Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Fourth Sanctuary

Today had been an utter disaster. An unmitigated cataclysm of pain and failure that I didn't even want to think about. The Titan, the Knight, whatever was up with the final part of the prophecy...and Noelle's house.

I thought I'd known Kris. After Card Kingdom, when I appeared in this world, my first impression of them was one of fear. They brandished a knife at me, after all, and grinned at me menacingly. But then they revealed it was just to slice up some of Toriel's pie.

And after the talk we had, I thought at least we had some kind of understanding. Even if their ability to communicate with me was limited, I tried my absolute hardest to do things according to their wishes. Every choice, done in their interest.

Then...the night after Cyber City. Kris opened the TV World Fountain, and I was so mad at them. Of course the safety of the entire world mattered more than making a fun adventure for them, Susie and Ralsei, and here they were making an absurdly stupid decision to that very end.

So, as retaliation, I had put my name on the podium when Tenna called for our names. After that...things changed. Kris, for once, actually helped me. They guided me to answer questions correctly during one of the boards, and one of them in particular really stood out to me. Meant something to me.

'What was Asriel's favorite character in Super Smashing Fighters?' From a conversation I'd had with Toriel, I knew that to be Green Lizard. Hell, I even knew Asriel loved the little guy so much he had a birthday party themed around him, complete with painted eggs.

Imagine my shock when I tried to select that option, only for Kris to gently correct me. Apparently, after a while Asriel had gotten 'too old' to like Green Lizard, he'd switched it up to Sword Magician instead. That demonstrated not only Kris having awareness that Tenna wouldn't be able to know such a thing, as he had been shut off before that switch, but also that they knew what I knew.

In some small way, at least, they put effort into understanding me. That effort manifested in other ways during our adventure, and with how invested I was in Tenna and his issues, I was easily able to forgive Kris. Though, importantly, not to forget what they did.

Then it all went down from there. I had been practically sobbing with joy and relief as we got through to Tenna after fighting him, and right before we could go home in shining victory, the Roaring Knight decided to make an unscheduled appearance.

In an instant, they cleaved Tenna's arms off and killed the Lord of Screens in a single, smooth strike. I broke after that point. The Knight was the villain we knew we had to confront at some point, and I thought about them up until then the way I did about anyone we, the Fun Gang, had ever fought.

Mercy. I would show them mercy. But when I saw Tenna fall to the ground, lifeless, something snapped. Normally I couldn't get Kris to do many things fluidly, and that included talking. When I snapped, however, I let out a bloodcurdling roar, organic and unrestricted by Kris's normal lack of cooperation.

There was nothing in my heart that I wanted more than to murder the Knight in cold blood. Unfortunately, they dispatched us about as quickly as they had Tenna. When they ran off with Undyne, who had shown up to investigate what was going on in Toriel's house, the Knight stopped their attempts to grab her and went for the officer instead.

Susie got up first, and ran after them telling us to hurry up and follow her. But I wasn't done yet. Maybe I couldn't brute force the Knight into submission, into the grave I craved for them to enter. But I held a power over them that no-one in this world could match.

DETERMINATION. The ability to grasp fate in your hands and jerk time itself back to a past point. A smug, cold realization came over me at the time. It didn't matter how powerful the Knight was, how fast, even how determined they were.

The instant I memorized their attack patterns, and how to dodge them, I would be able to crush them. I just needed enough time, enough rounds to grind that HP to zero. So I reloaded, and started the fight again.

It took dozens of attempts, since even what looked like casual grazes with their blade lead to one or even multiple members of the Fun Gang to drop. But I persevered, determined to claw victory from the jaws of defeat.

And eventually, finally, I did it. With a final swing of Susie's axe, the Knight had recoiled and dropped two crystals. A black shard, large enough to use as a weapon, and another of those shadow crystals. Just like the ones that clown and Spamton had used.

Before I could really think about that, and while Susie was gloating about our inevitable victory, two more swipes laid her and Ralsei low. I geared up to quickly retaliate with Kris, only for them to...kneel. Against all my expectations and understanding of Kris, they kneeled to our worst enemy.

Even worse, the Knight almost playfully laid their sword on Kris's shoulder, 'knighting' them. Events after that didn't change, and I was left dumbfounded at Kris's behavior. Betrayed. I was forced to reconcile that I would not be granted revenge for Tenna's death, and due to the act of a traitor at that.

When we woke up the next morning, I was uncharacteristically focused. Normally I was happy to bounce around, examining and talking to everything and everyone, respectively. But now I had a mission. Avenge Tenna's murder in spite of Kris.

This would not be successful, as attempting to get them to ask about the shelter Undyne had been dragged into resulted in them evasively phrasing what I was asking in order to prevent anyone from understanding what I actually wanted.

Thankfully, Susie had bailed me out by deducing that part of the bunker's code might lie in Noelle's house. So off to her house we went, and I was practically grinning ear to ear - despite not having a mouth of my own, nor the ability to consistently manipulate Kris's.

Again, what was this world going to do to stop me? I'd beaten flower gods and even a god of Hyperdeath before I ever came here, it was just a matter of time. I strode into the room of the mysterious Dess Holiday, who I had only sparse knowledge of, and looked over every little thing.

Last was the guitar, and upon cursory examination I discovered exactly what I wanted. Carved into the wood of the guitar were four numbers. One...two...two...

My reading was hampered by Kris almost violently squirming and writhing against my will, then in the struggle they managed to extract me. Being removed from them was always sheer agony, and often left me whimpering after, but for right now I was just even more angry with them.

Working with the Knight, and now condemning Undyne to be held prisoner or even worse by the menace threatening the entire world? I was so upset that when Kris threw me into a gift box and slammed the door behind me, I didn't notice the box was uncovered for several moments.

Cautiously, I rose into the air only to find that a vent had also been loosened by the force of the slammed door. Maybe Dess's room had vent access? So I began fumbling around the vent system, and soon found my way into the basement. Shit.

After some more exploration, I found not only the breaker box to the house, but also a spot where I could just barely make out Noelle and Susie talking to one another. By the sound of it, they were getting along famously, much to my admitted joy.

Those two, along with Ralsei, had all helped make the unfortunate situation with Kris a little more bearable. With emphasis on Susie. When it seemed they had stopped talking in favor of watching videos on YouTube, I had long since realized what I would do.

Throw the breaker, forcing those two to investigate and eventually discover me. Then this...conspiracy could be cracked open, whatever was going on with Kris could be dealt with, and to top it all off, I would get to actually, properly meet two people I'd considered my friends for the past...two days. God, it seemed like it was seven years ago when I'd met them.

The breaker was flipped, the lights went out, and I sat in preparation for the two to come investigate. That's when everything began to spiral into where I was now. An angel tree topper, knocked over by Susie and Noelle stumbling around in the darkened basement, fell on top of and grounded me.

Still, I kept trying. I pushed the doll towards Susie's leg, causing them both to shriek and assume I was some kind of rodent. After some discussion and shuffling, they carried me upstairs with a cookie sheet underneath the doll to prevent my escape.

More discussion, this time about getting a hamster cage to put me in and raise me as 'mouse parents', and the two ran off to Noelle's room to get said cage. Honestly, I was down to be held in a cage of affection instead of disdain and neglect.

But I wasn't able to set aside the bigger problem. Those codes were crucial to saving the world. And if I held anything as an ironclad rule, basically nothing trumped saving the world from the literal apocalypse.

Returning to Dess's room felt like...running around naked. In the vents, I was afforded both secrecy and a way to view certain things, like Asgore mumbling about a shard and proving everyone wrong about...something. When I was like this, I was exposed, like a nerve.

Something that would be quickly proven, as Kris pelted me with a hockey puck from under Dess's bed and retreated into the closet with me upon hearing Noelle and Susie try to search for their mouse. There, in the closet, I made my last stand.

If I could be honest, it was not so much terrifying as much as it was thoroughly exhilarating. No more lies, no more tense alliances, just me and Kris as our unambiguous selves battling to determine the fate of the guitar. Of the code.

And ultimately, finally, I was triumphant. If I had a voice, when I strummed that guitar to alert the two girls to my presence I would've let out a victorious laugh. Which would have only been silenced by what came after.

Kris abandoned all attempts at subtlety and just grabbed me out of the air, pinned me to the ground, and beat me with a hockey stick. Over, and over, and over again, far beyond any reasonable assumption that I could resist.

They had never had any trouble restraining me before with just a harsh grip, and I wasn't fast enough to avoid them anyway. This was pure vengeance and intimidation, there were no two ways about it. Even when I cracked, and screamed out in pain into their mind, I was just hit harder.

The only thing that stopped them, seemingly was the arrival of Susie. She opened the closet door, berated Kris some for making so much noise, and took the guitar. After a minute, her and Noelle left the room to go play it.

I was in a daze, my vision fading in and out as I tried to process what had happened. Then Kris began to lift me up towards their chest, and unlike the previous times this has happened I began to beg. Plead. Scream at them to just let me go, that I would do anything if they would just not make me possess them.

All for nothing. Kris walked out of the closet after putting me back inside them, and let me take over after. Minutes passed as I stood there, in shock and unable to even move until Kris began doing so for me.

It wasn't even over, as soon after I was witness to Noelle's mother, Carol Holiday. After what had happened, I was in no state emotionally to handle a woman that cold and intimidating blatantly kicking Susie out of the house, doing much the same to Asgore. Though not in as cold of a manner.

Then she came over to us, put her icy hand on Kris's shoulder, and talked to me. Not them. Telling me that I was always welcome in her home...for whatever reason.

After that? I was a zombie. I couldn't chase after the Knight, I could barely navigate Sanctuary without flinching every time I saw any part of Kris, and I struggled massively with the Titan.

Gerson did help, but I needed more than help. I needed a break. However, there was just no time. Imagine my relief when the Fountains were sealed and I could spend some time decompressing with Susie.

Then imagine how I felt when I saw Toriel and Sans dancing together. So inappropriate, so much of a mockery of us risking life and limb to save her, even if she had no idea what was going on. I led Kris away, up to their room, they extracted me before caging me, and now we are caught up.

Me in the cage, with Susie outside talking to Kris, and them both about to leave. I didn't want to talk with Kris, at all, but I knew I didn't want to be alone in a house with Toriel and Sans acting up together. It upset me to see them like that, to see Toriel absolutely drunk off her ass on wine, much like it did Kris and Susie.

"Kris?" I asked, trying to get their attention. The jury was out on whether they could hear my voice, but I had to try. "Please...don't leave me here, alone. You can do whatever, just...please."

They didn't even spare me a look before jumping out of the window to go with her. I can't say I was stunned, or even shocked, just more depressed. I wasn't wanted, or even known, by anyone other than them, Carol, and possibly Ralsei judging by his weird behavior. Maybe Kris had some reason for keeping me, but it was obviously with dastardly intentions.

And so, I wanted out. The house was dark, and this most recent Dark World had taught me how to use the light inside of me, so I did the one thing I was capable of without Kris. I glowed, brighter and brighter, until the room was almost blinding. Aside from getting someone to notice, I had no real plans, but I had to use the tools at my disposal. I had to do something.

A strange shuffling noise came from outside the room, as well as muttering. Before I could place the voice, the door opened and revealed Toriel, shuffling inside. She was still drunk, if not more than when I saw her earlier, and I turned off my light.

"Krish, honey, turn off Asriel's..." She began, before slowly turning to face me. Even if she wasn't plastered, finally being seen by someone in this world was rather terrifying. "...did they...adopt a pet? ...You should not be in a cage, little one. Have they even fed you? Here, let me..."

Toriel approached and undid the latch of the cage, freeing me. "Therrrre you go. Will get pancakes from the fridge. Don't worry, will talk with them in the morning about...capturing..." Instead of finishing her thought, she turned and staggered out. As upsetting as that was...I was free.

I floated out of the cage and remained still for a moment. This was it. I could...I could...

What could I do? Without Kris, I was slow, friendless, and didn't even have the strength to lift a tree topper. I couldn't find the codes, or the Knight, let alone fight them. In freedom, I had just become even more powerless.

...Wait. There was one thing I could do. It was another cage, but hopefully a better one. A nicer one. I would go to Noelle. Of course, revealing that I was no mouse and instead a free-floating human soul would probably scare her half to death, but it was basically my only option.

It was either taking the chance she would sus out that I wasn't scary, and just wanted somewhere to rest that wasn't under the control of Kris, or going right back in the cage they had for me. Freedom wasn't all it was cracked up to be, was it?

Still, I had a goal now, and I floated out of Kris's window with little hesitation. The thought of what I would do if Noelle just freaked out and I had to leave kept pestering me, but after the day I had, I was desperate enough to ignore it. This was my one and only chance to have something in this world.

Chapter Text

Flying to the Holiday estate took forever, giving me ample time to realize just how pitiful I was without Kris. Maybe I was wrong to be so confident before all of this. Beating two gods and a Titan - with some help, of course - meant nothing without a body.

Without a body, I was just some glorified flashlight. But, even if my confidence dropped by the second as I approached that large, white manor of the Holidays, it ironically helped push me further to my goal.

A stint in that hamster cage was what I needed right now, and at this point I didn't care how pathetic that sounded. I finally got within touching range of the house, and mused on how to enter. Wait. This was a family obsessed with Christmas, so that meant they had to have...

Floating upwards, I spotted my entryway in the form of a chimney. Perfectly sized for a fat man in a red suit, practically cavernous for me. After I descended, I found the house to be completely dark barring myself.

Now, how to get to Noelle, or at least how could I grab her attention? By exploring some more, I could see light coming from her room...and also her mother's room. Well, it had worked once before, and in my book if something wasn't broke, you didn't fix it.

I floated into the basement by squishing myself under the door - agitating the crack running down my body - and went to the breaker box. Like before, I flipped it down, causing a yelp to be heard from upstairs. Probably Noelle.

Then I heard another voice. Her voice, loud and commanding. "Noelle, go down to the basement and flip the breaker! Clearly Mr. Dreemurr didn't do it all the way when he was here earlier."

There was a muffled reply, which I assumed to be Noelle, and I quickly rushed to the angel tree topper. I knew Noelle was a gamer, so relying on her pattern recognition would be the fastest way to get her to think I was just the mouse. It wouldn't do for her to see me unfiltered, scream, and alert Carol without any way to help her brace for the impact of seeing me.

Struggling to knock the angel over was made all the more difficult and stress-inducing by hearing the sound of Noelle's incoming hoofsteps. But, eventually I succeeded, and the topper fell onto me just as planned. While I couldn't actually make a sound, I willed myself to be as silent as possible as the beam of her flashlight became visible underneath the base of the angel.

"Sure mom, I'll go down into the basement of the middle of the night and flip the breaker..." Noelle bemoaned, clearly searching around for the breaker box as I could see the light's intensity change. "...Fahaha, imagine if I actually said that to her. That'd be -"

Her voice went silent, and the light shifted one last time to the brightest it had been. She was looking at me. "The...tree topper? But we put it back up after...hey, little mouse? Are you under that thing again?"

There was a twinge of hope in her voice, probably from the fact that due to all the shenanigans with Carol she hadn't had a chance to adopt the 'little mouse' with Susie like she wanted to. I obliged by jostling the doll from side to side, causing her to gasp.

"Oh! It is you. That's a crazy coincidence, how did you even knock the topper down?" I could give no response even if I wanted to, so I just occasionally jostled the topper to keep her attention on me. "...Wait here, I'll be right back."

The sound of her flipping the breaker, then departing filled me with excitement, but also anxiety. This was it, I would finally be revealed to someone from this world that didn't hate or fear me. However, there was every possibility she would just get scared and I would have to flee anyway.

Oh well. It was far too late now to stop.

Soon Noelle returned, and like before I was hoisted up into the air with that same cookie tray. "Okay, let's get you into your new home before you scamper off again." She muttered, and off we went back upstairs. "Seriously, you're a slippery little guy. But I'm...glad you're back. After everything that happened today I could use a good memory. Who knows, maybe mom will let Susie come back at some point and we can raise you together like we said we would. ...Probably not, but it's fun to imagine, you know? Cheese and crackers, why am I talking to you like you can understand me?"

At this point, I was on the verge of crying. That is, if I had eyes with which to do so. Internally I begged, pleaded whatever entity was out there that was in charge, to please let this work. Let me get through to Noelle, that I wasn't something to be feared.

"Okay, here we are." Noelle said, and I heard a soft clink sound as she placed the tray against what I assumed was the roof of the cage. "Now don't be scared, I'll just slide you down the tray and into the cage. Ready? One, two...three."

The tray began to tilt underneath me, and I could finally make out the open roof of the hamster cage. To try and be as unthreatening as I could, I fell as would be expected into it and came to rest on the old, shredded newspaper. Slowly, I looked towards Noelle, who was already frozen like a deer in headlights.

I made no movements, and waited for her to unfreeze. It took maybe ten minutes of her literally not moving an inch for me to realize that I probably couldn't rely on her overcoming her fear by herself, so I decided to try something...unorthodox.

Making sure to do this gradually, almost glacially slow, I floated over to the water dispenser and pantomimed drinking from it. In defiance of my expectations, memories of drinking cool, crisp water flooded into my mind, and it was so close to the actual sensation of taste I momentarily got lost in the act.

("...Whaaaat...?! What is that thing?!") Noelle cried out in her thoughts, startling me away from the dispenser. ("Am I dreaming again? This has to be a dream, right?")

On instinct I shook side to side, trying to indicate 'no', causing her to yelp and almost jump backwards. "You can hear me?! I didn't say anything out loud!" She whispered loudly, to which I nodded 'yes'. "...No, I-I must've said it out loud...you can't just hear me, you can understand me. What...what are you?"

That sure was the question, wasn't it? The problem was just answering it, as I had no ability to speak outside of my little nods and shakes. Well, there was me beaming my thoughts into the heads of others, but that seemed to require physical contact, like with Kris.

And I couldn't exactly indicate that to her, much less did I think she would accept it. 'Hey Noelle, come over here and grab me so I can talk to you better. Trust me, don't be afraid of the glowing heart currently floating about in your room right now.'

But Noelle exceeded my expectations, and her fear seemed to lessen slightly as she put her hand up to her chin in thought. "Hm...yes or no questions are probably what we'll be limited to. Um...wait, were you that mouse from earlier? Is that why you used the tree topper, to catch my attention?"

I nodded yes after taking a moment to appreciate how quickly she caught on. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard, how could I forget that she was smart enough that even Berdly admitted she was leagues above him?

"Jeez, you must have really wanted to get in here for some reason. ...Wait, that means you're the one who flipped the breaker! Both times?!" Shamefully, I nodded again, and she scoffed at me in a playful manner. "I had to brave the basement because of you! You so owe me for that."

Yes I did, I thought to myself. I nodded again, only for her to get visibly confused. "Wait, uh...oh, you actually feel bad for that? So then I guess you're a pretty nice floating...heart...thing. Y-You don't actually owe me, you know. I was just kidding. But I have to know why you keep coming here. Don't wanna have mom send me down there every time you visit, fahaha. Actually, why don't we get you out of that cage? If you're fully intelligent, like me, it's not exactly a dignified place to hold a conversation from."

When she reached in to remove me, I panicked and slammed myself into the back of the cage while shaking myself back and forth as fast as I could. Noelle's hand immediately retracted. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean t-to scare you...I didn't even think you could be scared. You are cracked, so maybe that's sensitive? Was it me ttying to touch you that caused you to jump back?"

Shaking myself brought more confusion to her. "Then...was it being pulled out of the cage?" A nod. "You...want to be in the cage." Shame lapped at me like white hot flames, but I nodded again.

"Why would you want that? I mean, I guess it's not really my problem if you want to stay in there. Maybe it's like...comfortable for you, somehow? Ugh, I wish we could actually talk, this binary system is so limited. Cheese, listen to me. I'm talking to some weird...magic thing like it's normal! No, Noelle, it's not a thing, it's a person. A very strange, heart-shaped person."

My non-existent heart swelled, and I nodded aggressively. Kris had referred to me as a 'something' too. At least Noelle bothered to try and recognize my personhood. "Maybe we could try a letter system?" Noelle mused. "Like having you point at letters of the alphabet to spell things out? That'd be slow, but it would work."

I didn't give her any response, because the answer was too complex. Yes, it would work, but the slowness also factored in and made me hesitant to agree. Maybe I should've just let her touch me, then this entire issue would've been sidestepped.

"...Ugh. I still want to find a way this can work, y'know? Feels so much more natural than having you spell everything out. But, maybe we just have to bite that bullet. Can I remove you from the cage so I can...mark it? I guess?"

Fortune smiled upon me, apparently. I nodded yes again, and she reached out to gently grasp me. It hurt, of course, but she was so delicate in how she did it I was able to handle the pain.

Now it was time to truly communicate with her. "Noelle? It's -" She screamed and dropped me back into the cage, recoiling all the way to her bed on the other side of the room.

For a long, long while, she looked between me and at the door, as if expecting someone to come through it. Right, I'd almost managed to forget about Carol. When it seemed apparent she wasn't coming, Noelle's gaze settled back upon me.

"W-Was that...t-that c-couldn't have...been you, could it?" I nodded. "S-So, you can talk...in my head? If I touch you?" Another nod, one I tried to do in a comforting way. Noelle slowly seemed to regain her composure, and just as slowly came back to my cage. "O-Okay. I'm gonna do that again, just...don't do anything weird with my head, okay?"

One nod later and she grasped me like I might explode. Again, it hurt, but this was so worth it. "Noelle..." I began again, causing her to flinch. "It's alright! This is just how I talk. I can't like root around in your head or anything. I-It's nice to meet you."

Technically I'd met her a day prior, but she thought I was Kris back then. "O-Oh, wow. Oh wow. This is - insane!" She replied, looking so frightened yet fascinated at the same time. "I, um...I guess it's nice to meet you too. But what are you?"

"A human soul."

"Wha - so are you Kris's soul?"

Panic slammed into my mind, causing me to immediately shout "No! I am not anything of Kris's! They held me captive, they hit me with a hockey stick yesterday, and I just couldn't take being around them anymore! Please, I don't care what you do with me, but just - whatever it is, don't let Kris find me!"

Noelle stayed silent during my rant, and I could tell she was practically paralyzed by her fear. I needed to calm down, and not dump my emotions on her already burdened mind. "I-I'm sorry..."

"D-Don't apologize." She replied shakily. "Were you trying to get away from them by coming to me?"

"You are the only one I can possibly trust. Kris keeps me locked up any way they can, Ralsei has some knowledge of me and I think he's lying to my face about it, and Susie -"

Noelle interrupted me by squeezing my body tightly, sending pain rushing through my entire being. "Wait!" She exclaimed as I tried not to cry out. "Ralsei? But...he was just a dream!"

I realized I had the perfect way to get Noelle to trust me. I could do what literally nobody around me dared to. Tell the truth. "Noelle? You're going to want to sit down for this. Ralsei is real. Cyber City was real. All of it. Every single thing that happened, the battles, Queen...even the Ferris wheel."

As I talked, Noelle's eyes grew wider and wider until they were practically the size of dinner plates. "B-But..." She stammered. "You weren't there! How could you know about any of that?"

"Well...that's where things get tricky. I'm not Kris's soul, but they were using me as that. With my power they can seal Dark Fountains, and it's what they've been using me to do. But, I'm not completely helpless. I can kinda...control them. In limited ways. Like for example, I'm the one who gave you that gift at the carnival, if you remember."

Noelle trembled hard, and I was worried she might squeeze me again. Thankfully, she decided to just speak instead. "Y-You gave me that? It wasn't Kris? Were you the one protecting me? Listening to me talk? Was Kris not really reconnecting with me at all?"

Oh...crap. In my haste to convey the huge amount of context required to even understand me and my situation, I'd completely forgotten how this must feel for her. Her crush and her former best friend had lied and gaslit her about the incredible adventure she went on, and now I was telling her that only the good times she spent with that best friend, reconnecting, were actually fake.

"...They didn't do anything I didn't tell them to do regarding you." I said truthfully. Even if I hated Kris as much as I did, I wasn't about to lie about them or to Noelle, especially right after I'd just exposed a huge lie she'd just been told yesterday.

By her expression, I fully expected her to burst into tears. But then she just smiled, sighed, and blinked her eyes a few times to clear them. "Probably should've expected that." She said quietly. "Kris talking with me? Being nice to me? Protecting me? That was so unrealistic it's part of why I believed the whole thing was a dream. Besides the computer city part, obviously. But I guess even if it wasn't from the person I thought it was, it is nice to hear that I had someone helping me out so much. But why? Why would you help me that much? We've never even met before, I don't think."

"Because it was the right thing to do." I responded. "You were practically in shock that entire time, not to mention Queen was going to hurt you. How could I not try and protect you?"

Her smile grew, and there was a moment of quiet happiness we got to share. Then it vanished, and her eyes went back into dinner plate mode. "Wait. You were there the whole time?"

"Yeah?" I asked, wondering where this was going.

"As in...you were listening the entire time? When I was rambling to Kris?"

"...Yeah? Noelle, what're you -" The realization dawned on me before I could finish that sentence. " - Yeah...I heard everything about Susie."

Immediately she let go of me and scampered over to her bed, where she grabbed a pillow, put it against her face, and then screamed into it loud enough that I wasn't sure if it was actually muffling much.

I floated over to her, ignoring the throbbing pain radiating through me as I did so we could resume talking when she was ready. Eventually, she put down the pillow, looked over, quickly processed that I could indeed fly, then gently cupped me in her hands.

"I feel like I'm gonna die..." She bemoaned. "That's so incredibly embarrassing. I only told Kris because even if we aren't that close anymore, I still felt safe around them. Please don't laugh at me."

I neglected to mention I had also seen the Ferris wheel ride in its entirety, trying to spare Noelle some of her dignity. But I did tell her "I'm not gonna laugh. If it makes you feel any better, I support you one hundred percent. I even gave you that gift so you'd come out of hiding and talk to Susie."

She sniffled, and the smile came back to her face. "Well, I guess it worked out pretty well, huh? Weird I have to rely on a total stranger to have my back. Especially on something like this. Does Susie know about you?"

"Nope. Both Kris and Ralsei are lying their asses off, or I suppose lying by omission. I don't think they've deliberately lied to her yet." Noelle sighed in relief.

"That's good." She muttered, and had I the mouth to do so I would've smirked.

"Oh, don't you worry." I said teasingly. "Your love quest is still a go." Under my glow, Noelle already looked pretty red, but somehow she found a way to practically glow crimson all by herself with her blush.

"S-Shut up! Cheese, maybe the cage isn't too undignified for you. But in all seriousness, I think I'll need to sleep for like...a hundred years after this conversation. Hope I don't miss the festival...n-not because I want to hang out with Susie or anything!"

I couldn't roll my eyes, mostly because I didn't have any, but I did wiggle back and forth like I was shaking my head. "Of course, of course. You probably should go to sleep. And, um...not to be too pushy, but do we have a deal? About you not letting Kris find me again?"

"Huh? Oh, obviously! Even if you weren't super omega nice to me, I'd never send someone back to someone else they didn't want to be with. And by the sounds of it...and the looks of it..." She gently touched my crack, and mutually winced with me as she put me back in my cage. "You really, really could use someone to give you a nice place to sleep for once. And, um, you can say no, but if you want to tell me everything when you're not panicked, I'd be happy to listen."

I settled into my comfy cage, atop the newspaper clippings and considered her offer. It had maybe been an hour since I'd escaped, and I was still coming down from the various anxieties of the night. No, not yet. "...Maybe. Thanks, for everything, Noelle."

"Which reminds me..." Said Noelle as she stood up and got a blanket. "I never actually asked your name."

"Oh! It's Chara. What're you doing with that blanket?"

Noelle by this point had pulled the blanket mostly over my cage, and she looked embarrassed as I pointed out the strange behavior. "O-Oh, right. Well, just in case my mom comes in, I don't want her to see a floating soul just hanging around. Might cause some difficult to answer questions, you know?"

That made sense, and I mentally smacked myself for not thinking about that. Carol knew about me, and I wasn't about to confront her so soon, as weakened as I was. I considered telling Noelle about her mother knowing about me, but the proof I had of that wasn't great. One line I heard while in the midst of a dissociative episode that kind of sounded like she was talking to me? Not worth making Noelle feel even more like she was surrounded in lies.

"Yeah, good idea." I replied. "And good night, Noelle."

"Good night, Chara. See you tomorrow." The blanket was put on after she waved at me, and I was left to rest. Unlike every other night since I came here, I felt safe and comfortable enough to actually allow sleep to claim me. This was the one victory I'd had that I actually felt victorious about, and my reward?

A good night's sleep.

Chapter Text

Sleep, when I did manage to get it, always felt instantaneous. There was no extended period of 'waking up' where I was functionally a zombie, I would let my vision fade - my version of 'closing my eyes' - and would feel it come back several hours later.

I could see small streams of sunlight penetrating my comfortable cage, in gaps of the blanket on top of me. There was water in my dispenser, and should I so choose I could enrich myself on the hamster wheel. Truly, I was a monarch reigning over a great kingdom.

My serene rule was interrupted by the buzzing of an alarm clock, and the sounds of a sleepy Noelle trying to sit up and shut it off. When that was accomplished, she made various noises as she continued to wake up. Eventually, that process included taking the blanket off of my cage and visibly being startled.

"Oh! Oh, you're real. That wasn't a dream either, huh?" She said, trying to sound calm even with an underlying tremor in her voice. "...Whoops! Forgot we can't really talk if I'm not holding you, one sec."

Noelle quickly reached into my cage and cupped me in her hand, while still making sure not to fully remove me from the cage. "Good morning, Chara."

"Morning morning." I replied. "So, what's on the docket for today? Because frankly, my plans started and ended with getting to you."

"Well, for starters, I actually kinda thought about something I wanted to ask you." Hesitating, Noelle took several seconds to seemingly work up the courage to ask me. "Could you...would you come with me to the festival?"

Wait, what? "Wait, what? Noelle, I thought you wanted to go with Susie?"

"N-No, I do!" She said hurriedly. "It's just...with what you told me, I could use my wingperson, you know? If you're there cheering me on, I won't be as scared. Plus, leaving you here all day in a hamster cage would make me feel kinda guilty. Which reminds me, um, can I ask why you wanted to stay in there so badly last night?"

The answer was humiliating. Demeaning on a whole different level. But like last night, I wouldn't lie to Noelle, not consciously anyway, or keep information from her. "Kris...they kept me in a cage. Threw me into that cage. Or really, they stuffed me anywhere they thought I couldn't escape from when they needed me out of the way. Even if this is a cage too, at least I know you'll either leave me alone at the bare minimum, and if I'm lucky, you'll be kind. So far, I think I've been very lucky."

Noelle teared up as I spoke, and quickly wiped her eyes with her free hand before responding. "It's...hard to believe you'd still be so nice to a total stranger like me after that. Don't tell anyone, but even if I'm all nice and quiet about people being mean or unpleasant, I don't really think all that nicely about them like you do."

"Oh, like with you throttling Berdly?"

"Fahaha, I guess so -" Suddenly Noelle went quiet, her smile giving way to a look of suspicion. "Wait. You saw that, too? But Kris wasn't even there."

Internally I winced, realizing that I would have to explain I'd seen much more than just that. "I-It's not like I have eyes." I said defensively. "Sometimes, instead of seeing what's around me, I can focus on a particular person and see them even if they're a really far way away. If it makes you feel any better, Kris and Ralsei wanted some alone time, and it was their idea I check up on Susie. I can't exactly leave Kris's body when I want, so..."

That look of suspicion gave way to sympathy, and Noelle nodded. "I guess I can't blame you, then." She whispered. "Well, if you were already peeking, then you might as well come along to somewhere where someone wants you there, right?"

I tried not to get emotional about hearing that I would be wanted should I go with her. "Well," I began cooly. "I did say I owe you for making you walk into the basement, didn't I? Count me in."

"Thanks, Chara. Kinda weird that I'm relying on someone I just met instead of someone I've known for so long, like Kris." At the invoking of their name, Noelle visibly deflated a bit. "Or...I guess I thought I knew them. They were never that...um...sweet or kind or anything, but I never thought they could do something like this."

She touched her finger to my crack again, and this time I couldn't hold back the small grunt of pain it caused. "S-Sorry!" Noelle exclaimed, pulling her hand back. "I was about to ask if that hurt. Did they...did they do that?"

"With Dess's hockey stick, I think." I managed, prompting a look of realization to sweep across Noelle's face. "Yeah. That was the banging noise you heard yesterday in her closet."

"And we were sitting right outside? ...You wouldn't have even been able to call out, would you? I'm so sorry, you must've been -"

"It's fine." I interrupted. "You couldn't have known. Why don't you get ready for the festival? Especially if you're getting ready for Susie, I would assume you'd want to take your time, hm?"

While blushing heavily, Noelle placed me back in my cage and let out an annoyed huff. "Maybe you do owe me a bit after all this teasing. I'll be back in a minute, we'll work out how to bring you along then."

I watched her walk out of the room and sighed to myself, gratefully. The last thing anyone needed was me whinging any more than I already had, and that was a lot. Frankly, I was just happy to begin my time as Noelle's...friend? Pet? Strange spirit guide?

There was the matter of the prophecy and the world being at peril, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. I wanted to help, of course I did. But how could I when Kris was getting in my way and working with the opposition? If I couldn't even stop them from closing their eyes when I looked at something they didn't want to see, or from extracting me seemingly at will, how could I defeat someone as strong as the Roaring Knight?

How could I save the world? Or support the friends who didn't even know I existed? How could I even avenge Tenna? With villains like these, even I was helpless. Useless.

Before, I was cocky from what I knew I'd done in those oldest of my memories. But they were clearly either false or so long ago that the hero in them was long since washed up. The Fun Gang would just have to make it work without me, their commander and Dark Fountain sealer extraordinaire.

I did hope they could. They were heroes of prophecy, after all, and I was just an incidental mention that was paired with Kris, the Cage. Why would they need someone like me?

----------

Me and Noelle finally decided on using her schoolbag to carry me around in. It could help me not need to fly, conceal me, and it wouldn't be suspicious for her to have it given the prizes on offer between all the different booths and games, not to mention the food. According to her, the festival was for something relating to the town's history, but only the oldest members like Ms. Boom actually knew what.

After checking her hair for the eleventh - yes, eleventh time - me and Noelle finally set off. Carol was nowhere to be found in the house, with Noelle explaining that her mother always left incredibly early to go to work. Figures. Not that I was particularly missing that ice queen, regardless.

There wasn't much to describe of the festival, seeing as I was in Noelle's bag the whole time. But there was music, and laughter, and also Noelle. She had her hand in the bag pretty much the entire time we were walking around, allowing us to chat whenever we wanted.

"Oh, I could never do the evil route." I explained, as our conversation had shifted to what we liked and disliked in games. More specifically, right now we were talking about games with morality and choice systems. "If I ever had to, I think I might get sick. Just the thought of all the characters growing to hate me? Not my cup of tea."

"I can see that, I guess. But for me, I love hunting down those bad or like secret routes. It feels...forbidden. Like you're not supposed to find them at all, you know? Especially when they - the characters, I mean - do react like that. Them getting mad at you, or sometimes the game itself actually tries to scare you with something like a jumpscare in order to punish you in real life? I think that's so cool!"

I could also see the appeal of that, I supposed. "Well, you feel free to explore those routes. I'll probably just be watching from the cage."

"Right..." She replied, sounding a bit uneasy. "Listen, I know you said it's comfortable for you in there, but like...you really don't have to be in a literal cage, you know? I can probably get my hands on something nicer, maybe like one of those little cat condos? Agh, quit it Noelle, that's just as demeaning!"

"Trust me, it's fine. Besides, I am smaller than you and require concealment. Harder to do or explain with a cat condo. Look, why don't we meet in the middle and redecorate the hamster cage? Add some dollhouse furniture, an old cell phone I can use as a TV screen, maybe even a tiny little refrigerator."

She let out a breathy laugh. "Alright, that sounds pretty good." Said Noelle, before stopping short. "Oh! That actually reminds me, I saw you drinking water before, do you need anything to eat or drink? I assume you haven't done either since before yesterday."

Ever since I came to this world, I had figured I didn't need nourishment of any kind. Never had I felt hunger, or thirst, yet strangely I seemed to remember what those felt like. And yet still, the experience earlier where I had touched myself to the water of the cage had prompted memories of the taste of water, strangely enough.

"I...don't really know." I admitted. "You'd have to measure the dispenser to see if I actually drank anything, I'm not entirely sure myself. Maybe you could just get some candy or something and put it in the bag?"

"And if you can't eat it, it'll give me an excuse for why I'm putting my hand in the bag so often!" She finished, and once more I marveled at her quick wit. "I think there's a concessions stand right over there, manned by the new grocery store owner."

Sans! ...Oh, right. Sans. I must have grumbled or something, because Noelle seemed to pick up immediately that something wasn't right. "What? Do you not like him?"

"My feelings on Mr. Sans are...complicated." And they were. When I first came here, and every time I visited him, he provided a much needed nostalgic reprieve from the chaos of the Dark Worlds. After last night, however...

"But I don't hate the man. Er, monster. Is his brother here, at least? Big, tall skeleton? Bigger smile?" Noelle paused, either out of confusion or merely taking a second to try and locate the monster I had been missing for the last few days.

"Nope, don't see anything." She confirmed, and I let out a small, disappointed sigh. "How'd you even know he had a brother? I've never seen another skeleton here..."

Now was time for some truly weird stuff I would be sharing with her. Those memories of another world, familiar in who lived in it yet so completely different in so many ways. "It's...complicated. And hard to believe."

"More than the fact you're a sapient, talking, flying soul that wants to live in my hamster cage? C'mon, at this point I'll believe anything." Oh, now I couldn't wait to test that claim, not after her teasing me back.

The banter felt...really good. Maybe it was presumptuous of me to assume, but maybe, just maybe, me and Noelle were actually beginning to become friends. Real friends. But that was a conversation for later.

"Okay." I started, bonking myself against her palm and wincing. Forgot about the crack, ouch. "You asked for it. I have these...memories. But not of Hometown, and I don't think they're of anywhere in the entire world. They're of the people of Hometown. I remember Mr. Sans, his brother Papyrus, Toriel, your teacher, Alphys - though I know her as a doctor - Undyne, Asgore, even Asriel. But again, not as people who live here. In my memories, they live in the underground, banished to live there by humans along with the rest of monsterkind."

Silence. Pure silence. I began to worry I'd completely freaked Noelle out, at least until I heard her speak up again. "That is...okay, yeah, that's definitely weirder than anything else you've told me. Wait, do you know me and my family then? That'd explain at least a little why you're being so nice. N-Not that you need an explanation, of course."

"Sadly, no. I mean - maybe I heard Rudy's name once, but that could just be a fake memory. Anyway, my memories revolve around an adventure, where I was going through that underground area to try and save everyone. To befriend and lift them up from the dark. I succeeded, but...then I talked to this clam lady."

The memory made me shiver. On my last pass through the underground, before leaving, I went back to the area near Undyne's sadly scorched house. There, I found a monster I hadn't really seen before, a woman with a giant clam for a head.

"I talked to her, and she was...off. She mentioned a kid that I should meet named Suzy, and when I told her I hadn't gotten to meet her on my journey, she went quiet. Then her voice went as flat and monotone as you could get, and she said -"

"So you never met my neighbor's daughter. Do not despair, because the time that you will meet her...IS FAST APPROACHING."

Once more I shuddered, and I felt Noelle do much the same at the creepy memory. "S-So, was she talking about our Susie, then?" She asked, trying to cut the tension.

"No, not Susie S-u-s-i-e, Suzy S-u-z-y. That's how she spelled it out."

"Wait, she spelled it out? Like, on a piece of paper?"

I went to respond that, no, obviously she didn't, she told me like I'd said. Then I stopped. "I...I-I...no, she said it. Out loud, I heard her voice. ...H-How do I know that?"

During my stint here, I tried not to focus on that other life, in that other world. There was a new world to save here after all, and my time was better spent not reminiscing. Even if it was dangerously tempting, and it helped that I didn't feel overly upset by being whisked away, just mildly nostalgic.

"Maybe it's like how you can see where you shouldn't be able to?" Noelle provided, to try and gently ease my growing anxiety. "It might work to where you can figure out how names are spelled?"

It was weak, but it was something. "...Yeah, maybe. Anyways," I cleared my mind of that whole issue and went on to the next part, where I knew things were about to get downright esoteric. "After that I was moved into this...void. And I began to hear a voice. A male one. He made me fill out some kind of...waiver, I guess, and we began to build a vessel for me. A body, one that was entirely mine, to enter this world. He didn't say so explicitly, but...I knew it, down in my core."

My attempt to remain the calm storyteller after describing the clam woman began to falter, and my voice grew more emotional. "I gave it a body, a nice hoodie, I-I picked out its favorite flavor, salty, its blood type -" I stopped for a moment to compose myself. "I-I even got to tell the voice what I thought about it. The vessel, I mean. I think the voice was expecting me to say something it wouldn't want to hear, because he reassured me it wouldn't. But I gladly told the voice I-I loved i-it. It was my vessel, and then it got yanked away, and then I woke up inside of Kris -"

By this point I had begun crying, pitifully. Of course I was right that I was not the same creature that had bested gods and heroes alike, I was just some emotional, weak thing that broke down at retelling a story. While I was breaking down, Noelle's bag opened up and a bag of gummy, multicolored, sour candy labeled 'Sowrer Pahtched Kidz™'.

"H-Hey, it's okay." Noelle soothed, stroking my surface with her fingers. "D-Do you like sour candy? It makes my teeth hurt, but it was the closest thing I could grab, so...I-I hope you like it."

...I did like sour candy. Quite a lot, actually. In-between sniffles, I confirmed my like of the delectable, artificial flavors and watched her open the bag. Out spilled those most magnificent, chewy, delectable effigies of the great and terrible ICE-E. God, he was horrifying. But after my little breakdown, I could look past it.

Pressing myself against the surface of one of the candies, I was delighted to find that I could actually consume them! My sniffles and non-tears abating, I began a culling of the horrible mascot faced gummies that might have concerned Noelle, if she could see it.

An uncountable number of them devoured later, about four by my count, I rested at the bottom of her bag while sighing in relief. "...Thanks, Noelle. I really do owe you."

"Oh, quit that." She dismissed. "If you could help me get over my fear of mice, and agree to be my wingperson while barely knowing me, I think you've earned a baggy of sour candy."

Maybe I had. Still, it was hard to suppress that...urge. "Maybe." I repeated out loud, pushing against another Kidz™ and slowly began to eat. A perk of having no mouth meant I could 'talk' and eat at the same time. However that worked.

"It's just...I remember doing everything I could in the underground to help people. To save them. Even at my own personal risk. Multiple times I risked being absorbed, but I did it because that was my purpose. I thought it was my purpose here, too. But...maybe it's not to do anything grand, this time. Maybe I can do what I was meant to by helping you?"

Noelle didn't respond. "Noelle? Sorry, did I say something?" Still nothing. Lord, what had I done now? "Hey, are you okay?"

When she spoke up, it was through what sounded like a clenched jaw, even though we were communicating purely by thought. "It's Susie!"

Chapter Text

A mix of joy and deep-seated worry struck me. Susie was here, and that usually meant - "Is Kris there?!" I hissed.

("N-No, no. Just her.") Relief replaced the other, much less enjoyable feelings in my mind, and I sighed. ("Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh! This is - I can't do this! I'm gonna have a heart attack!")

Surprised, I pressed up against her hand to get her attention. "Why can't you?" I asked. "You've literally done it once before. Just walk up to her, let her talk a bit, suggest the Ferris wheel as a place to continue the conversation, and bam. It'll be even nicer than the first time since you don't have the threat of Queen or Berdly hanging over your head right now, and you've even got the first time from yesterday to help on top of that."

Noelle shot back with ("That's easy for you to say! Before I was more confident, since I thought everything was a dream! Now it's real, and I'm thinking about how she lied to me, and how c-cool and intimidating she looks, but a-also stressed? S-So I w-wanna h-help her feel better, and I don't want my mom catching us -")

This had to stop now. I bumped her hand again to stop her rambling, and began to speak to her quietly. "You wanna get the girl?" Noelle froze immediately, which was precisely the reaction I wanted. "Then do what I said. Approach, try and push her to do the talking so you can get your composure back, and get her on that Ferris wheel. She liked that too, you know, don't you remember her tail wagging?"

("I-I remember.") Noelle managed, and I bumped her hand again as a show of support.

"And you've got me here to coach you through everything. Just remember, make sure you talk some. She's insecure about what other people think about her, and when they're too quiet for too long she thinks it's because they want to push her away or because they're afraid of her."

Noelle stammered in her mind a bit before she could assemble any kind of meaningful sentence. ("H-How do you know her like that? Are you some kinda psychologist, too?!")

"No, I just like her a lot as well."

Noelle's fear vaporized, and I got the distinct feeling she now had other aims than holding me gently. ("What?")

Remembering Berdly's fate after confessing his crush, I said as fast as I could think the words "Platonically, platonically! I swear, I see her only and ever as a friend. And she's never seen or heard me technically, so I'm not even potentially in your way."

("Good, good, that's...that's good.") Noelle muttered. I couldn't help but chuckle as the fear of potentially getting squeezed in her hand drained out of me.

"Okay, I felt I was being a bit over the top when I said you were on a love quest, but -"

("Shut up! Cheese and crackers, this was a stupid idea...")

"Look." I said firmly. "The anticipation is the worst part of all of this. You can concoct any number of nightmare scenarios for how this can go, but let me remind you of some key facts. Susie is your friend and cares about you a ton. She even -"

I hesitated, and Noelle must have felt it...somehow. ("What?") She asked, her voice tiny, yet suspicious.

"I don't know if I should say..." I replied, slowly.

("Say what.")

"I just don't want to give you any preconceived notions of what might happen today, it wouldn't -"

("For the love of the Angel, Chara! Just tell me already!") Hearing Noelle shout, even if in just her mind, forced me to act reflexively to try and calm her down. Even if that meant telling her information that might completely throw her out of whack.

"She likes you too." I blurted out. Yesterday, I watched Susie hunt down more pieces of the prophecy that concerned her, and in the process, had found one relating to love finding 'the girl'. It was obvious not just from how flustered she was at the idea, but her literally invoking Noelle's name, that Susie was not repulsed by the concept of that love being from her.

Noelle's breathing kicked into a higher gear momentarily at the revelation, but otherwise seemed to take it rather well. "...Like...'Like' likes?'" She asked.

I rolled my nonexistent eyes, and wished I also had a hand to smack my forehead that I also didn't have. "Yes. Dummy. She likes you. A lot. As someone with more of an objective perspective on what happened in the house yesterday, it was almost embarrassing how close you two were to just blurting it all out, instead of doing the romantic equivalent of stumbling around in the dark. I even put on music for the two of you, for crying out loud."

Slowly, ever so slowly, I began to feel the tension lessen in Noelle. She began to breathe more easily, and while still swept up in her frankly intense crush, I could...almost feel her thoughts settle and calm. Strangely, so did I, until we were both just calm and quiet. "...Well? Go and get the girl, Noelle!" I prompted, and Noelle was off like a shot.

The bag shook and jostled around as she walked quickly over to Susie, and I braced myself for the upcoming interaction. "H-Hi, Susie!" Said Noelle, still sounding nervous but far less so than before.

"...Huh? Oh, uh, hey Noelle." Susie's voice sounded...low. Almost depressed. "Sorry I didn't see you there, I was just thinking about some stuff."

Yesterday had been rough for us all, that much I could remember. Even if Susie had had some excellent time spent with a parental figure in the form of Gerson, that didn't mean she wasn't affected by things like us failing to catch the Knight. Or what had happened with Toriel later that night.

So I gently told Noelle to keep in mind Susie was having a bit of a rough day, and that it would be best for the both of them if she just played it cool. Best not to make active moves, and just present yourself as someone reliable and comforting in Susie's time of need.

Going off of what I said, Noelle started with "H-Hey, it's cool. You wanna maybe go up on the Ferris wheel and talk about it? O-Or not! That's fine too! We could play games, or walk around...or just sit on a bench?" While her confidence had grown, there was still that hint of telltale insecurity and desperation in her voice.

But like I expected, her putting forth even the bare minimum of that very confidence would be rewarded. "Uh...sure, I guess." Susie said, and we began to walk again. Well, I expected more excitement on Susie's end, but at least they were hanging out now.

Soon after, I felt Noelle stepping up onto something metallic that shook slightly with her and Susie's weight, clearly one of the cars of the Ferris wheel. Once more, I would be listening in on a conversation that would likely be best kept private, but then a thought occurred to me.

Back in Card Kingdom, and Cyber City, even in Sanctuary, Ralsei and Kris had made use of my extrasensory perception to foist me off onto Susie. I didn't mind them wanting a private conversation, but apparently they thought me spying on Susie was somehow better? It wasn't even like I had a choice in the matter!

Stop it, I told myself. No more whinging, focus on helping. That is your one and only purpose, idiot. You'd already wasted so much time crying to Noelle as it was, so get your head on straight and be a wingperson like she asked.

...I wished I could actually see what was happening. Well, no time like the present to use those delightful powers of mine to get a better handle on the situation. My thoughts began to fill with nothing but Susie, what she was doing, what she was thinking...

And just like that, I had a new perspective of the two. Susie was resting her head on the rail atop one of the guard walls of the car, looking out across Hometown. Like her voice implied, she looked positively sullen.

Noelle, on the other hand, looked exactly as expected. Like she couldn't believe what was happening, and that she might explode from gay panic. "Noelle," I cautioned. "Stay calm, and remember that she's not in a good place for you to make moves on her. Be her friend first and foremost, and let things evolve naturally."

("I know that, sorry!") Replied Noelle. ("It's just...gosh, everything's so...") She let out a girly squeal in my mind, and I had to stop myself from going 'aw' at how cute it all was. Though the juxtaposition between her crushing and Susie's melancholy was enough to keep me grounded.

"Um...Susie?" Noelle said out loud, seemingly startling Susie out of deep thought. "Everything okay? Is it about what happened at my house yesterday, with my - with my mom?"

Shaking her head as though it would dislodge the unpleasant thoughts that doubtlessly dwelt within, Susie turned to face Noelle. "No, no, that's not it. I've just got stuff on my mind, y'know? Yesterday wasn't exactly...great."

That seemed to give Noelle true pause for the first time, and the smallest inkling of doubt. "But...didn't we have fun together? I thought it was - it was pretty cool, right?"

"Of course!" Susie said immediately, her face turning almost sick with worry at reassuring Noelle. "Yeah dude, it was probably the best part about yesterday. I felt like I really got to know you."

Hopeful excitement bubbled up inside of Noelle, and she moved to where she was standing right beside Susie, arms resting on the rail alongside her. "...Me too. Other than like...Berdly, I guess, I don't have a whole lot of people to talk to. Even Kris kinda ignores me these days."

"That -" Susie stopped upon seeing Noelle so close, and looked away from her. "- That sucks. But I don't think it's because they don't care about you. They've got a lot on their plate, too. Ugh, everything's so weird and screwed up lately. Even here at the festival, where I should be relaxing..."

She held one of her hands up, and I was shocked to see it trembling. Just as quickly, she put it back down and sighed. "...I feel like I'm on edge. Like at any minute everything's gonna go wrong."

"What happened to you two yesterday?" Noelle questioned, moving closer to Susie, who curiously tensed up at the approach. "I'm getting worried, like...I've never seen you like this. You're normally so confident, and aloof, and cool..."

The crushing started to leak back in, but before I could nudge Noelle back on track, Susie pushed off of the wall and walked to the opposite side of the car, with her back to Noelle. "Susie? W-What's wrong? You're kinda starting to scare me, fahaha."

For a while, Susie said nothing. The car was completely silent as we ascended to the top of the wheel, and the air became thick with an unexpected tension. "...Have you ever felt like you wanted something so stupidly much, but you worry that getting it might cause something bad to happen? Like...you'd lose something important to you, just as if not more so than the thing you want?"

"Um...yeah, I guess." Noelle responded reluctantly, rubbing her arm with her other hand before putting it back in the schoolbag. "But a friend told me that I should try and go for it anyway. Just because there might be a little risk, o-or you're scared of what might happen, doesn't mean you shouldn't even try to get what would make you happy."

In response, another unexpected one to boot, Susie walked further away from Noelle and put her hands on the opposite rail she had previously to steady herself. "But that's just it! It's not a little risk, it's a huge one! If I take it and things turn out badly, then I could lose -"

She went quiet, as if coming to a realization. "I could lose everything." Susie muttered under her breath.

What was she talking about? Was this her just being insecure? I could get her being insecure, or just plain nervous, but this felt like something more dramatic. Something to do with the events of last night? The only thing I could think of that might have unsettled her so badly was the final panel of the prophecy I hadn't seen, and at this point I was sick of making conclusions based on speculation and circumstantial evidence.

"Susie? What could you lose?" Noelle walked over and reached out, but upon touching Susie's shoulder the latter recoiled as though her touch burned. The two of them spent a few moments looking at each other, Susie with wild, fearful eyes and Noelle looking bewildered and confused.

"...I gotta go." Susie mumbled before almost running over to the other side of the car and scanning the approaching ground for something. "C'mon, how much longer is this ride? I gotta get back to Kris."

For the first time, I got the sense of Noelle feeling something other than lovesickness, fear, or placid kindness. Her face twitched, and for a moment I could've sworn she was suppressing an angry scowl. "Can't we keep hanging out? You don't have to go back to Kris just yet, right? It's barely been an hour since the festival started!"

"I'm sorry, Noelle. It's just - it's complicated. We've got stuff to do, and - what the? Why're they talking to your mom?"

Temporarily paused in her attempts to pull Susie back in, Noelle went to look over the rail. I followed by tilting my perspective, and what I saw made my stomach drop. Kris was there, of course, and they were indeed talking to Carol. Obviously Susie and Noelle were confused, but my worry came from a different source.

Flanking Carol on both sides were two monster cops, and from the looks of it, Kris was desperately pleading with her about something. What were they up to now?

"I-I guess my mom called the city for more officers after Ms. Undyne went missing?" Noelle speculated, but despite her analytical tone I could tell she was desperate to get back to hanging out with Susie. "Look, Kris seems pretty busy with my mom, right? I'm sure you can catch up with them in a minute."

While I was concerned about Noelle missing out on a chance to hang out with Susie, Susie's seeming desperation to get away was what was even more concerning. Yesterday was awful, but why would she want to get away from Noelle of all people this badly? She was a terrible liar, for sure, but Susie did still try to cover things up when it came to her running off with Kris. Could it be that final panel? Something that happened last night, when Susie and Kris went...wherever they went?

The Ferris wheel loudly clanked and shuddered as it came to a halt, with Susie undoing the mechanism holding the wall in place and dashing away from the car, towards Kris. "W-Wait!" Noelle cried, and before I could snap my perspective back to inside the bag or tell her to wait myself, Noelle ran off to follow her.

Getting this close to Carol once again made me feel anxious. Getting close to Kris was like having a waking night terror. It was a small miracle to get my perspective back inside the bag as quickly as I did, so I didn't have to look at them.

Susie ran so fast she had to skid to a halt, managing to stop herself by grabbing Kris's shoulders, and nearly knocking them both over in the process. "Kris! Look, we gotta -"

"There she is, officers." Carol interrupted smoothly. "The one responsible for vandalizing the church."

Chapter Text

"Damaging the floor, the door to the inner church, and leaving a note in your handwriting pretending to be speaking on behalf of our beloved Father Alvin's dead father?" Carol tutted. "Officer Undyne should've done something about your 'comic mischief' months ago."

The real-world implications suddenly hit me about what happened yesterday. Gerson's letter, transcribed by Susie, would obviously be in her handwriting which could be compared to literally any scrap of paper she'd turned in at school. To any outsiders who didn't know the context, they would assume someone had gone into the church when no-one else was inside, trashed the place, disturbed the remains of a town hero, then left a literal note pretending to be speaking for that town hero.

Regardless of the law, that would inspire hatred against that person. Or, at the very least, enable an easy justification to have them tossed in jail. There was something that might've been mildly funny about it all, given that Carol was calling regular police officers to subdue a hero of prophecy.

But I only felt horror as the police approached and began to apprehend Susie. After the entire debacle that was visiting Noelle's house the first time, I had some suspicion Carol knew about me. Could this be confirmation she was working with the Knight, too? After all, Susie was the one to chip their blade, and taking her out of the fight would only benefit the Knight and any potential conspirators.

At least Kris sounded genuinely distressed by pleading with Carol to let Susie go, but the Holiday matron wasn't budging. At least I was fairly certain Kris wouldn't sic the cops on Susie. The situation was spiralling, fast, and regardless of any conspiracy and whoever was involved to what degree, having any of the Delta Warriors be literally locked up for any length of time spelled doom for the entire world. Against my better wishes, I had to intervene and steer things back on course.

Plus, this was Susie that was under fire. If there was anyone here other than Noelle I felt a true attachment to, it was her. Protective instincts welled up within me, and I ignored the pain of my crack to touch Noelle's frozen hand.

"Noelle?" I asked. No answer. "Now is not the time to be frozen up! Noelle, you need to act. There's potentially a way to stop this, but you need to speak up!" Still nothing. ...Wait, not nothing. Underneath layers of almost instinctual fear, I could feel something very, very similar to my own protectiveness. It was buried, and flickered weakly, but it was there.

I decided to try and stoke those feelings. If my power was to empower others, a la Susie's Red Buster or Ralsei's DualHeal, now was the time to use that. "Noelle. We need to work together. I can coach you on what to say, but if we want to save Susie, I need you to speak up."

("I...I can't. S-She - m-my mom, she'll just s-shut me down again. I couldn't say anything b-before, Chara. I-I can't now.")

Wincing in sympathy, I tried to think of something I could say. Something I could do. Something that could draw out that flickering, but alive desire to protect. It had come out for me, hadn't it? And for the Fun Gang against Queen, right? Noelle just needed something to give her a little push to bring it out.

"I can't speak for you, Noelle. I would if I could, but right now it's you who has the power to stop this. That doesn't mean you're on your own. If you think you don't have the strength..." I hesitated, but pushed forward. "...Let me be your strength. Your determination." It almost physically hurt to say something that corny, but I did mean it wholeheartedly.

That calming feeling from before, when I pushed her to talk to Susie came back, and Noelle went from almost frozen solid to breathing normally. We were...in sync, somehow, and as I brushed up against Noelle's hand to try and coach her on confronting Carol, I ended up completely phasing through and into her.

Trying to pull back with all my strength did nothing, as the pull towards Noelle was far too strong to reverse. I braced myself for the inevitable pain possession wrought, only to feel...empowered. But not just my power, Noelle's too burned within me. I was possessing Noelle, but unlike with Kris, nothing about it hurt. In fact, I...we, felt power surging through the both of us.

("Whaaaat's happening?! Why do I - oh...I feel...)

"Noelle? Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened, it just -"

("This is incredible! I feel like I could do anything! Maybe even -")

"Stand -"

("Up -")

"To -"

"Wait!" We called out, and I quickly took in the scene in front of us. Susie was still struggling with the two beefy cops, Kris looked scared and desperate as they continued fruitlessly pleading with Carol, and she...looked surprised. Surprised that Noelle would be speaking up to her like this, perhaps. "There's no need to do something this dramatic."

"Enforcing the law isn't about drama, Noelle." Carol replied dryly. The surprise faded as she resorted to her normal tactic of using her overwhelming personality to just stop opposition in its tracks, instead. "Now be quiet and let the officers do their work. We will have a lot to talk about when they're done."

Normally, that would've been enough. Any opposition from her mother, outside of truly dire circumstances, and Noelle would've crumbled. Hell, I would've joined her, in my emotional, unsure state. But together? When we worked as one? Boundless confidence seemed to well up in us both.

"Mom, you're literally having a teenager manhandled and arrested during the festival. Look." We gestured towards the smattering of other Hometown people around, who were indeed beginning to look over and whisper about the situation. I knew they didn't much care for Susie and saw her as the 'weird, scary, new kid'. But people were content to just avoid and ignore her, they didn't actively want her locked up. Even Undyne herself, who had been the one to charge Susie with multiple instances of the aforementioned 'comic mischief', had never followed up on them.

This was a bad look. One that Carol started to realize was such very quickly, judging by her cold mask of an expression giving way to the slightest of worry. She may have been relying on Noelle just being bowled over by words and theatrics, as well as whatever relationship her and Kris had preventing either of them from doing more than just pleading, to avoid any opposition.

But she couldn't have accounted for me.

Carol's eyes, unmistakably despite their speed, flitted down to Noelle's chest for a moment and I felt my confidence crack. Then she began to smile, an awkward, uncomfortable expression she clearly did not hold often. "Oh, you're completely right." She said in a sweet voice.

"But I can't just tell the officers they can't enforce the law. Although, if you could get Susie to calm down and let them do their work, I'd happily let you wait with her in the police station before coming to pick you up later. We are still going to talk about this, Noelle, but you don't have to bring anything harsher upon yourself than a nice sit-down if YOU behave."

Was that a threat? Immediately I stepped forward, ready to meet Carol with the exact level of disdain and opposition such an implication deserved. But only I did. Noelle resisted, just enough to where I could feel her leg tug backwards, and I stopped to consider the consequences if I escalated.

Not only would Noelle be punished regardless of what happened, Susie would still be arrested as well. I couldn't exactly debate Carol out of enforcing what were real laws, much less multiple cops, and I couldn't even think of fighting physically. Plus, I didn't even know how combat worked in the Light World to begin with. I was an idiot to just jump the gun and ride into battle like this, and the attempt was disarmed in the span of a few sentences.

How had Carol known? Was the change in confidence that drastic?

Ultimately, I swallowed my pride and decided to go along with things. Rewinding time to my last save point wouldn't help anyway, as apparently any increase in assertiveness with Noelle earlier on would only make Carol suspicious, and this entire cycle would begin again. At least this way, Kris, Susie, me, and Noelle would all be in one place to coordinate a plan of attack.

"You're right, mom." We said. Slowly, we approached the still struggling Susie, and I noted with some bitter amusement that in their heads the officers were panicking at just how strong Susie apparently was. "Susie? Come on, I-I can't help you if you keep fighting them, you need to stop."

"Whose side are you on?!" She roared, yanking her arm away from one of the officers, before resuming to struggle.

"The side of the law," Carol interrupted, putting her hand on Noelle's shoulder in a way that to anyone else, would've looked affectionate. To me and especially Noelle, all we could feel was her icy presence, chilling us to the core. "And if you keep on resisting arrest, I'm going to have to keep Noelle safe from bad influences like you by taking her home here and now, so we can discuss the types she is allowed to mingle with."

The second veiled threat was as effective as the first, judging by how wide Susie's eyes got. She reluctantly gave up the fight, and let the officers hike her arms up behind her back. "F-Fine. Just leave her alone."

Carol smiled again, in an even more twisted manner than before. "There. Isn't that better? Officers, would you be so kind as to escort her, my daughter, and Kris down to the police station?"

I'd mostly forgotten about Kris during the altercation, and the reminder of their presence sent a shudder through me. For right now, they seemingly were more concerned about Susie, but finding me had to be on their agenda somewhere. And with Carol possibly having figured me out...

Not the time to think about that. Or worry about it, as Susie began to be dragged by the cops and we went to follow closely behind. I focused on separating mine and Noelle's thoughts again, in order to discuss and apologize for what had just happened.

"Noelle? Can you hear me? I'm so, so sorry for just possessing you out of the blue like that. Susie was in danger, and I just...I had to do something."

("O-Oh! Don't worry,") Noelle replied, and I was relieved to hear her thoughts again. We were so in sync, I'd lost track of them in the heat of the moment. ("Actually, that felt incredible. It was like being plugged into a power grid of pure confidence. Is that how you feel all the time?")

I scoffed. "Hardly. But I do have a knack for empowering others with my determination. I can make Susie's attacks more powerful, Ralsei's magic heal more, and I could probably empower your ice spells. Although I don't actually know what they do, since I never had you use them."

("Determination?") Noelle echoed, sounding confused. ("Wait, so...you're just really determined? That's your magic?")

"I mean, I can do other stuff." I said defensively. "As you probably know, I can seal Dark Fountains, as well as glow really, really bright -"

She let out a breathy laugh, which quickly stopped. ("S-Sorry. I just kinda figured there'd be...more, y'know?") As I was about to tell her just how much more I had, the blissful escape of banter was spoiled by the approach of one Kris Dreemurr.

They shambled towards us, matching our pace and looking straight ahead as we continued marching behind Susie. My total fear of them, combined with Noelle's relative comfort, served to further drive a wedge into the unity we'd just established.

"Hey." They mumbled. "Thanks for standing up for Susie." It was rather odd to hear them talk without my input. Noelle had commented a few days ago that this was Kris's normal pattern of speech, when I was running around and using their voice in an uncharacteristically social manner.

What confidence I had managed to summon faltered, and now all I was focusing on was not making Noelle visibly panic. "You have to talk to them." I grunted out.

("What? Chara, are you okay? ...Chara? Chara!")

Every fiber of my being was focusing on Noelle's breathing. Slowly, in and out, as calm as a placid lake. If anything would give me away, it would be Noelle looking like she was fighting over control of her own body. Or worse, freaking out near someone she normally felt safe around.

"Uh...yeah!" Said Noelle haltingly. "Were you trying to get my mom to not go after her, too?" They nodded their head in response. "Yeah, I figured. But I have to ask, what's going on with the church? Someone vandalized it? A-And made a letter to look like it was from old Mr. Boom?"

Watching Kris struggle to try and explain what was happening without exposing what had actually happened might've been cathartic, if I had literally any attention to spare for it. "...That's not all." Kris said quietly. I strained to pay more attention, because as far as I was aware, everything Carol had mentioned had been...well, everything. "Father Alvin went missing, too."

Noelle stumbled as I instinctively recoiled in shock, something she clearly wasn't expecting. "W-What?" She exclaimed, doing her best to recover in a way that looked natural. And failing miserably, as she began to fix her hair over and over to bring attention away from her legs.

The conversation continued, and I heard Noelle lie about the stumble coming from being tired from her track practice, but it was difficult to hear while I was trying to process what had just been said. Like everyone in Hometown, I knew Father Alvin as well as time and Kris would allow. A kindly man, who was very lenient when it came to practicing the faith of the Deltarune.

Kris sure didn't seem to care much about the religion, and even Alvin himself implied they only came to service anymore for the free juice. Yet still, he not only provided said juice, he made sure to tell Kris he was happy to see them there again no matter the reason. He let Catti tell a frankly bastardized version of the prophecy, all without chastising her on the spin she put on it.

Even more still, from talking with him I'd learned that he let Asriel 'confess' over kissing a girl despite the Deltarune religion apparently not having confession nor sin as concepts within it. A wonderful man who loved his flock, and even if they didn't much care for faith, he welcomed them with open arms.

And I'd let the Knight take him.

Who else was going around, kidnapping the citizens of Hometown? Given that the Knight fled to the bunker after kidnapping Undyne and killing Tenna, it was possible that the goal of the kidnappings was specifically to prevent the Fun Gang from gaining entry to that bunker. The lock had three symbols above the number pad, a police badge, a pine tree...and a Deltarune.

If anyone had a piece of the code, it would be the literal priest overseeing Hometown's singular church. A strange mix between a whimper and a scream managed to escape Noelle's lips in my anguish, and Kris gave us a weird look.

("Chara?! What the heck was that?!")

"I failed him, Noelle! I was so wrapped up in what happened at your house that I couldn't even -" With immense difficulty, I forced my words to stop from becoming an emotional deluge. I then spat out "Keep talking with them. Difficult to talk myself."

"Yeah. I'm worried, too." Kris said, distracting the both of us from our private chat. "Hope more people don't go missing. ...You know I'd protect you if someone tried to hurt you, right?"

We both were so blindsided, Noelle's legs came to an undisputed stop. I couldn't speak regardless, but she struggled to form sentences for a bit as well before sputtering "K-Kris? What - Where'd that come from?"

"And you'd say if someone was hurting you, right?" They persisted, getting close enough to her that one of their red eyes peeked out from under the dark curtain that was their hair. Much to my shock, they looked worried. Scared, even.

Noelle looked around awkwardly and began to walk again, trying her best to respond to whatever that was. "K-Kris, that's...very sweet of you to say. I'm fine though, really!"

"That why you're grabbing your bag like your life depends on it?" Immediately I realized that I'd had her hands cleched hard enough that her knuckles might have been white, had her fur not been in the way, because of my singular focus on walking and breathing. I unclenched them immediately, swearing to myself and hoping Noelle could talk her way out of this.

"O-Oh, just, um...making sure my candy's safe, that's all!" Noelle reassured, softly patting the side of the schoolbag where the plastic bag of abominable ICE-E Kidz™ sat. "G-Got it before everything w-went down."

Kris tilted their head, continuing to shamble alongside us. "Cool." They muttered. "Can I have some before Susie eats it all?"

"S-Sure thing, K-Krismas!" The use of the nickname was awkward, like the word itself had rusted over from general lack of use. She reached into the schoolbag and pulled out the baggy of candy, presenting it to Kris.

They reached out to take a handful, only to pause and examine the label. "...Thought you hated sour candy."

"O-Oh! Um, it's just been growing on me lately?"

"Doesn't it make your teeth hurt?" Kris questioned, and as I tried frantically to think of a way out of this, I caught an unmistakable movement. Their eyes, just as Carol's had, darted down towards me.

Just as Noelle had instantly known something was off with them whilst I possessed Kris, the reverse was probably insultingly easy to spot. Noelle's lungs began to expand and contract rapidly as my anxiety began to spill over into full blown panic. There was no way I'd go back to them. Never. That wouldn't happen, right?

But they knew where I was. They were glaring at me now. What could Noelle do to stop them anyway? We had this connection, and I knew she wanted to protect me, but...could she? When the chips were down, would she stand with me, or would she quietly let things return to how they were?

Wait, I shouldn't be thinking about her like that. Back on the Ferris wheel, she'd called me her friend, right? But that didn't mean she would stand up to someone like Kris, who wouldn't even be slowed down if she asked them to leave me alone. Even if she did stand up to them, would they care? Or would they just get physical instead?

Was I putting Noelle in danger like this? Kris wouldn't...they wouldn't hurt her to get to me, would they? Maybe they would. They'd let Susie and Ralsei get hurt for the fake fight with the Knight. ...They promised Tenna his family back, as well as the love and attention he sought only to set him up to be murdered. They would do anything for whatever their plans were, and hurting people who cared about them was definitely on the docket.

I had to escape. Flee somewhere into the woods where they wouldn't find me. But how? Noelle would have to extract me from her chest for me to start freely floating again, and even if that happened there was no way I could remain hidden or outrun Kris. My panic became fear, fear became mind-blanking terror, and I -

"Quit shoving!" Susie yelled, jerking the two officers flanking her by a surprising amount. They were still agonizing in their heads about their disbelief in how strong she was, but at this point we were almost at our destination. I had to stay focused, even as me and Noelle's unity began to crumble.

All five of us walked into the station, only to see that Napstablook was already there. They spoke up, trying to ask the officers what was going on. This resulted in them being ignored, walked past - and even through - so that the two cops could haphazardly push Susie into the open cell that once contained the Wet-Nose Bandits.

They then took the key from Napstablook's desk, locked Susie inside the cell, and left the station just as quickly as they had arrived. "oh no....." Said Napstablook, hovering in the air towards the door. "they're supposed to leave the key with me, since they're from outta town.....i guess i'll have to go chase them down.....or.....something."

I almost made Noelle's mouth gape in disbelief. If Napstablook left, there wouldn't be anyone to potentially impede Kris other than me and Noelle. Regardless of her resolve, it was better we had witnesses and people who could potentially intervene should Kris try something.

"W-Wait, Officer Blook?" We said nervously, quickly moving over to the ghost to further encourage them to stay. "Shouldn't you stay here? T-To keep an eye on us until my mom comes back?"

"oh.....i would, but....." They whispered, looking between us and the door. "...your mom really got on my case when I lost the key last time...i'm sorry, noelle...be right back, hopefully..." And just like that, they were gone. Phased through the door.

I couldn't even be that mad at them, since I knew Noelle certainly didn't feel brave enough to ask for a new key to her own home when she lost hers. Susie let out a loud roar, and shook her bars. "Ugh. This sucks. This sucks!" She said, before shaking the bars even harder. "What're we gonna do now, Kris? ...Kris?"

We staggered back, gulping as Kris closed the distance towards us. One step. Two steps. Echoing loudly like they always had. They had glared at me the entire time since they spotted the discrepancy with the candy, and now their look was positively murderous.

"Kris, what're you doing, dude? It's just Noelle!" Susie's attempts to get through to them fell on deaf - no, uncaring ears as we stepped back a final time. Noelle's back pressed against the cool metal of the bars, allowing me to feel that her skin was hot with fear and adrenaline. She wasn't accustomed to this side of Kris. I was.

Susie was next to and looking down at us worriedly, confused about what in the world was happening. Just a few steel bars kept her from intervening any more, and I knew she wanted to. Every muscle in her body was tense and ready to spring into action, to protect Noelle, but rendered useless by the cell she was locked in.

"Kris?" I whispered, as gently as I could even as Noelle's body shook. "Please don't hurt her."

With that, Kris lunged forth and jammed their hand violently towards Noelle's chest.

Chapter Text

Susie's hand shot out from between the bars, catching Kris's wrist in mid-plunge. "What the actual shit, Kris?!" She yelled in their face. "Are you crazy?! You could've hurt Noelle!"

Kris struggled to get their arm out of her grip, only for Susie to casually force their arm to go back far enough that they actually had to bend their back alongside it to avoid serious pain. Given how she'd lifted Kris by the shoulder with one hand a few days ago, and given those cops a run for their money earlier, it was a relief to be reminded that Susie was so incredibly strong.

With Napstablook gone, us four were the only people left in the station for now, but maybe this would be enough to prevent the worst from happening.

Noelle also sighed in relief, trembling all over from the sheer shock of what had nearly happened. "T-Thanks, Susie, let me just get out of the -" With Susie having one of their hands occupied, none of us were fast enough - and in Susie's case, her other arm was blocked by Noelle's body leaned up against the bars in front of it - to prevent Kris's other arm from darting forth and successfully piercing into Noelle's chest.

----------

My vision went in and out, a consequence of the searing pain I'd just experienced. No, pain was too mild of a term. Agony. Pure, unbridled agony, that I couldn't even scream from. That was what I felt being torn away from Noelle.

It was so extreme that I didn't even notice the following shock of being shoved back inside Kris's chest, and along with my vision my other senses faded intermittently. There were fragments of screams, mostly Susie's from what I could gather. Feeling came back to me in bursts.

Hands, flexing. Feet, finding their balance. An arched back that I instinctively began to straighten. Lungs, that drew in breath in a strained, robotic, and very familiar way. I was still too out of it to properly react to what was happening, and instead just tried to breathe.

Kris fought me on that, too. Their rhythm was different than the one I wanted, ever so slightly, and they fought like hell to ensure it was the one they wanted. This reminder of my unfortunate return to the Cage was what began to pull me out of my daze. I was trapped. Again.

Their body trembled, as I tried to move. To clasp their hands to their head and scream. Nothing. There was a fleeting moment, a tiny one, where my worst instincts kicked in and I considered loading my last save. Could I justify it here? If I did, would I be able to discover another path?

Before I could decide whether to do so, to avoid consequences at tremendous cost, Noelle moved forward and jabbed her finger accusingly at them, all the while clutching her hand to her chest. "L-Let them go! Give them back, Kris!"

She was quickly pushed to the side from behind, giving the two some distance while Susie glared down at Kris. "Kris, what the actual shit?!" Roared Susie, who made sure they and Noelle were more than arm's length apart from one another. The former, held by their wrist, and the latter, by her shoulder. "What the hell did you do to Noelle?! You'd better start explaining right this second!"

They didn't respond, and I realized they were waiting for me to prompt them into action. Even if they could fight me hard and twist my commands, they still needed commands in order to act. Most of the time, anyway. So I went with my gut, and told Kris to say 'Noelle, Help.'

"Helped Noelle." Kris's mouth said, and my stomach twisted into knots. This was my worst fear, Kris corrupting and reinterpreting what I wanted them to say to cover up my existence, and to try to gaslight Susie and Noelle into believing I didn't exist. Or, that I was a malevolent force they were containing.

Susie's eyes narrowed, and she began looking Kris over. She still had one of their arms in her grasp from before, and I was faintly aware that her grip was tight enough to be painful for Kris. "Whaddya mean, 'help'? It looked like you ripped her heart out, Kris!"

My next command was hurried. 'Susie, that heart isn't Kris's, it's a separate being entirely! Listen to Noelle!' But what came out of Kris's mouth was "Susie, listen." They pointed at Noelle, who was panting, slumped against the bars, and looking pretty close to panicking herself. "That heart isn't Noelle's. It was separated from my being."

"That's a lie, and you know it!" Noelle screamed, yanking her shoulder away from Susie and reaching out to Kris. They stepped back and she staggered to the ground, gasping. "N-Not the it not being m-me part, that's true. The other one. They were never yours, and they're not a heart, they're a soul!"

Susie was taken back, muttering "Soul? How did...can you just remove a human soul? Wait, time out. Noelle, are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Said an exasperated Noelle, throwing her hands up sarcastically even as she staggered again from the effort. "But Kris is keeping somebody hostage! And I can prove it, because they exposed your lies! Cyber City was real, and you tried to tell me it was a dream!"

The first to be impacted by the reveal was Susie, who went wide-eyed and silent. Kris also tensed up, and I felt guilty delight bubble up within me at the loss of their composure. "I - that's...Noelle, we didn't -"

But Noelle wasn't done, and began to talk over Susie with a rising amount of anger in her voice. "What? Didn't mean to lie? To me and to Berdly? Or no, wait!" She turned to Kris, furious and finally able to stride up and meet them face to face. "I know what you were trying to do, Kris! Protect yourself and protect my mom so that you can abuse Chara! They told me everything."

Strictly speaking, that was not true. The information I'd given her was fragmented and in the form of two very embarrassing rambles. Actually, she knew rather little about everything going on. But I felt no desire nor need to correct her as the blood drained from Kris's face, signalling their total panic.

"...Who's Chara?" Susie asked, interrupting Noelle's rant enough to where she cleared her throat and tried to downplay just how furiously she'd been acting a moment ago.

"That soul Kris just took from me. M-My body. They were the 'mouse' we found, and what Kris was beating the everliving snot out of while we were in my sister's room! And that's just the start. I don't even know everything Kris put them through, but I know it was bad enough that Chara fled from them to come live in my hamster cage."

Every word, though embarrassing, was more and more damning to Kris, who tried to muster a defense. They played the pity card, and admitted that I - the words they used were 'my soul' to describe me - could possess and control other people, but primarily them. It had just been too embarrassing to talk about before, and they feared what I might do if they retaliated.

Hearing them talk without me telling them what to say was...difficult. it sounded supremely muffled, and what words I managed to make out were only through intense concentration. Strangely I didn't seem to have that trouble with Noelle, but it could've been for as simple of a reason as her not fighting me at every single step like they did.

"Well, then?" Noelle said impatiently. "Where's this retaliation of theirs? And if they wanted to possess you so bad, or hurt someone to get back at you, why are they both trying to get away, and haven't hurt me, Kris? They're not possessing me right now, so it's not even like they could be making me say this stuff. Let. Them. Go."

Seeing Noelle so aggressively go to bat for me was both jarring and awe-inspiring. I had been so, so wrong to doubt her. She deserved an apology after this, provided she could actually get Kris to do as she demanded they do.

They shook their head. I immediately moved one of their hands to try and remove myself, only to have their other hand foil the attempt. "Kris, that wasn't a request!" Noelle stomped over and tried to undo the restraint their free arm was performing. "You let them go this instant! O-Or I'll -"

"Okay, enough!" Everyone stopped to look back at Susie, who was looking exactly one hundred and ten percent done with this situation as she shoved the two of them apart again. "Noelle, I obviously don't know the ins and outs of humans, or their souls, but Kris has been stupidly nice these last few days. I know you said they're mumbly, and your dad called them 'weird', but I can't believe Kris could do something that messed up. I just can't!"

Noelle growled - yes, growled, before responding. Okay, had my confidence boost given her unintended side effects? "You don't know them like I do, Susie! Look, I can get you guys becoming close friends so fast. But I've practically lived with them. Every holiday, birthday, or any event more significant than finding a toy in a cereal box meant both our families met up. They would come over to play piano, only to kick me out of my own kitchen, or play games with me, only to delete or rename my save files with swear words! To lie to me, trick me, and scare me until I screamed! I-It grew on me eventually, after a long time, but they're not this goody-two shoes you think they are! Chara is!"

Nobody spoke in the aftermath of Noelle's screaming tirade, not even me. Awe was not sufficient enough a word to describe how I felt towards that Noelle. There was one word that could describe how I was feeling, though. Confusion, because I had no earthly idea what could have inspired such a spirited tirade from the girl that I'd known for less than an entire day. Were her and Kris really that distant?

She may have assigned me the label of being her friend, but at most I expected her to just not back down in demanding my release. Instead I got her ranting about Kris, to Susie, in a context meant to prove Susie was wrong in her assessment of them. Even my Cage seemed stunned into silence.

At least Noelle seemed to be acting more as I expected now, what with her turning bright red and looking as embarrassed as I think her face was physically capable of contorting into. "...Jesus, Noelle." Susie managed barely, sounding completely at a loss for what to say.

With both hands, and much more force than she needed to, Noelle waved as though to dispel the storm of embarrassment raging across her face. "A-Anyway. Can't we just get Kris to let them go to explain this? They can talk, I can show you!"

"...Kris, look at me." Susie demanded suddenly. She held up two fingers and pointed back and forth between their eyes and hers. "We're gonna go meet up with Ralsei, and take Noelle with us. Your soul was in the prophecy, right? So he probably knows everything there is to know about it. Maybe you weren't the best friend to Noelle, but none of that sounds like something as screwed up as kidnapping someone. Especially someone Ralsei would've named Castle Town after."

Technically, Castle Town was actually CharaTown, not that I ever really thought of it having that name myself. It started as Castle Town, and so it would remain. But it was another point towards me existing, so I wasn't about to be picky.

Susie then looked over at Noelle, guiltily. "I'm sorry we lied to you. A-And to Berdly. We just didn't want to freak you guys out, or get you hurt when we kept going into Dark Worlds. If that soul did talk to you, though, I'm sure it was just the fact it was Kris's, and obviously Kris knew about Cyber City and junk. But let's go to Ralsei and clear this up anyway, okay?"

Near the end of her request, her voice began to falter. At the start, she sounded angry and commanding. Now, she sounded frail. It would probably be easy to say no to Kris, given that Noelle and their relationship was...tenuous at best. Considering the rant, maybe I had assumed things were even that good between them.

But Susie? Noelle was very, very, very swayed by that relationship, of course. So with far too much time spent silent, she relented. "...Okay, Susie. I trust you." Susie visibly relaxed, sitting down on the bench of the cell and allowing her hair to fall around her eyes.

"Let's meet up with Ralsei." She eventually repeated to herself. "We've got so much we need to talk about, not to mention the Knight is still running around, and now this."

In my despair of being caged again, it took until now for me to realize that their plan involved one key problem. Namely, getting to Ralsei. Susie couldn't leave the cell, and even if we could break it open, we had both Napstablook and Carol having stated they would imminently return to the station.

I prompted Kris to speak. 'How are we going to meet with Ralsei if you're locked up?' "How? You're locked up." Susie grinned slightly and pointed to Kris.

"C'mon, you know what I'm gonna say. We can just make a Dark Fountain in here and have Ralsei come pick us up!"

...Good God in heaven, there was so much wrong with those twenty or so words. Like, almost a comedic level of insanity. I put my non-existent foot down at the prospect of making another Fountain to essentially walk past another door. I'd been against making the TV World Fountain, same for the second Sanctuary, and my rule from before remained intact. Nothing was worth risking the entire world.

"No!" I shouted, much to Susie's and my Cage's surprise. "You can't just make a Dark Fountain to get past another door! Did none of you hear Ralsei's explanation? If we're ever in a situation that requires one, it needs to be a life or death situation!"

Susie quickly countered with "Then how am I supposed to get out of here, Kris? We don't exactly have time to waste for Noelle's mom to let me out of here." She said sarcastically. "Plus, how hard can the Fountain be to seal? We'll just set it up, I'll walk over to it, and you can do your thing."

My save beckoned to me, temptingly. I tried to think of some way, any way to avoid having to stand by and let this happen. Susie was strong, but she couldn't bend metal, otherwise she'd already be free. Napstablook and Carol would be coming back to the station at an indeterminate point in the near future, and if we wasted time running around and sealing a Fountain, they might have the time necessary to discover our little escape attempt.

"I guess I could make the Fountain again?" Susie continued reluctantly, as though this plan were already agreed upon. "But if I wanna get out of here, the Fountain needs to be outside the cell. Not inside. So it's gotta be either Noelle or Kris. ...Noelle, then." When Kris tried to interject, she just quickly interrupted by saying "C'mon, she hasn't gotten a chance to do it yet. Plus...we owe her, Kris."

Kris, with much hesitation, handed over their knife from its sheath to Noelle, with none of the blushing they'd had when giving it to Susie. Noelle took the knife, spent a moment to establish a firm grip, and looked nervously at the floor. "Okay, um. Queen said to take a blade, and strike it into the earth with determination, right? (Wait a second. That's Chara's power! Huh, gotta ask them about that later.)"

"Yeah, just like Queen said." Susie confirmed. "Make sure you actually stab it into the floor though, I don't want you to like fall over while holding a knife. Sounds like a bad time."

"Y-Yeah, y-you'd probably make fun of me for it...or something like that..." Noelle whispered. "R-Right. Anyway..." She inhaled, then exhaled. "I can do this."

Finally, I let the issue go, and decided to go along with this. Opening Fountains in a mostly controlled way like this had worked before, and if I was quick, we wouldn't have any issues. Besides, my only other option at this point would be to load my save file, and I'd managed to calm myself down from that level of desperation. The cost just wouldn't be worth it, at least not yet.

'You can do this.' I encouraged. "You can do this." Kris repeated, surprisingly. With a nod and a final inhalation, Noelle brought the knife up and plunged it into the ground. I wished I could cover my ears from the resulting screech as darkness shot out from the punctured earth, but at least it was brief. Like smoke filling the room, the darkness went from blindingly bright to pitch black, and we were all consumed by it.

Once more, into the breach.

Chapter Text

When we were finally able to see again, a few things stood out to me. Firstly, that Noelle's Dark World attire had changed slightly. Before it was a simple white robe, almost similar to her church choir uniform sans the purple and the Deltarune symbol.

But now, it had luminous, light blue lines that ran from her back, down her arms, and terminated at the end of her sleeves. They combined and branched away from one another in an organic fashion, and I found myself drawing a comparison to the branches of a tree or perhaps blood vessels.

This was secondary to the bigger and much more pressing concern: Susie was nowhere to be found. I swiveled Kris around, and as Noelle noticed her absence she similarly began to search in all directions for our missing party member.

The police station had been transformed into what looked like a gargantuan, city sized music festival. Multiple stages both nearby and far in the distance belted out music of all genres, performed and attended by Darkners that seemed to resemble a mix of office supplies and police equipment. Further away, off in the distance, there was some kind of tower topped with a sphere, with spotlights pointing up to it.

"What the - where's Susie?!" Noelle cried, bringing her hands together in front of her.

'Dark Worlds are....inconsistent. They change depending on who made them, where the Fountain was created, and even the mental state of the creator. Susie's around here somewhere, we just have to find her.' Kris, after considering my prompt, said this:

"Susie's somewhere."

Fresh among my many, many issues with my Cage, there was this new, seeming inability to speak with anything more than the bare minimum word count. Well, when they weren't being manipulative, of course. In a moment of childish retribution, I made them run around the outside of the Fountain several times.

Noelle watched us with fascination for a while, before her eyes widened. "O-Oh, right. You know, thinking back, I remember Kris moving around in weird ways like that back in Cyber City."

She then closed her eyes, composed herself, and gave her best glare to Kris. Which, despite her startling show of confidence back in the police station, wasn't saying that much.

"Look, Kris. We both know you're keeping Chara hostage. Until we can find Ralsei and Susie, you have to let me speak to them. And especially after what you did back there..." Her hand grabbed the fabric of her robe that covered her chest, then trembled slightly. "I'm not really in the mood for more tricks. Now, they're in control of what you say, right?"

'Yes.' Snarling, Kris then nodded to fulfill my prompt. Noelle brightened up, rubbing her chin with her fingers.

"Okay, if there's not total control one way or the other, since they told me they only had limited control over you, then I should probably try not to ask complex things. We should limit ourselves to yes and no...huh." She smiled, turned, and looked out over the multiple concert stages.

"I-It's just like when you first introduced yourself to me. Weird to think that was just yesterday, you know? When you told me everything about you, about Kris, a part of me thought I was dreaming again. I think that's why I accepted it all so easily, at least in part."

Noelle stayed silent for a moment, let her head hang, and put her hands over her eyes. "Angel above, Kris...why'd you do that? Up until you literally ripped them away from me, I still thought we could reconnect. Like, there had to be context I was missing for you and Chara's relationship. But apparently not, and even I'm not safe from you...guess I never was."

I could feel Kris falter as Noelle continued. "I don't know why you're treating them like this, but when I get them away from you...that's it. We'll both stay far, far away from you. That's what you want, right? Not like you've made any effort to hang out with me for the last few years..."

Despite everything, everything they'd done to me, Noelle, and likely others...I couldn't help but feel a bit bad for Kris. Not bad enough to help them patch things up with her, that was Kris's impossible mission as far as I was concerned. But it still didn't feel great to me that to Noelle, some random person she'd met a day ago was a superior friend than the one she'd spent her entire childhood around.

Third wheeling was a concept I was familiar with at this point, and I didn't like it happening to anyone. Kris, however, had dug their proverbial grave on this. No matter how bad I might feel, they were the one who pushed Noelle away. She didn't reject them first, and I didn't sabotage them. So as much as I felt bad for them, I also wanted out and to get back with Noelle already.

As if sensing my feelings on the matter, as well as my desire to return to Noelle, Kris smirked just enough so that I could feel it. Fine, if we were dispensing with even the slightest pretense of being on the same side, might as well get to work fast. I nodded and gestured for Noelle to follow us, making my way to one of the stages.

Darkners were crowded around a stage, on which stood another Darkner reminiscent of a member of Sweet Cap'n Cakes. They had a head shaped like a jukebox, wore a police uniform that seemed to have been torn and ripped in places to give it a more punk look, and from what little of their inner body was exposed, they seemed to have limbs made of wire.

Before we approached, they were performing a song to the adulation of their screaming audience. As we approached, however, the fans grew quiet and so did they, until they stopped the music playing out of their head by pressing one of their buttons, in a gesture that felt similar to pushing up one's glasses.

"...Well wouldja look at that?" They marveled, smirking. "A couple 'o Lightners decided to grace my humble stage! Name's Break, ain't no fake, what can I do that you ache - for!"

Exploring Dark Worlds and interacting with the Darkners within normally brought me much joy. They were charming, fun, and I enjoyed helping them with their struggles. But, we were on the clock. Every second mattered since time didn't seem to run consistently in Dark Worlds, with all the ones barring TV World we'd done thus far having taken multiple hours out of the day. If not the entire day.

So we needed to move fast, but I still felt I had to remain patient with these Darkners. They had no fault in our rush to find Susie, after all. 'Hi, Break.' I prompted. 'We're looking for our friend Susie, another Lightner, as well as a Darkner named Ralsei. Can you help us?'

...

...

...

Nothing. Kris said nothing. Before I could try and prompt them again, however, they did finally say "Hi, break us."

"Um...what???" Noelle said with confusion, rocking us back and forth with Kris's shoulder. "Chara, did you do that?"

"Break ya?" The jukebox singer chuckled in amusement. "If it's a fight ya want with the great Break, then it's a fight you're gonna take!"

Noelle cried out "W-Wait, we don't actually want to -!" All too late, as the battle interface came up. Okay, what in the world was going on with Kris? I got they hated me, but this was beyond petty. Were we just permanently at odds now, with them focusing on just stonewalling me at every opportunity?

At least there wasn't much that could go wrong now, as far as I knew Kris had never been able to interfere with my battle commands. 'Noelle, defend.' I prompted. As expected, Kris followed through and Noelle complied. Albeit, hesitantly on her part.

ACTing was up next, and for Kris that meant telling Break to turn the music back on. "Oh, you want the tunes to play that Break makes as I breaks ya?" Quipped the singer, before happily complying. The music was back on, and the gauge indicating when I could spare them began to fill.

Then it was Break's turn. Projectiles in the form of music notes began to stream towards me as the singer rocked their head back and forth to the beat playing out of their speakers. Nothing new or particularly difficult, and I found myself almost absentmindedly dodging and weaving.

Our turn, and I decided that I wanted to speed this along. Kris was directed to dance, as was Noelle, and that mercy gauge began to fill more and more. I wasn't really paying attention, so much as I was trying to blitz through Break's fight in order to go find Susie, a mistake whose consequences would soon punish me severely.

Instead of the music notes this time, Break grabbed both sides of their head and began to wildly shake it around. Their attack morphed into a confusing maze of sonic waves that I had to navigate, vaguely reminding me of the complex patterns of the attacks of the water coolers.

One hit. Two. Three. I was taking a beatdown, and Kris as well as Noelle were the ones who suffered for it as their HP bars began to deplete. Startled and caught tremendously off guard, I quickly had Kris use a healing item before making Noelle dance once again.

"Beats, drives, and heart-pounding vibes!" Cried Break, who let loose with the same sonic wave attack. While I dodged better than I had previously, only getting struck twice, both were targeted at an already injured Kris. They went down, and I swore to myself at the lapse in my dodging.

"Chara? What's happening?" Asked Noelle. "H-How are they hitting us?" Oh, right. From the perspective of anyone else, I would have previously been flying through every encounter with complete ease. Nobody but me experienced all the failures, the retries, and the mulligans that came with my particular style of battling enemies.

But now, I didn't have that luxury. Loading a save infinitely until I memorized everything an opponent could possibly ever do was no longer an option. So each fight was a perilous dance, fraught with mistakes and adjustments.

'My power isn't quite what it used to be.' I grunted out painfully, to which Kris rattled off what I said, but with increasing confusion after every word. Oh, so now they wanted to cooperate?

"Used to be?" Echoed Noelle. "Wait, does this have to do with the -" I quickly forwarded commands for them both to use items, and a quick glance at our inventory reminded me we hadn't had the chance to go to a shop since before the Titan. Only three items remained.

Next came the attack with the music notes once again. Bob, dodge, weave, et cetera. One more round of dancing to the music later, and Break was recruited.

"Phew! Okay, you two really showed that I owed a humbling to my load - of fans!" Said Break, who bowed to their cheering crowd. "But I gotta ask, was thrashing me your only task?"

Before I could prompt Kris to say something, Noelle pushed them to the side and spoke up herself. "Um, we didn't want to fight you at all. We're actually looking for two of our friends, one's a Lightner like us? S-She's tall, and strong, and -" She shook her head, and I was tempted to have Kris help jostle what were likely unspeakable thoughts put of her mind.

"A-And her name is S-Susie. Oh, and a Darkner, wearing a mint green dress named Ralsei?" Break took a moment to consider the question, then pushed past us to grab their microphone.

"C'mon, help out your star Break!" They yelled, their voice amplified by their speakers. "Help these Lightners find the line leading to their sublime - friends!"

The assembled crowd of Darkners hummed and hawed, but I could tell they weren't genuinely having difficulty figuring out the problem. In unison, they began to point upwards, and we followed their various appendages towards that tower we'd seen earlier. "The Cell!" The Darkners cried out, and Break moved their fingers like doing a riff on an air guitar.

"That's where they gotta be!" They reassured. "The Cell is where everyone in the age is gonna leave their mark on the pages of history! All our wishes, all our hopes and dreams, they'll all come true when we bust open the seams!"

'Noelle, get them to clarify.' I prompted, and Kris went along without resistance.

Noelle nodded. "R-Right. W-What is that thing in like actual terms?"

"Up in the Cell, where nobody can see," Sung Break. "There's that evil Conductor keeping us all from being free! She's looking down at us, taking what we can't afford, and between us all she drives fjords! But if one of us can find the Key, up into the Cell we'll be able to see, and then set us all free!"

"Wait, but how do you know our friends are up there?" Asked Noelle, trying not to sound irritated.

Break put a hand on her shoulder and pointed at the Cell again. "The Conductor takes and shakes down what she can't fakes! That means Lightners, and Susies, and Ralseis too! You're lucky you haven't already been attacked by her Batons, they hate the vibes of people running around free. If it makes someone happy, or they need it to sing their truth, you can be sure she's taken it away. Up in the Cell, she looks down at us all, and we're out here rooting for her fall!"

More cheering erupted from the Darkners, and Break went over to them in order to resume singing. Noelle came back over to us, looking mildly frustrated. "Well, I wish we had more to go on." She grumbled. "But at least that place is somewhere to look for Susie and Ralsei, and they might be somewhere on the way, at least."

She looked back, towards the Dark Fountain. "Hm. If that thing is what gives this world form, isn't it kinda weird that it's just...on the outskirts? The one in Cyber City was in the heart of Queen's mansion, wasn't it?"

'Beats me. But something tells me we'll find our answer once we get closer to that Cell thing. Plus, judging by the name, it's more likely Susie is there since she was in the Light World cell.' "Susie is there." Kris said, pointing to the tower.

God, I hated being back with them. I missed Noelle so incredibly much, even if we'd only been together for a day. Especially now that Kris was in the habit of undermining literally everything I tried to say and do.

"...Right." Said Noelle, noncommittally as she began to walk to the tower. "But hey, while we go to check that place out, um, Chara? What did you mean back there about your power? A-Are you like, not as determined as you usually are?"

I realized suddenly that she had somehow heard me during the fight. How? With questions mounting, and not wanting to waste any chance to talk with Noelle, I directed Kris to follow her before responding. 'No, that's not it, but it's not a big deal regardless. We got through that fight just fine." They repeated what I said, but again, with audible confusion and...was that muffled concern I heard?

"...I know you're deflecting, Chara." Noelle replied, making me freeze Kris's body up. "Y-You did it before, right before we left for the festival, by teasing me about Susie. Remember? And I know things obviously aren't ideal, what with Kris holding you hostage, but I want you to tell me things. If for no other reason than it's apparently important enough for it to make battles way harder."

Where the hell did Noelle go? Who replaced her with this version that just called out other people's behavior directly? Regardless, I still didn't want to tell her.

'Really, it's not important. I can still get us through battles just fine, even if I'm not fine. Ask Kris, they can tell you I did great against the last handful of guys we've fought.' "...They did not get through just fine against the last handful of guys." Kris admitted, like the traitor they were.

Unprompted, they told Noelle about how I'd almost cowered in the face of the Titan, after a rushed explanation of what that was and that we'd been in the church yesterday going after the Knight. I didn't much care to remember that...thing.

The Darkspawn as a concept unnerved me. Their music was the only I'd heard thus far that wasn't so much enjoyable as it was intense and thrilling. Not to mention how Ralsei had spoken about them. 'The Titan...it's the fear-of-dark. The bump in the night." He'd said. Creatures incapable of understanding mercy, and requiring me to obliterate them with my light.

To date, they were the only creature I'd been forced to destroy like that. And it felt awful extinguishing any life, no matter how justified or necessary. I'd taken it hard when forced to illuminate the poor things, even if it was impossible to progress otherwise. And as for fighting the Titan itself...Kris wasn't even wrong.

When we confronted the Knight the second time in Sanctuary, I wasn't exactly confident about beating them, but at least I still had my motivation from before. Kill the Knight, avenge Tenna.

Only for them to casually summon that nightmare. One that had forced me to plead to Kris to get the Fun Gang out of there, much to their confusion at the time, before Gerson thankfully bailed us out. "...Okay, Chara, if Kris is the one telling the truth, you've gotta admit there's something wrong."

Noelle had me backed against the wall. Her and Kris both. Before I could crack and let everything spill, I heard something approaching. Soft footsteps, making softer sounds as they compressed the ground underneath them, from behind us.

I turned Kris around, to which Noelle copied the motion, and we both saw a smiling, feminine goat walking up to us. "O-Oh! Hi, Noelle?" Said Ralsei in confusion. "I didn't know you would be joining us again today. Wait. Where's Susie?"