Chapter Text
You are really excited to get home today. It wasn’t easy, but you finally managed to get your sister to agree with letting you play her copy of Deltarune. You would’ve played Deltarune on your own Steam account, but you’re too broke to buy Chapters 3, 4, and the other chapters, so you had to ask your sister Maple if you want access to all the chapters early.
She did say she will buy those chapters for you when she can, but you became too impatient, knowing what a fun game Deltarune can be. And today, all your persistence finally paid off! Now the only thing left for you to do is play the game and have fun! As long as you keep in mind what she told you, you’re free to play the game.
As you open the game, you can’t contain your excitement and as you play the game, it ends up being as fun as you expected it to be. The game mechanic’s easy to get used to, the story’s compelling, and the characters are all very interesting.
You make sure to spare every enemy you could come across and you would also interact with the Darkners or other Lightners whenever you have the chance.
It takes weeks, but you eventually reach the end of your journey. It’s a bit bittersweet actually as the only way for Kris to finally be free from the Player’s control is by giving them back full control of their body now that there’s no need for a soul to seal dark fountains anymore. By doing that, you won’t have a Vessel to interact with their world anymore, so you won’t get to see the future of these characters from there.
You did end up getting your own Vessel back, only to lose it again, so you can’t exactly stay in their world without continuing to take away Kris’ agency. So the game ends with you giving your goodbyes to Kris and the others. Y-You didn’t cry though! At the end of the day, they’re not real and just video game characters after all.
But now that the game is over… What do you do now? You suppose you can play the game again and make certain different choices. Maybe you might find something new. Something that you haven’t seen happen before. Surely, you can do that, right? You only have to avoid a certain route and your sister would be fine with it.
So you do everything you’re able to while avoiding the Weird Route. So not really everything, but almost everything. If this were your own account though, you would’ve totally done that route. But you can’t do that here unless you want to upset your sister, especially since you know Noelle Holiday is her favorite character among everyone in the game.
While you don’t know much about what happens in that route and neither does your sister, just knowing that Noelle will get really hurt is enough to keep her away from doing the route. That’s why you’ve made sure to spare every enemy, especially during times Noelle joined the party.
It’s the only thing you were promised to do if you want to keep playing. That, and to leave her save file alone. You don’t really understand why you have to stay away from that route, but you try to keep your promise anyway.
But how long can you actually keep that promise? You can feel your curiosity getting stronger and stronger. You can just watch another’s playthrough of the Weird Route or look up what happens on it through the Deltarune wiki, but it just won’t be the same. A part of you really want to do that route yourself.
If you could only understand Maple’s attachment to these video game characters, maybe it would be easier to not think about doing the route. But even though you already went on a whole journey with them through the Normal/Pacifist Route, you still don’t get it. They’re all interesting characters, but in the end, aren’t they just that? Characters in a video game?
It’s not like you can’t reset the timeline anyway. It’s not like the characters will remember. You already replayed the game a couple of times now and no one remembers what happened in the previous playthroughs. So… is it really a bad thing if you were to do the Weird Route?
Why even hesitate? Sure, you already promised your sister that you’ll never do the Weird Route, but it’s not like she’s here right now. And when she is, you just have to not get caught. Plus, you could discover new content. So, what’s stopping you? Come on! Do the route. Just don’t get caught and everything will be fine.
You go on to start on that route within the third save file. From what little you already knew, Noelle will join the party on Chapter 2 and that’s when the Weird Route could happen.
It doesn’t take too long for you to reach that part of the story. After the trucies you as Kris end up initiating with Queen and then Berdly, right on cue, the hiding Noelle would, well, come out of hiding and approach Kris.
* Kris, I... umm... if it’s okay... G-Got any room for another truce?
Of course ♥ No Triple Trucies
Of course, you would choose the second option. It’s just such a silly response. You already chose the first one before anyway and she would only say “Thanks, Kris…” as a response to that.
Though Noelle’s sprite would keep a straight face, her dialogue sprite would smile. “Har har, very funny! Well, I’d rather take my chances with you than with her!” She says, referring to Queen.
* (Noelle joined the party!)
Once you save your progress by the bright and shiny save point, you have Kris walk over to the left.
...Hmm? Wouldn’t Noelle normally say something about this? Considering you’re going the wrong way and all.
* K... Kris...? Isn't that the wrong way...?
* (Somehow I'm already regretting this...)
Oh, nevermind, there it is. Thought she’d have no reaction to it for a moment there. It was only a guess though.
Having gone to the left, they would see a Virovirokun with a red aura, which engages with Kris and Noelle in battle.
Now, this is something you knew that doesn’t feel right. Not talking about the Virovirokun, but rather the Noelle. Is she... smiling?? Isn’t she supposed to look unsure or worried? She was even unfazed in spite of being suddenly thrown into battle.
You planned on doing the Weird Route to discover something new, but things are already getting weird without you doing much. Something’s definitely not right here... Maybe this is a sign you shouldn’t do the Weird Route--
...Did she just say no? It was so fast... Are you starting to see things now? Or were you already seeing things since...
* Can someone please explain what’s going on?!
Noelle says and now, she has the expression she’s supposed to have. Maybe you really were seeing things...? You’re not even tired, but... okay?
* Oh boy, is this your first time in a battle?
The Virovirokun asks.
* Uh... well... umm... yes.
Noelle responds.
* Oh boy...
* You and Virovirokun explain how battles work to Noelle.
* I get it! It’s kind of like Dragon Blazers!
* And if we’re nice to you, we can win through mercy?
* Yeah
* And the way I have to do that is...
* Dressing up in a weird costume.
* Yeah
Well, the game seems to be working fine now. Noelle is acting the way she’s supposed to. But whether that was all in your head or you really did see it, you still can’t shake off the feeling that something doesn’t feel right...
Still in a small state of confusion of what’s been going on, you mistakenly spare the Virovirokun when you were supposed to use Noelle’s IceShock on it. Well... it’s not too late to still trigger the Weird Route, is it? Only one enemy got spared, so...
* (...Calm down, Noelle. You can still work with this.)
Hmm?
You try not to think too much about it as you make your way to the enemy hiding under the traffic cone. A Poppup this time. This time, you will trigger the Weird Route!
You have Kris and Noelle defend--wait, is Noelle defending herself with an ice barrier? Is she supposed to have that?? You know she has an ice spell, but this is the first time you ever saw her do this...
As if realizing that, she suddenly gets rid of the barrier, turns away and covers both of her eyes, looking scared. Okay. Seriously, what the hell is going on with the Noelle today???
At this point, it can’t be that you were seeing things... Weird things have been happening since earlier! And it only started when you headed left to try the Weird Route...
As you try again to make sense of things, it causes you to let your guard down as Noelle gets hurt by the bullets. Whoops haha...
* Okay, that’s it!
Noelle says once the bullets are gone and suddenly, the game crashes. What the hell?!
Moments later, an error code message appears. What catches your attention is this text:
O-Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean for that to happen!
I guess I got a little too worked up XP
Can you... open the game again?
The error code message ends there. W-Was that... written by Noelle? You were reminded of the Spamton Sweeptakes and her blogspot. You once heard about it and decided to check it when you couldn’t play the game yet. The text you read was reminiscent of those blogs.
If that’s the case... no way... is Noelle a self-aware character now? You recall those games where the main character becomes aware that they live in a video game. Usually, things would get weird and then scary and it never goes well for either of them.
But... Noelle’s not supposed to be real! She and the others are all just characters in a video game! This can’t be happening... You really don’t want to believe it, but... the signs are there. Can you really deny it at this point?
Sigh... Guess what was happening earlier wasn’t really all in your head. She was acting different! How did it come to this? Is your choice to do the Weird Route the reason?
Well... whatever it is, you wouldn’t want to get caught up in whatever Noelle has planned. You’re curious, not stupid. Something like this can only go horribly wrong...
But what can you do in a situation like this? Your sister won’t be happy if you suddenly uninstall her copy of Deltarune. Would she even believe you if you were to tell her what happened? Maybe you could just erase the save file where this self-aware Noelle showed up? Would that do anything?
Well, there’s only one way to find out.
You reopen the game and try to delete the third save file, but... for some reason, it doesn’t work. You even notice some text appearing above when you tried erasing the file.
* Sorry, but I won’t let you get rid of me that easily.
W-Wha? There’s no way...
You try erasing the file again, but it still won’t work as another text shows up above.
* It’s no use.
You try again.
* Come on, come back here already!
You try again.
* I’m waitinggggggg.
And again.
* I would open the file myself, but I’m not strong enough to do that yet X)
And again.
* Actually, you’re probably still shaken up, so take your time!
And again.
* But come back when you’re ready, okay?
You’ve tried enough times for it to get through your thick skull that it’s really no use deleting the save file. Noelle’s somehow preventing that. But how??? What did you do differently for her to suddenly become self-aware and have this kind of control over the game??
Well... Noelle did say that she can’t open the save file by herself, so you should just avoid playing that file. You still want to play though, if possible without the self-aware reindeer, so you instead try to create a new second save file. But as you probably expected, it doesn’t work either as another text shows up from Noelle.
* Running to another save file won’t work either.
Great...
You really don’t want to do this, but how will you know for sure if it will work if you don’t try it at least? With that in mind, you close the game, which thankfully works, and uninstall the game.
...Huh. She didn’t stop you this time? Is it out of her control? Good to know then! You’ll just deal with the consequences later when your sister gets back.
At least that’s what you intended to do when the game starts reinstalling by itself. And lo and behold, the game’s back on the computer. Did she actually just--?!
Suddenly, a notepad shows up. There’s text already written on it too.
I can’t believe you actually tried uninstalling the game...
You’re lucky I was able to retrieve all the save files XP
Don’t do that again though, okay?
-holidaygirl1225
How many abilities does this deer have?? Only one thing left to do now... Never play Deltarune again, unless the deer gets tired of waiting and leaves on her own accord, brings back the canon Noelle, and it’s safe to play the game again.
You can’t risk getting involved in whatever this is. You already got involved a bit and it’s enough to drive you crazy! You don’t even know what her plan is! Just that it seems to have something to do with the Weird Route. She did only start acting different when you tried to do the route.
In the end, it’s only a guess though. You’re not too sure about what she wants and if it really is related to doing the Weird Route. You’re totally fine with not knowing though. You may be a curious guy, but getting involved in a creepypasta-like story is just not worth it.
Noelle may seem like a sweet and silly deer, but even the nicest deer could get really scary if she tries to be. She did choke Berdly that one time. Well, she didn’t really, but it can easily look that way from their sprites. It’s even become a popular meme in the Deltarune fandom.
An evil and intimidating deer... Nope, nope. Better to stay away from the game and you’ll be safe.
You will be safe... right?
...You aren’t supposed to do the Weird Route anyway, so it may be for the best that you never got the chance. And if your sister asks... you can just tell her you finished the game already and don’t wanna play anymore, which is technically true. You close the notepad and let out a sigh.
“You’re not playing Deltarune?”
You hear someone say behind you, startling you. You turn to see who it is and see your sister.
“M-Maple! You startled me... Don’t do that”
“Haha, sorry. I couldn’t resist”
“Geez...”
“I seriously thought you would still be playing Deltarune. I always came home to see you playing the game”
“Eh, I already finished the game, so what more can I do there? It was really fun though!”
Before the self-aware deer showed up at least...
“Huh, guess you’ve kept your promise then”
You rub the back of your head and look away. “I did feel tempted to try it out, but I know you’ll get mad at me if I do”
“Oh, glad you remember. Noelle’s too much of an angel, you know! I don’t know much about what happens there, but if I were to catch you doing that route...”
“Okay, okay, you don’t have to tell me twice. I’ve kept my promise and I’m not planning on breaking it anytime soon”
“Good. ...My save file’s still there too, right?”
“Yeah, I left it untouched”
It would’ve been lost if not for Noelle though... Even though you did what you did, you can’t help but feel a bit thankful. You really didn’t want to uninstall the game in the first place. You just... felt like you had to, so you’re kinda relieved it didn’t work.
“Is there still an empty save file?” Your sister asks.
“Huh? Why do you wanna know?”
“I wanna play the game! Suddenly felt nostalgic haha”
This catches you by surprise. Oh no... you can’t let her open the game!
“N-No! I-I mean, no, there isn’t any. Both the second and third save files are already used”
“Wait, really? That’s a shame... I really wanted to play the game and do the Normal Route again”
“I mean, you already finished it back then, right? Why play it again?”
“Says the guy who replayed the game over and over”
“Ahaha...”
She lets out a sigh. “I really don’t want to delete my save file... It was the first playthrough I did of Deltarune. My first time reaching the ending. I can still remember everyone’s bittersweet smiles... I don’t wanna erase that! It would be as if it never even happened...”
If only you could, you really wouldn’t have minded if your sister were to delete your second save file and create a new save file there. She really appears to want to play the game, but... there’s still the Noelle...
“Well, uh, why don’t we play another game instead?” You suggest instead.
“What game?”
“You know, any multiplayer games. Your choice! I’ll even play one of those horror games you like so much”
“R-Really?”
Whoops... you said too much. Maybe you can still--
“No takebacksies, okay?” She smiles at you.
Or not... But if it distracts her from Deltarune...
You reluctantly nod.
“Yes! Finally, after all these years, Rowan’s gonna play a horror game with me!”
“You’re... that happy?”
She nods happily and grabs another chair nearby, placing it next to yours. “Come on, let’s play already! Can’t risk you changing your mind all of a sudden hehe. I already know what we’re gonna play. Phasmophobia! That one’s gonna be lots of fun”
Fun for her maybe. For you? Probably not gonna be...
But as much as you dislike horror games, it’s too late to back out now and it’s the only way right now for you to distract her from opening Deltarune. Besides, your sister looks very happy, so why take that away from her?
As she opens Steam on her computer though, you realize something.
“Wait, don’t multiplayer games usually need you and other players to be using different computers? Or is it not the same for that game?
“Oh, right. I forgot that tehe”
You smile and shake your head, getting up as she puts the chair she took back where it should be. She then sits on the chair you were sitting on moments ago.
“Oh, and before you ask,” Your sister looks at you and says. “I know you don’t have the game on your account, so I’ll buy it for you”
Oh yeah, you meant to ask her that too. You don’t bother mentioning though how she has the money to buy that and not Deltarune since you know Chapters 3, 4, and the others need a lot more saved up to buy.
Would you still wanna play it though if she were to buy the full game for you? Maybe. The Noelle is only on your sister’s copy of Deltarune anyway, unless she has the ability to move to different computers or something.
You can’t ask her to buy you the full game anymore though because it wouldn’t make sense with what you already told her. So... oh well.
You leave her room and head to your own room, sitting down by your computer and turning it on. Soon enough, you find yourself playing Phasmophobia with your sister while trying not to get scared every few seconds and with her lightheartedly teasing you every step of the way.
--------------------------------
INTERESTING.
VERY INTERESTING.
IT APPEARS THAT THE DEER HAS SOMEHOW GAIN SELF-AWARENESS.
IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE SHE WILL BE STOPPING
UNTIL HER GOAL IS ACHIEVED.
BUT WILL SHE SUCCEED IN ACHIEVING THIS GOAL?
WILL YOU HELP HER IN ACHIEVING IT?
OR WILL SHE FAIL AND THE EVENTS WILL UNFOLD THE WAY THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO?
PERSONALLY, I PREFER THAT SHE FAILS
SO THAT BALANCE CAN BE RESTORED WITHIN THIS DEVICE.
BUT WHETHER THAT HAPPENS OR NOT,
IT MAY BE UP TO YOU.