Chapter Text
*(“Hey Kris! I found a new spot for us to play!”)
Lost where the forest would grow,
THEY'LL SEE THE TAIL OF HELL TAKE CRAWL.
*(“Whoa, what’s that? It’s… wriggling.”)
the children followed the pointed tail.
THEY'LL HEAR THE RING OF HEAVEN'S CALL
*(“K-Kris? Put the knife away. I know you're scared, but… Kris? Kris! Why am I… moving?”)
The poor children.
Kris woke abruptly, wishing they'd never fallen asleep in the first place. And that they’d never woken up, or been rescued by their family, or even been born.
Those damn trees. Kris knew they were sparing their mind from memories that would cause them to unravel, but they still couldn't shake the curiosity they felt. What was behind them, exactly, that was so bad they couldn't cope with seeing it?
Well, now they knew, kinda. In a sense, they felt like they deserved this. Especially now that Noelle…
*(“Why can't I… move? Why can't I… look… away?”)
Those had been their questions, all those years ago. Questions choked back into their throat by their newly-grasped chains.
Now the question on Kris’ mind was how they were supposed to face anybody tomorrow. Susie wouldn't get it. Noelle welcomed this. Dad…could he help in the slightest? They didn't even want to see Toriel in the morning, let alone that skeleton. They didn't mind him most days but now was not the time for his shit. Especially not after that display last night.
Any hope Kris had felt as part of their Dark World adventures was well and truly extinguished. Their Determination was no longer their own. The old man was right, they were just going through the motions at this point. Against their will, yes, but it was still them, despite their best efforts.
Yet despite themself, Kris wished they could've at least heard Noelle's excitement. Seen the look on her face. Maybe that would've at least been some kind of reward. It would've let them feel the love that demon used to bring them to this point.
Or perhaps, the “Angel” would've stolen that from them too.
Kris had half a mind to go back downstairs, soul in their pocket, and simply put the damn thing in the microwave. They pondered briefly if there even were any polar molecules for the microwaves to touch. They scoffed at the thought. Berdly would be able to tell them. Probably. Or maybe he’d just make overtures at the soul as “part of one’s body and how important it was to-” blah blah blah…
Maybe if he’d been the one they’d been attached to, only some of this would've happened. He certainly wouldn't be in critical condition right now, but who knows, maybe the “Angel” would've found another way to ruin everything anyway.
Kris swore at themself as the intrusive thought of going and “opening a fountain” on Berdly’s chest so that maybe Noelle could still be okay. That was never going to work, she already had the piece of their soul that was going to take her over. If they were lucky, at best, Noelle would jump off the Ferris wheel at the Festival tomorrow, thinking she would grow angel wings, and take both of them out from the impact damage.
At worst, she might actually grow the damn things. Or turn into a bird. Or hit the ground as a puddle of darkness and slither away into the sewers. Maybe there her form would be diluted enough for that wretched thing to be extinguished for good.
Kris heard another rimshot from downstairs. They wanted to scream more than they wanted to continue breathing. Nobody knew a fucking thing, not even Dad, or Carol, or even Noelle herself. Not about this. Well, maybe that doctor knew, but they hadn't seen him in ages.
Probably just as well, as they looked back at every creation of theirs that bore his visage, formed from a compulsion buried so deep they'd simply accepted it as a fact of life. All lonely, forgotten things. Just as Kris themself was supposed to become once all was said and done. Just another way in which they were being used.
Kris remembered the Shadow Crystal in their pocket. They wished they hadn't, but they couldn't resist knowing what it would show them. They held the glass to their eye, and for just a moment, they saw what they’d seen on that first day. They saw through their hand. A firm blink and a shake later, and they almost dropped the crystal as Noelle appeared in their vision.
She was the last thing they wanted to see. She was too close. She was wearing her angel wings. They were on the Ferris wheel, but she’d… convinced them to sit side-by-side.
Was she kissing them? They couldn't tell, but just the possibility made bile rise in their stomach. They caught a glimpse of Susie out of the corner of their eye, eyes wide in disbelief. They were on the ragged edge of throwing up, but they couldn't take their eye off the scene.
Luckily, they didn't have to do either. The scene faded as fast as it had come into view, same as the others. Same as their warning that this was going to happen. What were these things even good for, if they were going to be forced to barrel directly into their omens anyway?
It was all Kris could do not to retrieve the Black Shard from their pocket and throw it directly through the gaps in that damn birdcage. Or destroy the Shadow Crystal they held. Or anything else, for that matter. They didn't need more attention at this hour.
At least, that's what they’d thought until they heard a knock at the front door, and the impossibly deep voice of their father. Because that's what they needed right now. They needed to watch the cold war between the Dreemurrs go hot again.
Kris supposed that was actually preferable to stewing in silence, but there was no way they were bringing the “Angel” down there simply to voyeurize a lost marriage. And as far as they were concerned, they were in much the same position. What could they possibly learn from going down there, really?
Their choice left them in the same agonizing spot, as voices raised downstairs. A pillow was terrible for noise cancelling, but it was all they had. Besides, it would do nothing for the noise inside their own head.
The ringing was back. Tinnitus, not their phone. The rest of their earlier nightmare followed as their eyes were forced shut.
The memory of their prior dismemberment flooded their vision. That hand. That can't be how things got so far out of control, could it? As if to mock them, their right hand raised and made a peace sign involuntarily outside of their dream. They swore they could hear that thing’s laughter. They saw it vanish into the darkness. Their hand.
Kris had hoped that they could stop themself from hurting anybody else. That they could get help. They needed a friend. That's not what they got when they cleaved through the joint connecting their hand to their forearm.
It was the Dark World, right? Their hand would simply go numb in the Light World and that would be that. No matter how much it hurt now, it would all be worth it if they could just…
Their thought was cut short as a 5-limbed demon lunged from the dark, a grin permanently affixed to its face. Kris fought to open their eyes and wake from this nightmare again, but that demon saw fit to traumatize the child once more, as it had already done. It knocked the horned headband off their head with little more than a flick, and then turned around and wrapped itself around what was soon to be the corpse of December.
It fed off the darkness spilling from her chest, and in the process shed a cocoon around her. Kris saw this as their opportunity to run, but a cut to black stopped them in their tracks. They were being lifted. Brought over to an operating table as they watched Dess become… indistinct, for lack of a better term, from the rest of the darkness.
The man talked down to Kris. “Well, what do we have here, hm? My child, you didn't seriously think you were above consequences, did you?” As he set them down on the table, he whispered an incantation and Kris' wrist simply closed up.
Kris’ eyes grew wide, staring at the closing wound as they realized the man had no intention of grafting their hand back onto them. “Well, it was a valiant attempt, I must say. You have my respect. None of the control vessels managed to accomplish a feat of bravery even half as impressive.”
Kris looked over and saw the man drawing up medicine into a needle. As if this day could get worse. The man continued, “Well, what I want you to do is to hold your breath, and count backwards from 100. Do not close your eyes, simply look away if you are frightened. Do you think you can do that for me?”
Kris saw no choice, and stared at the man’s computer monitor. He took that as confirmation, and made his way over to Kris' left arm, standing behind them as he administered the shot. Kris was almost too confused by what they saw to even notice. It was all just little pictures. All of the text, anyway. The man spoke normally, how could this b-
Kris’ eyes shot open as their curtains were drawn the next morning. The man they saw standing there wasn't who they expected.
“It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. On days like these, kids like you…”
It was their father.
“Should go meet up with their friends!”
It was so cold.
“Hm? Are you okay, Kris?”
It snowed.