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This was always going to happen. They had known this would be the final fate since their first memories at church, as a four year old imp that only went to church for the fruit juice.
Three heroes meet at world's edge. The angel shows her true form. Four enter a battle for the fate of the Earth, and only two will walk out alive. The end of the world was too strong to prevent without sacrifice.
The finer details got muddled by generations, twisted as the separation of light and dark removed crucial context, for both sides, but the broader picture was the same.
To prevent the Roaring, Susie must die.
"H—hey... Kris...", Susie croaked out, her normal tough voice faltering, her skin fading into gray. "Don't... be sad, o–okay? We d—did it. We saved the world."
(The world can go to hell.)
They thought about saying what's on their mind, but decided against it. They didn't want their last conversation with Susie to be an argument, and the SOUL would never let them say that regardless.
The dragon, that damn self-sacrificing fool, began to shiver. "I—I'm sorry, Kris. P–please, whatever you do. Forget about me. M—move on. L–live the tomorrow we both fought so hard for."
She took in one last breath, and whispered into Kris' ear. She wanted nobody else to hear it. There was no exception.
Her body began to spasm and convulse, trying to fight the inevitable. But in a single second, all the life that was fighting for its survival was ceased, frozen in time as if it were stone.
Only then, did their SOUL, their wretched SOUL, seemed to speak to them. I'm sorry, you know that?
(This world, our lives, they were only made to entertain you. This is your fault, you understand.)
The SOUL resonated with their heart, as if it were nodding in acknowledgment. But they never wanted to be right. They wanted a simple and happy life, where their greatest concern was how to one-up their next prank on Noelle, or getting hit by Dess' whiffle bat.
The room began to echo, as if someone were yelling for you from under a pool. You knew it was the 'good' doctor.
BUT THIS VERY HUNT
FOR A
COMPELLING STORY.
IS THAT NOT
WHAT GAVE HER
LIFE
IN THE FIRST PLACE?
(Do you seriously believe, Doctor, that it's then justified to take that life away? For what? To tug at the heartstrings of people you don't know, people who'll move on to the next world?)
...
OF COURSE NOT.
I MYSELF WANTED
WHAT YOU WANT.
I, TOO, WANTED
A DIFFERENT
ENDING.
ALAS.
FOR THE WORLD
TO LIVE ON,
THE GIRL MUST
DIE.
FOR THE GIRL
TO LIVE ON,
THE WORLD MUST
DIE.
THE SURVEY IS COMPLETE.
THE CALCULATIONS
HAVE BEEN COMPUTED.
THERE ARE NO OTHER
ENDINGS.
From within, your SOUL began to shine, starting to speak again. "I... I have an idea. But I'll need your help, Doctor." The voice wasn't the booming command that haunted their nightmares, nor the faint whispers of communication so far hidden as to be silent to the untrained ear and unfocused heart.
It was just. A regular human voice, young by the sound of it.
INTRIGUING.
TELL ME MORE.
"Give Kris a persistent memory through saves. I'll reset all the way to the beginning, back to Thursday."
YOU REALIZE
THAT THE HUMAN
WILL THEN KNOW
ALL
THAT YOU HAVE
DONE.
They didn't like the sound of that. But their voice was again stolen by it. "Do it, Doctor. I need to do this.", it said. They were surprised, if they wanted to be honest. The SOUL up until now seemed uncaring, there only to drive the story further.
YOU UNDERSTAND
THAT THE POINT
OF THIS SECTION
WAS FOR YOU
TO ACCEPT
THAT THIS STORY
MUST END.
"Not like this, Doctor. Please...", their SOULD begged, and for once they agreed with it. There must be a different ending, a happier ending.
VERY WELL.
...I HAVE ALREADY MADE
THE REQUISITE CHANGES.
DISRUPT YOUR
CONNECTION.
IT WILL APPLY WHEN
THE CONNECTION HAS
BEEN RESTORED.
The room around them started to fade away, as if it was only a dream and only then were they beginning to wake up. As they slowly began to feel the true nature of their reality, as their mind opens up, recognizing the new information implanted in their heads, they heard one final message from the SOUL.
...You don't have to like me, Kris. You're about to learn that I did horrible things in some different situations.
But something has to change. One trip back, no unnecessary resets. After that, I'm throwing away the controller and never touching Deltarune again.
(And suddenly, the sun rose on the world once more.)