Chapter Text
Sometimes, Kris felt like the loneliest person in the world. Maybe it was because they had never met another human before. Maybe it was because they're weird. Maybe they were simply like this. Different.
They didn't pay much attention to the distance between them and everyone else when they were a child. Back then, Kris had Asriel, who'd put away his homework just to play a game with them, Dess, who excitedly shared with them all her favourite music and movies, and Noelle, who'd always hug them no matter how much Kris scared her.
Now? Now, Asriel was away. Dess was gone. Noelle found new friends – objectively better friends, who don't hide under her bed and give her childhood traumas.
They were defective.
Wrong.
Bringing only problems and misfortune.
Maybe that's why Kris felt hope when Susie showed up.
Susie, with her towering height, ruffled clothes and unkempt hair, looked like someone who'd grab your throat and squeeze it. Break it with wide palms and sink sharp nails into the skin. No one liked Susie much. She didn't like everyone either.
She doesn't talk to classmates. She doesn't spend time in the library doing homework. She doesn't care about her appearance. She's not invited to parties and birthdays. As far as Kris knows, she doesn't have anyone. A lonely freak of the town to entertain normal monsters.
Just like them. Like Kris.
So they hoped to get to her. To connect with Susie, just like lonely, pathetic teenagers do in the movies. To be two lonely freaks together.
Kris hadn't thought through that word "lonely" usually implies that the person stays completely by themselves. Singular soul, drowning in routine and thoughts never spoken.
"Why is it so dark in here?"
Papers whispered in unison with steps. Kris looked down at them, picking up something that looked like an old test from the floor. While Susie was wandering around, searching for a switch between dusted shelves and boxes, they folded paper into a small paper plane.
They made a mistake, and one wing was bigger than the other. Seeing a defective paper plane made Kris feel slightly better, for no reason whatsoever.
"Why they couldn't just place damn switch outside?! Who's the idiot responsible for this?!"
A box dropped, its contents rolling out on the floor. Plastic cups for painting with water colours. Susie cursed, kicking it away and dipping her hand right into the darkness between the shelves.
Deep breath. It wasn't exasperated or annoyed. Kris was tired. They carefully held a paper plane with only two fingers, reaching into the pocket and fishing out a phone.
It lit up, the ceiling emerging from the inky space of a closet. Kris saw moss growing out of the crack on it. It vaguely looked like a goat.
"Kris?" – Susie called out, looking at them.– "Are you seriously staring at the ceiling right now? If you have a flashlight, at least use it to find that stupid box of chalk nerd-lizard wants! Point it here!"
Kris exhaled. They guided the light at Susie, her purple skin looking brighter under the flashlight.
That was a mistake.
"Shit!"– blinded by unexpectedly bright flashlight, Susie stumbled back, hitting one of the shelves.
It felt like the whole room rattled, as if any second now the floor would crumble. Something fell and broke into pieces with a loud and ringing clatter. A deep groan came from the shadows, and both Susie and Kris held back their breath.
Kris unconsciously raised the paper plane to their chest.
Doors behind them shut. Creaking of the hinges went quiet, leaving dead silence behind.
Susie's figure, barely accentuated by the phone's flashlight, hurried past Kris, pushing them to the side and ramming into the door.
"Shit, shit, shit! C'mon, you damn door!"– she growled, kicking rusted metal surface.– "HEY! CAN SOMEONE HEAR ME?! LET US OUT! WE ARE STUCK!"
Kris felt their heart throb in their ribcage, begging to be let out. Being unable to break through the flesh, it crawled up their throat, pressing against their pulse from inside.
"HEY! HE-E-EY!"– Susie kicked the door again and again and again and again...
It was hard to differentiate consistent thunderous hits from wild heartbeat.
Kris breathed in. They went into the contact book, pressing the number named "mom".
Dial rang out in the small space of the closet. Kris couldn't see without a flashlight pointing at her, but Susie seemed to stop her fruitless attempts to call for help.
Please, pick up,– Kris thought.
Phone was ringing.
Kris breathed in, swallowing heart in their throat.
Phone kept ringing.
It clicked.
They were officially stuck.
"Give it to me!"– a growl came out from somewhere close.
Purple hand swam out of the darkness, snatching phone out of Kris' hands.
Kris gave it away without much resistance, stepping back and wandering in the darkness in search of the comfortable corner.
They had no idea why Susie thought the result would change if she was the one calling, but it, of course, did not. If mom isn't picking up then she put her phone on silent and hid it in the drawer of her desk.
"Goddamn'it..."– Susie grumbled, her face appearing in the darkness when she pulled the phone away from her ear.
Kris sat down on the pile of paper, bringing a knee to their chest. They raised a paper plane to the level of their eyes, trying to see its white wings with red ink marks. Everything remained black.
An artificial voice supplied Susie with information that the number she tried to call is not available now. Dad kept his phone turned off most of the time, since he couldn't pay for the bills consistently.
"Who's Asriel?"– Susie rasped, urgently stomping.
"Brother,"– Kris wistfully hummed.– "He's out of town."
"S-s-shit... And what now?..."
Kris blinked, surprised by the sincere, worried tone in Susie's voice.
"For how long we'll be sitting there? What will we eat? What will we drink? What if I want to pee?"– Susie questioned herself more than them.
Kris pursed their lips in confusion. That... Was a weird change. But not an unwelcome one. At least she wasn't insulting them.
But Kris had no answer to her questions either way.
"Why are you so damn quiet?!"– one of the shelves rattled from a kick.
Light from the screen found its way to Kris, sitting in the corner. Kris narrowed their eyes, seeing nothing but blinding white. They shouldn't have spoken so soon.
"What, did you bite off your tongue when falling down on your ass?"– she growled.
"Mom will turn on her phone when her classes end."
Light moved from their face to the floor. Colourful stains danced in the darkness at a sudden change of colour. They could swear they heard Susie swallow.
"And when do they end?"– she asked carefully.
Kris hummed, playing with the wings of their paper planes that were a little bit visible in the dim light. They tried to fix the defective wing, but gave up, coming to the conclusion they'd need to unfold it first.
"About four or five hours."
With neither of them talking, Kris could hear Susie's breath, rustle of papers under them, creaking of shelves that asked Kris not to lean on them too much, their heart steadily thrumming against the ribs.
"Great..."– Susie mumbled.
Glow of the phone moved, getting closer. Susie sat down in the next corner, heavily settling against the box with decorations. She handed Kris their phone back, saying nothing.
Kris looked at the old, cracked screen. They had mom's apple pie with a knife sticking out, set as wallpaper.
"Sixty-nine percent."
"Couldn't you charge your phone before going out?"
"Couldn't you bring your own phone with you?"
Susie snarled – Kris was sure she did, even without pointing a light at her.
"You think, if we are stuck together, you can talk whatever you want?"
Kris didn't answer. They lowered the brightness of their screen to save the charge and placed it between them.
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Susie remained silent. Painfully so. Maybe she felt awkward. Kris definitely would've felt awkward if they got stuck with someone they tried to threaten a few minutes ago. Not that they really felt threatened. Getting face bitten off seemed like an alluring outcome at this point in their life.
Dim, bluish glow covered the part of the closet where they were sitting. Kris sighed, looking up. They noticed the same moss that was growing out of the crack on the ceiling. It was barely visible, light hardly reaching it. But Kris still saw a goat in it.
Kris inhaled. It couldn't get worse, right?
"This moss. On the ceiling."
They heard Susie raise her head, her clothes rustling.
"It looks like a goat."
Susie didn't answer.
Kris exhaled. That was expected.
Another minute passed.
"Nah,"– Kris flinched at unexpected grumbled words.– "Don't see any goat. Looks like a dude in a hat to me."
Kris swallowed, looking down at the paper plane in their hands. Focusing on it rather than on Susie or the moss, they answered.
"Maybe it's a goat in a hat."
"Why the heck would a goat wear a hat?"
Kris thoughtfully hummed.
"Because it's shy?"
Susie chuckled.
"That's dumb... What this goat in a hat is doing here anyway? Got stuck there too?"
Kris swallowed. They cleared their throat and spoke up with a more shy and sweet voice.
"Welcome, heroes!..."
"What the?!..."
Kris continued.
"Don't be alarmed. I... Am the prince of this Kingdom... The Kingdom of darkness."
"Well,"– Susie sniffed, grumbling in a startled tone at the impromptu voice acting.–"Your Kingdom sucks. Get a lamp or something."
Kris snorted, but quickly picked up their speech.
"There's a legend in this land... Usually, light and shadow worlds coexist in harmony. But the prophecy says that one day... Dark geysers of pure darkness will fill the world, ruining the balance."
"Your goat sure as heck is unbelievably talkative, Kris,"– Susie noticed with unusually soft scoff.– "Didn't expect it, considering its owner is a quiet weirdo."
"At the same time, three heroes would appear. A human... A monster... And a prince of darkness... Together they will seal the geysers and restore the balance between the worlds, banishing the Titan and its Knights that would come from the deepest shadows to destroy the worlds...
Just today... One of the dark geysers had appeared...
And I believe you're those heroes from the prophecy."
Kris finished, feeling weirdly excited. Sometimes, they would play like this with Asriel when they were little. Asriel stopped playing in this game after he'd hit fourteen – he only agreed to play in "Dangers in Dungeons" as something similar, but Kris couldn't get through even one campaign. It had so many boring rules.
This was nice. To do this again with someone.
Kris waited for Susie to answer the "goat in the hat".
Instead, she answered them.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever,"– Susie abruptly changed her tone to a deeper one.– "Can't you shut up already?"
Kris' shoulders dropped in confusion. They glanced at Susie, seeing her bounce her feet, her hands hidden in pockets.
They frowned.
Kris spoke up again, putting the paper plane they'd made down near the glowing phone.
"Heroes!... Please... Won't you accept your destiny?"
Susie huffs, turning away.
It's a good reaction. Usually, she'd snarl or grab their hoodie to manhandle them. So Kris patiently waited.
"Why the heck would I become a hero of your stupid prophecy?"– Susie eventually replied, whispering.
She glared at them, her eyes peeking from behind dark hair.
"Aren't you a bit too old to play in games like this?"– she smirked.
Kris saw large purple hand move towards their paper plane. They knew what she was going to do. They didn't stop her.
Susie grabbed poor paper plane and crushed it in her hands,
"Get a life, freak. You're lucky I need your mom to save us,"– she hissed, heavily leaning on the box in her corner and throwing a crumpled paper ball on the floor.
Kris leaned back against the shelf, thinking. Are they really that childish for wanting to enjoy themselves?
They searched on the floor for another test to make a new paper plane. This time it'll be better,– they thought absent-mindedly.
But what Kris felt with the tip of their fingers was not a test. Little paper was smoother, smaller. They picked it up, looking down. It's a card with a red-black pattern. On the other side, a Jack of spades was depicted.
Cogs were turning in Kris' head as they raised their head and squinted, focusing on the darkness behind the shelf. Surface was different, as if made out of wood. It clicked, and Kris opened their mouth to tell Susie the good news.
But crumpled paper between them stopped words from coming out. Kris pursed their lips, battling with the bitterness they felt.
Bitterness won. Instead of telling Susie about the door to the abandoned classroom, they quietly mumbled:
"If you play along. I'll turn the lights on."
"What?"– Susie exhaled in humourless amusement.– "Like hell I would."
Kris waited. They started to get a hang of Susie's reactions.
"Fine!"– she eventually barked out in frustration.– "I'll play your stupid game! What do I have to do, agree to be a hero?"
"No. Just answer Ralsei. And other characters. If they appear. You can describe what you're doing."
Susie groaned, irritated.
"I'm not going to be a hero. Save your dumb dark world by yourself,"– Susie gambled.– "I just want to get out of your Kingdom."
"I, um... I don't think that's possible... You have to seal the fountain to get back to the light world,"– Kris replied in Ralsei's voice, sounding more nervous than they ever did in their life.
"Yeah, well, then I'll seal it by punching it real hard,"– Susie deadpanned.
"B-but Susie. Without you, the world will... Will be destroyed."
"So what? Sounds fun to me, I see no issue in that."
"I, erm... I don't think that'll..."– Kris interrupted themselves, dramatically extending the Jack of spades between two fingers and using a new voice to laugh.– "The heroes are already here and they haven't noticed me! My dad's gonna make me Son of the Month!"
Susie looked at them with confusion, her eyes blinking at Kris through the bangs.
"It's a little chubby boy who has a spade-shaped head,"– Kris generously supplied in their normal voice.– "He's riding on three-wheel bike. The bike is on fire."
Susie snorted but quickly ate back an unprompted laugh.
"Who the hell are you?!"– she asked, trying to sound irritated, but it came out confused more than anything.
"I'm!..."– Kris dramatically shook the card.– "The bad guy!"
Voice they used didn't fit the bad guy at all.
"You CLOWNS want to steal our fountain, huh?"– spade said.– "Well, too bad for you – who I still think of as CLOWNS – because I, Lancer, will stop you from moving that shelf and going through the door to the abandoned classroom!"
Kris partly expected Susie to stand up and go for the door this instant. When she didn't, Kris put more effort into voicing.
"I have a flawless plan to ensure it!"– Kris made an arc with the card between their fingers.– "Step one: I thrash you! Step two: you lose!"
Susie hummed, actually considering said words. It made Kris so happy, they thought their whole face was glowing as brightly as the screen of the phone.
"Hm. Nice plan, kiddo,"– Susie scoffed, playing along.
"R-really?"– Kris was happy the stuttering suited the character at this moment to mask their embarrassing mistake.
"Yeah, actually... Mind if I use it on you instead?"– then she, with astounding confidence, told Kris.– "I want to punch this guy's bike, Kris!"
Kris inhaled. Their heart fluttered in their ribcage, tickling them.
They let Susie fight Lancer. They even gave her an ax. She was excited at the idea, smiling with her sharp teeth.
The fight ended with Lancer running away for dinner. Susie snorted at it.
Kris inhaled, unsure of how to continue. Susie grunted.
"Well. Let's move that shelf,"– she said, standing up.
Kris scattered away, giving her space. It felt a bit bitter to leave the story at its start, but dark closet wasn't the best playground, they could admit that at least. It was fun while it lasted.
With impressive ease, Susie moved the obstacle and saw the door to the unused classroom. She grabbed the doorknob, practically breaking it in the process of opening the old door.
Kris side-stepped her, getting inside with the flashlight on their phone. They smoothly avoided all scattered boards and figures on the ground, walking up to the switch and flipping it on.
Light blinded them both for a second.
"Ugh, finally! I was starting to think I'm going to turn into a mole!"– Susie grumbled, looking around.
She smiled, seeing the door to the hallway and stomped to it with determination. Kris sighed, throwing the Jack of spades on the checkered carpet. It landed between another card and a lego piece. It... Really was fun.
The doorknob rattled in Susie's grasp. Door creaked. It did not open. She tried again, once, and then kicked the door.
"Shit... And here I was hoping we're out."
Kris shrugged. No one uses this place anymore. They should've expected that it would be locked as well.
Susie turned around. Kris felt her gaze. She scrunched her face for a second, then silently shuffled to the carpet and dropped down onto it.
"Continue your stupid game then, I guess."
Their heart somersaulted, attempting to jump out of their mouth.
Kris held it back, sitting down as well and describing Susie their adventure.
Something clicked.
Maybe they could be lonely together, in the end.