Chapter Text
—Stop punching me! I only have a heart and a half! You'll kill me!
Kri5Kn1ghtBl4ze killed Smartgenius55532426318 with a sword.
—NO! Kris, don't you dare take my diamonds! Noelle, tell them to give me back my diamonds!
—I-I'm not with them, Berdly, I'm still building the house.
—Ugh! Kris, I swear I'll kill you if you use MY diamonds! ... STOP LAUGHING!
—Come on, Berdly, I would never use your diamonds to make three jukeboxes— There was a mischievously amused tone in their voice.
—NOOO!
Kris and Noelle laughed.
—Oh! Sorry, guys. My mom's calling... I guess we'll have to keep playing Minecraft together some other day. See you both tomorrow at school!— Noelle disconnected from the game and the voice call.
But they kept playing together.
—Berdly, come back to the house, I'm already there.
—Ugh, Kris, if you're going to make fun of me for taking my diamonds away-...
—I won't, I promise— Their voice sounded gentler, for some reason...
—Fine!— Berdly said, annoyed—. I'm here, what do you want if it's not to make fun of-...
He remained silent as he saw the enchanted diamond sword floating on the floor.
—For you, I found the enchanted book in a mineshaft. I didn't use creative mode this time.
Berdly walked towards the sword, holding it on the first block of his inventory.
Smartbutt -Sharpness Ⅴ
Berdly snorted at the name of the sword. —Very funny, Kris.
—I know, I'm so hilarious!— Their mocking voice becoming a soft, trembly mumble—. I hope you like it. It took me a lot to do it all fairly, appreciate it!
He laughed. —I do!
Silence filled the voice call...
—It's pretty late, and you're probably waking up early just to be the first one in the classroom, so let's go to sleep.
—Yes, right, my dad's going to kill me if he finds out I'm still playing... Goodbye, Kirs!
—Goodbye, Smartbutt... See you tomorrow.
.............................................
—Hey, Kris! Your mother is waiting for you!— Berdly's voice echoed in the empty classroom
Kris woke up... The red mark on their forearm said they slept through the whole class. —Shit...— They looked away, the dream was a nice and sad memory for them.
—You need to sleep, Kris, Miss Alphys said your grades are dropping a lot since you sleep through the whole class— Berdly spoke with a mix of annoyance and worry—. Noelle and I are saving you from the biggest "F" by putting you in our group projects, but Alphys told us we can't keep being three all the time, so you need to do your homework!
Kris didn't even look at Berdly; they just grabbed their backpack and headed towards the door in silence.
—Kris...— Berdly's voice called their attention once again—, you're a smart genius, I don't know why you're so lazy lately, but... I hope you get better soon. Noelle and I are very worried about you.
Kris wanted to say something, but... —I'm fine— They had to say before leaving.
Berdly's mother and Toriel were talking calmly while waiting for them both to come.
—Oh, Kris, there you are! I was worried you were causing trouble again— Toriel smiled at them and opened the car's door—. Come on, Kris, let's go home.
As their mom got in the car and drove towards their house, Kris saw Berdly's mother scold him and drive away.
—Kris, go to your room. Carol is waiting for you, she wanted to see you and give you something— Toriel said calmly—. You didn't ask HER to buy you that new gaming console, did you?
Kris went to their room, finding Carol with a giftbox on her hand.
—Ah, there you are, Kris... Come here, I have the new one— Carol left the giftbox on top of Kris' drawer—. Come on, don't look at me that way, you made a promise, you can't break it.
Kris looked at Carol with annoyance, then they sighed...
* Kris raised their hand and ripped their soul from their body.
—Careful, if you break that one, you'll die— Carol held a star-shaped-black-crystal in front of the soul, and the crystal swallowed the soul—. You have to be smart with these. We have to break your connection first if you don't want to get hurt when we break that soul...— She tossed the crystal and stepped on it.
—W-... What are we going to do now?— Kris asked in a low voice—. I-I mean, if the connection with that one wasn't stable enough...
—Don't worry, we found a way this time— She showed them another star-shaped crystal, but it wasn't like the usual stars with the same shape and form as the ones on Asriel's wall; it seemed more like a diamond-shaped star, it was bigger than the last ones Carol tried on them—. I'm not sure if it's true, but they told me its connection will be far stronger.
—Fine... So, how does it work?
—When the connection is done, the crystal will break, and the soul will be automatically within you. But it will take some time to happen...
—How much time, exactly?— Kris asked as they looked at the crystal in Carol's hand.
—At least a few months, perhaps 5 months will be enough for the connection to be done and for your body to get better, but it won't be any sooner, that's for sure— She handed them the crystal—. Take care, Kris. You need to rest now. We don't want you to die now, do we?
Carol left with a chuckle, leaving Kris alone with the crystal in their hands... They placed it inside the bird cage quietly.
Their phone buzzed, they had a new message from Berdly...
" B: – Hey, dumb-dumb, you forgot your necklace!
B: – Lucky for you, I saw it right below your desk.
B: – I think it fell while you were sleeping.
– I wanted to give it to you before, but you were already inside your mom's car, and I couldn't.
– But don't worry, I have it with me ;)."
The picture of a necklace with a goat pendant caught their attention.
«How did it fall?! I didn't...» Kris quickly answered the message.
" K: – K. Omw..."
They opened the window and jumped, running straight towards Berdly's place... Looking up at his room window... they climbed.
—Berdly!— Kris knocked on the window.
He opened it without hesitation. —Are you nuts?! How did you think climbing the BRICKS was a good idea?! There's a goddamn ladder in the back for you to climb! You could've gotten hurt!— Berdly helped them to get inside the room.
—Hush! You'll wake up your mother— Kris closed his peak with their hand—... Uh... My necklace?
—It's on the bed. I tossed it when I saw you behind the window— He saw them run towards the bed desperately—. It still has the chain Noelle and I bought you when the original broke.
Their body tensed as they finished putting the necklace on their neck. —Yes... It was a nice gift.
Both of them remained silent for a minute... Until the bird broke the silence.
—We're worried about you, Kris...— He blushed slightly when their red eyes looked at him—. I... I mean, you know Noelle; she worries pretty much about you, and I can't help but worry too... We were friends for so long, after all...
—There's nothing to worry about, Berdly...— Kris looked at him with a furrowed brow—. I'm just... better alone...
Berdly's eyes widened. —What... What do you mean?
—Don't make me say it twice, you heard me right... I'm better by myself... And you're better off without me— Kris bit their cheek.
—Kris, that's not...— He tried to hold their hand, but they pulled back—. I-... Is it because Noelle and I kept hanging out without you? Those were all our study sessions! Mostly... Bu-... But since you said you didn't want to hang out, we thought we should give you some space... Come on, we could never forget about you, Kris! We are a team! ... Remember?
—Berdly, I'm going to ask you just one favor...— They turned their head, looking straight at his eyes—. Keep Noelle away from me, and don't ever talk about this... Not even with me...
—Kris, why...
—Keep you both away, even if I try to get close again, pretend we're not friends...— Kris didn't let Berdly finish—. Pretend you hate me, and pretend we never had this conversation. Pretend to be the smug asshole I used to be... Can you do that?
Berdly tried to answer, but the tears in his eyes and his trembly voice didn't let him speak. Kris left through the window, leaving Berdly completely alone with his emotions...
He sat on his bed and cried in silence; he couldn't understand what was happening with Kris, why they were so distant all of a sudden.
—Shit... Why do they want that from me?! Keep Noelle away from them? Pretend I hate them? What is wrong with them now?!
His phone buzzed... A message from Noelle made him stop thinking...
" N: – Hey, Berdly, have you talked with Kris?
N: – How are they doing?
N: – They haven't answered my messages for a month now, I'm very worried about them...
N: – Any news...? "
He didn't even open the notification; he just stared at his lock screen, a collage with a bunch of photos of the three of them...
—"Be the smug asshole I used to be"? They really want me to play dumb about all this... There's something wrong, but... I'll trust them.
" B: – No...
B: – They left me on read. "