Chapter Text
Kris could see them floating up ahead, staring into the Shelter, the shadows of which seemed to eat away at the light. It turned to look at them, its visor giving away no tell of its emotions. Kris wanted to reach out and call their name, but they couldn't move. Before them a black box with two options appeared, but they couldn't tell what either one said. Soon, an option was selected. They did nothing but watch. The shadows began to eat away at the figure before swallowing it whole. Kris didn't have time to process it before the shadows started calling their name.
“Kris?” She whispered. “Kris.” He said. “Kris!” It screamed.
“Kris!”
“Kris!” Wait, that one sounded different.
“Kris, if you do not wake up, we will be late for school!” oh, that's why it sounds different, Kris thinks as they hear Toriel open the curtains “I will wait outside for you, alright?”
Kris got up from the bed, walking towards their dresser to put on a fresh set of the same exact clothes. They're grateful that that was all just a bad dream, though admittedly one they've been having for a while now. How can they not, knowing that their autonomy was going to leave them when they woke up today.
… wait a minute.
Kris immediately stopped what they were doing, and very slowly started moving each of their limbs to confirm that, in fact, they could move them. Much to their relief, and horror, they could. Well, as much of a relief as it is to be able to move their body like normal, this is also absolutely NOT what should be happening. They should be controlled by the SOUL. they're pretty sure it's the only reason Carol needed them for the plan, so the fact that something went wrong is…
Kris thought about what they should do, do they call Carol and tell her that something messed up? No, they couldn't do that, they don't have time. Plus if they don't go to school then everything's going to get even more messed up. Well, how about-
“Kris! Hurry up, we are going to be late!”
Okay, so it looks like Kris will have to think of a plan on the fly. Quickly getting ready, they headed off to school.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kris arrives in class, and immediately gets greeted by Alphys, who they ignore. After all, no point in choosing a partner since Susie isn't even here yet.
Kris thinks through many different plans, each varying levels of awful, before landing on one that they think is quite… well good enough.
The plan is simple. Kris just ACTS like they're possessed by an otherworldly entity of mysterious origin, so that way everything proceeds as normal. But first, they gotta figure out how the SOUL would act. So, what do they know about the SOUL? Well, they know it's something with a higher state of being, hopefully benevolent, and should view their world as a game. Ha, that's easy, Kris has just gotta act like they're being controlled by a gamer going for a good ending, how hard can that be.
Before they can recognize just how awful being controlled by a gamer sounds, a noise other than Alphys’ mumbled half sentences rings through the class.
“… am I late?” Oh, Susie's here.
“Ohh, n-no! You're fine! W-we were just, uh… ch-choosing partners for the next group project, and… ummm, Susie, you're with Kris!” Alphys eventually says.
“... great.”
“… N-now that everyone's here, I'll write the assignment! Uh… h-has anyone seen the chalk? This is the third time it's gone missing and… y-you all know I can't start class without some!” Alphys asks “H-how about this? If no one speaks up… e-everyone gets in trouble!... A-anyone? P-please?”
“Hey, there might be a box in the supply closet… Miss Alphys, why don't Susie and I…” Noelle answers.
“G-good idea, Noelle! Susie, s-since you came in last… why don't you go get it for me… ?”
“... whatever” Susie says before slamming the door.
“And K… Kris… Can you go with her and make sure she… um, actually gets it? And, um, stays out of trouble… ? Thanks Kris! See you later!” Alphys says, despite Kris having not done anything to suggest that they agreed.
Kris does as she asks, and exits the classroom. They spot Susie in the hallway eating chalk, and she in turn spots them.
“...Kris… didn't see you there… hey. You didn't see anything just now, did you? Hmmm… you can't even say? Kris…” Susie says, before walking towards Kris, nearly forcing their back against the lockers. “Hey. Let me tell you a secret.” Kris feels their feet leave the ground as Susie slams them onto a locker. “Quiet people piss me off. You think just ‘cause you don't say anything… I can't tell EXACTLY what you're thinking? “It's OVER! I caught Susie eating ALL the chalk! This was her LAST chance! Now she'll FINALLY be expelled!” Haha… Come on, Kris. Don't act shocked. You know it's true. Everyone's waiting for it. Everyone wants it. So congrats Kris. You got me. I'm done for… Just, lemme say one little thing. Seems like a waste to get expelled for just having a snack. So, Kris, if I KNOW you're gonna pull the trigger… heh heh heh… Why don't I just get expelled for some REAL carnage?”
“Kris… How do you feel… about losing your face?” Susie finishes, raring her teeth and pulling Kris towards her, before dropping them on the ground.
“Nah. Kris. You've got a good mother… it'd be a shame to make her bury her child. Alright. Let's get this over with. We'll get more chalk. Mosey on back to class. And then, Kris… YOU'LL do our project. How's that sound?” Susie asks, and before Kris can think about what to say… “Don't bother answering. If you haven't gotten it by now… Your choices don't matter. Let's go, Freak.”
Susie then walks ahead, to which Kris follows along wordlessly all the way to the closet.
“Well, here's the closet. Too bad… We were just starting to have fun.” Susie says as she opens the closet doors, only to find darkness pouring out of it, overtaking and smothering the light “Hey Kris, is it me or… Is it REALLY dark in there? What's the holdup, Kris? Are you gonna go in or what? Fine! If you're gonna be a WIMP, then I'll… We'll both go in at the same time!!” She says, clearly terrified.
Kris and Susie both enter the closet, with it being drowned in absolute darkness. Right before Susie can start to speak, the doors slam shut right behind them as the ground starts to collapse. Kris swore this felt faster than it should've been.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kris awoke in their dark world attire, on cliffs that they didn't recognize. But they knew they were in a dark world. With nothing else to do, they walked forward, sure they'd find Susie again soon enough.
Before that though, Kris encountered a SAVE. Kris reached out to it, healing themselves of wounds they didn't have, and attempting to make a SAVE. But to their surprise, it didn't work. They tried and tried but their old save didn't change. Kris knew something was wrong, but this…
Kris could save before today, it wasn't linked to the SOUL, so why couldn't they save now. No, no Kris couldn't afford to get distracted, they had to catch up to Susie. They'd just have to figure this all out later.
And so Kris marched forth, through simple puzzles and easy bullet patterns, before coming across a plateau filled with those dust things they don't actually know the name of. When going through them, Kris noticed that the last one seemed to have a conveniently Susie shaped hole in it. Seems like she was here… maybe if they didn't take as long thinking about the SAVE they would've caught up to her around here.
Kris continues, before they see Susie running up ahead being barraged by spade shaped bullets. These bullets also barrage Kris as they run towards Susie, but it's pretty simple to dodge. Eventually, after a run and a slide, Kris finds themselves finally catching up to Susie, who's standing in front of some abandoned town.
“Oh, finally caught up huh… honestly thought you were dead. Got any idea what this heck this place is?” Kris doesn't answer ”... me neither. Wonder if there's anyone in that building up there” Susie says, pointing towards an entire castle.
Walking towards the castle, Kris finds another SAVE spot that can't save, and wonders if they should give them a different name. Before that though, they should probably see what's in the castle.
“A castle…? Why the hell is there a castle inside a supply closet…?” Susie asks.
“Welcome, heroes…!” A mysterious yet incredibly soft voice says.
“Who's there!?”
“Do not be alarmed… I am not your enemy. Please come forward, both of you… welcome, I am the Prince of this Kingdom… the KINGDOM OF DARKNESS. Kris, Susie… There is a LEGEND in this land. A LEGEND that one day, two HEROES of LIGHT will arrive, and fulfill the ancient prophecy, foretold by time and space. Please, Heroes… Listen to my tale…” The mysterious stranger says.
Kris may already know most of it, but considering Susie probably doesn't…
“Okay…” Kris responds, deadpan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Somehow, with reason unknown both to it and this world, another Hero was waking up… at least it thinks it was a hero. It doesn't remember much of anything really, other than its purpose, to be a vessel for the SOUL… so where is it? Shouldn't it be with the SOUL… where even is the SOUL?
Looking around, it sees that it's in a cave, with an opening that looks like it was made shockingly recently. And looking down at itself, it sees an incredibly plain set of plate armor, with the only accessories being a long grey cape, and something that vaguely resembles a skirt… that is also grey. By the Angel, this armor is so… boring.
Ah well, with nowhere else to go, it exits the cave. As it exits, it sees nothing except dreary cliffs and dust piles… and, in the distance, a castle with a giant geyser spewing from its center.
With no other options, it marches forth, hoping that whatever lives there may grant it the answers it seeks… or at least be fun to talk to.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Wait! Wait a second!” Says Lancer, unaware that his introduction got skipped. “My bike's running out of fuel…! Alright, you punk-a-roos! You had the luck of the draw this time. Next time, the losers will be YOU!!! Hahaha!!! Bye, losers!! I gotta get home before dinner!!!” Lancer then flees the fight.
“Are you two OK…?” The mysterious figure asks. “Um, allow me to introduce myself more properly, I am…”
“Jeez, can you take off that hood?” Susie asks. “I can barely hear you under there.”
“U-ummm, alright…” the figure says before taking off his cloak, revealing…
…Cute.
“Hello everyone. I'm Ralsei.” The fluffy boy reveals “Kris, Susie… It's ever so wonderful to meet you! I'm certain we're going to become great friends, and,”
“Best way to leave is East, right?”
“Yes! That's where we'll…”
“Got it. See you at school, Kris.” Susie says, before leaving the as of yet formed party.
“Umm… I suppose it's just the two of us, then… Kris, I'm a PRINCE, but… I, um, currently don't have any subjects. I've been waiting here… um… My whole life for you two to arrive. So, I'm really happy to meet you. I hope we can be good friends, Kris. Let's try to find Susie, she must be to the southeast. You can lead the way, Kris.” Ralsei finishes.
Kris starts walking towards the southeast as Ralsei suggested, their mind dealing with one immutable yet dangerous fact. Ralsei… is incredibly cute, and very fluffy. Now, this would normally not be something to fear, but they need to act like they're being controlled by someone playing a video game. These two things combined mean one thing…
Kris has to do everything in their power to make Ralsei happy.
Kris continues on, until they find a room with a Ralsei shaped dummy in it, and Kris can immediately tell this is gonna be a tutorial, which the SOUL would absolutely go through. Preparing for a lecture, they march towards the fluffy dummy.
“Oh, Kris! It's the training dummy I made! Now seems like a great chance to prepare for the enemy. Would you like me to teach you how to fight?” Ralsei asks.
“...yes.” Kris mumbles in response.
“OK! Get ready, Kris!”
And so, Kris draws their sword as the faux battle commences.
“See that HEART, Kris?”
Yeah, Kris sees it, though like everything else today, it seems… wrong. They noticed it in the fight with Lancer, but they didn't exactly have time to take it in. It's the right shape and size, but it's almost pitch black, with a bright red outline being the only thing keeping it from blending into the background.
“That's you SOUL, the very culmination of your being! Within, it holds your WILL… your COMPASSION… and the fate of the world. If you get hit, you and your friends will lose HP. If everyone's HP reaches 0, we'll lose the battle, So please take care to avoid the enemies attack. Ready? Let's try dodging!”
The dummy sends out another simple bullet pattern, with Kris barely even having to mo-
CRASH!!
A loud, metallic crash rings out behind them, and Ralsei immediately cuts the faux battle. Kris turns, and not too far away, at the base of the cliff Kris slid down a few minutes ago, a figure lies, collapsed on the ground. Kris approaches to get a better look.
“K-Kris, wait!” Ralsei gets out , clearly caught off guard.
Kris does not wait, and as they approach they can make it out better. It appears to be a human, a little bit bigger than Kris, wearing full plate armor, colored entirely grey. The only thing they can't see is its face, as it is currently meeting the floor.
“Ow… what use is all this armor if it doesn't actually cushion anything?” The figure asks, presumably to itself “If anything, it just made the fall worse.”
“Hello?” Ralsei asks it, having finally caught up “Are you OK, that sounded like it must have hurt?”
“...No.” It answers in a defeated tone.
Ralsei walks up to the figure, and with a flourish, he casts some kind of spell, causing the figure to sparkle with green light. Kris wonders if that was going to be in the tutorial.
With that, the figure stands up, and they can finally get a good look at its face. It's the same grey as the rest of its body, but more importantly it seems to… well, not really have a face. No eyes, no mouth, it's just… empty. Like it's a blank slate waiting to be completed.
“That feels better, wasn't big on the idea of just walking that off, so thanks… uhh, what's your name?” It asks.
“Oh, I'm Ralsei, and this is Kris,” Ralsei says, motioning to them. “And you are?”
“... Vess, my name is Vess.” It says, though it seems uncertain.
“Well Vess, it's nice to meet you, though… um… how did you get here, exactly?” Ralsei asks.
“Honestly, I don't know, I just sorta woke up in a cave. Got out, saw a Castle, and figured that's probably my best bet to find someone.” Vess explains.
“So you don't remember coming here… well, maybe if you return to the Light World it'll help you remember! Though… I guess if you stayed here…” Ralsei says, thinking “Kris, do you think Vess should accompany us?” Ralsei asks.
Kris thinks for a second. They vaguely remember Carol talking about having to intercept a vessel in order for them to get the SOUL, and Vess seems to be what she was talking about. Grey, featureless, hell it's literally named Vess. It definitely wasn't supposed to be here, though at this point something going horribly wrong isn't really surprising.
But, as much as Kris wants to say no, they know that the SOUL would probably agree. So, begrudgingly…
“...It should.” Kris replies.
“OK, cue the fanfare!”
[Vess joined the party!]
Wait, why did Vess get fanfare? Where was my fanfare? Wha…
“OK, now I can show both of you how to fight.” Ralsei says.
Kris returns to the dummy, and the battle restarts. As they all get stanced for battle, Vess manifests its weapon, a two-handed morning star.
“Anyway, now that Vess is here, I'll teach you how to FIGHT. Though FIGHTing is unnecessary in this world… there's no harm in a thorough lesson.” Ralsei says.
Kris and Vess both ready their weapons, and…
75
60
Seems Kris does more damage, they have to imagine it's because Vess’ defense is probably higher, considering the full plate armor.
“W-wow you two! That was an amazing attack! Have you done this before or something…?” Ralsei asks, hopefully rhetorically. “OK, next let's try DEFENDING. Simply DEFEND, and the enemy's attack will hurt you less… not only that, but you'll also gather TP (Watch the orange big bar on the left! I'll explain it next!)”
Kris and Vess both defend, as Kris’ sword morphs into a standard shield, and Vess’ morning star morphs into a tower shield. Kris feels immediately justified in guessing its defense was high.
“Great job you two! Now that you've gathered TP - how about spending that TP on one of my SPELLS? Because you hit the enemy enough, it got tired. Now, if we use my PACIFY spell on it… it'll fall asleep, and we'll win peacefully!” Ralsei says excitedly. Seems he likes teaching.
Kris commands Ralsei to cast PACIFY!
“Great, Kris! We would have won the battle by now! Now I have just a little more to teach you! ACTing! Through this, even the most violent enemies… can be defeated through various ACTs of kindness! Kris, though it's just a dummy, why not give it a HUG?”
Kris considers this… but while thinking over it, they get a far more entertaining idea.
Kris hugged Ralsei.
…soft, fluffy...
“K… Kris!? Ummm, I don't think, um… this is what you're supposed to be doing… but…” Ralsei stuttered out, blushing.
Vess hugged the DUMMY.
“V-Vess!” Ralsei said, surprised, before composing himself. “A-aww, that's great, Vess! Each enemy has different ACTs that satisfy them. When an enemy is satisfied, its name turns YELLOW. When that happens, you can defeat it by SPARING it! If we SPARE all the enemies we meet, we'll never have to FIGHT!”
Kris spared Dummy!
“Great job, you two! That'd be the end in a real battle! I'm really happy I had the chance to teach you!”
You won!
Got 0 EXP and 6D$.
“Oh, that was fun! You're both wonderful students! And, er, in case you ever need a refresher, I… Here, Kris! I wrote a Manual for you and Susie! Press [C] to open the menu and use it in your ITEMS” Ralsei says… Kris has no idea what [C] is.
“Hey, Ralsei, can I also get a Manual?” Vess asks, seemingly excited at the prospect.
“Oh, um… sorry Vess, but I only made Manuals for Kris and Susie.” Ralsei answers. “Maybe I can make you one later.”
“I'll hold you to that.” Vess says, before walking into the next room.
Kris also moves into the next room, but as they do, they hear Ralsei whispering to himself.
“...why can it… only Kris should be able to ACT…”
That's all Kris can hear before Ralsei realizes that he's falling behind and runs to catch up.
Back in formation, with Vess behind Ralsei, they reach a large set of golden doors.
“Oh my! The Great Door is opened?! No wonder Lancer was able to come through… Kris, once we pass through this door… our adventure will really begin. A journey foretold exactly by the prophecy… but, Kris, I believe YOUR choices are important, too. This world is full of all kinds of people, Kris. In the end, how we treat them makes all the difference. So let's try our best to get by without FIGHTing. If we can manage to do that… I believe this tale may have a happy ending. Otherwise, I fear that… you may not… find the result favorable… oh, I'm sorry! Is that too much to ask?” Ralsei asks.
“...no, I can handle it.” Kris responds.
“Kris, I knew you were a hero the moment I saw you. Let's try our best, alright?”
Kris nods in response, before heading through the Great Doors, and into…
~The Field of Hopes and Dreams
The party continues along for a bit, seeing a sign indicating death (future tense). They then encounter a Rudinn who doesn't even get to attack before being spared. They see another sign indicating death (past tense), followed shortly by yet another sign, indicating Lancer (present tense).
“Ho ho ho… if it isn't my two favorite people, and you even brought a third favorite person with you.” Lancer says “Psyche! You guys aren't even in my top five!!”
“Lancer! Where's Susie?” Ralsei asks the small round boy.
“You mean the purple girl…? Ho ho ho… you fools! You're too late to stop me…!”
“What did you do?”
“Hahaha… it was SO simple! She beat me up, so I ran away…!”
“That's a bit anticlimactic…”
They continue to the east, and after getting a warning invitation from Lancer about danger, encounter a necklace of Rudinns. They pose infinitely more of a threat than a single Rudinn, as they managed to launch a single attack instead of zero.
Moving on from that, they encounter a man spinning and crying next to a smoldering cake.
‘Mama miba! I'm TOPCHEF! My latest cake worked me to exhaustion! So I took a little nap… but, Mama miba! A scary noise woke me up! A beast was hunched on the table, eating the cake like an animal! I spritzed it with water, and it hissed and ran off! But, my wonderful cake is…” Topchef says, utterly defeated.
“Aww, that sounds like Susie! We must be going the right way! Let's try to keep her out of any more trouble!” Ralsei says.
Kris then takes a piece of the cake without asking, fortunately Topchef doesn't seem to care.
They then continue further east, skipping a Rudinn encounter by slowly walking around it, before reaching a clock puzzle, which they barely register before it's already solved.
Entering the Maze of Death, the party finds numerous signs from Lancer, detailing him getting lost in what can generously be called a maze. They look around, and find a chest containing a White Ribbon.
“That ribbon is ARMOR! It increases defense. Why don't you try wearing it in the equipment menu? I think it'd look great on you, Kris!” Ralsei states.
Kris examines the White Ribbon, and sees… cuteness up…
Kris gave the Ribbon to Ralsei.
“K… Kris? You're giving it to me…? Well? Does it look pretty?” Ralsei asks, blushing profusely.
Aaaaaaaaaaaa!
Kris quickly moves on for no particular reason. In doing so, they accidentally find the exit to the maze, and consequently Lancer.
“Ho ho ho! Somehow, you survived the maze! But don't count your blessings before they hatch…!” Lancer says. “Let's see how you fare against THIS team!”
*Three Hathys blocked the way.
Kris ordered Ralsei to flatter all the enemies!
“We don't need EXP. Just encountering your smile is reward enough.”
Vess spared Hathy!
The Hathys launch what can vaguely be called an attack.
“Hey, why aren't you guys thrashed?! You're… actually I guess you're not outnumbered… you're totally equalnumbered!” Lancer declares, confidently. “Oh, and hi Grey thing who I haven't talked to yet.”
“Hi Lancer!” Vess returns
“... You made a team purely of SUPPORT ENEMIES. Their bullet patterns aren't balanced at all. It's like a dinner made out of three glasses of milk.” Ralsei answers
“...And that's um… unusual, somehow?”
“...Oh, is that like… a bad thing?”
Lancer and Vess say simultaneously.
“Why don't we talk about this AFTER the battle.” Ralsei responds
Kris spared Hathy!
Vess spared Hathy!
“Great job you two! We earned 0 EXP and 101 D$!” Ralsei congratulated.
“Sweet!! How much do I get?”
“You… lost, Lancer. You don't get any.”
“Oh. Can I have some of yours?”
“No!”
“Fine! Later losers!” Lancer says, running away.
They walk for exactly 3 seconds before running into Lancer again.
“Sup.”
“I thought you were running away.”
“Yeah I finished.” Lancer says, staying put.
The group continues again, running into another clock puzzle. Before Kris can activate the puzzle, Ralsei interjects.
“Ummm… I think we should… umm, check out the room ahead of us first.”
Kris almost activates the puzzle anyway, since they don't see why they wouldn't, but then they remember that they decided the SOUL would probably try to make Ralsei happy. So, they oblige, and continue on. In doing so, they finally find Susie.
“Ugh, open up you stupid door!” Susie yells, before spotting the party. “Oh, great. It's YOU GUYS.”
“Susie! We were ever so worried about you!” Ralsei says “...um, how'd you get past those spikes before?”
“Walked through ‘em. But this door… sucks.”
“Aww, don't worry Susie! It'll open after we solve the puzzle over there!”
“Nice. Tell me when you finish it.”
“Uh, Susie. We need you to finish it. Sometimes, proceeding will take all 4 of us.”
“Wait, 4?” Susie asks, before finally seeing Vess “Oh… didn't even notice.”
“Hi Susie, I'm Vess, nice to meet you!” Vess said, cheerfully
“Didn't ask.”
“... Furthermore,” Ralsei continues “only Kris can seal the DARK FOUNTAIN… so if you don't accompany us, you won't make it home!”
“... So you're saying I HAVE to stick with you guys.”
“Yep!”
“…let's just get this over with.”
“Yahoo! Susie's back on the team! Cue the fanfare!”
[Susie joined the party!]
Her too!?!
…[Susie follows at a distance such that no one can tell she's associated!]
And with that, they quickly return to the puzzle room which, turns out, did not in fact need 4 people. On their way back, they spot a violent little guy.
“(Oh, Kris! I just realized Susie missed the tutorial! Next battle, we should show her how to ACT!)” Ralsei whispers to Kris “(I think she might really enjoy that!)”
*C. Round attacked violently!
Kris recalled Ralsei's advice, and ordered Susie to flatter the enemy as Ralsei and Vess defended.
“...what? Why the HELL would I do that? IT attacked US. Let's smash it before it moves.”
“Actually, I'm pretty sure we initiated this…” Vess says.
“Yeah, and look, Susie! It seems harmless! If you act nice, we might win without hurting it!”
“...okay. Okay. Hey, little guy. I really like the ax in your face.” Susie attacks C.Round, causing it to flee violently. “Where'd you get it? Heh heh heh heh.”
“(Umm, Kris, maybe I should talk to her…)”
You won!
Got 0 EXP and 15D$.
With that they walk onwards, past a sneakily made sign and through the previously closed doors...