Chapter Text
Where do bad folks go when they die?
They don’t go to Heaven where the Angels fly.
They go to the l̴̨̡̺̮͍̖̦͙̠̳̟͕̙̆̀͐͑̚͜ͅa̸̢̛̛͍̦̙͉͉̭̬̘̿̈̍̓̀̋̿̎̒̔̀̓͜ķ̴̝̲̠͙̲̣͈͓̠̰̬͙̩́̋͂͝ȩ̶̫̦̱̣̠͓̭̖̺̔̋̈́̓̽̇̓̾̅̊̐͝-̷͕̘̄̀̑̒͌̈̈́̓̾̐͛̕͜
“Kris...”
Kris slightly looked up from their plastic cup of tea, but continued to stare down at the steaming amber-brown liquid. They sat in Father Alvin’s office; the elderly turtle monster having brought in a few folding chairs from the storage closet. Toriel, Sans and Susie sat around the lone human. Susie had already drunk hers before even being brought any cream and sugar.
“Kris, I-” Toriel tried again. “Kris, it’s alright if you do not want to talk right now. I... I understand- Well, I do not, but... I looked over your...”
She held up Kris’s explanation.
“Your goodbye letter. It... Parts of it are very confusing, I admit... But you are not a disappointment, honey. Never in a million years. Have I... Have I made you feel like one?”
Kris didn’t answer. What was there to say? They had explained themselves perfectly on paper.
“...Kris,” Susie said. “I know all of this was supposed to just be our secret... But... It’s not really a secret anymore, is it?”
Kris still didn’t answer.
“...I will not pressure you into answering right now. I... I just... I want you to know that you’re not alone... You’ve never been alone. And...”
Toriel felt her eyes sting.
“And I love you so much, honey... I’m so sorry if I made you forget that...!”
Toriel threw her arms around their child. She didn’t want to feel as though she was crying to manipulate them, but the pain had become unbearable and erupted out of her. Kris could still smell wine on her breath, and perfume she hadn’t worn since she and Asgore were still married. It reminded them of late nights when they stayed up watching Asriel and Dess play games in the living room. They always dozed off, and when their parents got back from the date or party they went on, they woke up with their head on their mother’s perfumed shoulder. It smelled too floral and Kris didn’t like it, but they kept their head on her shoulder regardless, so Toriel would tuck them in, thinking they were still asleep.
They leaned into her shoulder this time. They were all cried out for now, but it felt good to be held.
“Kris, I-” Susie began. “Damn, I sound like your mom, heh... hehehe...”
Her short chuckle ended when she shot to her feet, her chair slamming into the table behind her, jostling the water pitcher dangerously close to the edge, the liquid inside sloshing about from side to side.
“Have you lost your goddamn mind?!”
“Miss Susie-” Father Alvin attempted.
“Why in the holy-loly HELL would you ever think it was okay to- to KILL yourself?! After
everything- after- after the adventures, the prophecy- the Roaring, Kris?! The world is gonna $#!&ing END without you!!! I-I- That's-”
“Miss Susie-” Father Alvin tried again.
“Shut UP old man!” she snarled, frothy saliva beginning to form on her lower set of teeth. “You- I can’t believe
you’d be so- SELFISH! Was it all fake?! Everything we did together?!”
“No,” Kris managed.
“Then why?! Tell me why!” Susie demanded. After a moment’s pause, she slouched down to Kris’s level, claws held skyward. “KRIS! ANSWER ME!”
“Susie,” Toriel said firmly. The lizard looked up at the primary school teacher. She spluttered a moment before a sob escaped her mouth and she dropped back into her chair, hands over her face.
The back once again hit the table behind her, and the already precariously placed glass water pitcher tumbled over the edge. Sans caught it and put it back on the table, despite being the furthest away, near Father Alvin’s hanging plant.
“Ah, thank you, Mr. Sans...” Father Alvin said.
“yup,” the skeleton said.
“I think at the moment, we’re all very tired and worried,” Alvin continued. “Normally, I would say that during a time like this, we should get some rest and some food in our bellies before we discuss anything major, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t report this to the police, Kris. You’re so young, child, anything that you’re going through cannot be worth the price of all the years you have yet to live-”
“You don’t know anything...” Kris muttered. They’d pulled away from their mother by now, and stared down at their cup of tea again.
“You’re right. I don’t,” Father Alvin said. He leaned down and opened one of his desk drawers. He paused a moment, glancing at a letter he hadn’t left in there the day before, before brushing it aside and taking out an old-fashioned desktop phone, taking a moment to unravel the cord. “But I can connect you with people that do know how to help.”
“They can’t help!” Kris snapped, looking up so quickly, their bangs fluttered, revealing their deep crimson eyes for a moment. Toriel gasped. “It’s not just me. It’s everybody. Berdly, dad, Officer Undyne, even you, mom.
..” Kris pointed a finger towards their mother.
“Is this about what you wrote here, Kris?” Toriel said, holding up their explanation again.
“I’m not crazy. It’s real. Susie and me-”
They felt their throat begin to lump again and their mouth closed.
“They’re... not lying,” Susie said. “Kris and I found this place a few days ago. It’s amazing, like nothing you’ve ever seen before. The Dark World. It-”
Susie saw the look on Father Alvin and Toriel’s faces and stopped herself.
“...Look, it’s easier if I just... Show you. Kris have you got your-”
The words died in her throat. She balled a claw into a fist and dropped it into her lap. “Dammit...”
Father Alvin had managed to get the phone plugged in and held the receiver between his ear and his shoulder. He pressed a few buttons to dial out.
“Yes, this is Father Alvin, calling from the church. I’d like to report an attempted suicide. No, no one is hurt, we intervened.”
“Kris... Have you been talking to Asgore recently?” Toriel asked.
“A little,” Kris said. “Why?”
“Because...” Toriel began, before sighing a bit. “We did our best to try and keep it from you, but around the time your fa- Asgore lost his job, he was insistent about the very same thing. All this talk of... some other, darker place. It frightened me and your brother, and we were all still in shock about-”
“Dess.”
Kris said this, and an extra layer of weight fell over the room. Sans took a sip of tea.
“...Right. Well, my point is, Kris...” Toriel continued.
“No. He hasn’t been putting ideas in my head. I told you, I’m not crazy!”
“Honey, I am not accusing you of being crazy. I am simply confused about why...” Toriel
covered her mouth with her paw. “I... I said I would not make you speak...”
“...Don’t cry mom. I’m...” Kris crumpled up the cup in their hand, tea dribbled out of the top onto the rug. “I’m sorry... I’m... I’m
sorry...”
“Kris...” Susie began.
“I... I’m sorry, Susie... I... I lied to you, I lied to... Everybody...”
Tears began spilling from behind Kris’s bangs. The sheer, crushing guilt had wrapped its coils around them again. They clasped their hands to their head as they felt their soulless chest throb. Nothing would ever be okay again. And now they all knew they were a coward. A filthy, double-crossing, backstabbing coward! They clenched their teeth and hung their head between their legs, just waiting for the weight of their guilt to crumple them into a wad of bloody meat like an old soda can. It wasn’t supposed to go like this...! She promised it wouldn’t go like this!
They felt a pair of arms around them. The familiar over-floral scent of their mom’s perfume. Another pair of arms, the less floral but familiar and comforting smell of Susie. The girl they loved, their best friend, still wanted to give them a chance, after-
They let themselves be held and wept bitterly. Father Alvin finished up on the phone and placed the receiver back on the hook.
“we got real lucky,” Sans said.
“We certainly did, Mr. Sans. How did you know to come and look here?” Father Alvin asked.
“we got directions. mayor’s daughter was out walking and saw the kid scurrying off towards the church,” Sans said, finishing his tea.
Kris shot to attention. “What-?”
“Noelle, yeah...” Susie said, pulling away. “We ran into her on the road near the store, you know, by the beach..? She said she was trying to curb her insomnia or something. I didn’t even kn-”
Kris was out of their grip in mere moments. The teen ignored the cries to stop behind them as they exploded out the front door and took off towards the lake, ducking through the woods behind the graveyard to make sure they couldn’t be followed. Even as they had to pause to profusely vomit a repugnant mixture of chocolate syrup, many flavors of juice and the burger they had to eat at the cafe, they continued on, grabbing tree branches for stability.
Not her. If not them, than not her either...