was just a puppet in some form or another, weren’t they?

Notes:

Don’tmakethechapterbeaboutGasterDon’tmakethechapterbeaboutGasterDon’tmakethechapterbeaboutGaster DAMN IT I DID IT AGAIN

Chapter 16: Disconnected puzzle pieces

Summary:

Character development for Kris, weird route mentions, and commentary on Noelle's sleep schedule

Notes:

But it wasn’t Gaster.

It was another side of themselves.

Another version.

That maybe.

Chose a different path.

 

I’m not evil, contrary to what you would think.

I’m not wishing suffering on you two.

I’m just curious.

I just need to see.

What happens.

When Noelle gets stronger.

Kris saw everything happen.

They remembered the first attempt at the fight, before it all went black. They remembered being trapped in an area similar to the gray space, but more… sinister somehow.

They saw Zed, crumpled on the ground, being bombarded with a whirlwind of flashing lights, and black shards, cutting deeper and deeper into their skin. The lights left coloured imprints, which resembled burn marks.

Kris could see quick flashes of scenes as the shards whizzed past. A ritual that they couldn't make out the details of. Dess, dying on the forest floor. A tree, with something indistinguishable, yet terrifying lurking behind it. Images of their worst memories, and fears, tailored exactly to the viewer.

Maybe Zed could be annoying, and a little bit intrusive at times, but they didn’t deserve this.

They’d tried to help, but whenever they got close to Zed, their body would glitch, and fade away. Their hand would just pass through them, and the static noise would get louder. More shards would appear in the whirlwind, and the colours would start spinning faster.

And then, it was reset.

The floor dropped out from beneath them, and they were back at the start of the fight. Zed was still the one controlling them, but it felt different. They had changed, somehow. Their presence felt colder, more distanced from everything. Even more distant than before they were transported into this world.

And their voice.

That voice they had used. A chilling mix of what sounded like Kris, what Zed’s normally sounded like, and something else. Something terrifyingly otherworldly that they couldn’t quite place.

A voice that they somehow recognized, despite having never heard it before. A voice that, in some other version of reality, must have played a major role in their life.

For hours, every time they heard Zed speak, they had to do a double take. They had to remind themselves that this voice was not ruining their life. That the being possessing them was not one of evil. That Zed would be back to their normal self soon enough.

That it wasn’t snowing.

For some reason, that was the thought connected to this voice. The fear of snow. The need to make it stop, but being completely powerless to do so. A guilt that the atrocities being committed were by their hand.

What atrocities? They weren’t sure. It was all so foggy.

They kept trying to find little ways to wake them up, or to signal to Susie and Ralsei that it wasn’t either of them, but Zed resisted their influence. An unfamiliar push backwards. One from a darker presence than usual.

The other two barely even noticed anything was wrong.

The way the corners of their mouth twitched, itching for that word to be spoken on their tongue again. The one that would have given them full control of a new vessel. One that wouldn’t hate them. The way their posture had shifted, to one that held more confidence. More importance.

And the voice.

Who was this, really?

Kris didn’t hate Zed. Now, they just wanted to make sure they were going to be safe. They wanted to know what was happening, what this voice was, what forces they’d messed with to end up in this situation.

Now they were the one wanting answers. Maybe Kris would actually have to tell them something of somewhat importance to learn anything. After their argument, they highly doubted that any information would come for free anymore.

So what? Zed was probably only to get hurt if they continued to work this way. Look where it had landed them already. If they could keep them safe -

Why did they suddenly start caring about Zed’s wellbeing now? They shake their head, and try to think of something else other than the force guiding them,

They made it to a piano, much larger than any of the other ones they’d seen yet. As soon as Zed sits down at it, the other presence seems to drift away. Leaving only them, shaken, and afraid.

But still, for reasons beyond them, they offer the piano to Kris.

Why? What had they done to deserve it?

Zed wasn’t even taking a second to recuperate after that. Hours of being possessed, without any warning beforehand, and as soon as it was over, they’re doing something to serve Kris. Not themselves.

They didn’t understand. They probably never would.

Even though they knew that they didn’t deserve it, even though they’d been almost nothing but secretive and rude since day one, they took the opportunity anyway.

The song they played was one that Dess wrote. One of her calmer ones, and among the last ones written before she disappeared. They hoped that it sounded enough like an apology. Signing was in no way their strong suit, but they gave it a shot anyway.

”When the light is running low…”

Around the time, Noelle was having a lot of trouble sleeping. Her fear of the dark became so bad, she would stay awake all night, tossing and turning, trying to block out the idea of what was behind all the darkness. She would refuse to sleep at any point other than the daytime. A nightlight never helped. She said that it only made the shadows worse. That the monsters only seemed bigger.

Not being able to see anything was scary. Only being able to see some twisted version of reality was even worse.

Kris understood to a lesser degree, but they had Asriel in the same room. If they ever got scared, they could tiptoe a few steps, and snuggle next to Asriel. They’d suggested it, but Noelle couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed, and walk across the hall. Getting up felt like a death sentence.

Kris could still remember the first time they heard Dess sing the song. Standing outside of the Holiday household, late at night, hearing her voice drift out the open window.

Why they had been there in the first place, they couldn’t remember. But when they went home, they felt a lot better than they did before.

Noelle also finally slept properly, for the first time in weeks. Kris also found themselves humming it at night too, once Asriel asked them to stop waking him up.

When Dess disappeared, the song was heard more and more. People using it to cope. Remembering that she’d always be with them, even if she was gone. Noelle especially. The songs became a lifeline to her. She’d memorize them all, as a link to her lost sister, in a world where her dad was dying, her mom was becoming colder by the day, and her best friend was distancing themselves.

Kris would bring her back. They were going to save Dess, then Noelle would finally have somebody again. She wouldn’t always be so alone anymore.

I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry I didn’t find you earlier.

They weren’t sure if the song read as an apology to Zed, but they hoped it did.

“Dude, how is it that every time you sit down at a piano, you play some sort of masterpiece?” Susie laughs. “Here, let me try”

She shoves Kris out of the way, and plays a scale, followed by a few discordant notes. “You have to stop outshining us like that”. She keeps playing a disaster of a piece, with Ralsei stifling laughter in the background.

“How do you know that song?” Zed asks quietly, whispering to themselves.

Kris shrugs. A lie is on the tip of their tongue, but they stop themselves. They were long due for a shred of honesty.

“Dess wrote it”

Maybe they could actually make an effort to try and see eye to eye with Zed. Maybe they could try to be something resembling friends. Maybe Zed’s promise that they could help would turn out to be true.

They weren’t betting on it, but maybe they could help in the efforts of saving Dess.

Notes:

How many times had they already made that promise?

Chapter 17: Flashback

Summary:

A memory.

A soul donated, Carol seeming like a half decent person, and official Gaster appearance

“Remember that you cannot tell anybody about this”

Kris nodded, as Carol unlocked the door to the shelter for the first time. Their eyes widened, and they took a step back at the sight of the unearthly darkness unfurling from the opened doors.

“Follow me. Make sure you stay close.” Kris had never seen Carol afraid before. At that age though, they had just never recognized the subtle ticks. The way her shoulders tightened, and her voice started sounding sharper. The way she became ever so slightly more lenient of things that she wouldn’t normally allow. Such as in that instance, when Kris reached to hold her hand, she didn’t pull away.

The doors slammed shut behind them soon as they entered. Kris nearly jumped all the way to the roof. Carol’s flinch was much more subtle than that.

Darkness engulfed them, pressing in, as they walked deeper and deeper into a place that many of Kris’s classmates considered to be cursed. The silence was heavy. They could’ve sworn they heard tiny voices whispering all around them.

Fear presented itself in many different ways. These voices whispered of their failings. Their shortcomings. Their wrongdoings. They couldn’t prove that the voices were real, or just in their head, but in the moment, they could have sworn that the shadows were gossiping about the two of them.

They moved closer to Carol. She wouldn’t normally be a source of comfort, but right now, she was their only tether to safety.

Still to this day, they had never felt so much relief as when a light finally appeared at the end of that hallway. It didn’t illuminate much, but it marked a destination, instead of nothing but suffocating darkness.

What younger Kris had seen, was a blurry figure standing over a table, with something laying on it. A lot of machines were whirring, with tubes connected to the person laying on the table. What little Kris hadn’t understood at the time, was that it was an operating table. What little Kris hadn’t seen was the splatters of blood on it.

The light cast their shadow high on the wall, the red horn headband they were wearing grew more pronounced in this reflection. They squeezed their eyes shut as Carol led them to the table.

“Doctor” She nods at the blurry man. Up close, Kris’s eyes started hurting when they looked at him directly for more than a few seconds. He never came fully into focus. Carol was mostly averting her gaze, and Kris followed suit, instead turning to the figure laying on the table, then immediately regretting it.

Her eyes were covered by some sort of gauze. Massive gouges were peppered across her body, having been given little to no treatment this far. Her neck was tilted at an odd angle, a small lump protruding from the side. She was connected to so many machines, Kris couldn;t even count all of the tubes and needles there were. Despite all that, they recognized who it was. How could they ever forget?

They turned away, taking a sharp intake of breath. “Is that…?” they asked, voice shaking.

Carol nodded, blinking unusually rapidly. Little Kris had also never seen Carol cry, and hadn’t known how close she’d been then.

“Dess” the single word sounded broken. Shaky. So many memories and regrets attached to it.

So much was flying through their head. How did she get like this? How was she still alive? Why was she in the shelter, of all places, instead of the hospital? If Carol had known she was here this entire time, why hadn’t she told anybody? They take a deep breath, trying to process it all, one thing at a time.

“Is she alive?” They ask, failing to fight off tears.

Carol pauses, choosing her words carefully. Telling a half truth, or even a lie, to try and make them feel even the smallest bit better about the whole thing. “She is. At least, for the time being, but….” Her voice falters, and she squeezes Kris’s hand. “We don’t know if she will be for long. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t be, but this is a special case”

Her eyes flick up to the blurry doctor, who still had not yet spoken a word.

“The doctor believes that he can help, but there is… a very vital component that is damaged. She’ll only be able to survive with your help, Kris”

“I’ll do it” They say without hesitation. Going even just two weeks without Dess had been torturous. They would be willing to do anything to get her back.

The doctor laughs. A low, garbled sound. “NOW, CHILD, I APPRECIATE YOUR ENTHUSIASM, BUT THIS IS A MUCH MORE COMPLICATED ISSUE THAN YOU THINK IT IS”

His voice didn’t sound real. So many times, it glitched, and backtracked, little Kris could barely understand him.

“What’s wrong with her? If I can help, I'll -” Carol cuts them off by squeezing their hand again.

“I DON’T KNOW IF YOU WILL HAVE EVER HEARD OF ONE AT YOUR AGE… BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT A ‘SOUL’ IS?”

Kris shook their head.

“A SOUL IS YOU. THE VERY CUMULATION OF YOUR BEING. IT CARRIES EVERYTHING. IT IS THE REASON THAT YOU CAN EXIST IN THIS WORLD. DECEMBER’S SOUL… WELL, IT HAS SUFFERED, UNFORTUNATELY, IN HER ACCIDENT”

A white light appears, and something emerges from Dess’s nearly lifeless body. What should have been a white, upside down heart, was half blackened, with a few shards missing here and there. Cracks ran along its surface, and it shook, threatening to break apart at any second.

“SOMEBODY WITH A SOUL IN A CONDITION SUCH AS THIS ONE CANNOT SURVIVE. I HAVE SUCCEEDED IN KEEPING IT TOGETHER THIS FAR, BUT THAT CAN ONLY LAST SO LONG. DECEMBER IS IN NEED OF A REPLACEMENT. A HUMAN SOUL - NOW, UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, THE BODY OF A MONSTER WOULD BE UNABLE TO SUSTAIN ONE. BUT, I HAVE THE ABILITY TO ALTER THAT.”

“DECEMBER ALREADY HAS MUCH MORE THAN THE AVERAGE AMOUNT OF DETERMINATION FOR A MONSTER - IF I CAN AMPLIFY THAT, I BELIEVE THAT WITH YOUR SOUL, YOU COULD BE THE REASON FOR HER SURVIVAL.”

They press their hand to their chest, and ball the fabric of their collar into a fist. Everyone needed Dess back. “What will happen to me if I don’t have a soul?”

Carol cuts in before the doctor can say anything. She takes a knee so that she can look Kris in the eye, and puts a hand on their shoulder. “Kris, we have a plan to make sure that you won’t get hurt. There’s a way to find you a replacement. It might not be easy to deal with, but you’ll survive, and Dess will be back to normal. Just remember, this is your choice. Nobody is pressuring you”

And yet, despite her words, there was such a pleading look in her eyes. How desperate was she really to get her daughter back? How much would she be willing to pay?

Then again, Kris needed to see her again. Just one more time.

They turn back to the doctor, and nod, fabric still balled in their hand. “I’ll do it”

He claps, the noise ringing in the small space. “VERY WELL. PLEASE BACK UP A FEW PACES, AND HOLD STILL”

Nervously, they follow his directions. He takes some chalk from a nearby tray, and draws a circle around them, adorned with a few symbols they didn’t recognize. He pulls out a paper, and recites a few lines they can’t make out.

A few seconds after he finished speaking, nothing had happened. “I don’t think that it woRKED-” they unintentionally raise their voice as their body is suddenly lifted into the air.

The circle on the ground below them starts spinning and glowing orange, the words that the doctor had spoken playing back, even more distorted than they were the first time. A light starts glowing from inside them, then it all freezes.

An orange heart was floating in front of them. They watch, suspended in mid air, as it drifts towards the doctor. The farther it travelled from them, the weaker, and more tired they felt.

“THE REPLACEMENT WILL ARRIVE SHORTLY”

But they weren’t conscious to see it.

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The first one was originally named Maisie. She had a green soul.

She was very kind. Being younger than Kris, she didn’t completely understand how to control them, or maybe didn’t care, so as a kid, they still had most of their own free will. She was sort of a friend, but they couldn’t talk to each other very easily.

Kris didn’t know why the soul went away. The mysterious doctor said that she’d died, but they had no idea how she would have, if she’d been the same person as Kris.

The soul had shattered. He turned the remains into a flower, and gifted it to Asgore.

And it had gone that way for years. Soul after soul, all in an attempt to keep her alive.

But Dess never recovered. The doctor only made her worse. He wasn’t healing her, he was transforming her into a weapon.

Their soul stayed though. They kept it there, to let her live.

Some desperate part of Kris was still clinging to that hope that she’d get better. That everything could go back to normal if they just waited long enough.

Though it was slowly growing apparent that it would never happen.

Notes:

"Zed wasn’t even taking a second to recuperate after that. Hours of being possessed, without any warning beforehand, and as soon as it was over, they’re doing something to serve Kris. Not themselves."

"They didn’t understand. They probably never would."

And yet, this happened, not too many years ago.

Kris, I think you do understand. At least, to some degree or another.