Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the hospital, Noelle had rushed home, not wanting to stay a minute longer. The sun was out, yet an aching cold froze deep into her guts. Reaching the gate, her hands fumbled for a moment in her bag, a heart stopping moment where she thought she might have forgotten her keys again. Her legs nearly gave way in relief, and shaking so hard she could barely fit it into the keyhole, she opened the gate and slammed it after her, making absolutely sure it was locked, not that it would stop Kris if they--

She shoved the thought out of her mind. Kris wouldn’t!

...Would they?

Her hooves pattered against the ground as fast as they could carry her, as if she could run away from the very notion. The door to the house slammed behind her, and for once, Noelle was glad her mom was still at work. She bolted up to her room, her heart thumping wildly.

In a fit of panic, she piled clothes, boxes, her chair, anything she could move against the door. She thought about whether she could bar the window too, then caught herself.

“What am I doing?” Noelle whispered, leaning against the wall and sliding down to sit. Her hands anxiously raked through her golden hair-- (it was GOLD, not pale green, keep it together Holiday--) “This is crazy, Kris isn’t going to… it-- it was just a dream! Just a dream. It makes NO sense for it to be…”

Noelle trailed off, trying to steady her breathing. Her eyes darted around the room, the mess she’d made of it, the unsteady pile against the door.

“I’m going insane, aren’t I?” She gave a breathy laugh, slightly hysterical. “I’ve, faha, I’ve finally lost it, huh?”

Noelle always considered herself a pretty put together person. Between her dad in the hospital, her mom barely coming home, and Dess… the point was, between all of that, she still managed to be top of the class, and have a mostly healthy sleep schedule.

So the fact that she was completely losing it over Kris’s… prank…

She smacked her forehead, shoulders sagging with relief. A prank! Of course it was a prank. Why didn’t she think of that before? Kris had been playing mean tricks on her as long as she’d known them.

Of course, there was still the matter of how Kris had gotten her watch…

And how they’d been able to read her thoughts…

And why they were acting so strange…

But other than that, well… it made more sense than the alternative.

Before Noelle went to bed, she considered putting the barricade away, but hesitated and decided against it. There wasn’t any harm in keeping it up, right? It wasn’t like her mom was going to come up to check on her. Besides, all this panic had made her lose her appetite, so no dinner tonight.

That night was… restless. Noelle could hardly get to sleep. She kept tossing and turning. She felt anxious whenever she had her back turned to the window, but whenever she was facing it, she couldn’t stop staring at it.

Eventually, though, her eyes shut on their own accord and she went into a light sleep, filled with dreams of a malevolent voice nagging at her ear like a mosquito that wouldn’t go away, a billowing blizzard, thicker than she’d ever seen before, practically blinding her, and the scattered patterns of light and shadows from a tall ice crystal, her breath turning to steam in the cold air.

She awoke with a start to her alarm, panicking for a brief moment, then calming when she realized she was safe in her room. HER room. Not the shadowy place lined with blue in the view of a moon shaped like a baseball. That room didn’t exist.

Rubbing her eyes, she sleepily wondered if she’d even make it to school on time if she was going to have to take apart the barricade. Noelle fell back onto her pillow in relief when she remembered that there wasn’t school today. Normally, she’d get up early anyways to do chores and homework, but she was just so tired after yesterday (a fact she didn’t want to dwell too much on, because she’d taken a pretty long nap, hadn’t she?) that she allowed herself to shut her eyes.

Noelle’s short nap was light and less unsettling than the dreams she’d had the night before. There were beautiful city lights, the feeling of Susie pulling her into a hug, strong arms holding her tightly against her chest.

She woke up to the sound of her phone ringing in her purse from where it lay on the floor, amongst the mess. A flash of annoyance crossed her mind, because Susie had looked at her with such concern, and then had embraced her, firmly clutching her as Noelle buried her face into Susie’s shoulders. She’d been whispering something, reassuring her that it was just a dream. It made her long to be that close to Susie in real life.

Brushing the mild setback away, she dragged herself out of bed and managed to pick up the phone before it stopped ringing.

“Is this the right number for Noelle Holiday?” Toriel’s voice asked through the receiver. Noelle was so surprised that she failed to answer for a few moments, only managing out a dumb “huh”?

“For goodness sake, Kris!” Toriel’s voice grew fainter as she drew her face away from the phone to sharply shout at her kid. “Is this another prank? You did give me the right number, did you not? You know how important this matter is!” Noelle snapped back into her senses.

“Oh, um, yes, sorry, this is me, m’am, Noelle Holiday,” She stammered quickly. “What seems to be the problem? Am I, uh, in trouble?”

“No, of course not, dear,” Toriel’s voice became gentler. “But there is something I need to talk to you about. It does not feel right to tell you over the phone, do you think you could come over to my house?”

“Ah…” Noelle panicked for a moment. The idea of being in close quarters with Kris gave her a feeling of dread, but she couldn’t think of an excuse not to go. “S-sure?”

“Yes, please. You still know the way, do you not?”

“Yes, Miss Toriel.”

“No need for formalities outside of school, dear. I will see you in a few minutes, then?”

“Yes, right away.”

Click!

Noelle’s fist hovered over the door, trying to work up the courage to knock.

“Come on, Noelle. You’ve been to their house hundreds of times,” She murmured to herself. “Toriel is a nice lady. And if Kris is home, they… they’re not going to do anything. They wouldn’t. Even if they would, they wouldn’t while Toriel is… gah! Just do it already!”

She scrunched her eyes closed and finally knocked twice. There were a few agonizing moments where she wondered if she should just run, then she registered the sound of the door opening.

“Hi, Miss Toriel, I-- SUSIE?!” Noelle’s voice went up a pitch as she opened her eyes to see Susie, not Toriel, standing in the open doorway. “Wh-- What are you doing here?” Susie shrugged. She looked as if she’d just woken up.

“Fell asleep at Kris’s house watching movies,” Susie said, shoving her hands in her pockets. “Uh, Toriel said you’d be coming. Says she’s got something important to tell all of us. Creepy, right?” A toothy smile accompanied these words. Noelle leaned her head to look past Susie. Toriel and Kris were sitting at the dinner table. Toriel’s hands were folded, her face hardened and intense. Noelle had only seen her look like that when…

Kris caught her eye. Noelle’s breath caught in her throat and she quickly looked away, forcing a smile. “Faha! Yeah!” She agreed weakly. She stepped through the open door and quickly took a seat as far away from Kris as possible. A part of her felt a little guilty for acting so weird around them. It WAS just a dream, wasn’t it? It wasn’t fair to treat Kris differently because of a dream.

But Noelle couldn’t trust herself to act normal if she interacted with them at all. She could barely keep down her shaking being in the same room as them.

Susie dropped into a seat next to Kris with surprising politeness. She usually took pleasure in letting the chair screech across the floor, and throwing herself into her seat in a way that tested the strength of the chair legs. Here, instead, she carefully restrained herself, almost looking to Toriel for approval.

Toriel had a grave look on her face, one that briefly faded at the sight of Noelle. “Greetings, Noelle. It has been too long since you last stepped foot in our house.”

“Ha, yeah! Maybe I should come over more often!” For Angel’s sake, why did she say that? Change the topic! “S-So, what did you call me over for?” And there it was, the smile dropped.

“Children. I have called you here this morning to share some… very difficult news,” Toriel took a moment to gather herself. It seemed weird, if Noelle didn’t know any better, she’d say Toriel was holding back tears. “Your classmate, Berdly. He… he was announced dead this morning.”

And all the air was sucked out of her lungs.

This

This couldn’t be happening

…right?

Her blood turned to ice. The world around her swam, like looking out from the inside of a snowglobe.

Everything was…

It was just…

“...A dream,” The memory of Susie said. “A bad dream.”

Was this a dream too? It felt like one. Noises washed around her like

A shower

A shower of snow.

The world turning white.

His face disappearing through the storm.

Had she never woken up? Or was she awake all along? Noelle didn’t know which was worse.

She

Needed

To

Get

OUT!

“Noelle?” A voice said through the fog. Her vision cleared. Toriel had crossed the table, her large, warm paw an anchoring weight on Noelle’s shoulder. “Are you with us, dear?”

“I… I don’t…” Her tongue felt like a lump of ice. Even if she could speak, what answer could she give? Nothing felt right.

“I understand how hard this must be for you. He was so young, and…” Toriel choked on her words, tears threatening to spill. “...and he was your friend. Kris as well. Susie, I am not sure of your relations with him, but this must be hard for you as well.”

“I mean, we didn’t get along or anything,” Susie scratched the back of her head. “But it’s just… It was just yesterday you couldn’t pay him to shut up. Now we’re never going to hear that again. It’s… dammit, sorry, I don’t know how to…” She trailed off, hair falling over her eyes.

“It is alright, Susie. Words do not come easy at times like these,” Toriel stroked Noelle’s hair soothingly. “You are all welcome to stay here as long as you like to process. I will make hot chocolate and any treats you like, if it will help you grieve.”

Susie glanced between Kris and Noelle, the former of which hadn’t spoken a single word. “Right, thanks, Toriel.”

“Of course, anything you need,” Toriel drew out a tiny fabric bag from her pocket. “I have also been given permission to bring you some of his… his dust. Kris, Noelle, if either of you would like to do anything with it before the official ceremony next week, you may.”

She placed the little sack gently on the table. Noelle could only stare. With shaking hands, she scooped the bag up. Inside was white. Dust as white as snow.

Suddenly, she could not breathe all over again.

Were the walls closing in on her?

Was Kris’s face blue?

It was supposed to be a dream.

She had to get out.

The chair fell back with a crash, and before she even registered what she was doing, she was outside in the middle of the street, her knees buckling beneath her.

Where was the air? Why couldn’t she breathe? Why did the sun only make her feel more cold?

She was cold. She was so, so cold.

She clutched the dust to her chest, dry sobs wheezing out of her.

“Noelle?” A large presence dropped down in front of her. Susie. “Hey, Noelle. Let’s, uh, get you back inside, yeah?”

“...No,” She rasped, shoulders shaking violently. “Don’t… don’t take me…”

“Alright, okay, not inside. Just out of the street, maybe? Not like there’s a lot of traffic here, but we get enough deers hit by cars, don’t we?” Susie coughed awkwardly. “Sorry. Bad joke.”

Noelle nodded numbly, but her legs wouldn’t budge. Suddenly, she was scooped up into the air by two large, burly arms. Maybe at any other time, having Susie carry her like a bride would be the best day of her life. But Noelle was kind of having the worst day of her life, so she let herself sag as Susie carried her to the sidewalk and sat her down at the curb.

“Don’t worry, I told Toriel not to come out after you,” Susie said, sitting down next to her. “Sometimes adults being around just makes things more stressful, huh?”

Instead of answering, Noelle took great interest in what her hooves looked like, pointedly not meeting Susie’s gaze. An awkward silence followed.
“Uh, you need some space?” Susie asked hesitantly. “Can walk you home, you just have to--”

“You said it was a dream.”

Susie blinked.

“Huh?”

“You told me it was a dream,” Noelle repeated. “That it wasn’t real. If it’s not real, then why is he--” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word. Susie ran a hand through her hair, suddenly very uncertain.

“Wait, so…Noelle, did something happen while we were in the Cyber World?”

Noelle’s eyes widened. “So it is real? You… you lied to me?”

“No, it’s not like that! I didn’t--” Susie cut herself off, clenching her fists. “I was trying to keep you safe. You were pretty freaked out. Look, I can explain everything later, but if something happened to Berdly while we were in there, then you need to tell me.”

The words didn’t reach Noelle. There it was, the truth. It wasn’t a dream. Kris wasn’t playing tricks on her.

It was real.

And if it was real, then…

“Noelle?”

Noelle took the pin out of her hair and gazed at her reflection in its shiny surface. A voice echoed from her memories.

“Take This Pin Noelle Sweetie,” She could almost feel Queen’s metallic hand pressing the pin into hers. “Take It And When You Are Ready, Plunge It Into The Earth, And You Will Have Everything You Will Ever Want.”

The Cyber World… It was in the computer lab, wasn’t it? Everything in there was stuff from the computer lab brought to life. If the Dark Fountain brings things to life, then…

Noelle clutched the bag of dust in a single shaking hand. She raised the pin above her head.

“Noelle, what are you doing?”

And she plunged it into the concrete.

Chapter Text

If you were to jab anything into a concrete sidewalk, then depending on what you used, it would either break or stop upon making contact, sending painful ripples through your bones. This is what should have happened when Noelle plunged her hairpin into the ground beneath her. The laws of physics demanded it. 

What instead happened was a feeling akin to poking a stick into the surface of a balloon. The ground felt springy and rubbery, tense where the pin met the concrete.

And then, like a balloon, it popped.

In an instant, a surge of darkness gushed beneath where the pin was stabbed into the earth. Noelle could only catch a brief glimpse of Susie’s panicked face before the black consumed her. It consumed everything. It forced its way down her lungs and she choked on the absence of air.

For a few hellish moments, it was as if she were tumbling through the void of space. The sunlight had been consumed, the world enveloped in a shadowy blanket. A splitting pain clawed at her shoulder blades. Noelle tried to scream, but no sound came out, her words suffocated by the blackness.

When it felt like the nightmare might never end, there was a jolt like that feeling of falling when you’re half asleep, and Noelle was finally able to blink open her eyes.

Her legs felt like overcooked noodles, but she summoned the strength to get to her knees. The view swept away the tumultuous panic and dread that had been pooling in her stomach. 

It was… an amusement park.

Nothing like the rinky-dink carnival that rolled into town once a year. This park was MASSIVE. It spanned as far as she could see, hundreds of times bigger than the town itself. Each part of it seemed to be sectioned off into different themes. On the right seemed like a Christmas themed world, while on the left seemed to be Halloween themed. Flashing bright lights danced across her visions, fireworks seemed to go off endlessly. Enormous exhilarating rides towered in every section of the park, the sweet smells of cotton candy and popcorn and candied apples wafting into her nose. It was beautiful.

Looking up and around her, she seemed to be standing at the top of a medieval themed section of the park, right at the gates of a large castle. 

“Woah…” She breathed, awe fluttering in her chest. “Heh, Berdly would love this place…” As soon as the name fell out of her mouth, amazement turned into horror as she realized she wasn’t holding the little sack of dust. She panicked and patted herself down, looking frantically around her. In one pocket was the pin she’d used, sharp and beautiful and intricately designed due to the dark world’s magic. In the other pocket was the bag.

Noelle let out a trembling breath of relief as she clutched it. She was just beginning to wonder how the fountain magic was supposed to work to bring things to life, exactly, when the fabric of the bag flared up with an intense heat. 

She yelped, and it dropped to the ground, dust spilling out onto the stone floor. She didn’t even have time to drop to her knees and gather it up before it emanated a strange glow.

The glow hummed for a few moments, before crackling flames burst up, the heat forcing Noelle to stumble back, shielding her eyes from the light.

Out of the flames, a figure rose from the ashes. Wings outstretched, three-toed feet stepping onto the stone floor, a cocky smile on his beak.

Noelle could hardly believe it. 

“Berdly?”

The figure opened his mouth.

“Call me whatever you please, my lady!” Berdly’s voice said. “But across these lands I’m known as--”

The glow dulled to reveal his face.

“Captain Blazebow!” He flapped his flaming wings proudly. “The most courageous warrior of the known lands, and bound by my bow to your protection evermore!”

Noelle… well, Noelle didn’t really know what to say. Her mouth went dry.

Was this… was this how it worked? Did she do something wrong? He sure sounded like Berdly. And, well…

“If there is any assistance you need, lady Noelle, there is no one better than I to provide it,” He pressed a dramatic hand to his chest, setting off an arrow from his crossbow to go whizzing past her ear. “My smarts and expertise will make sure not a single hair on your head comes to harm. I am the best there is to offer!”

…he certainly acted like Berdly. In a weird way, he kind of looked like Berdly too. Aside from the… fiery bits, he was a sort of bird monster, with a wide toothy grin. The way he held himself, his over the top mannerisms. He even wore glasses.

“Do you… know me?” Noelle asked cautiously.

“Of course I know you!” Captain Blazebow scoffed, then dropped into a low bow. “I have been charged to protect you with my life, Queen Noelle, the Second Angel.”

Noelle blinked in surprise. 

“Angel?”

Captain Blazebow laughed heartily. “Of course! Your aura is unmistakable, along with those wings of yours,” He flapped his own proudly. “Mine may be striking, but yours are the very picture of Heavenly glamor.”

Noelle frowned and looked over her shoulder. It was only then that she noticed the large, feathery wings that sprouted from her shoulder blades. They were so blindingly white, they seemed to glow softly. Experimentally, she tried moving them. They flapped slowly at her command. It was a strange sensation, growing two new body parts. It was also strange, because she distinctly did not remember having them in the last dark world.

Looking down, it seemed as if the wings weren’t the only new things. Her dress, which had been plain white in the last dark world, was now lacey and complicated and stunning. It sparkled and was embroidered with snowflake patterns and the symbol of the Angel across her chest. She couldn’t be sure, but her hair seemed longer as well, and braided partially. 

Her hands came to her head where there was a… a halo? A crown? It was hard to say without a mirror.

She was caught so off guard, she almost forgot the other strange thing in that sentence.

“Protect me from what?”

“Hm?”

“You said…” Noelle brushed a few fingers across her wings. “You said you were charged to protect me. Protect me from what? Charged by whom?”

Captain Blazebow tapped his beak. “These things I know not. But I know there is a terrible threat out there. A demon possessing the form of a knight to trick you, catch you unawares. Your majesty, I believe your whole world is at stake.”

Noelle’s heart felt like lead for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. A demon… possessing the form of a knight? Could it be…?

He seemed to notice her troubled expression, and encased Noelle’s right hand with both of his own. Even with gloves, heat radiated off of them, sending a shiver up her arm.

“My lady,” He began, and oh Angel, he sounded just like Berdly. “I swear to you that as long as I am by your side, I will never allow any harm to come to you. No need for fear. I am yours evermore.”

Tears welled in Noelle’s eyes. She hadn’t allowed herself to fully comprehend what had happened to her friend. Toriel had said the words. She’d shown Noelle his dust. For a brief, awful minute, he was dead. Her best friend.

But he wasn’t really, was he? Because here he was. Holding her hand. Swearing to stay by her side no matter what. He may look different, but he was still the same Berdly she knew. 

“Thank you,” Noelle pulled him into a hug, not caring about the uncomfortable heat of his skin. His arms found their place at her back. Two pairs of wings intertwined, one of fire and one of ice. And everything was perfect again.

Susie coughed and sputtered as she came to her senses, though from what she couldn’t tell. She’d been in dark worlds before, but she’d never fallen into one as it was getting made. 

Suddenly, she felt as if a bucket of cold water was dumped on her, her dizziness washing away. “Noelle?!” She called out, twisting around to get her bearings. Dammit! What was she thinking? A dark world outside? Who knows what that could cause?

Susie squinted, shielding her eyes from the bright lights in front of her. She was standing in front of a huge archway, lit up with tiny flashing lights. The words “CARNIVAL ENTRANCE!” were flashed and danced in different patterns. Beyond that… 

“Holy hell…” She whispered. Were all amusement parks like this? It was enormous! It stretched out further than she could see, and climbed up a hill to tower overhead. Even just ahead of her were more stalls selling food and presenting games than she could count, and various rides stuck up out of the eye-burning maze of colour and cotton candy.

A thousand questions tore through her mind. Noelle had made a dark fountain OUTSIDE. How was that possible? The only ones she’d been in had been enclosed, like the computer lab or the closet. Was the whole world a dark world now? She didn’t think so. Behind her was the endless black she’d grown accustomed to, so this world seemed to have an end. Maybe only the town then? But then was everyone in the town here too? So much for keeping the dark worlds a secret.

“Alright. Damn. We’ve done this sort of thing before. Be a hero, save the world, close the fountain. Easy,” Susie brushed herself off, then stepped forward towards the carnival entrance, squinting at the bright lights and crowds of people. “Kris! Ralsei! Where the hell are you?”

“They are-a thief, I tell you!” Top Chef cried out, spinning frantically. “I have-a only a little bit of my stock-a left over, and ze next thing I know, they are-a selling half of it in their little tent!”

“Frankly, I am hurt by these accusations,” Seam purred innocently, pulling at a thread of yarn. “Prince, I merely found an abandoned crate of delicious baked goods, and I couldn’t bear to let it go to waste.”

“It was-a not abandoned!” Top Chef shrieked. “It was-a mine!”

“Your majesty, I believe this is a matter of cultural differences. You see, where I’m from, we have a motto called ‘finders keepers’, ha ha ha.”

“WE COME-A FROM ZE SAME KINGDOM!”

“Alright, alright, settle down, please!” Ralsei waved his paws desperately. “We can work this out. Seam, that crate belonged to the Chef. In my kingdom, you should not take things without asking. If you find something that isn’t yours, you should try to see who it belongs to first.”

Seam bowed their head solemnly. “As always, I bow to your superior wisdom, Prince.”

“I’m glad we agree. Now, can you give the crate back to the Chef?”

Seam picked at their claws in a detached sort of way. “Well, therein lies our problem. You see, I have already sold the contents of the crate.”

Top Chef fumed. “YOU WHAT?!”

“You can have the crate itself back, if you like?”

“Mamma mia! Prince, this mangy cat is-a being completely unreasonable!”

Ralsei rubbed his temples tiredly. Being a Prince was a lot more exhausting than he’d thought. “Alright, we can still figure this out. Chef, how much was the contents of the crate worth?”

Top Chef sniffed haughtily. “Easily 450 dark dollars! I should-a be charging more for their thievery.”

Ralsei looked back at Seam, whose tail was lashing boredly. “Okay. Seam, would you hand over 450 dark dollars to make up for what you stole.”

Seam’s single button eye glinted in the bright blue light of the torch. “I suppose I could.” They purred. “But, if I may, your majesty. I myself once worked in the King’s high court. The true problem resides in our…” They gestured vaguely with their tail. “...lack of resources. I would never presume to criticize this homely little kingdom of yours, but it is a significant size down from what your subjects are used to. I’m sure we can manage. Or not. But it’s worth thinking about, no? What happens to we, your humble merchants, when we run out of things to sell?”

Ralsei tugged at his ears, suddenly feeling quite dizzy. He’d always wanted to be a true Prince, and he would not give up what he had for the world, but all the books he’d read could never prepare him properly for what being a leader actually entailed. The process of expanding the town would be long and arduous, and he’d have to deal with hundreds more of these types of arguments as people settled into their new routine.

A hand on his head jolted him out of his thoughts. “Ah Sweet Little Peach Boy There You Are,” Queen leaned her full weight on him, and he struggled to stay upright. “I Ran Out Of Battery Acid And Was Calling For More But You Would Not Come.”

“For the last time, Queen, I am not your butler anymore!” Ralsei huffed, not in the mood for her antics.

“Do Not Worry You Will Always Be A Butler To Me (LOL),” Queen laughed, swirling her empty glass. “Anyways I Could Not Help But Overhear You Are Having Two (Very Loud) Problems.” She gestured towards Seam and Top Chef. “I Hope You Did Not Forget I Was Also A Queen Before You And Your Lightener Friends Destroyed My Kingdom.”

Ralsei sighed. “No, Queen. I did not forget you were a Queen. It’s, uh, kind of hard to forget with a name like that.” A worm of shame wriggled in his chest. He trusted Kris and the Angel, and he’d follow them down whatever path they took, but what happened in the Cyber World… concerned him. Especially since he hadn’t heard from his benefactor since early the previous day.

“Well Since Almost Everyone I Know Is Dead I Have Nothing To Do With My Time,” Queen was always such a loud and ridiculous presence, but when she remarked on the loss of her kingdom, she almost looked… sad. “So Here Is A Proposition: I Help You Not Totally Suck At Leading. Y/N?”

Ralsei nibbled on his lip a bit, brow furrowing. He’d wanted to do this himself, to prove that he really could be a prince. And in many ways, Queen came off as irresponsible and incapable of taking things seriously. But she’d also been at this leadership thing a lot longer than he had. Plus, it would be nice to give her something to do other than drinking battery acid all day and playing basketball with Lancer as the ball. Hmm…

Ralsei opened his mouth to tell her he’d think about it, but a loud noise interrupted him. Up above, the Fountain seemed to… convulse briefly. Its edges blurred and it swayed a little, making a noise between a crackle and a gurgle, before righting itself again.

Everyone who had noticed looked up with concern, except for Seam, who seemed to be chuckling to themself about something.

“You know what, Queen? Sure, I’ll, um… let you handle this,” Ralsei said distractedly, then hurried off into the castle. Something was very, very wrong.

At the very top of the tower, Ralsei frowned at the sight of the figure waiting for him, hands clasped behind their back as they stared up at the Fountain.

“Knight,” He clenched his fists, trying to steady his trembling body. “What is going on? Did- did you make another Fountain already? Why d-didn’t you contact me after the last one was sealed?”

“PLANS HAVE CHANGED,” The Knight said, their voice metallic and muffled under their helmet. “A NEW FOUNTAIN HAS OPENED, BUT NOT BY MY BLADE.”

“Wh-what?!” Ralsei yelped, his eyes widening with shock. “Then- then who?”

“SHE TRAVELED WITH THE HEROES ON THEIR PREVIOUS JOURNEY,” The Knight didn’t even turn their head to respond. “THE MAGE WITH THE PALE HAIR AND CLOVEN HOOVES.”

“Noelle? But that doesn’t make any--”

“THERE IS NO TIME. I WILL BRING YOU TO THIS NEW WORLD AS I HAVE DONE BEFORE,” The Knight raised a curt hand. “YOU KNOW WHAT YOU MUST DO. FIND THE HEROES. CLOSE THE FOUNTAIN.”

Ralsei wrung his hands. “Right. Okay, I can do that. But- but how did she-? And where-?” His head was spinning. It was all so sudden. The plan was spinning out of control. Another lightener should not have opened a dark fountain, he’d explained why it was dangerous! What had gone wrong?

“THERE ISN’T ANY TIME. YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ON YOUR OWN. AND ONE MORE THING.” At this, the Knight finally did turn around, their shadow casting longer than it should have. “BEWARE THE ICE MAGE. SHE IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN EVEN SHE IS AWARE OF.”

Chapter Text

“What on earth is going on?” Toriel’s brow wrinkled in distress as she stared out the window, where moments before, the morning light had gone out. The darkness outside had come suddenly, unnatural in its pitch-blackness, seemingly swallowing the light from the air. It wasn’t a normal darkness, like if a cloud had drifted over the sun. But it seemed like someone had deleted the outside from existence.

You stand in the center of Toriel’s living room, waiting for the cutscene to be over. You are itching to rush out the door, to see what this new world has to offer you.

“Kris, I think we should stay inside,” Toriel fretted, drawing the curtains. “Whatever this is-- well, I do not like it. It is unnatural. Oh, but those poor girls are still outside. If there even is an outside anymore. This is all very strange.”

The cutscene ends, and Kris can move around now. You immediately walk to the door and attempt to open it. Toriel jumps in alarm.

“Kris! You are not thinking of going outside by yourself, are you?”

“Oh, I suppose you are right,” Toriel sighed, brushing herself off. “We cannot leave Susie and Noelle if they might be in trouble.” She walks over to Kris and takes their hand. “But hold my hand, will you, Kris? We do not know what we will see.” Well, that’s what’s so exciting about all this! You have no idea what will happen next, and you are giddy at the thought of finding out.

Toriel opens the door, and together, you step into the great unknown.

“Noelle! Kris! Ralsei!” Susie wandered through the streets, calling out for her friends. “Where the HELL are you?” 

The carnival had seemed like a fun place at first, but now it was just making her eyes hurt. There were so many bright colours and flashing lights. This world’s Fountain towered in the distance, pulsing faintly on the horizon. She was sure if she just booked it, she could make it there relatively soon, but they needed Kris in order to close the fountain. Was Kris even here? They’d been inside when the dark world had opened. Though if she knew anything about Kris, they’d probably jump straight in once they saw what was happening.

On that note, god damn, how were they supposed to explain this to Toriel? To the rest of the town? Maybe they could convince everyone it was all some sort of gas leak.

“Hey, you!” Susie stopped at a large bug manning a game of darts. “You seen someone named Ralsei? Fluffy nerd, white fur, big glasses, wears a green cloak?”

The grasshopper tapped their chin, antennae twitching. “Nope, can’t say that I have. Wanna play some darts? You could win a prize!”

“Nope. What about Kris? Or Noelle? Blue kid wearing armor, and a deer girl in a white dress.”

The grasshopper tilted their head. “Noelle? You mean the Angel?”

Susie blinked once, twice. “What?”

“Susie!”

At the sound of her name, Susie turned to see the fluffy nerd in green, running desperately towards her.

“Ralsei?” Susie gaped as Ralsei stopped to catch his breath. “Dude, the hell is going on?”

Ralsei stood straight and adjusted his glasses with a worried look. “I’m not sure, but I’m so glad I found you!” He fidgeted with his scarf, staring up at the Fountain in the distance. “When I felt that disturbance of a new Fountain being created, I feared the worst. This is the biggest skew in the balance I have ever felt! Where’s Kris?”

Susie shook her head. “I’ve been looking for ‘em. But the big thing we need to worry about is Noelle. She’s the one who opened this world’s fountain.”

“Oh dear!” Ralsei exclaimed. Interestingly, he didn’t look all too surprised. “There was a danger of this happening, ever since lighteners from outside the prophecy discovered the dark worlds. I thought Berdly might be impulsive enough to do this, but Noelle?”

Susie grimaced, the unpleasant reminder of this morning’s news turning her nauseous. “Oh boy. You’ve missed a lot. Here’s the thing. Berdly’s, uh… dead.”

Now this shocked Ralsei to his core, his eyes widening. “He’s what?”  His paw raised to cover his mouth in horror. “But that’s… that’s impossible!”

“That’s what I thought too,” Susie raked a hand through her hair. “But it’s the truth. I saw his dust for myself. Ralsei, something must have happened yesterday, when we were in the Cyber World. Noelle, right before she did this, she said something about… about how if the dark world was a dream then how could he be dead? She knows what happened to him. And I think…” Susie took a breath, glancing around one more time for Kris. “I think Kris knows too. They were acting so weird yesterday, remember?”

Ralsei nodded slowly. “Yes, we split up, and when we saw them again they were…” He trailed off, but Susie knew what he meant. Something was off about them. “We must find Kris and Noelle, and get to the bottom of this.”

“Right,” Susie gripped her ax, knuckles going pale at the effort. “Ugh. Man. We saw him literally just yesterday, slumped over the table after Kris closed the Fountain. I thought he was sleeping. Call me crazy, because I know this fountain shit is serious, but I didn’t think… I never thought… that we’d lose someone. We’d have this high stakes dangerous but fun adventure, and then we’d go home and nothing would have changed. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Berdly was an arrogant asshole, but I didn’t… I didn’t want him to die , you know?”

“I understand,” Ralsei whispered, the distant pulsing of the fountain reflecting in his glasses. “Everything feels… wrong. It’s not supposed to be like this.”

“Kris, the carnival only comes once a year, but my memories are clear enough that I know it does not look like this,” Toriel's wide-eyed gaze flicked around the brightly coloured scenery around her. You stride determinedly forward, checking every stall for flavor text and possible clues. Your mother notices you wandering off and swiftly strides forward and grabs your hand.

“Something very strange is happening, I will not have you wandering off,” Toriel says firmly. You are now prevented from exploring, which frustrates you. After leading you through the winding paths between the stalls for a short time, three very large dragonflies carrying spears land from above, circling them.

“Hand over your tickets!” One shouts, jabbing their spear forward threateningly. 

“Yeah!” Another cries. “Hand over your tickets! Or else!”

“Tickets? What tickets?” Toriel frowns, putting an arm around you protectively.

“The carnival tickets, genius!” The third dragonfly hisses. “You know, the things you use to get on rides?”

“We do not have any tickets,” Toriel tells them calmly, fear trembling through her form, anger furrowing her brow. “Leave us be.”

The dragonflies look between each other. “Oh, looks like they don’t have any tickets, boys!” The first says sarcastically. “Guess we better split!”

“Like we believe you!” The third spat, jabbing their spear forward. “You newbies wouldn’t have gotten this far without tickets. Hand ‘em over!”

“I am telling you, we do not have any tickets!” Toriel raised her voice in a way that would have made Kris cower had it been directed at them. But the dragonflies stared back defiantly.

“They ain’t handing them over!” The second looked to the first, spear trembling in their hands.

“Looks like we’ll have to take them off your dead body!” The first raised their spear, and the fight began.

“Wh-what? What is this?” Toriel’s robes fluttered in the wind, flames erupting around her fists.

“Oh boy, she doesn’t know how to fight!” The third dragonfly said to their companions gleefully. “This ought to be easy!”

Your turn goes first. You’ve already committed to a no-mercy route, but you also figure you’ll need some of those tickets the dragonflies are talking about, so you raise your shield and defend, watching the TP bar go up. 

You look at Toriel. She looks completely lost, so you direct her to attack the dragonflies, eager to see what her attack looks like. Will it be fire, like it was before? Or something else?

She hesitates. “Kris, perhaps we should attempt to flee. Hurting people is against the Angel’s wishes.”

You shake your head and point again, more urgent this time. You don’t think this is the kind of fight you can run away from. Toriel hesitates again, and the dragonflies take the moment to attack, targeting their spears at Kris. You are able to dodge most of them, but Kris is struck a few times, and they grunt in pain. Luckily, you were defending, so you don’t lose much HP.

Toriel cries out in alarm at seeing her child hurt. You defend again, and on her turn, without your orders, she blasts a ray of flames at all three of them. The dragonflies stagger back, wings singed and HP drained. 

“Aw, heck. Boss, that hurt!” The second dragonfly shakes out their wings.

“No kidding,” The boss dragonfly grunts. “This isn’t worth it. Let’s split, gang.” The third dragonfly glares, but flies away with the other two. The fight ends. Kris’s pockets fill with Dark Dollars.

“Thank goodness they’re gone!” Toriel sighs, staring up after their retreating forms. She turns back to you, then rushes over. “Oh, dear. Kris, are you hurt? Here, let me…” Her hands hover over Kris’s wounds, and your HP is restored. She blinks. “Interesting. I was not able to do that before. Kris, do you have any idea what is going on? It seems as if you have done this before.”

Two dialogue options pop up. You consider lying to her, but you hope to come across Susie soon, and she would immediately refute your claims. You choose to say yes.

“Good heavens, Kris. Is this what you have been up to these past few days?” She shakes her head. “The trouble you get into. This is a very strange land. We should look for Noelle and Susie.” Finding Susie is a priority, but what you are really interested in is finding Noelle. Has she figured out the truth? If so, how did she react? Was she the one who created this fountain? So many questions. Limitless potential. Toriel takes your hand, and leads you away.

Chapter Text

“My lady!”

Noelle sat up in her throne, Berdly’s words breaking out of her daze. She’d been doing that a lot lately. It could hardly be called daydreaming, since she wasn’t truly thinking of anything. She was just… zoning out. Falling into her thoughts.

“Have you found them?” She asked anxiously. Susie had been with her when she created this world, and Kris was sure to follow. She shuddered at the thought of Kris, here, with her. She wouldn’t let them convince her into hurting Berdly again, she wouldn’t.

Berdly paused, his flames dimming a little in shame. “No, your grace. Sincerest apologies. But I have heard word of newcomers! I will continue my search.” Noelle nodded vaguely, hand resting on her chin. “But in the meantime, Queen Holiday… I prepared a surprise to lift your spirits!”

Noelle blinked out of her stupor. “Hm?”

“I call it, the Knight’s Delight!” It was a sort of red cake that seemed to be on fire? Noelle gratefully took the dessert and smiled up at Berdly. He stared up at her hopefully, nervously. She couldn’t be sure, but behind his sunglasses, his eyes seemed to be searching for approval. He was just… So much like his old self.

He was Berdly, wasn’t he? He had to be. He just… didn’t remember. He just needed time, that’s all. Noelle smiled down at him, and took a bite of the cake. It was a strange mixture of spicy and sweet, not really Noelle’s thing, but it wasn’t bad.

“This tastes great, Captain, Thank you.”

Berdly beamed up at him. “Another success for Captain Blazebow!” He pumped a fist into the air. A flaming arrow from his crossbow flew into the air and stuck into the ceiling. He paused, looking up at her sheepishly. “Ah. Erm. Apologies, my lady.” 

Noelle chuckled and raised a hand. As naturally as breathing, a ray of frost rose to the ceiling and put out the flames. She was getting stronger, too. Sometimes it felt as if she was born to do this.

“No worries. You do so much for me,” Noelle placed a fond hand over one of his. It just felt faintly warm. Berdly smiled and put another hand over hers.

“My life is yours, Noelle.”

Susie was not made for this. She was made for confrontation. If she had a problem with someone, she’d say it to their face. If someone had a problem with her, well, they could tell it to their locker when she shoved their face in it. Yes, confrontation. That was Susie’s specialty.

What wasn’t her specialty was conspiracy. Secrets, lies, mysteries. God, she hated this. She hated people lying to her, she hated not knowing what was going on.

“Susie.”

She gritted her teeth, tail lashing underneath her jacket.

“Susie.”

God, this was all just so FUCKED. Berdly was dead? Noelle and Kris had something to do with it? Kris was keeping something from her?

“Susie!”

“What?!” She ground out, knocking over a bunch of cups stacked in a pyramid. The owner yelped in terror.

Ralsei pointed at an intersection of pathways a little further down. “I see them!”

Susie jolted, her gaze snapping to follow where Ralsei was pointing. Lo and behold, the human of the hour was walking not too far away. Accompanied by… was that Toriel? She was suddenly daunted by the idea of confronting Kris in front of their own mom. 

She shook herself off and grabbed Ralsei’s hand. “Come on, nerd boy. We’re getting some answers.” Ralsei made a noise of protest but let himself be dragged all the way up to Toriel and Kris.

Toriel turned to the direction of Susie’s loud stomping and her eyes widened, hand going to her mouth. “Susie! You are here! And…” Her gaze flicked down to Ralsei, who had found something very interesting on his feet and pointedly not meeting her gaze. “I don’t believe I have met you.”

“I’m, er, Prince Ralsei,” He mumbled, uncharacteristically shy. Toriel narrowed her eyes at him, scrutinizing every strand of fur on his head. Did she see the resemblance too?

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, your majesty,” She said politely. “Susie, what on earth is going on? Angel knows how difficult it is to get some answers out of Kris.” She glared sharply at her child.

“Honestly, I’m not sure either, Miss,” Susie ran a hand through her hair. “I can answer some questions on what this place is and what Kris an’ me have been doing these past couple of days. But there’s more to what’s going on that I’m not sure about.”

“Well, start from the beginning,” Toriel crossed her hands primly in front of her. “That is usually a good place to start.”

Susie shot a quick glance to Ralsei, who nodded hesitantly. She took a deep breath and recounted everything from the moment she and Kris stepped into the closet. Ralsei, curiously, stayed quiet throughout the entire exposition. 

“And then Noelle said something like… “If the Dark World was a dream, then why is Berdly dead?” Which, like… implies something happened to Berdly while he was in it yesterday?,” Susie’s tail lashed furiously. Where was Noelle? Why didn’t they land together? “And on that, what the hell, Kris? Did you see what happened? You were acting so weird once we met up in front of Queen’s palace.”

All eyes turned to Kris, who had been hanging back quietly while the others talk. There was a moment of silence, before they finally said-- “I didn’t see anything.”

“Bullshit!” Susie exploded, throwing her hands into the air. 

Toriel gasped. “Susie, language!” Susie ignored her.

“Ralsei and I were together the whole time, and we didn’t see anything. But you were by yourself for a couple of hours,” She poked an accusing finger into their breastplate. “We didn’t run into you, Noelle, or Berdly the whole time. You were acting so weird when we met up again, and Noelle was fucking catatonic when I came to see her. I thought it was because she was overwhelmed by the Dark World, but we didn’t see Berdly until we woke up in the library, so something must have happened between the moment we split up and when we reunited in front of the palace. I know you know something, so spit it out!”

Susie was breathing hard by the time she was finished. Her face was flushed and warm. When did it all get so complicated?

Toriel had a stunned moment of silence before her face hardened and she stepped in between Kris and Susie. “Are you accusing my child of something?” She asked sharply.

Susie dragged a hand down her face. “No. Yes. I don’t know. Look, all we know is that something really bad happened to Berdly while he was in the Dark World. Something that Noelle was there for. I just want some answers, okay?” She glanced at Ralsei for some backup, but he stayed silent.

Toriel spared a glance at Kris, still standing protectively in front of them, but offering a chance for them to respond. Kris opened and closed their mouth a few times, their face strained, before quietly stepping back further behind Toriel, clutching at her robes like a nervous toddler meeting someone new. Toriel looked back at Susie, gaze stern.

“Kris is clearly upset. You will stop pestering them with questions.” It was an order, and Susie knew it. She clenched her fists.

“But--”

“Kris will talk when they are ready to talk,” Toriel cut her off sharply. “In the meantime, we will all search for Noelle together. Is that clear?”

Susie and Ralsei nodded mutely. Toriel let out a huff, then swiveled around and began walking down the main path. Susie watched her walk off, Kris holding her hand and not offering a single word of explanation or comfort. Susie growled quietly, then allowed herself some distance between the Dreemurrs so that she could whisper into Ralsei’s hair.

“Throwing me under the bus, man?” She hissed. Ralsei jumped, as if he hadn’t noticed the original conversation had ended.

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Ralsei tugged at his scarf nervously. “She intimidated me, that’s all. I have a lot of things on my mind.

“Yeah, I get that,” Susie relaxed a little. That made sense. “I’m gonna need some backup in the future, though. Looks like Miss Dreemurr doesn’t want to believe her precious little baby could ever do anything bad.”

“And what about you?”

“Hm.”

“Do you think Kris did something bad?”

Susie grimaced. “I’m not sure, honestly. I know they know something. They’re my best friend, but it’s not a good look for them that they refuse to say anything about what happened,” She heaved a sigh. “Ugh, this is a nightmare. I’m glad you’re here, Ralsei. Between Kris and Noelle, I think you’re the only one of my friends I can trust right now.”

Ralsei gave her a sunny smile that made everything feel a little less complicated. “Of course, Susie. I’d never lie to you.”

Susie grinned toothily, punching him lightly on the shoulder. “Yeah, well. Right back at you. We’ll figure this out.”

Ralsei rubbed his shoulder with a chuckle. “Yes. Indeed.”

Chapter Text

Toriel was having a hard time. 

Everywhere she looked was another hazard to these children that were under her protection. She felt like a cord pulled too tight, like she could snap at any moment. A gunshot fired to her left and she jumped, hand tightening around Kris’s. She looked, and there was a loud cheer as a carnival goer got a bullseye on the final target and was rewarded with… more tickets? That was odd. Seeing that they weren’t using actual guns, Toriel relaxed a little. Just a little, though. She kept her back straight and her shoulders firmly squared. She would NOT be daunted by this place.

Kris walked silently beside her, their metal boots clanking softly against the grassy ground. She watched them out of the corner of her eye. Those things that Susie implied… they couldn’t be true. They just couldn’t be. She wasn’t sure of many things in this strange world, but one thing she knew for sure was that her child wasn’t an accomplice to murder.

Toriel had raised Kris well, she told herself firmly. They had always been a troubled child, and the divorce had affected them deeply, but Toriel had raised them in a good home. She’d taken care of them, made sure they felt loved. Things weren’t perfect, but Toriel knew that the Angel had blessed Kris with a good SOUL.

Besides, Berdly was their friend. They bickered often, sure, but Kris invited him over weekly to play their video games, and she knew they talked the internet. It was a competitive friendship, but a friendship it was. 

Kris would not have… 

and even if they knew anything, surely they would have come to her. Surely Kris knew that they could speak to her about anything.

Surely, Toriel was a good mother.

“You said the fountain was opened outside?” Ralsei spoke up. Toriel blinked, she’d forgotten he was there. What to make of this strange boy who looked like her son?

Susie nodded. “Yeah. Right on the sidewalk outside of Kris’s house. Why, what’re you thinkin’?”

“Well, as you’ve likely already figured, dark worlds are normally only opened in enclosed spaces,” Ralsei explained. “It allows the dark world to have concrete, established borders.”

“Do you think the dark world could have covered the entire planet?” Susie asked. She was trying to keep her voice steady, but Toriel could tell she was shaken by the idea.

“No, definitely not. If that had happened, the world would have already ended,” Ralsei waved the concern off, as if he hadn’t just been speaking about the end of the world. Angel! What was going on? “Besides, Noelle is a regular lightener, and a monster at that. She couldn’t have created a dark world that big. It usually takes several fountains before the imbalance reaches a critical point.”

“Right,” Susie relaxed her shoulders, looking relieved. “Right, yeah. When I woke up, it seemed like there was an end to the world. Like how the other ones are.”

“The issue is,” Ralsei continued. “Since there are no walls and ceiling to act as borders, we have no idea how big the dark world actually is. It could just take up a room-sized area on the street, or it could cover the whole town. Either way, there’s definitely a strong possibility that more lighteners have fallen in.”

“Damn, you’re right,” Susie clenched her fists around her ax. Toriel had been reluctant to let her keep that, but Susie seemed to know what she was doing in a fight better than Toriel herself. “And they could be anywhere, I mean, this place is HUGE.”

“Excuse me,” Toriel slowed down in order to fall in next to the two. Susie looked uncomfortable, allowing her hair to fall back over her eyes. Ralsei just smiled up at her politely. There was something disconcerting about that smile. “Before all this, Kris and I were in our house. Then, it was as if the sun itself went out. Every window in the house was just… dark. We came here by walking out the front door.”

“So at least this block. Crap, that’s not good,” Susie ran a stressed hand through her hair. “I don’t think I saw anyone walking around outside when I was with Noelle, but… that doesn’t mean much. I mean, a big black dome of inky void just appears in the middle of town? People are gonna touch it. And that’s assuming it didn’t swallow the entire town. Gah, this is so bad.”

Toriel looked down at Susie’s distressed expression. The worried frown on Ralsei’s face. The despondent, listless way Kris hung their head and walked along as they talked. She took a deep breath. No more confusion, no more relying on these children for answers. Because they WERE children. However lost Toriel felt, she could not show it anymore. She had to take charge.

“Well, our next course of action would be to get to a high vantage point,” Toriel said, mustering the most authoritative voice possible. “That way, we can have a lay of the land and decide on the fastest route to the… er, the Dark Fountain.”

Ralsei nodded. “That’s a good idea. Also, if there are any other lighteners that have fallen in, why might be able to spot them from up high. Kris, what do you think?”

Kris paused, giving a strangled sort of look, before forcing out, “No.”

Ralsei frowned. “Oh. Well--”

“I am afraid I did not make myself clear,” Toriel crossed her arms. “That was not a suggestion. It was an order. We will be going to a high vantage point and deciding how to proceed from there. That is the final word about it.” She almost didn’t catch it, but Ralsei looked… annoyed, for a moment, after Toriel so firmly shut down Kris’s opinion.

Susie coughed awkwardly. “Right. Well, I can see a ferris wheel not too far away. That’s probably our best bet.”

“Indeed,” Toriel agreed. “Although, we will need tickets. They seem to be quite valuable in this place. Kris and I were assaulted by bandits looking for tickets earlier.”

“Well, seeing as we can’t do that-- can we?” Susie glanced at Ralsei, who sighed and shook his head. “Well, had to ask. I’m sure there’s a place where we can buy some, and we all have some dark dollars left over from earlier, right?” Kris and Ralsei nodded. Toriel frowned at the mention of dark dollars, but checked her pockets, and lo and behold, there were some black slips of paper hidden in her robe.

“Well, there we are!” Toriel said, pleased to have some sort of direction. “We have a plan. Alright, single file behind me, please.”

Susie sighed, but the three teenagers complied and filed in behind her.

The perpetual chill of a late summer’s night accompanied Noelle as her hooves clopped against the stone floor as she wandered down some random hallway.

Her castle wasn’t really a castle. Like everything else here, it was a ride. After some wandering, she had discovered where the ride began. It was a sort of slow rollercoaster, that was more about watching the animatronics and decorations go by than a true rollercoaster. The animatronics bowed to her as she walked past. 

Not for the first time, she thought how much Dess would like to see this place. Where Noelle had been terrified to get on anything except the slowest children’s rides, Dess had always been an adrenaline junkie. She stuffed newspaper in her shoes to make her seem taller before she got her growth spurt. She was the one who always went on the most heart-stoppingly terrifying rides that she’d drag their father along with. And this place… well, it was the amusement park to end all amusement parks. 

Looking out on the balcony, Noelle could see rollercoasters and death-drops that were easily four times as large as anything that existed in her world. Dess would kill to be here.

“My lady!”

Noelle jumped, which was quite dangerous seeing how high up she was. Noelle clenched the fabric of her dress. “Berdly! You… surprised me.”

“Apologies, Noelle,” Berdly bowed his head solemnly. “I was trained in the art of stealth. It seems my excellent prowess in sneakiness has not left me. I will make an effort to be less excellent when walking towards you.”

“It’s alright,” Noelle smiled, his familiar self-aggrandizing calming her down. “I was just lost in thought. What was it you needed?”

“I’ve been hearing reports from some park-goers that lighteners have arrived,” Berdly said gravely. Noelle took in a sharp breath.

“Were any of them Susie?” Or even…

“I do not have solid descriptions of them yet, but from what you told me, it is very likely,” Berdly said. “Shall I scout out the park areas and try to find them?”

“No!” The word slipped out involuntarily. Noelle bit her lip, composing herself. “No. It’s too dangerous. I don’t want you getting hurt. Kris could be out there.” But Kris isn’t who he has to fear, a malevolent little voice inside her whispered. Kris isn’t the one who killed him.

“My lady, I assure you I can fend for myself!” Berdly protested. “The crossbow may be my weapon of choice, but I am trained in many forms of combat. Additionally, I have these--” He flapped his flaming wings once, twice. “--Part of combat training is knowing when to flee.”

If you’re going to hurt my friend Noelle--

Berdly, run away!

“No,” Noelle said firmly. “I can’t risk losing you. Send someone else.”

Berdly seemed to hesitate for a moment, then bowed low. “As always, I defer to your superior logic, my lady. I will send someone at once.”

Noelle took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

Chapter Text

You are feeling frustrated.

So far, this route has had minimal chance for exploration. The gameplay is boring. Toriel holds your hand the whole time and firmly tells everyone where to go. You’re sure there are a hundred hidden paths and dialogue boxes that you are missing. Perhaps you should have chosen to go without her?

Things only start to get interesting when you encounter… her.

The ticket exchange doesn’t go very well. It turns out, the lineup to the ticket stand is made up of hundreds of eager park goers, many that have been waiting in the line for days in order to get some tickets.

Ralsei tries to negotiate your way to the front of the line (bless his heart), but it quickly devolves into an all out brawl. Those dragonflies from before… you assumed they were being ridiculous, but it seems as if that in this world, tickets are a rare commodity that many are willing to go to any lengths to get.

“I thought I could reason with them!” Ralsei wailed, shifting into battle stance.

“You did your best, dear,” Toriel soothed, flames erupting around her fists. Magic seemed to come naturally to her. Did it have something to do with her being a boss monster?

“Maybe it was for the best,” Susie shrugged, taking out her battle ax. She turns to you. “The chaos might let us get to the tickets easier. Toriel and I can clear a path, then you and Ralsei sprint to the ticket booth. What do you think, Kris?”

Before you can even respond, Toriel steps forward, flames crackling around her fingers. “We should not put ourselves in unnecessary danger. We will find another way to get the tickets.”

“What?” Susie growled. “No, this is a perfect opportunity! There’s one way to get tickets here, and it’s from the ticket booth.”

“My primary concern is keeping you children safe,” Toriel said firmly.

“We’re not just dumb kids, we know how to fight!” Susie threw her hands in the air. “I’ve told you, we’ve done this before!”

“I…” Toriel hesitated, the flames around her fists flickering dimly. Susie glared at her impatiently.

“Alright, I’m way past asking for permission,” She stormed into the chaos of the all out brawl of park goers, ignoring Toriel’s protests. Swinging the flat side of her ax left and right, she knocks members out of the brawl out of her path and pummels forward.

Having no choice, Toriel dashes in after her. Darkeners shy away from the roaring flames enveloping her arms as she barreled after Susie.

“Well, that seems to be our cue,” Ralsei looks as you shrugging helplessly. “I’ll follow your lead, Kris.” You sigh. All the action is happening without you. You charge forward through the path cleared by Kris’s mother and Susie. Their distraction helps, but you still have to face a few enemies with only Ralsei for company. Now THIS is gameplay.

There’s no point in trying a pacifist route at this stage. You’re fully committed to the inherent violence in this route. You and Ralsei chop down everyone in your way. Kris stays silent. You almost wish they’d resist, push back in some kind of way. That would be more interesting. But no matter how many darkeners you cut down, Kris doesn’t protest. It’s almost like they’re not there anymore. Like they’ve given up. That would be disappointing. You were hoping to see more of them.

Despite your best efforts, you get cut off from Susie and Toriel, who barrel on ahead. Kris and Ralsei stand back to back, surrounded.

“Oh dear,” Fusses Ralsei, wringing his scarf. “They must not have noticed we fell behind. Kris, what should we do?”

Predictably, you don’t get a chance to respond. There are no choices here, after all. The surrounding park goers eye you greedily, a feral look in their eyes. They lunge forward, screeching something about tickets, but are blocked by a blue wall of spears.

Wait.

You recognize those.

“HANDS ON YOUR HEADS, PUNKS!”

Earlier in the day…

Undyne grumbled at the post-mortem report. Death by natural causes. Yeah, right. She squinted at it, as if looking at it the right way would reveal a hint or a clue. Nothing about it changed.

Something fishy was going on, she knew it in her gut. Literally nothing ever happens in this dead end town. Every day was the exact same. And then suddenly, some golden boy student drops dead out of nowhere? There had to be more to the story.

“um……….. miss undyne?”

“It just doesn’t make any sense!” Undyne stood up harshly, chair shoved away violently. “He had no history of health defects. His last checkup was two weeks ago, and he was completely fine then. And then suddenly he’s found collapsed in the library with zero brain activity?”

“miss undyne, i’m sorry to interrupt but………….”

“I’m not willing to settle this as just natural causes. There’s gotta be more to this,” She groused. Okay, maybe this was a little about the fact that this was the first actual case since she’d started the job, but still. Anyone with half a brain could see this was suspicious. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this, mark my words!”

“miss undyne, there’s a black hole eating our town.”

That got her attention. Undyne whipped her head around and stared at Napstablook, who floated nervously behind her.

“There’s a WHAT?”

“i’m so sorry that i interrupted you……… i know you have important work…….” They shrank in a little on themself, becoming slightly more transparent. “i wouldn’t have bothered you but…….. we keep getting calls……….. it seems pretty urgent……….. sorry……… i’ll go………………..”

“No, no, wait, go back to the bit about the black hole,” Undyne waved her hands hurriedly. “What the HELL is that supposed to mean?”

“um………… you better come see.”

“What the hell is that?”

Towering over them was an enormous dome of darkness. It seemed to be made out of the deepest essence of black, absorbing light rather than reflecting it. Something like smoke seemed to gently waft off of it. She couldn’t see through it, but Undyne could tell that it encompassed at least Toriel’s house and a large chunk of the road.

A crowd of people had gathered around it, taking pictures and chattering excitedly amongst themselves. First the death of a teenage boy, then some sort of black hole appearing in the middle of the town? Today was an exciting day for Hometown. The townies were lapping it up like starving dogs.

Undyne muscled her way to the front of the crowd, Napstablook trailing behind, passing through the townies like… well, like a ghost.

It was just as terrifying and anomalous up close. The wall of pitch black rose before her, reflecting neither her face nor the sunlight. But what really frightened her was…

“It’s getting bigger,” She whispered. Napstablook made a confused noise, but she wasn’t looking at them. She was looking at the ground, at the edge of the black dome. It was slow, almost imperceptible, but it creeped silently toward her feet.

“EVERYONE GET BACK!”

Shouts of alarm rose in the crowd as people heard the warning and followed her eyes to where the edge of the dome creeped forward at a snail’s pace.

“oh no………” Napstablook’s eyes widened in terror and they faded from view.

“Everyone, stay calm!” Undyne shouted above the clamour of panicked voices. It was no use. The towns people devolved into chaos, and--

--and there was only a moment of unsteadiness, barely a fraction of a second of realization as someone stumbled into her, and she toppled backwards into the abyss.

A park goer stumbled back in fright as Susie waved the blade of her ax warningly.

“Yeah, that’s right, stay back!” She snarled. They seemed to shake off their bloodlust, and scampered away from the crowd. Susie turned back to Toriel. “Any sign of ‘em?”

“No,” Toriel’s brow was creased in a troubling mix of worry and frustration. “We should not have left them behind.”

“They can handle themselves, trust me,” Susie said, ignoring the little voice in her head that whispered that maybe Kris could handle themself a little too well. “We’ve never lost a fight before.”

Toriel opened her mouth to say something that was probably very motherly and contradictory, but a familiar voice boomed across the chaotic clearing.

“HANDS ON YOUR HEADS, PUNKS!”

Toriel stared in the direction of the ridiculously loud voice. “Is that…?”

Melting out of the shadows, A figure in shining steel armor thumped the butt of a cyan spear against the ground. The ear piercing shout had drawn the attention of everyone, mob mentality be damned. The figure raised her faceplate to reveal a familiar blue face.

“Unless you want us to start serving kabobs with the buckets of popcorn, I’d suggest you all GET BACK IN LINE!” Seven more glowing cyan spears materialized in the air, pointed in all directions. Undyne’s piercing yellow eyes seemed to catch sight of Toriel. “And let THAT LADY in front of you all!”

There was a moment of stillness, where everyone just gazed up at the heavily armored warrior in shock.

“MOVE IT!” Undyne bellowed when no one followed her instructions. Suddenly, everyone was scrambling to get back in line, shoving and pushing to be as close to the front as possible. The group gaped at the scene unfolding in front of them. Toriel turned to Undyne with a look of relieved wonder.

“Officer, thank you for your help,” She bowed her head slightly, the flames on her hands dying out.

“Nah, no worries, Ms. Toriel,” Undyne saluted with a toothy grin. “You go on and get whatever you needed. I’ll stay and look after these punks.” Toriel smiled, and gracefully walked over to the front of the line, much to the chagrin of the many park goers.

Undyne dismissed her spear, and pulled her arm across her body in a stretch. Her armor clanked loudly as she did so. “Man, that was awesome. Wish my actual job involved more of that,” Her bright yellow eyes squinted at the teens in front of her. “Weren’t you guys different colours before?”

Susie had stars in her eyes as she gazed up at Undyne’s imposing figure. “Will you adopt me?”

“What?”

“What? Nothing, um--” Susie squared her shoulders and coughed. “Yeah, for some reason everyone becomes different colours here. It’s weird.”

“Where is here, by the way? Some sort of weird magic pocket dimension?” Undyne’s face brightened. “Is this an isekai?”

“Um,” Ralsei stepped forward. “Hello, m’am. I’m not sure what an isekai is, but you’re in a dark world. I’m Prince Ralsei, a darkner! Pleased to meet you.” He stuck a fluffy paw out. Undyne frowned down at him, then shook the paw with a gauntleted hand.

“A dark world, huh? Wild,” She said.

“How’d you get here?” Susie asked.

“Well, I was just outside, and there was a huge ruckus. People were going nuts, and like, hardly anything happens in Hometown, so I thought I should check it out,” Undyne began, her red eyebrows furrowing. “Turns out, there was this enormous black dome just sitting in the middle of town. It ate your house, by the way.” She nodded towards Kris.

“Dammit, it’s like I said,” Susie grunted. “The whole street got got.”

“Yeah, that’s not even the worst part,” Undyne clenched her fists, sharp teeth showing in a grimace. “Before I fell in, I coulda sworn I saw it getting bigger.”

“It was getting BIGGER?!” Ralsei yelped, his eyes widening in alarm. “Oh no. Oh, this is very bad. This is worse than I thought.”

“What?” Susie snapped, a hint of alarm showing through.

“They’re not supposed to get bigger! Who knows if or when it will stop?” Ralsei panicked, wringing his scarf. “It could swallow your whole town, or maybe even the world! Noelle is far more powerful than I thought she was.”

“Noelle? What’s she got to do with this?” Undyne asked incredulously. Susie patted her on her armored metal arm.

“I’ll catch you up later.”

Chapter Text

Captain Blazebow was feeling great!

He stepped out of the front gates of the Angel’s castle with a stride in his step, arms swinging by his side. After all, what was there to feel sad about? He was the most prestigious and skilled warrior in all the lands, a phoenix that had risen from the ashes! And he was the right hand to the Queen, the Angel, the Lady Noelle. He had tested his mettle in gladiator rings and dungeons, had gone on dangerous quests and defeated the most terrible of foes. Whatever came his way, he would be able to protect her.

He was sure of it.

The Asphalt Soldiers he had recruited stood to attention as he approached, their stone armor scraping in a chorus.

“Sir!” Sergeant Samment saluted.

“At ease, Sergeant,” Blazebow adjusted his glasses, staring at the soldiers lined up in front of him. “What a fine crew you have here!”

“They’re the best we have, sir!” Samment replied proudly. “What can we do for you?”

“The Angel has a personal request of you,” Blazebow said, flapping his flaming wings for emphasis. “She wants you to find her friends who have gotten lost in the park. Here is a list of their names and descriptions. This is a peaceful mission. She just wants you to locate her friends, and bring them to the castle. They’ll surely want to see her.” He handed the sergeant a piece of paper Noelle had scribbled on shortly before.

“No use of force necessary, sir? Then why recruit us?” Samment frowned, squinting down at the paper. Blazebow had stared at the sketch of the one called Kris longer than was probably appropriate, feeling a chill for reasons he couldn’t place.

“Well, it’s as I’ve said before, men. The Demon is out there, possessing the form of a Knight. You must take caution, and protect her friends from danger,” A barely noticeable shudder passed through the forms of the soldiers. They had all heard stories of that barbaric creature. “In addition to that, the park simply isn’t safe. There have been reports of… unrest among the park-goers. Bandits robbing people for tickets, and the populace fighting amongst themselves in desperation to acquire more tickets.”

“I heard there was a riot recently at one of the ticket stands!” One of the soldiers piped up. “An all out brawl, it was.”

“I don’t understand it, sir,” The sergeant shook his head. “There is no starvation, no poverty here. Housing and food is provided to all. Why are they still willing to hurt one another?”

Blazebow sighed. “They crave entertainment. Living is not merely having a roof over one’s head, or a meal in your belly. That’s surviving. These people live smack dab in the middle of the greatest amusement park the world has ever seen. Games and rides surround them everywhere they look. They’d never be content with just watching from the sidelines, they need to be a part of it. It’s what they’re here for.”

Sergeant Samment hummed curiously. “Well, we’ll keep vigilant. We’ll try to sort out any issues we come across while looking for those friends of her majesty’s. And of course, once we find them, we won’t let any harm come to them. Any friends of the Angel are under our protection.”

Captain Blazebow grinned proudly. “There’s no one I trust more to lead this expedition than you, dear Sergeant!” He preened. “Aside myself, of course. Safe travels!”

Sergeant Samment blushed as he saluted, then turned to shout orders to his Asphalt Soldiers as they prepared to move out. Blazebow watched as they marched away with a smile, then turned his gaze to the Park below.

What a strange and wonderful place.

On principle, Susie didn’t trust cops.

There were a variety of reasons she could list, in alphabetical order, why people paid by the government to hold guns and point them at their own citizens were to be avoided.

But Hometown wasn’t like the big city. The department was woefully understaffed, if you could even call it that with the lack of crime in the town. There was one jail cell that was rarely used, and a couple of officers who sat around until a traffic jam happened or a cat got stuck in a tree. Susie wasn’t afraid of them, and she certainly wasn’t afraid to playfully antagonize them once in a while when she got bored. They were a cartoon version of cops, watered down and unintimidating.

That said, Susie was relieved Undyne was here. Toriel was nice, but Susie needed an adult who wouldn’t shrug off anything that implicated her child. Undyne was tough, and more importantly, she was unbiased.

Which was why Susie needed her alone.

“Hey, we should stock up on food,” Susie said, just as the rest of the gang was planning to head off. “Dunno about you guys, but I definitely chewed through a few bagels during that.”

“I suppose it is a good idea to have some provisions before we head to the ferris wheel,” Toriel mused.

“Yeah, I’m chock full of good ideas,” Susie waved a hand dismissively. “Why don’t, uh, Captain here and I go and get some? I saw a corndog stand back there.”

Ralsei frowned. “Is it wise to split up? We--” He saw Susie’s pointed look and his eyes widened. “Actually, that’s a splendid idea, Susie! Undyne doesn’t have much experience in dark worlds anyways.” Susie snorted. Nice catch.

“Are you sure? Perhaps we should all go, just to be safe,” Toriel worried, her forehead creased.

“We’ve got like, five people in our group now. Not everyone needs to go shopping,” Susie rolled her eyes, hoping she was selling her nonchalance. Kris’s face was unreadable. “Seriously, I’ve got the good ol’ Captain with me, we’ll be fine. Right, Cap?”

“I’ll skewer anyone who gets too close,” Undyne nodded, clearly enjoying her newfound magical abilities far too much.

“You shouldn’t…” Toriel sighed. “Well, if you say so, Susie.”

Susie beamed up at her for that extra helping of trust. Ralsei quietly handed off some dark dollars with a concerned look on his face. Susie tried to give him a reassuring smile, but probably showed too many teeth.

“C’mon, Cap. I want those corndogs,” Susie patted her on her armored arm, mostly just to be able to touch it again. Man it was cool. Why didn’t she get anything like that?

Once they were out of earshot, Susie leaned in conspiratorially. “Captain, this is important. I’m going to tell you a buncha important information, but I need you to laugh like I said something funny,” There was a brief moment of confusion in Undyne’s eyes, but to her credit, she threw her head back and guffawed loudly.

“What’s so funny that we have to be whispering for this?” Undyne asked, keeping a jovial expression on her face as they walked towards the corndog stand.

“I’m going to give you a bunch of really weird info really fast, so try to just nod along and not interrupt,” Susie whispered, then ended it with a forced laugh, gaze briefly flickering over to where Kris was watching. “Two days ago was when Kris and I first discovered these dark worlds. There’s an entrance to one in the storage closet at school. It was just me and ‘em for that day. Couldn’t have been more than six hours that we were in there, give or take. We bonded over it, you know? It was this magical secret world just for the two of us.”

“The kid that looks like Asriel said something about fountains?” Undyne asked.

“Yeah, those are basically what give the dark world form. Ralsei gave us a whole spiel about the balance between light and dark, and how if there are too many dark fountains, it could end the world,” Susie explained, though this was the part that got her confused. “You make ‘em by… stabbing the ground, I guess? I don’t really get it, but the point is our last couple of quests have been to get to the dark world’s fountain and seal it using Kris’s SOUL, because apparently only human SOULs work on fountains for some reason. You following so far?”

Undyne’s brow furrowed. “Kinda.”

Susie shrugged, “Good enough. This is where things get dicey. Yesterday, another dark world showed up in the computer lab in the library. Both Noelle and Berdly fell into it. I only saw Berdly once in the dark world before he… anyways, at some point, we all split up. I had no idea where Noelle was, but Ralsei and I went down one path, while Kris went down another. I didn’t see them for a couple hours after that, but when we saw each other again, they were acting… weird.”

“Weird how?” Undyne asked, looking like she wanted to be taking notes.

“I dunno! It’s hard to describe, they’re always acting weird,” Susie struggled to find the right words. “They were definitely upset about something. They were all tense and withdrawn. They looked like they’d just seen something horrifying.”

Undyne’s yellow eyes widened, and she had to take a moment to school her face into something calmer. “Do you think they were there for--”

“Hold on, I’m not done yet,” Susie hissed, then glanced around, as if afraid someone was listening. “Anyways, we joined up, and we went through the palace. I found Noelle at some point, and she was also acting weird. She was scared out of her mind of something and… I hate to say it, but she was straight up delusional. I thought she was weirded out by the craziness of the dark world, so I told her it was just a dream, and I got her to calm down. Anyways, some other crap happened, but eventually we got Kris to close the fountain. We woke up in the computer room, and Noelle seemed convinced that everything had been just a dream. But here’s the kicker, Berdly wouldn’t wake up.”

“What?” Undyne’s eyebrows shot up, and she startled the person in front of her in line for a corndog. “Why didn’t you--”

“We all thought he was just asleep at the time,” Susie shifted uncomfortably. “We assumed-- well, I mean, now I know he wasn’t just asleep, but I had no reason to think… damn, I should have figured.”

“Hey, not your fault, kiddo,” Undyne patted her on the shoulder with a gauntleted hand. “No one’s expecting you to check the pulse of everyone taking a nap.”

Susie nodded and calmed her breathing. “Anyways,” She continued. “Later that day, Kris and I visited the hospital. Which was weird, but I’m usually chill with following them around on whatever they want to do. We ran into Noelle and she was terrified, but like, not in her usual way. I didn’t hear, but Kris must have said something to her, because she ran out of there like her tail was on fire. At the time, I thought she was just afraid of me, ‘cause like… everyone’s afraid of me. But now I’m thinkin’...”

“...Maybe something happened with Kris and her that’s connected to Berdly’s death?” Undyne suggested, and Susie nodded numbly.

“Yeah. Anyways, I went to Kris’s house to watch a movie afterwards. The next morning, Toriel sat us down to tell us that Berdly was dead. Noelle ran out into the street, and when I caught up to her, she said something like… “You said it was a dream. If it was a dream, then why is Berdly dead?”. I tried to calm her down, but then she took out her pin and made this dark world. I haven’t seen her since. And that’s pretty much it.” She’d left out a lot, actually, but these were the main sticking points that the captain needed to know.

Captain Undyne scratched the back of her neck as they arrived at the end of the lineup. Interestingly enough, the corn dogs being sold here were actual corn, shaped like a pointy eared dog. Susie took over paying as Undyne mulled the information over in her head, glancing up at the captain nervously as she piled several corndogs into a bag, grabbing one to eat. Tasted like corn.

“Has Kris said anything about it since then?” Undyne asked finally as they moved out of line and into the crowd of parkgoers.

Susie shook her head. “I tried to ask them about it, but they refused to answer me. Then Ms. Toriel stepped in and told me to back off. She doesn’t want to admit that Kris might have been involved.”

“Okay, yeah, all this is definitely really suspicious,” Undyne weaved her way slowly through the darkners, purposefully going slow and bumping into as many people as possible. Susie mimicked her, hoping to lengthen their time alone. “But why would Kris and Noelle kill Berdly, or at least see him die and not say anything? They don’t have beef with him, do they?”

“Nah, they were his best friends,” Susie said with a grimace. “I never got the appeal, but Kris apparently games with him like every week, and Noelle’s his study buddy. I’d get it if it was something weird and they didn’t wanna tell any adults, but Kris won’t even talk to ME.

“Well if they won’t talk to you, they definitely won’t talk to me,” Undyne grunted. “Keep holdin’ on, kid. I’ll try to get Toriel alone and talk to her. See if Kris has said anything to her.”

Susie breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. Cool. Cool. Cool. Awesome, thanks,” She glanced up at Undyne’s towering form. “Never thought I’d say this about a cop, but I’m actually glad you’re here.”

“Captain Undyne, coming to the rescue!” Undyne grinned toothily down at Susie. “Hopefully we find that Holiday kid soon, maybe she can clear things up.”

Susie looked up at the ferris wheel, glowing bright against the pitch black sky. She thought of Noelle’s terrified face, the way she trembled violently, her breath coming out of her in panicked gasps. She thought of how she’d clutched at Susie like she might get torn away.

“Yeah. Me too.”

Chapter Text

The ferris wheel was massive. Ralsei had to crane his head to see the top. It shimmered with lights and rocking carriages. The outer circle seemed to be painted with a snake with glimmering scales, eating its own tail. It didn’t seem to be spinning.

“Well, there’s our high vantage point,” Susie said, squinting up at the top. “We have our tickets?”

“Yes, pardon me, children,” Toriel squeezed in front of the line and held out her tickets to the ticket officer. He had a gnarled, wooden face, and clothing made from orange leaves. He looked over the group, then opened the gate and gestured to the carriages.

They were small, probably only meant to fit four people. They could all squeeze into one, but--

“May I go with Kris alone?” Ralsei asked, tentatively raising a hand.

Toriel startled, looking like she’d forgotten he was there. She squinted down at him, scrutinizing him with her motherly instincts.

“Well, if Kris is alright with that,” She said grudgingly. Ralsei turned to his stoic friend.

“Would you like to ride with me, Kris?” He asked, smiling sunnily.

There was a long pause before Kris uttered a: “Yes.” and climbed into a carriage. Ralsei moved to follow, but was elbowed by Susie.

“Dude, what are you doing?” She hissed.

“Trust me, I have a plan,” Ralsei whispered back, placing a paw on her arm. She glanced at Kris, then stared at Ralsei for a moment, then nodded.

“I’ll go with Toriel then,” Undyne said. “You wanna come with, kid? Enough room in the carriage for all three of us.”

“Spend the whole ride with two adults?” Susie scoffed. “Nah. I’ll take my own ride.” She hopped in a carriage by herself and shut the door. Undyne shrugged, and helped Toriel into their own carriage.

Ralsei took a breath and steeled himself, then climbed into the carriage with Kris and locked the door.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the ferris wheel slowly started moving. The amusement park began to fall beneath them, the lights of the festival flickering to the horizon. Ralsei pulled his gaze to Kris, who sat across from him.

“Well, this is nice,” He said. “We haven’t had much time to ourselves since we got to this dark world.”

Kris, predictably, did not respond.

“It’s a dire situation we’re in, to be sure,” He pressed on. “I’m particularly concerned about Noelle. She was not one of the prophesied heroes, so I neglected to interact with her much. Perhaps that was a mistake. I should have kept an eye on her, made sure she understood the gravity of the situation.”

More silence. Well, time for the kicker. He hoped this would work.

“It’s incredibly important we find her,” He continued. “She’s your friend, isn’t she? Are you wondering how she’s doing right now?”

Something shifted in Kris. Did they realize what he was doing? “Yes.” They said.

“Well then, why don’t we close our eyes…” He said, trembling slightly. “And think about what she’s doing right now?”

He held his breath and Kris closed their eyes and…

There!

A flash of red zipped out of their chest.

You watch the SOUL flash across the screen, giddy. Finally! You’ve been waiting to see Noelle for this whole chapter. She was the most interesting part of the last one.

You arrive in her body in midair. It takes a second for you to comprehend what you’re seeing. She’s flying? When did she get wings? And that outfit is definitely new.

Alright, she’s definitely flying. Enormous angel wings stretch out from her back as she soars in circles around… is that a castle? You think you saw a silhouette of a castle in the background somewhere.

Alright, so she has wings and a halo. That has to mean something. You--

What is that joining her? A flash of orange, it’s… Berdly?

“Stretching your wings, my lady?” This new character says, flying up next to her. He looks like Berdly if Berdly was cool. Are those wings of fire? That’s sick.

“Just practicing,” Noelle says. “I’m not used to having wings. Have you found them yet?”

“Not yet, but my soldiers say they’re hot on their trail,” Fire Berdly says. “Would you like to join me for a fly around the park? We needn’t land, and that demon knight won’t be able to catch us up here.”

Two dialogue options pop up. One says “Yes, let’s go” and the other says “I’d rather stay here”. Curious, you pick the former option. Rather than taking the command, Noelle stiffens.

“Did you say something?” She asks, halting to a hover, wings flapping rhythmically.

Fire Berdly tilts his head, confused. “I asked if you wanted to go for a fly with me, my lady.”

“No, it wasn’t--” Noelle takes a sharp breath. “Ask me something else. A yes or no question.”

“Oh, erm…” Fire Berdly frowned. “Do you… like the view?”

Again, two options pop up. “Yes, it’s beautiful” and “No, I hate it”. You press the former, eager to see where this is going.

Noelle’s eyes go wide. “It’s THEM!” She hisses. “They’re here!”

“Who is?” Fire Berdly asks, raising a crossbow.

“Them!” Noelle insists. “Kris-- I mean, not Kris. The knight! The demon knight! I can hear them!”

Fire Berdly flies in a quick circle around Noelle, holding the crossbow at the ready. “Where? I can’t see them!”

“But I can hear them! They--” She stops, then looks down at her chest. Her eyes narrow. She raises a shaky hand, then plunges it into her chest. A flash of light, then her hand comes out clutching the SOUL.

“You!” She growls, knuckles going white with the intensity of her grip. “What did you do to Kris?”

You can’t answer, not without a vessel. You suddenly worry that she’s going to shatter the SOUL, and then that will be it. You try to move, and the SOUL shudders in her hand. Noelle puts a second hand over the SOUL, but you’re already loosening the grip. Despite her best efforts, you’re able to do one final tug, and the SOUL breaks free from her hands. A flaming arrow whizzes past in the air, and the SOUL wastes no time getting out of there.

There’s a red blur across the screen, and--

“So!” Undyne’s armor clunked loudly as she shifted in her seat. She placed her spear down next to her, but did not dismiss it. “This place is crazy, huh?”

Toriel had her paws folded neatly in her lap. “Indeed. I wonder why they did not tell us about it. Another world, filled with danger and magic, hiding in the shadows of our town? They should have spoken to an adult.”

Undyne grunted. “I guess, but would we have believed them?”

Toriel tilted her head, considering. “I suppose that is a fair point,” She frowned. “I still do not like the idea of Kris going here without my knowing.”

Undyne hummed. How to approach accusing someone’s child of being involved with murder? “How is Kris these days, anyways?” She asked casually. “Tough being without their brother, I’m sure.”

“Kris is coping just fine, thank you,” Toriel answered primly. She hesitated. “Although, they have been more… reclusive than usual.”

“Right. Makes sense,” Undyne nodded thoughtfully. “They’re a good kid, but it’d be tough on anyone. Especially since they’re… you know. The only human in town.”

Toriel stiffened. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Just that they must be pretty lonely,” Undyne shrugged. “Only one of their kind in a small town, suddenly their brother leaves? Must suck. Especially now that they’ve lost a close friend.”

Ah, there we go. She’d struck a nerve. Grief pooled into Toriel’s expression. It must be painful, as a mother and a teacher, to lose a former student like that. Undyne felt a twinge of guilt for bringing it up, but shoved it down. She had a job to do.

“Yes,” Toriel took in a raggedy breath. “I am concerned about how Kris is taking the death of Berdly. It is like… they aren’t there anymore. As if someone has hollowed them out. They do not look at me the same way. I worry, but they will not speak to me about it.”

Undyne leaned forward, folding her hands. Well, that was a dead end. She didn’t seem to be lying, which meant Kris hadn’t told her anything either. Maybe she should have taken a carriage with Kris and interrogated the kid herself.

She took a breath. “Toriel, I’m going to be straight with you. I’ve already talked to Susie and Ralsei, and they both have an alibi. Kris doesn’t.”

Toriel bristled. “An alibi? Kris does not need an alibi. Berdly’s death was of natural causes.”

“Oh yeah? Perfectly healthy teen boy just drops dead in a library?” Undyne scoffed. “Come on. You’re smarter than that.”

“If you are accusing Kris of murder--”

“I’m not,” Undyne interrupted. “I don’t see a motive there. But they do know something. I’m willing to bet something happened the last time they were all in a dark world, something that both Kris and Noelle were there for. I know this is difficult to hear, but the fact is that the two of them were unaccounted for, and then the next time anyone saw Berdly, he was comatose and slumped over a desk.”

Toriel went quiet. Undyne pressed on. “Natural causes? Do you really think that? What about this--” She gestured outside the carriage, to the view of the impossibly large and strange amusement park below them. “--seems natural to you? This is the first big case of my career, hell, this is the biggest thing to happen to Hometown since that Holiday kid went missing. And unlike that, I will not let this trail run cold. So if there’s anything that can help me find out what happened, then you need to tell me.” She knew she was twisting the knife in deep by mentioning the Dess incident, but by the Angel, she was not going to let Berdly go without justice.

By this point Toriel had put her face in her hands. She was silent for a few painfully long moments. The air rustled Undyne’s scarlet hair, the cold reaching inside her armor. They were very high up now.

“I have tried very hard,” Toriel finally said, raising her face from her hands. “To be a good mother.”

Undyne softened a little. “Yeah, I know.”

Toriel wiped her face and took a shaky breath. “Kris has not spoken to me at all about the incident. But this morning, when Noelle came over… I swear, when she saw Kris, she looked terrified of them. Even before I told everyone about Berdly’s death, she looked at them with such fear, and sat as far away from them as she could, despite them being friends. I am not sure if this is helpful…”

Undyne nodded slowly. “No, it is. This helps a lot. When we find the Holiday girl, maybe she’ll be more loose lipped than Kris, and we’ll finally get some answers. Thanks,” She glanced up. “You think you could talk with Kris about this? If they’re going to talk to anyone, it’s got to be you.”

“I will try, captain,” Toriel sighed. “But I feel as if I do not know them any longer.”

Kris wheezed as they gained control of their body. Everything ached, all their muscles trembled. They could remember a time when they’d craved control, but these moments without their SOUL were just so painful that it didn’t seem worth it anymore.

They raised their head weakly, clutching at their bright cyan arms. Ralsei had a paw out, his face concerned.

“Wh…” Kris coughed, trying to force the words out. Their mind felt sluggish, and their tongue like lead in their mouth. “Why did you… send it away?”

Ralsei wrung his scarf nervously. “I had to! I… Kris, what happened to Berdly?”

A pang came from hearing his name, physical pain, like a punch to the gut. Kris doubled over, wheezing.

“He died,” They grunted, thinking of that castle in Minecrap they never got to finish. Idiot. Why didn't he run away?

“Kris, I know you don’t like me very much, but it is imperative that you tell me everything you know,” Ralsei insisted. “The whole world may depend on it!”

There was no logical reason for Kris to be stubborn about this. In fact, they should probably spill the beans while the SOUL was off doing whatever. But Kris wasn’t in the mood to be logical. They were in the mood for curling up into a ball and sinking to the bottom of the ocean. “Fuck you,” They gritted out.

To his credit, Ralsei wasn’t even fazed. “Don’t be like that. I’m serious. Everything is going wrong, I need to know what happened with Berdly and how that connects to Noelle creating this dark world.”

Kris coughed. They knew he was right, but dammit, it was just so hard to think like this. They struggled to put the events of the previous day together. It got… hazy, at some point. When they realized what was happening, they retreated into themself. It was easier to pretend it wasn’t happening.

“The SOUL, it was… I dunno, leading her around or something,” They wheezed. “Kept on telling her to freeze people. Spamton got involved at some point. Sorry, this is hard, I…”

“No, no, this is good. Keep going,” Ralsei encouraged.

“She was… getting stronger. It was weird, she wasn’t herself anymore,” Kris continued, with some difficulty. The details were murky. It was like trying to recall a dream. “Then Berdly showed up and…”

Ralsei leaned forward. “And what?”

“And she killed him,” Kris rasped. Ralsei put a paw to his mouth, shocked. “He tried to protect her, but the SOUL told her to do it. So she did.” Kris remembered… white. So much white. Berdly’s last cry, before the snow faded, and a pillar of crystalline ice stood in his place. It hurt to think about, so Kris didn’t. Or, they tried not to. “She left after that.”

Ralsei nodded, his paws shaking in his lap. “Okay. Okay. I think the pieces are starting to come together. When Berdly died in the light world, she must have realized this place was real, and tried to bring him back by creating a dark world.”

Kris could do nothing but nod. They felt like vomiting. Last night, they’d almost taken the SOUL out and made a dark world themself. They’d planned to slash their mom’s tires, open a fountain. A risky plan to get both their mom and the police involved, maybe prevent the SOUL from doing anything bad again. But they just couldn’t find the energy, and instead let themself drift off to sleep. Blissful nothingness.

Well, mom and the police captain were both here anyway. Maybe Ralsei would tell them what happened, and they’d do the right thing and lock them up so they couldn’t hurt anyone anymore. Then the SOUL would get bored and leave.

“This isn’t the way things were supposed to go,” Ralsei was tugging at his ears. “Oh dear, oh dear. Kris, I’m going to fix this, okay? I will find a way to set things right.”

Kris raised their head, dark blue hair falling all over their face. “How?”

“Just trust me,” Ralsei said. He glanced up, and seemed to be waiting for something. “It’s as I said last time we spoke, the whole world is counting on you--”

“So that’s why…” Ralsei says as you regain control of Kris. He blinks at you and doesn’t finish whatever he was going to say. Sneaky bastard.

The ferris wheel had apparently made a full circle while you were gone. The carriage slows to a halt at the bottom, and the wooden person from earlier walks over to let you out of the carriage.

Toriel, Undyne, and Susie have all already gotten out and are waiting for you at the bottom. You follow Ralsei out of your carriage and approach the group.

“Alright, guys, anyone have any idea on where to go now that we’ve gotten alay of the land?” Susie asks, crossing her arms. Ralsei, Toriel, and Undyne all exchange awkward glances. “...Am I seriously the only one who actually did what we came here to do?”

“Apologies, child, we were… busy. With private matters,” Toriel gives an apologetic smile.

Susie grimaces. “Ew, gross.”

You chuckle as you see Undyne flush at the implications.

“So, what did you find, Susie?” Ralsei asked.

“Well it’s not like I saw Noelle flying around or anything,” Susie grunts. “But I did see the dark fountain coming from a medieval section of the park in that direction,” She points down one path. “And in our experience, the big castles are usually where the important stuff happens anyways.

“Good point,” Ralsei laughs. “Shall we head off, then?”

“Seems like as good a plan as any,” Undyne says, shrugging. She glances at Toriel for confirmation. Toriel has a distant look in her eyes and takes a moment to respond.

“Right, yes. Good job, Susie,” She says, patting Susie on the head. “We will try to look for Noelle, but as Ralsei explained, closing the fountain should be our priority. Let us depart.” She takes your hand, and the group sets off once more.

Chapter Text

Fondly, Toriel once again remembered the day Kris came home for the first time.

It was a big decision, one she and Asgore did not take lightly. Hometown was a monster town, first and foremost. Humans had passed through before, but not a single one lived here. The pair of them knew how much of an adjustment it would be. There was even talk of staying in another town for a little while, to help Kris be comfortable

Asriel, barely eight at the time, had been so excited when he found out, bless him. He came home from school every day asking whether Kris had arrived yet. He had organized what would be their shared room all by himself, lovingly picking out bedsheets and choosing which toys to give to Kris. His eagerness had fueled Toriel through all of the paperwork and phone calls. 

The day arrived, and Toriel had decided to drive out of town to pick Kris up on her own. Asriel could be… overwhelming, and someone needed to stay home with him while the other left. It was decided, and Toriel had set out on the road, leaving Hometown for the first time since college.

She remembered pulling up to the building, steeling herself as her hands shook from their place at the wheel. Teetering on the edge between nervousness and joy, she entered the building, her fur and horns drawing stares from the humans who worked there. A polite woman shook her hand and led her through a series of doors before finally coming up what Toriel had worked for months to see.

A small child, unruly brown hair falling all around them. They wore a simple t-shirt and shorts, and look down at their feet, wringing the fabric of their shirt. Toriel was already imagining the sweater she’d knit to make them match with Asriel. The woman urged them to say hi, but they stayed silent. The woman began to apologize for them, but Toriel told her there was no need.

She held out her hand. A wary glance up through their tangled bangs. Kris took it.

They were quiet the whole drive home. But she thought she saw a smile when they stopped for burgers and fries on the way.

They were shy upon arriving at the house, meeting Asriel’s overbearing excitement and Asgore’s well meaning hospitality with nervous wringing of their shirt. But Toriel would never forget the look on their face as they ate their first bite of her homemade pie.

She knew, when she saw that look, that she would protect this child with every fibre of her being for as long as she drew breath.

Toriel thought on this as they walked through the neon streets of the carnival. Some obstacles had been faced, vandals or feral animals attacking them for their food or money, but she was able to blast them away fairly quickly. In fact, it surprised her how easy it was to hurt people when they tried to attack Kris. It was like a reflex, the way flames erupted from her hands and burned the danger away. This troubled her.

What also troubled her were all the little things she noticed about Kris that were… off, somehow. They were more talkative, for example. This on its own was not strictly cause for concern, she had encouraged Kris to be more confident when talking to strangers. But now Kris was pulling away from her hand to speak to people. And when they did, it was more like an interrogation than an actual conversation. The way some of the words came out were… strained, somehow. It wasn’t right. All life seemed to have bled from them, despite how talkative they were now.

They didn’t snack anymore. They seemed to want to conserve their food for fights, which was logical, but it also wasn’t like Kris. Kris would happily munch on anything they got their hands on.

Their grip on her hand was loose, despondent. They looked tired, but never seemed to want to stop for a break. They never got thirsty.

Kris drew into themself during times of grief. Toriel knew this, they had grown hollow and passionless in the months following Dess’s disappearance. They didn’t cry, they just seemed to go on autopilot. This was different. They were different. And it scared her.

Finally, after about 20 minutes of walking, she let herself and Kris fall to the back of the group in order to get some privacy. Undyne nodded to her as she walked past.

“Kris,” She began gently, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice. “I would like to speak with you about something important. Is that alright?”

There was a short pause, then Kris answered with a strained: “Yes.”

“I know you have been grieving for Berdly,” She said, carefully watching for a reaction. Kris flinched slightly, but otherwise kept their despondent posture and blank face. “And I understand that you wish to avoid speaking about it. But I am worried about you, my child. I am your mother, and I love you.”

Kris looked up at her. “I love you too,” They said, sounding genuine for the first time that day. She smiled. There they were.

“And as your mother,” Toriel continued. “You must know you can tell me anything. Anything at all. I can tell you have been holding some things inside, but you do not have to do that with me. Whatever happens, I will always be here to protect you.”

No response that time. Maybe she needed to be more forward.

“Kris,” she pressed, squeezing their hand. “Do you know what happened to Berdly?”

Another pause, this one stretching out longer. Finally, they squeezed her hand back and uttered: “Yes.”

Toriel’s breath caught in her throat. “Did someone kill him?”

“Yes.”

“Who?

A shudder went through Kris from head to toe, Then they stilled, hand going loose in hers. 

“Noelle.”

The heat left Toriel’s body. The words Kris spoke didn’t seem like English for a moment, unable to be processed by her mind. She thought of the Kris that ate their first pie all those years ago, and the Kris holding her hand now. She thought of poor, sweet Noelle, weeping quietly into Toriel’s dress when the station announced that they were giving up their search for Dess, and she thought of the Noelle from earlier that day. The look of horror on her face when Toriel had broken the news about Berdly.

She tried to reconcile these different versions of these children she knew, and found that she couldn’t. Noelle the sweet and innocent fawn, and Noelle the murderer of her friend? That couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. But Kris, shy and childish and kind, would not lie to their mother. They wouldn’t. Two children. Two angels, pure and innocent. Involved in a murder? Those two facts could not coexist. You could not be kind and a killer.

Before Toriel could even begin to formulate a response, she startled to awareness as the sound of stone scraping against stone surrounded them. A ring of soldiers, with armour that looked to be made of cement, created a heavily weaponized circle around them.

Flames erupted from her clenched fists on instinct. The rest of their group had bunched up into a defendable huddle, Undyne having already summoned about a dozen glowing cyan spears. Kris held aloft their sword, Susie whipped out her enormous axe, and Ralsei raised his hands in a preparatory manner.

One of these cement soldiers stepped forward, a coloured chalk symbol on their breastplate probably indicating that they were the leader. They unfurled a sheet of paper that seemed to have a scribbled sketch of Susie on it.

“Are you Susie?” The soldier asked, facing the young teen.

Susie bared her teeth. “So what if I am?”

“You need to come with me,” The soldier said, rolling up the paper again. “The Queen would like to see you.”

Susie raised her axe menacingly. “Whoever she is, she can come get me herself. Now beat it, or I beat you.”

The soldier raised both hands placatingly. “We mean you no harm, I assure you,” They said, though that stone hammer hanging at their belt seemed to imply otherwise. “My name is Sergeant Samment. We were sent by Queen Noelle to escort you and your two friends to the castle.”

Susie lowered her axe, eyes widening. “You know where Noelle is?” She asked, as the rest of the group relaxed slightly. Toriel allowed the flames around her fists to die down to a simmer.

“Indeed, she urgently awaits your arrival,” Sergeant Samment said, then turned their head to Toriel and Undyne. “She did not describe the two of you, however.”

Susie sighed and dismissed her axe in a poof of purple flames. “Yeah, they came later. She didn’t know they were here, but she’ll probably want to see ‘em too.”

“You know, if you didn’t want us to think we were attacking you, maybe you shouldn’t have circled us with a literal army,” Undyne grumbled, dismissing the floating spears, but keeping the one in her hand. Sergeant Samment looked to the side, seemingly embarrassed.

“That is true. We apologize. Soldier’s instincts,” They said stiffly. They then turned to the gathered soldiers and signaled them to surround the group in a protective manner, and gestured to the rest of them to move out.

Toriel breathed a sigh of relief from the avoidance of conflict, then moved to take Kris’s hand.

Kris flinched away.

Toriel startled, then realized her hand was still smouldering, covered with a thin plume of red flame. She frowned at it, murmuring a quick apology to Kris, then tried to dispel the fire.

It wouldn’t go.

She shook her hand and tried again, but the flames burned stubbornly on.

“You okay?” Undyne asked. Toriel blinked up at her. The back wall of soldiers was right behind her, waiting for her to move forward.

“Yes, of course,” She said, hiding her softly burning paws in her long sleeves, silently grateful that her own robes could not catch on fire. She whispered to Kris that they could go on ahead of her, and they began walking, Toriel and Undyne following behind them.

Her hands didn’t hurt. In fact the crackling flames were almost soothing. What troubled her was that she couldn’t hold Kris’s hand.

THWIP!

An arrow sailed through the air, the tip sparkling red against the dark sky. It left a trail of smoke behind it.

It arced beautifully, and landed neatly in the centre of a target some 120 feet away.

Captain Blazebow pumped a fist in the air. “Bullseye! As expected, of course,” He turned toward Noelle. “Did you see that, my lady?”

Noelle stood pensively behind him, a faint breeze rustling her dress and the feathers of her wings. Captain Blazebow wondered briefly where the wind came from. There was no ocean in this world, after all.

Wait. How did he know that?

Noelle jolted out of her thoughts at the call of her name. “Huh?” She said, blinking rapidly. “Oh! Yeah, it was so cool, Berdly.. It’s cool every time you do it. All 37 times you’ve shown me today.”

“39, my Queen!” Captain Blazebow corrected proudly. “But I have a feeling you’re too out of sorts to appreciate my skills. Is there something the matter?”

“No, no, nothing,” Noelle laughed, dismissively waving her hand. There was a pause, then the smile on her face turned to a grimace. “Well, maybe. I’m just worried about my friend.”

“Worry not, your grace! I am certain my soldiers will find her soon,” Blazebow assured her, beaming widely. Noelle managed a smile back, though it was weak.

“I know. It’s just… I’m worried she’s going to try to convince me to leave.”

“Leave?!” Captain Blazebow gasped with alarm. “But this is your park, your land! Your kingdom… You couldn’t just leave all your subjects, right?” And then, with a hint of panic, he added: “You couldn’t leave me? Right?”

Noelle stepped forward and took his hands in hers. “I’d never leave you, Berdly,” She promised with a determined gaze. “Never. Never again.”

Blazebow’s shoulders relaxed. “Good. Splendid, even,” He said, his voice shaking slightly. He couldn’t tell why he was so panicked about the notion, but was relieved that Noelle had dissuaded his fears. “Maybe Susie won’t ask you to leave. Maybe she will have gone through the park and seen how wonderful it is here, and she will want to stay forever!”

Noelle smiled a true smile. “Yeah… maybe you’re right,” She said. “Susie’s smart, she’ll understand. She’ll get it. This is a place where anything can happen, where no one will ever be lost or hurt again. How could she not want that?”

And Noelle was happy. And so Blazebow was happy. And though there were many things Captain Blazebow did not know, he knew that Noelle being happy was a wonderful thing.

Surrounded by armour-clad soldiers, no gangsters or rogue park goers dared approach the group as they walked towards the castle. Anyone and everyone gave a wide berth, nervously eyeing the soldiers marching past.

They had passed through a Halloween section of the park, which had turned into a bit of a kerfuffle. Turns out the haunted houses here really were haunted, but they were able to plow their way through ghosts and zombies and vampire all while oddly familiar Halloween jingles played over loudspeakers. 

But they got through with minimal injuries, and when they came out the other side, there was an enormous gate signifying the entrance to the medieval fantasy section of the park. Beyond, a dragon rollercoaster that went up so high they couldn’t see the top, a swinging ship ride with an actual ship, and atop a hill, a tall castle straight out of a fantasy book. The dark fountain of this world pulsed out of it.

They were so close now. Susie didn’t know how to feel. They still hadn’t been able to pry the full story from Kris. Apparently, Toriel was supposed to have tried talking to them, but it must have not worked, because she had stayed silent the entire walk. Come to think of  it, she had a haunted look in her eyes. Maybe Susie was projecting.

She grunted, shaking her head. She hated uncertainty. She wanted to be able to charge forward, completely uncaring of the consequences. But dammit, they were almost to Noelle, and she had to have some perspective. So she made her decision and shouldered her way up to Sergeant Samment and nudged them. Well, nudge is a soft word for it. Elbowed, maybe. Shoved.

“Hey, Samment. Sam. Sammy. Can I call you Sammy?” Susie asked.

“No,” The sergeant replied curtly. “What is it?”

“You’ve talked to Noelle, right?”

“I have spoken with QUEEN Noelle on one occasion, yes,” Samment replied stiffly.

“Was she…. How was she?” Susie summoned her axe, which appeared in a puff of purple flames. Then she dismissed it. Then she summoned it again. It was an anxious habit she was picking up.

Sergeant Samment eyed the axe warily. “Queenly. Angelic. Why do you ask?”

“I mean, how IS she,” Susie pressed. “Was she okay? Was she acting weird?”

“I have only met her once,” The sergeant said with a shrug. “So I have no basis for comparison. Perhaps she was acting weird. Perhaps she wasn’t. I could not tell.”

Susie sighed, then dismissed her axe again. “Right. Sorry.”

Sergeant Samment paused, the air filling with stoic silence. There was the rhythmic scraping of concrete against concrete, then: “She was cold.”

Susie lifted her head. “Cold?”

“Cold,” They confirmed. “Just being near her had frost gathering on my armor. I didn’t dare point this out to her for fear of holy retribution.”

Susie lifted her head. Above the castle, a storm was gathering. Fresh snow fell upon the towers and the ground around the castle. She stepped forward, and she could have sworn the air had gotten ten degrees colder.

“Hey, kid.”

Susie turned to see Undyne resting a hand on her shoulder. “Sup, cap. Learned anything new?”

Undyne thumbed behind her. “Nope. I tried asking Toriel if she’d talked to Kris, but she won’t say anything,” She sighed. “You?”

Susie grimaced and pointed. “Well, there’s that.” 

Undyne followed her gaze to the top of the castle. A wind had picked up, her red ponytail lifting and waving like a banner. “Wow. That looks bad.”

Susie snorted. “No kidding.” A single snowflake landed on her nose.

Chapter Text

Noelle couldn’t feel her hands.

They sat there, on the armrests of her throne. She could see them, she knew they were attached to her body. But she couldn’t feel them. Distantly, she thought she should have felt more worried about this. But she couldn’t find it in herself to care.

A thin layer of frost covered the walls of her throne room. It wasn’t really a throne room, now that she thought about it. It was all just decorations, every bit of it. She could see where tracks for a cart winded in and out of the room, on some path to lead its riders through this fantastical castle. Likewise, the throne she sat on wasn’t made of actual stone. It was painted styrofoam. All part of the show.

Noelle should have been cold. There was frost on the walls after all, and on her fur. Everything glittered like they were sprinkled with diamonds. Wind howled outside, her hair fluttering in the breeze that came in through the windows. She was not cold.

“Your majesty!”

Berdly dove in through a skylight. He landed before her with an exaggerated bow, the frost around him immediately melting.

For a moment, Noelle couldn’t speak. Her mind felt so distant from her body. With some struggle, she made her mouth say: “What is it?”

Berdly stood up from the bow, his crackling orange wings folding neatly behind him. “I was doing a survey of the area around the castle, when I saw Sergeant Samment and their soldiers marching up the hill! They must have found your friend.”

“Susie?” Noelle gasped, and awareness flooded her, her mind becoming more in sync with her body. “She’s here?”

“She must be! The good sergeant would never have returned without having completed their mission.”

The idea that Susie was here and she was safe thawed her hands, and Noelle could feel the cold air coming in through the window. She shivered.

Shortly after, the steady sound of marching grew louder and louder from the entry corridor. Cement scraping against cobblestone approached, and a line of soldiers trickled into the throne room.

And Susie.

Before Noelle even gave the command to her limbs, she had flung herself out of the throne towards Susie. A single powerful flap of her wings sent her careening into muscled purple arms.

“You came,” Noelle whispered into a mess of violet hair. After a moment of quiet surprise, she felt Susie return the embrace.

“‘Course I did,” She said, her voice gentle in a way she’d only spoken in once before. “Was worried. Been lookin’ for you for ages.”

Noelle held on for what felt like an eternity, letting Susie’s warmth melt away the ice inside of her until she was left with a pleasant heat inside her chest.

Finally she drew back, letting her hands rest on Susie’s biceps as she gazed into her eyes. Then she flushed, pulling her hands back to wipe them shyly on her dress.

“Hi,” She said, stupidly.

Susie raised a brow. “Hey,” She glanced down at the gown Noelle was wearing. “Nice fit. Very, uh. Very fancy. You look like somethin’ out of a fairy tale.”

“Oh,” Noelle grinned despite herself. She fidgeted nervously with the hem of her dress. “Thanks.”

Susie coughed, her cheeks darkening slightly. “Right, well glad we found you.”

“We?” Noelle stepped back, her tunnel vision finally clearing as she took a look at who else was here. In an instant, she took in many faces. Toriel in flowing purple robes, Officer Undyne in gleaming metal armor, watermelon boy or whatever his name was…

…and Kris.

“You!” She shouted, the cold returning to her chest. Frost ran up her hands until she could no longer feel them, her fur sparkling stiffly. She felt a great power building up inside her, pressure rising like a storm. It took everything she had to keep it down.

Her wings spread threateningly. She would NOT feel small, not this time.

“Woah, what’s going on?” Susie asked, eyes wide.

“That’s not Kris,” Her breath hissed out, cold air painful in her throat. “It’s a demon.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Toriel said, immediately stepping in front of Kris protectively. “What is the meaning of this?”

“That’s not Kris!” Noelle repeated hysterically, her voice going up a pitch. “There’s something evil inside of them, I’ve seen it! They’re being controlled somehow!”

“Noelle, I understand you are upset, considering… the circumstances,” Toriel gritted out that last part painfully, eyes narrowed at Noelle. What did she know? “But this is no time to be making baseless accusations.”

“I think she might be onto something, actually,” Susie said, jumping to her defense. Noelle took a moment to smile at her gratefully. “All sorts of crazy shit happens in dark worlds. Maybe Kris got possessed. It would explain why they’re acting so weird. Maybe it happened when we got separated yesterday, right, Ralsei?”

Ralsei (so that’s what his name is!) looked up, fidgeting nervously with his glasses. He looked as if he did not want to be here. Noelle could empathise. “Um, well,” He stammered. “I’ve never heard of something like this happening before.”

“But it could, though, right?” Susie pressed. “We’ve seen that stuff that happens to you in the dark world can affect your body in the light world. Maybe Kris got possessed by some weirdo darkener, and they’re the ones making Kris do all that stuff!”

“It’s a decent theory, but I’m not sure I buy it,” Undyne piped up. “Feels a little too convenient, you know?”

“Yes, and a darkener cannot exist in the light world,” Ralsei added, looking relieved for some reason. “If Kris were possessed by a darkener, the effect would have disappeared once they exited through the dark fountain, and they would have told someone what was going on.”

“Right,” Toriel said, looking befuddled but relieved as well. “Exactly.”

“But, now that we’re all together, I would like an explanation from the person being suspiciously silent over there,” Undyne raised an eyebrow at Kris, who still stood hauntingly behind their mother. They met her eyes. Noelle swallowed, suppressing a shudder.

“Yeah, Kris, c’mon,” Susie said, a hint of pleading coming through. “This doesn't have to be hard. Just tell us what happened.

Kris’s jaw twitched. Their hands flexed. For a moment, it looked like they might say something.

“Perhaps it is Noelle who should give an explanation,” Toriel interrupted sharply. “She was also unaccounted for yesterday, was she not?”

Noelle’s ears flattened in shock. Toriel had always, since she’d remembered, been nothing but kind and motherly to her. Now this?

“Hey, lady, back off,” Susie growled, putting a hand on Noelle’s shoulder. “Her best friend just died, okay?”
“Yeah, Miss, no offence, but you’re a little biased here,” Undyne said, putting up two placating hands. “I think Kris should get a chance to explain themself without you protecting them. It’s a matter of justice.”

Toriel barreled forward, agitated. She was now a tall brick wall, obscuring Kris behind her completely. “Kris told me everything. They said that you killed Berdly.” Her eyes were twin flames, boring holes in Noelle’s head.

The words sent a shock of ice directly through her chest, painful and real. She stumbled back, clutching at the shimmering white fabric at her breast.

“That’s crazy, dude!” Susie said, her grip firm and grounding on Noelle’s shoulder. “Why would she do that?”

Undyne’s face was hard. She had positioned herself squarely in the middle of the two parties. “We still haven’t heard Noelle’s testimony,” She said, gripping a spear in her hand tightly. Her yellow eyes were the headlights of a car, capturing Noelle in their twin beams. She was frozen in their glare.

“I…” She stammered, her breath coming in short gasps. “I didn’t, I… He’s fine! Look, he’s okay, I fixed it!” She gestured desperately to Berdly, who stood stock still a few feet away, wings folded rigidly.

The group turned, as if seeing him for the first time. A troubled look passed over their faces.

It was Susie who finally broke the tension. “Noelle, that’s not…”

“No, it’s him!” Noelle rushed over to him. To her dear friend, who she loved despite all his bluster and pretend ego. Who would play video games with her when neither of their mothers were giving them the attention they needed. Who put himself down in secret for not being as smart as he wanted to be, when in truth, he was smart in ways that mattered far more. Her friend, Berdly. She touched his arm. It was hotter than usual. “See? It’s him! It’s you, Berdly!”

…He was oddly quiet, too. “...Berdly?” She repeated, softer this time.

A beat.

Two beats.

Then, like a rubber band snapping, he lunged himself for Kris, bellowing an inhuman screech.

As soon as he saw Kris, it had all come flooding back.

His childhood, spent reaching for approval that only arrived when he had good grades. Meeting Noelle after the spelling bee, rushing after the sounds of her weeping, holding her quivering body as she hid from the eyes of the audience.

He had met Kris through her. Playing games with Noelle at her house on one of their weekend playdates, back when they still played minecrap on big clunky controllers and played pretend and battled with muddy sticks found in the forest outside. Toriel had dropped them off, and at first they had hid behind her massive paw, their eyes shadowed by their long bangs. But there was a third controller and Noelle waved them over to join the server. Their shyness faded away, and soon they were crafting redstone contraptions involving a ridiculous amount of TNT and setting fire to his creations. It infuriated him, but their quiet smile and Noelle’s laughter was worth it all.

Elementary school came and went, middle school passed, and soon they were nearing the end of high school and there was a terror taking form in his chest. Noelle would be going off to college soon. What would he do when she wasn’t there to help him with his homework? Everyone would finally find out what a fraud he was. Everyone would finally know what he’d known all his life. That he was stupid. That the highest point of his life was when he won that spelling bee in elementary school, and he would never get any better than that. No college would accept someone like that. Or, worse, they would, and he would fail out without Noelle there to help him. He wouldn’t be able to go home after that. His parents would never look him in the eye again.

And that was what it came back to, wasn’t it? He was nothing without her. If she hadn’t broken down at that spelling bee, he would have come in second place. No one cares about the person in second place. Second place doesn’t win you your parents’ love. He’d always looked at Noelle and seen the little girl he’d comforted backstage. He’d thought she would always need him like that. He’d thought she’d needed to be rescued.

But it was him. It was always him.

Kris’s ominous, deranged voice. Noelle’s eyes glowing white. A storm.

His memories burned inside of him. Burning, he was burning.

He stared at Kris. He could save her. This one time, he could save her.

Berdly lunged. There was no awareness in his limbs, it all hurt too much, but he found himself clawing and scraping at their armor as Kris raised their arms to cover their face. With each hit he saw a glimpse of the past.

Wrestling playfully in the grass when they were eight.

Sparring with muddy sticks they pretended were swords when they were nine.

Battling with their controllers in the cartoony world of Super Smashing Fighters.

Tears sizzled and evaporated in his eyes. He didn't want to go to college. He wanted them all to be eight again. He wanted summer to last forever.

It hurt. It all hurt so much. He couldn't see through the flames anymore. It was burning, all of it. Everything he was, the life he could have had.

He burned. He screamed.

I scramble backward of my own accord, no input needed from you.

Too late, I fumble with my shield, my heart pounding in my ears. The only sound louder was his screaming. He was screaming.

He'd been staring at me the whole confrontation. Even behind those dumb sunglasses, I could tell he was staring at me. I knew it was coming, but I was still so scared when he lunged toward me. Even though I knew it was impossible, I hoped he would kill me.

Berdly thrashes wildly, the flames that had once been his body now consuming him. I wish I could walk into the ocean, never to be seen again. I wish I could fall into the void, be carried away by the darkness. I wish I had my kitchen knife , so I can… I can't watch this. I want anything but to watch this. There's a moment, barely a second, when our eyes meet. I am horrified by what I see.

The screams end, and he is a smouldering pile on the ground. A pile of embers in the vague shape of a boy who liked Super Smashing Fighters and dressing up in cosplay and making stupidly complex redstone mechanisms in Minecrap. He's dead. Again.

I feel sick to my stomach. I want to throw up, retch out every ugly feeling burrowed in my chest, but I can't. It's all too much. I burrow back into myself as Noelle lets out a horrified shriek. She scrambles forward, pawing desperately at the flaming remains. Mom has both hands covering her mouth. She is trembling. I am too.

“What the fuck?” Undyne says, breaking the silence. Her pupils are narrowed into slits. “What the fuck was that?”

“It was him. It was Berdly,” Ralsei speaks up softly. “At the end there, at least. It was him.”

“Couldn't we have saved him?” Susie asks desperately. “Couldn't you have done your healing magic thing?”

“He remembered who he was,” Ralsei says with a sad shake of his head. “There was nothing I could have done. Darkners aren't meant to hold that inside of them.”

“But then how was he--” Susie stops herself mid sentence, something clicking on her face. “The dust. The bag of dust. She had the bag of dust with her. That's why she did all of this.”

“I wanted him back!” Noelle weeps, her beautiful sparkling white gown stained black with coal. “I had to save him, I had to make everything right again!” She curled in on herself, hugging an armful of dying embers to her chest.

“I didn't know you could do that,” Undyne says faintly, a distant look to her face. “Bring people back like that.”

“You can't,” Ralsei says, stepping closer to the violently shaking form of Noelle. “That's not how it works.”

Mom has not said a word this entire time. I gather enough will to look up at her. Her face is blank with horror. She does not move. Her hands are still covering her mouth. There are no tears, she simply stands there.

Undyne is raking her hand through her hair. All the confidence and determination for justice has left her.

Ralsei approaches Noelle, stepping carefully around the ashy remains of Berdly. “Noelle,” He says gently, bending down to her level. “You need to let us pass. You need to let Kris close the dark fountain.”

Her eyes snap up wildly. “No!” She shouts suddenly. “I can still fix this. I can make everything right again.”

“Noelle, please,” Ralsei begs. “If you don't let us do this, the world will be in grave danger! In fact, it already is. The balance is shifting, darkness spilling into the light. The only way to fix things is to let Kris close the fountain.”

“Listen to him, man,” Susie says, stepping forward to place a gentle hand on Noelle's shoulder. “We'll figure things out, alright? But you gotta--”

“NO!”

A shock of ice bursts from her, sending Susie and Ralsei stumbling back. On instinct, I rush to my friend with my shield out. As I help Susie to her feet, we both look up in horror as Noelle rises into the air, her eyes glowing with radiant light. Her wings are outstretched behind her a good 20 feet, and her crown shines blindingly like a halo.

Mom is broken out of her state of shock, and I can feel her rush forward protectively, Undyne following in stride.

We huddle around each other as Noelle raises her hands like a preacher hovering 20 feet in the air by now. Her wings aren’t even flapping to keep her afloat. She just hovers there. The room is very cold all of a sudden.

“Noelle!” Mom cries against the sudden howling wind. There’s a thunderous crack as the foundations of the building start to come apart. One paw is on my shoulder, the other is in front of her face to shield from the icy wind. “My child, please! Let me take you home! We will share some hot cocoa and we will figure something out!”

Noelle doesn’t reply. Her hands come together to form a brilliant needle of light. I squint against it, the image burning into my eyelids.

“Oh no…” I hear Ralsei whisper. “It’s happening…”

“Kid, calm down!” Undyne tries, her teeth gritted. She stands her ground against the wind, and I can see her summoning spears in preparation. “No one needs to get hurt! We just gotta take a minute to talk things through!”

“Noelle, please!” It’s only when Susie cries out that Noelle reacts. Her gaze snaps to Susie, her eyes like spotlights. Her head twitches like a curious animal. Is there even anything left of her now? She looks more beast than girl now. A terrible, tortured, divine beast. “Don’t do this! You don’t have to face your parents, you don’t even have to face them!” She gestures to Mom and Officer Undyne. “Hell, we can run off and live in the woods if you really want. Sometimes being around adults just makes everything worse, I get it! But you’ve gotta stop this, you’re hurt people! You’re going to hurt yourself! Whatever you’re doing, it won’t fix things!”

For a moment, the wind dies down, the sharp point of light in her hands flickers weakly. She looks more like a girl than an angel.

Then it comes back twice as strong. She is a holy, grotesque thing, and I have destroyed her. You have destroyed her. How could you do this to her? How could you turn her into this? I hate you.

“I WILL TAKE EVERY CRUEL AND SENSELESS ASPECT OF THIS FLAWED WORLD AND REMAKE IT INTO PARADISE,” The voice that comes out of her is alien and divine and terrible. The castle trembles with each word. “I WILL WAIT FOR THE SWEET EMBRACE OF AFTERLIFE NO LONGER. I WILL TEAR THROUGH THE VEIL THAT GOD KEEPS TO SEPARATE US FROM HIS KINGDOM. I WILL MAKE MY HEAVEN.”

The needle of light that has been growing between her hands suddenly blasts into the floor, and we are all hurled back. The world spins around me and for a moment I hope that the fall will kill me.

It doesn’t. I land painfully, my head smacking hard against a stone wall. When I open my eyes, the castle is falling apart around me. The walls have cracked apart, the debris hovering as if time had stopped mid explosion. Noelle is at the center of it all.

Susie helps me to my feet with a grunt. She’s still mad at me, I think, but it’s her instinct to help. Around me, Mom, Undyne, and Ralsei get up with some difficulty. “You okay, Kris?”

“Yes,” You say through my mouth, though I’d really rather say no.

Susie brushes herself off, and I can see she’s trembling. “The hell happened? What did she do?”

Ralsei steps up beside us, adjusting his cracked glasses. The light reflects brightly off of them, turning his eyes into twin moons.

“It’s the end,” He whispers.

Chapter Text

In a rare, private moment of losing her composure, Mayor Carol Holiday rubbed her temples in her private bathroom, letting out a long sigh.

Just breathe.

In.

And out.

“Mayor Holiday?”

Carol straightened her back and dropped her hands from her face. “One moment, please.”

She took a few blessed moments to fix her hair and compose herself. Shoulders back. Chin held high. Everything neat and tidy. Send a quick prayer to the Angel. Back to being the mayor.

Some might think Mayor Holiday had an easy job. Nothing happened in Hometown, or so they said. It was exactly the sort of bland, boring, suburban community you’d imagine from the name. It was peaceful. Quiet. Rarely any crime, and when it happened, it was all non violent petty activities. What work was there to do, people would ask. If only they knew.

Carol was aware she had what her therapist had once called an “unhealthy work-life balance”. She spent all hours of the day, every minute she could spare working to keep Hometown exactly as boring and uneventful as everyone perceived it to be. Some might call her ambitious, but those people didn’t know Carol. 

Carol did not overreach or overextend, she did not work to make Hometown more than it was. She did not have aspirations to expand it and grow it into a bustling metropolis. No, she didn’t care about profit or glory. What she cared about was safety. And the way to keep Hometown safe was to keep it as aggressively boring as possible. Just enough activity to keep the economy stable, to keep the people content. Hometown was at its best in a stasis of blissful mundanity. No one visited Hometown, and no one left it. Why bother?

…She hadn’t gone to therapy in years.

“um………… mayor holiday? what………. what do we do?”

Mayor Holiday pursed her lips thoughtfully, using every ounce of will to keep her face passive and disinterested. Calm. She was calm.

Calm, despite the fact that all of her carefully laid groundwork, everything she had painstakingly worked for, was crumbling down around her. Boring towns didn’t usually have an enormous dome of inky black void slowly swallowing it.

There had been a scare last night, of course, with the comatose body of that boy found in the library. But despite the worrisome circumstances surrounding that, she’d been able to spin it into a tragic death of natural causes, and had been hoping that this would all blow over after the funeral.

And now this.

Carol sighed. And of course, her daughter was at the centre of this. The Holiday family was magnetically attracted to trouble, it seemed, no matter how hard she tried to avoid it. She’d thought that, after Dess’s disappearance, the universe had done all it could to her. But then her husband had fallen ill, and now… 

…this.

Calm. She was calm. “I’m going to issue an evacuation order,” She told Officer Napstablook, who hovered semi-transparently beside her. “Grab some civilian volunteers and start telling people to grab their valuables, get in their cars, and start driving to Ebott City. Prioritize those living in the immediate vicinity of the Dome. If they’ve lost access to their vehicles, I’m expecting you to find them a ride with another family. Split people up if you have to. Everyone needs to leave right now.”

Officer Napstablook looked increasingly overwhelmed, eyes watering as they became even more transparent. “you want me…….. to do all of that?”

Carol raised an eyebrow at them, her voice cold. “You are an officer of the law and therefore a civil servant to the people of this town. I’m expecting you to do everything I have just told you, and there will be grave consequences if I find anyone has been left without a viable evacuation option. Is that understood?”

Napstablook shrank back at her. “oh ……… sorry……. right away ms mayor………” They said miserably, then floated off to follow her orders. She shook her head privately. How had that one ever gotten hired? She remembered something about the Captain of the force wanting to give them a boost of confidence or something.

Carol looked back at the wall of blackness before her (was it closer now?) and took out her phone to dial the office. “Pinkie? Hi, yes. I need you to get me on the phone with--”

The world exploded before she could get the words out.

Screams erupted around Seam as they settled down into their lawn chair, a grim smile set into their face. Great unholy cracks thundered through the ground, and Seam regarded them all with a contented purr.

In the distance, they could see… well, they could see a distance. Everything was interconnected, every inch of Light swallowed up by darkness and replaced with a new world.

“Seam What The Heck (Hell) Is Going On,” Queen demanded with no small amount of fear in her voice as she strode over.

Seam smiled pleasantly at her, tilting their cup towards her in respect. “Ah, your majesty. Care to sit down and have a drink with me? We can do a toast.” They gestured towards a second lawn chair set up beside them.

Question marks lit up her screen. “Normally I Would Be Super Hyped About Drinking Adult Beverages (LOL) But What Exactly Are We Toasting.”

Seam gestured with their glass to the beacon of light in the far distance. “To the end of the world, of course.”

Alphys hurried people inside the school building as the world transformed around her. 

She’d never really thought of herself as a heroic person (heroism was for anime characters), but as soon as the cataclysm had begun, she’d gone on autopilot. She directed people into the building with authority she didn’t know she had.

“Keep away from the windows!” She told people without a stammer in her voice. “Don’t push, there’s room for everyone!”

Some people had gotten into their cars and were attempting to drive away from the mayhem. Which would be difficult since, as far as Alphys could tell, the mayhem was everywhere. The roads were breaking apart too. The school building, strangely, seemed mostly untouched.

As the last few panicking citizens hurried through the doors of the school, Alphys spared a glance to the pillar of light at the centre of the destruction. She swallowed, her heart skipping a beat in her chest, that old familiar anxiety bubbling back up her throat.

“Try your best, Astral Wolf…” She whispered to herself, fighting to keep her heart rate steady. “Even in your darkest hour…”

Then she charged through the doors herself.

Rudy thought he might be the unluckiest monster in the world, to be stuck in this hospital bed while the apocalypse raged outside. If he strained, he could make out a whirlwind of destruction and unearthly chaos, and a blinding beam of light at the centre of it, but that sent him into a coughing fit and he would have to lay back down, a hand on his wheezing chest.

The sounds of wind howling and earth cracking ran together until they were one in the same, and although Rudy Holiday should have been utterly terrified to be trapped in a hospital bed, weak from illness while the world ended, the only thing on his mind, the one thought circling in his head, was the hope that his daughter was safe.

Papyrus pulled aside the curtains. Above, the sky ran black with terror, starless and unfathomable. Around the house, the land was breaking apart with unearthly howls. And in the distance, a bright pillar of light, the singular light source in this dark, dark world.

“SANS?”

His brother appeared beside him, his eyes empty as he stared out the window with him. “yeah. I see it.”

Papyrus shot a quick, worried glance at his brother. “SHOULD WE…”

Sans turned slightly to stare at the silhouette of the machine at the back of the room, covered in a thick white cloth. “no. we can’t jump. it’s not ready yet.”

At that, Papyrus turned sharply towards Sans. “NO! I MEANT, SHOULD WE HELP?” He shouted, shoulders rising to meet his cheekbones. “YOU’RE NOT SUGGESTING WE JUST ABANDON EVERYONE? WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!”

Sans scratched the back of his head wearily, lights returning to his eyes. “do what, papyrus?” He asked. “what can we do against that?”

Papyrus hesitated, deflating slightly. He glanced back out the window. “HE’S GOT SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS, DOESN’T HE?” He ventured, voice shaking slightly. “MAYBE IF WE--”

“no.” Sans cut him off, sterner than he’d ever sounded before. “we got away from him. we’re not going to go lookin’ for him now. we’re done with him, remember?”

“BUT WE CAN’T JUST RUN AWAY WHILE THE WORLD ENDS!” Papyrus protested.

Instead of answering, Sans grimly turned and walked towards the machine. He opened his toolbox.

Far in the distance, looking out over the warping, changing world, stood a Knight. Shoulders back. Chin held high. Knuckles rigid, gripping the hilt of the sword at the Knight’s side.

Behind the Knight was a Scientist. Half formed, half there. He considered the destruction passively.

“❄︎☟︎☜︎💧︎☜︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎💧︎ ✌︎☼︎☜︎📬︎ ✞︎☜︎☼︎✡︎📪︎ ✞︎☜︎☼︎✡︎ ✋︎☠︎❄︎☜︎☼︎☜︎💧︎❄︎✋︎☠︎☝︎,” He said, his voice warping the air around him. “❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎ 🕈︎⚐︎☼︎☹︎👎︎⑤︎ 🕈︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ ✌︎ ☞︎✌︎💧︎👍︎✋︎☠︎✌︎❄︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ☜︎☠︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎ ☜︎✠︎🏱︎☜︎☼︎✋︎💣︎☜︎☠︎❄︎📬︎”

The Knight’s head did not turn to look at the Scientist. “IT ISN’T AN EXPERIMENT TO ME.” Even after all these years, words still came out raspy and uncomfortable.

The Scientist tilted his head. “✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ✌︎☼︎☜︎ ☠︎⚐︎❄︎ 🏱︎☹︎☜︎✌︎💧︎☜︎👎︎ 🕈︎✋︎❄︎☟︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎ ⚐︎🕆︎❄︎👍︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎✍︎” He asked, a hint of curiosity entering his garbled voice. “✋︎ 🕆︎☠︎👎︎☜︎☼︎💧︎❄︎✌︎☠︎👎︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ 🕈︎☜︎☼︎☜︎ 🕈︎⚐︎☼︎😐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ❄︎⚐︎🕈︎✌︎☼︎👎︎💧︎📬︎ 💧︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ 💧︎✋︎💣︎✋︎☹︎✌︎☼︎📬︎”

A shake of the head. “NO. THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED,” The Knight said. In the distance, a pillar of light stretched endlessly into starless, black sky.

The Scientist followed the Knight’s gaze. “💧︎☟︎☜︎ ✋︎💧︎ 💧︎❄︎☼︎⚐︎☠︎☝︎☜︎☼︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎☠︎ ✋︎ ☜︎✠︎🏱︎☜︎👍︎❄︎☜︎👎︎ ☟︎☜︎☼︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 👌︎☜︎📬︎”

“YOU WERE UNWISE TO UNDERESTIMATE HER,” The Knight said, gripping the sword tighter. “BUT I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN HOW STRONG SHE REALLY IS.”

Chapter Text

Asriel sighed as he settled down in his seat. He couldn’t believe it was over. His first year of college, gone just like that. It went by so quickly, and yet at times it felt like it would never end. He felt… exhausted. Exhausted, but proud. He thought he deserved to be proud of himself. All the projects, presentations, homework, and exams, and he had made it through a full year of college. With pretty decent grades, too. 

One year down.

Three to go. 

He glanced at the empty seat next to him, and not for the first time felt a pang that Dess wasn’t there filling it. When they were kids, Asriel had always imagined that they would go to college together. The idea of leaving Hometown to travel to some far off place in a big school with thousands of strangers was scary, and imagining Dess along with him had made that idea feel less scary.

Asriel shook his head, stubbornly putting in his earbuds and choosing some loud music. Dess was gone, and he’d long given up on ever finding out what had happened to her. And that was fine. He’d made new friends since her. He’d moved on. Life, he told himself as he closed his eyes and leaned against the window, was good. 

He awoke to the peculiar feeling of his bus getting flipped over.

It wasn’t a pleasant sensation. His eyes shot open at the sound of a thunderous crack, like the sound of a mountain splitting in half. He barely had time to register the unnatural blackness of the sky before the world spun around him and he was thrown into the other side of the bus. Something cracked in his arm as he hit the seats, and next he was tumbling onto the ceiling, where the air was promptly knocked out of his lungs.

He lay there for a few moments, his vision dark and splotchy, wheezing as he tried to force air into his lungs.

After a minute, or an hour (it was hard to tell) his vision cleared, and he was able to gasp and take desperate gulps of oxygen. Trembling, he tried to sit up, and let out a yelp when a bolt of pain shot through his left arm.

Trembling with effort, Asriel used his good arm to push himself to a sitting position, and then to his feet. A quick look around told him a few things. One, that the bus was upside down. All the windows had shattered, but luckily for him the vehicle wasn’t in danger of immediately falling apart. Two, that he had been the only one on the bus when it had flipped over other than the bus driver, who was nowhere to be found. 

Three was that the world was ending. 

Maybe that was an extreme conclusion to come to, but in Asriel’s mind it made sense. As he stumbled out of the bus, he took note of the cracked and ruined road, the black and starless sky, and distant screams heard from the direction of Hometown. It sure seemed like the world was ending. 

“Well,” He said to himself. “Dang.” And then, after a moment’s consideration (because there was no one else around to hear): “Shit.”

Asgore hid in the shadows of his shop. 

Well, what remained of it. 

The plants had overgrown to an unnatural extent, thick vines weaving in through the walls and floorboards like veins. Enormous leaves crowded for space, and tree-trunk-like stems broke through the ceiling in some places. 

He flinched as a loud crack sounded in the distance, clutching his trident tighter. Asgore knew he was a coward, hiding in his shop like this. But, well… as soon as all this had started, he’d ran straight for Toriel’s house, their broken relationship be damned. He was too late, though. There was nothing left of their house, in its place the floating ruins of a castle and an enormous beam of darkness that seemed to stretch into forever. He’d called for them, he really had. But wherever they were, it wasn’t there.

Or, they were dead. Which seemed plausible, considering his luck in life. 

“Dad?”

Asgore jolted out of his spiral of self-pity as a familiar silhouette loomed in the doorway. “Son?” He asked, scarcely able to believe it. 

Asriel rushed forward into his arms. “Oh my gosh, dad!” The young man buried his face into Asgore’s shoulder, whose massive arms automatically wrapped themselves around his son. “It’s so good to see you, things are nuts around here!”

“It’s good to see you too, Asriel,” Tears welled in his eyes, and he gently pushed Asriel off him to wipe them away. The young man let out a hiss, and it was then Asgore noticed his son’s sorry state. “Oh my, are you alright? What happened to your arm?”

Asriel clutched it tenderly. “My bus flipped over on the way here, if you can believe it.”

“Golly, that sounds awful!” Asgore exclaimed, reaching for his son once more. Almost on instinct, he touched Asriel’s wounded arm. His hands glowed a bright green for a moment, then it faded. Asriel stretched his arm experimentally and gave Asgore a befuddled smile.

“Wow, uh, you fixed it,” He said, rolling his arm with no difficulty. “Thanks. I think? Were you always able to do that?”

Asgore stared in surprise. “No. No I was not,” He shook himself. What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn’t be home for another few days.”

Asriel wiped tears of his own. “I wanted to surprise you guys,” He chuckled. “Chose a perfect time to come back, huh?”

Asgore laughed with him. “Indeed you did. Lovely weather we’re having, wouldn’t you say?” He grinned, then gave Asriel a full look. He was wearing long purple robes and golden pauldrons. Technicolor wings spread from his back. His eyes were black, and two black stripes cut through his cheeks. In his right hand he gripped a long white sabre. “Is this, ah… a new style you picked up at college?”

Asriel raised a brow. “You’re one to talk.”

And, well, he was right. Asgore didn’t have a mirror, but he seemed to be wearing a full set of golden armor with a flowing purple cape. An elaborate crown set atop his head, and a red trident glowed in his hand. 

“Point taken,” He said.

“Anyways,” Asriel shuffled to sit up next to his father. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

Asgore shook his head mournfully. “No. One moment I was watering my plants, the next… this.”

Asriel thunked his head against the wall. “Any word from Kris and Mom?”

“Unfortunately no again,” Asgore slumped dejectedly. “I tried looking for them where the house was, but it’s all debris. The phone lines are dead too. There’s no way to reach anyone.”

“Darn,” Asriel played with his sabre, twirling it slowly and passing it between hands. “Well, we gotta assume they’re alright. We know mom, she’s probably got Kris and her holed up somewhere. We need to find the safest place in town. Wherever that is, that’s where they are, or at least where they’re headed.” He stood up suddenly, and brushed off his robe, then offered a hand to his father. 

Asgore stared up at his son and his eyes began to burn all of a sudden. “Look at you. All grown up. I blinked and you turned into a man,” He wiped his eyes and took Asriel’s hand. “If you weren’t here, I think I might have just cowered in the shadows of my shop.”

“Aw, don’t say that, dad,” Asriel said with a sad smile, pulling his father to his feet. “You’re a lot more capable than you think you are. C’mon, let’s get going.”

Lancer was a lot of things.

Lancer was cool. Lancer was awesome! Lancer was the owner of a bike that he loved very much. Lancer was a prince. Lancer was a King. Lancer was a friend of Susie. Lancer was the proud owner of hundreds of mixtapes with splat noises on them. Lancer was, at his core, a sweet little boy. 

But just because he was little, and just because he was sweet, and just because he was a boy, did not mean he was stupid. And he would have to be stupid not to know that something really, really bad was happening.

“Lesser Dad?”

Rouxls blinked down at him and Lancer could see him suppress a sigh. “Yes, mine Liege?”

“What’s going on? Why are we hiding in the basement?” 

“Um…” Rouxls began sweating profusely already. He looked around them, at the former citizens of Spade Kingdom all crammed and huddling in the basement of Ralsei’s castle. Wide eyes fearful, bodies flinching at the loud cracks of thunder outside and the shaking of the walls. “Just some bad weather, mine prince. Nothing to worrieth thine head about.” He gave Lancer a pat. Lancer frowned. It wouldn’t be so condescending if Rouxls was any good at lying.

Lancer shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered off. Susie, he thought. He was worried about Susie. He wasn’t used to worrying, but that was where his mind was going right now. If Susie were here, he wouldn’t be so worried. Susie would know what to do, and moreover, she would tell him the truth about what was wrong. 

Because, again, he wasn’t stupid. Something was terribly wrong. More wrong than things had ever been wrong before. It wasn’t just that the land had started cracking beneath their feet, it wasn’t just that Rouxls had picked him up and herded everyone into the basement and they hadn’t left even now, hours later, it wasn’t even just the fact that Susie and the blue person and toothpaste boy were suspiciously absent. 

He could feel it. The imbalance. He was pretty sure everyone could feel it. The moment the scale had shattered, the balance between light and dark was broken forever. The universe was just… wrong. 

“This is exactly what I said would happen,” A low voice grunted. Lancer looked up in surprise, realizing that his feet had brought him to the cage his bad dad was trapped in. “Did I not predict this exact scenario, Lancer?”

“I dunno,” Lancer said rebelliously, sticking his tongue out. “I wasn’t really listening! Hohoho!”

“I said that the Lightners would betray us,” The King growled from the shadows. “I said that trusting them would lead to devastation. And look what is happening outside.”

Lancer puffed out his chest in indignation. “Hey! This isn’t because of them!”

A low chuckle rumbled against the bars of the cage. “Oh? And you know that how, my dear son? What other possible explantation do you have for what is happening?” The King leaned forward out of the shadows. Lancer swallowed nervously. “I know you can feel it too. The balance has been destroyed. The world is ending. And the only ones powerful enough to have caused this are the Lightners.”

“You’re wrong! Susie would never!” Lancer insisted, fists clenched and trembling. “And y’know, I bet she’s out there trying to stop this. That’s why she’s not here, because she’s trying to save everyone!”

“Lancer,” The King reached forward and put a hand on the bars of his cage. Lancer flinched and took a step back. “Listen to me for once in your life, you ungrateful child.”

“I don’t have to listen to you,” Lancer’s lip quivered, but he stood his ground. “You’re not the King anymore, and you’re not my dad. You’re just a dummy in a cage now! I don’t have to do anything you say anymore! I’m not… I’m not scared of you.”

“I am your father,” The King snarled, pulling himself closer. “And you misunderstand me, son. I am not ordering anything of you. I am giving you advice for your own benefit. Believe it or not, I do still love you, even after your betrayal.”

“No you don’t,” Lancer willed his traitorous body to stop shaking, but it wouldn’t obey him. “I have friends now, so I know what love looks like now. I didn’t before, but now I do!”

“I do love you, Lancer,” The King insisted, his face pressed against the bars. “And it is because I love you that I will ignore your insolence this one single time to give you crucial advice. And if you value your life, you will listen.”

Lancer swallowed heavily. He could leave. He could run and go annoy Lesser Dad, or play with Queen, or dig up holes (because frankly, he thought, this basement was in desperate need of some holes), or do anything other than stand here and listen to his bad dad talk.

He didn’t move. 

“Do not rely on them,” The King said ominously, his warm breath making Lancer’s nose wrinkle. “Not the Lightners, not anyone. Only you can be trusted. When the time comes, you must have the strength to make the difficult decision on your own, regardless of what they might want of you.”

Lancer didn’t really know what to say to that, so he turned around and walked stubbornly away from the cage.

This was just so frustrating! Why were adults like this? He morosely thought about going to Queen for some comfort, but when he looked over at her, she had gone through four glasses of Adult Beverage, and was jovially going for a fifth. 

Which didn't bode well. 

“Girldad?” He approached hesitantly. “Are you… okay?”

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeessssss, Of Course I Am, Lancer, My Sweet Baby Boy,” She patted his cheek lazily from her lawn chair. Her voice glitched woozily. “Whyyyyyyyyy Wouldn't I Be? Because The World Is Ending? (LMAO) Because My Entire Kingdom Has Been Destroyed (LMAO) Because We're All About To Die? (LMAO) (LMAO) (LMAO) (LMAO) (LMAO) (LMAO) (LMAO) (LMAO) (L--”

“Stop!” Lancer interrupted her, tugging on her arm. Queen’s face blue screened for a moment, and then rebooted.

“Lancer!!!! My Sweet Boy! My Little Gumdrop!” She patted him again as if only noticing him for the first time. “You're The Only Good Thing to Come Out Of Marrying That Stupid Dumb Idiot. I'm Sorry For Letting Him Raise You.”

“Oh,” Lancer said uncomfortably. He gently pulled Queen's hand off his face. “It's okay, girldad.”

“Mmm…” Queen seemed to be drifting off, so Lancer took her cup of Adult Beverage and poured it out on the ground and then placed it under her chair. He glanced up at Seam, who had been watching the interaction with a lazy half-interest. 

“Is, um…” Lancer shifted uncomfortably. “Is she okay?”

“She's about as okay as the rest of us are,” Seam said, swirling their own glass of Adult Beverage around. “Which is to say, not very okay for much longer.”

Lancer paused. “Is the world really ending?”

“Yes,” Seam replied, with the concern of someone chatting about the weather. “We'll last longer, though. This castle is built around Ralsei’s little pure fountain. The last bastion of Darkners before it all comes crumbling down.”

Lancer swallowed. This all seemed… so big. Too big for him. His mind was struggling to comprehend the enormity of what was bearing down on them. The world? The whole world? Gone? He shuddered, and took the sleeping Queen’s hand. “Isn’t there anything we can do to make that… not happen? Because I don’t think I would like that to happen?”

“We? No.” Seam chuckled softly. “No, I’m just a little old cat. There’s nothing I can do to stop this. You, however…” They eyed Lancer curiously. He blinked.

“Me?”

Seam hummed to themself for a moment, considering something. “You run along now, little prince. I’ll take care of your mother.”

Lancer shot one more forlorn look at his mother, patted her limp hand, and went to go start digging holes. Grown ups really were so confusing. He wished Susie would show up already.

Rudy wheezed in the darkness.

It was a really, really bad time for him to have a coughing fit, but his lungs didn’t seem to care. And neither did the empty room. The nurses had run hours before. Good for them, he thought. He would have ran too, if he were able to. He’d tried, but as soon as he stood up he felt so dizzy he had almost blacked out. The hospital hadn’t been destroyed yet so, you know. Maybe he was better off than most. 

He wiped saliva from his mouth as his shaking subsided and oxygen was finally able to enter his body. “Oh, Angel,” Rudy panted. “Carol, you better have gotten her safe.” Who was he kidding? She would probably have this all sorted out by tomorrow by just willing everything back to normal.

Still. He prayed his daughter was safe. He didn’t think he could take losing another kid. 

“FATHER.”

Rudy yelped and covered his eyes at the sudden blinding light coming through the window. His lungs seized at the sudden shock and he repressed another fit of coughing. “Wha…” He squinted against the bright glow. “Noelle?”

As his eyes adjusted, he saw his baby girl as he had never seen her before. Her eyes were the first thing he noticed, pure white, twin beams of light that held no warmth. Her hair was white too, as was the dress that made her look like she was on her wedding day. Three sets of wings sprouted impossibly from her back as she leaned in through the window. A crown (a halo) shimmered atop her head. 

“FATHER, I AM HERE,” Her voice was not one Rudy recognized. It was the chorus of a million agonized voices, holy and terrible. It echoed in his mind like a migraine. Noelle pulled herself into the room, her six enormous wings covering the walls like curtains. It felt impossibly cold all of a sudden. “I AM HERE TO MAKE YOU BETTER.”

Chapter Text

Susie was having a pretty bad day. Susie has had a lot of bad days, but this, she thought as the horror show rained down on her, was pretty high up there.

She glanced at Ralsei. He seemed catatonic, staring up at Noelle, at the Angel, and the cracking earth around them “Ralsei, what do we do?” He didn’t respond. Susie grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Ralsei! The hell do we do?”

He blinked out of his daze. “I don’t-- I--” He stammered, his shoulders shaking under her hands. “This isn’t supposed to happen. I don’t know what to do.” Susie shook him one more time, then growled and stared wild-eyed at the other two adults. They were just as lost as she was. Toriel bore a vacant, distantly horrified expression on her face. Undyne looked as if she were trying her hardest not to be afraid, ponytail whipping in the wind.

“We should get to cover,” Undyne spoke up, forcing an air of professionalism into her voice. It broke a little. “Right?”

“Right. We fall back, then,” Susie nodded, trying to ignore the ice-cold feeling of genuine fear. Had she ever felt that before? In the dark worlds? She didn’t think so. There had always been an ethereal, whimsical quality to their adventures. She’d never felt genuinely afraid for her life. “Ralsei, where would be safe to hide? Please, work with me here, man.”

Ralsei took a few gulps of air and steadied himself. “Yes, that's… a good plan. We need to regroup,” He pushed his now cracked glasses up. “We should go back to the school. That’s where our fountain ought to be.”

Susie summoned her axe. It comforted her to hold. “Okay, let’s--”

“But!” Ralsei interrupted, stumbling over his words. “We have to be careful!The light world has been completely overtaken by the dark world. The terrain will be… changed. It will be dangerous.”

“The land will crack with fear, yeah I remember,” Susie grumbled. “Alright guys, let’s move.”

There was a strange, out of body sensation as Susie headed back with the others. The earth and sky were falling apart around her, and she walked through it all on autopilot. She hacked apart a boulder hurtling towards her, and all she could think about was Noelle.

What the fuck? What the fucking fuck? From the beginning she had known very little about what was happening. Which was fine. Knowing things wasn’t her job, that was Ralsei’s job with his little nerd glasses. Her job was to punch things. And chop things. And eat things. Most forms of gleeful destruction, really.

What Susie did know was this: She had failed Noelle. Her and her stupid mouth, ruining everything. She had a chance there, in that castle, to talk her down. To calm things down, de-escalate the situation, and close the fountain before anyone did anything drastic. She ruined that chance, and now Noelle had done the most drastic thing a person could do.

Or maybe it went further back than that? Maybe that moment early this morning, when they had all found out Berdly was dead? Maybe if she’d said the right thing to Noelle back then, she wouldn’t have made the fountain in the first place.

Maybe even further back than that. Maybe she shouldn’t have lied to her in the Cyber World, about it all being a dream. Noelle had clearly been going through something then, had seen Berdly die… maybe she screwed up Noelle irrevocably. Maybe she said the worst thing you could say to someone in that state.

…Or maybe… maybe it wasn’t any of that. Maybe it was the fact that she was here at all. It was funny, she had actually started to believe that maybe she was the hero Ralsei believed her to be. Who the hell did she think she was? Prancing around with Kris and Ralsei on magical adventures, as if she actually belonged there? As if she was anything but a spineless coward who acts like a cliche bully from a movie to distract from the fact that she goes dumpster diving for clothes and drinks milk out of cat bowls in alleyways. She wasn’t a hero. She wasn’t even a cool bad guy. She was just pathetic. A pathetic loser who might have just ended the world.

“Susie?” Ralsei said, laying a hand on her shoulder to heal her.

“Hm?” Susie grunted, shuddering in relief as the magic coursed through her bruised and battered body.

“We’re almost there. The school is just up ahead,” Ralsei pointed with his other hand towards… well, it was hardly recognizable as a school building anymore. The grand towers of Ralsei’s castle sprouted out of it, and the grass outside was black, crunching underneath their feet. “Our worlds have merged. So now my castle and your school are one.”

Susie tried to say some funny quip in response, but what instead came out of her mouth was: “I don’t think I can do this, Ralsei.”

Ralsei tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“This! All of this! This… hero junk!” Susie threw her hands up in frustration. “I can’t do this.”

“What?” Ralsei exclaimed, bewildered. “Of course you can! You’re the Hero of the prophecy.”

“You picked the wrong guy,” Susie clenched her fists. “You don’t understand, I’m not cut out for this, I’m not good at being good.”

“I didn’t pick anyone, you were chosen by the prophecy itself!” Ralsei insisted. “Just like it chose Kris. You are the Heroes!”

“Well, it chose wrong!” Susie snarled back. “I’m shitty at all the things that make a hero a hero, and Kris is… Argh, I don’t know what’s going on with Kris! But we can’t possibly be the best the universe has to offer. I can’t possibly be the best this universe has to offer!”

“Regardless of what you think of yourself, you are what we have, ” Ralsei did not shy away from her. “There are no backup Heroes, it’s you and Kris or no one at all. You can’t just back away now, not when the world needs you most!”

“Oh right, because what the world needs is a big dumbass who CAN’T SAY ANYTHING RIGHT!” In frustration, Susie summoned her axe and slashed it into the ground. She huffed, shaking with… anger? Fear? Shame? Ugh, what was she doing, throwing a tantrum like the world’s purplest baby? She dismissed her axe. “This wouldn’t have happened if I had just… said the right things to her. I screwed everything up with my big dumb mouth.”

Ralsei placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “Susie…” He said, with what Susie was sure were big shiny sad eyes, but she refused to look at his face. “That wasn’t your fault. You couldn't have known she would do that.”

Susie shook her head. “I knew something was wrong. She was counting on me to make her feel better. I failed.”

“Consider it a team failure, then,” Ralsei amended. “You weren’t there alone. We both failed to stop the Roaring. We tried our best, and this time it wasn’t enough. But we can’t just stop trying. If we have any chance at saving the world, then pressing forward is our only option. We’ll save Noelle. We’ll save everyone! I promise, Susie, we’ll figure this out.”

Susie looked up. Her yellow eyes glanced toward Kris, jogging at the front of the party. “And Kris?”

Ralsei followed her gaze. “We’ll figure that out too,” He shook his head and looked back at her. “Have faith, Susie. I know I didn’t have faith in you when we first met, but I do now. You are the Hero. I truly believe that.”

A toothy grin made its appearance, finally, on Susie’s face. “Thanks, man,” She said, bringing him in for a side hug. “That means a lot.”

It turned out that a lot of the citizens of Hometown had the same idea as them. It made sense, the school was the biggest building in town, and it was even bigger now that it had been amalgamated with a giant medieval fantasy castle. So it was that inside, they found most of the town huddling in fear, and further in (trying to stay close to the dark fountain) were the darkners. 

“Susie! You’re okay!” Lancer shouted, leaping into her arms for a hug. Susie didn’t care about acting tough in that moment, and gladly hugged him back.

“Heh, were you worried about me or something?” She chuckled, setting him down with a noogie.

“Yes. So worried. Everything is very scary,” Lancer said seriously. He brightened. “But everything is okay now that you’re here, hohoho!”

“Hell yeah!” Susie punched a fist in the air. “Now that the dream team is back together, the apocalypse don’t stand a chance!”

Nearby, a certain police officer and teacher met up. 

“Hey,” Undyne said, hefting her spear over her shoulder. “You look cool.”

Alphys flushed. Her skin was an electric yellow, literally glowing with bolts of energy. She was adorned with an anime magical girl outfit, a pair of goggles to replace her glasses, and a star-shaped wand that crackled with electricity. “Th-thanks! Um. I don’t usually like this kind of stuff. I-I’m a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 girl, not a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 1 Girl. I like, uh, dark and serious stuff, you know?”

Undyne shot her a toothy grin. “Well, I think it suits you.”

“I th-think your outfit suits you too!” Alphys said enthusiastically, taking in Undyne’s bulky, impressive armor. It shone with the reflection of Alphys’s yellow glow. “V-very dangerous. You look so cool! Like a knight!”

“Noelle!” A harsh voice cuts them off. Mayor Carol Holiday struts in, a rifle strapped to her back and looking like an arctic hunter. “Where is Noelle?”

“Carol, I am very glad to see you are alright,” Toriel steps forward, her shocked muteness broken in the time it took to get here. “Let us step aside so we can talk in private.”

“Cut the crap, Toriel, where is my daughter?” The Mayor was much shorter than Toriel, but she squared her shoulders and gave her a cold glare. 

“She’s… well, she is alive, for starters,” Toriel held up two pacifying hands.

Carol’s ear twitched. “But she’s not with you?”

“No, she… err…” Toriel trailed off, suddenly unsure of how to describe what she had witnessed.

“She’s the cause of all of this, miss,” Ralsei stepped forward to the relief of Toriel.

“You’re accusing my daughter of being the cause of the apocalypse?” The mayor narrowed her eyes dangerously.

“It’s not an accusation, miss, we saw her do it,” Ralsei wrung his scarf, suddenly aware of how all eyes were on him. “She ascended. She fulfilled her part of the prophecy and became the Angel, then created a Neo Dark Fountain which destroyed the barrier between dark and light, tipping the scales and covering the world in darkness. That’s why this all happened. Toriel and the others can attest to this.”

Carol shot an incredulous look at Toriel, who shrugged helplessly. “I don't quite understand everything this young man has explained, but he is telling the truth. I saw Noelle create the thing that caused this all to happen.”

The mayor rubbed her temples tiredly. “And you…you said she ascended? And became the Angel? As in, THE Angel?”

“Yes,” Ralsei said awkwardly. “Her eyes started glowing, she sprouted six wings from her back, and spoke in a voice that sounded like a choir of one hundred people, and proclaimed she would “make her heaven”. I, um, thought that made it pretty clear.”

Carol took a huge breath in… and out. “Okay. My daughter ascended to godhood and caused the apocalypse. I am accepting this into my worldview,” She turned fully away from Toriel and marched up to Ralsei who, being several inches shorter than her, shook nervously. “You. Small boy who looks strangely like the son of my friend over there. My name is Mayor Carol Holiday. You seem to know a lot more about what is happening than anyone else. Care to explain?”

“I am Prince Ralsei, miss,” Ralsei said, doing a little bow. “I am a darkner, and Kris, Susie and I together make up the three heroes prophesied to save the world from the ANGEL’S HEAVEN.”

“You keep mentioning a prophecy,” The mayor said, with the voice of a woman who valued reason and logic who was suddenly getting all her reason and logic ripped away. “What is that?”

Ralsei perked up, clearly pleased to be able to recite the prophecy once more. He cleared his throat. “Ahem. Once upon a time, a LEGEND was whispered among the shadows. It was a LEGEND of HOPE. It was a LEGEND of DREAMS. It was--”

“A legend of dark, a legend of light, blah blah blah, they don’t need to hear the whole thing,” Susie interrupted. Ralsei glared at her. “Basically, there’s a light world and a dark world. Light and dark have to be kept in balance, because if it doesn’t, THIS happens.” She gestured to the destruction outside the window. “The only people who can save the world are three heroes, a human…” She pointed at Kris. “A monster…” She pressed a thumb into her chest. “And a Prince from the Dark.” She gave Ralsei a light shove.

“And how exactly are you supposed to save the world?” Carol demanded. “You’re not going to kill my daughter, are you?”

Susie threw her hands up defensively. “Woah, who said anything about murder?”

Ralsei put a placating hand on Susie’s shoulder. “No one has to kill anyone. In order to bring balance back, Kris must close the NEO DARK FOUNTAIN Noelle has created,” He pointed out the window at the enormous pillar of darkness that towered into the heavens. “Noelle will likely be guarding it, so yes, we may have to fight her, but I believe we can pacify her. She isn’t herself, you must understand.”

“Alright, that’s something more concrete, I suppose,” Mayor Holiday said, pinching her brow with a gloved hand. “One thing I don’t understand is how you know for certain who these “heroes” are?”

“Huh?” Ralsei asked, thrown. “Of course we’re the Heroes. Kris is the only human in town, so it only makes sense. And Susie came with Kris on their first adventure a few days ago.”

“The only other monsters who’ve been in the dark worlds before all this happened are Noelle, and, um… Berdly,” Susie looked down at her feet, letting her hair cover her eyes, 

“And you?” The mayor raised a skeptical brow at Ralsei. “There aren’t any other princes from the dark that this prophecy could be referring to?”

“Of course not! Look,” Ralsei turned away from Carol and addressed the onlooking crowd. “I know you’re all frightened. I know this is unlike anything you’ve ever faced. But Kris, Susie and I have faced dire odds before, and we have closed dark fountains before. We have skills and determination at our disposal, and we have the prophecy to guide us. If you’d been where I have, seen the bravery that Kris and Susie have shown, then you wouldn’t be afraid at all. I have faith in them. I only ask that you have faith in us, and help us prepare for what is to come.”

“Yeah! Susie’s tough, she can handle anything!” Lancer piped up.

“Indeedeth! I, too, have utmost faith in these glorious heroes!” Rouxls proclaimed as he appeared out of nowhere. “I, personally, have always heldeth the greatest Respecte for this most glorious and noble trio.”

“Hooray for the heroes!” Some darkner called out from the back, and a murmur of hopeful voices and cheers rippled through the crowd. Carol, placated for now, stepped back and began whispering with Toriel. Susie ruffled Lancer’s head affectionately. Ralsei smiled at his subjects and soothed their worries. Kris stood in the corner, still as ever.

“Hey,” Susie nudged Ralsei, then nodded at Kris. “I guess it’s time to get some answers, huh?”

Ralsei pushed up his glasses and cast a worried look at Kris, remembering the last time they had spoken. He was beginning to have an idea of what had happened that day, and he wasn’t sure if everyone else finding out would be better or worse for everyone involved. 

“I suppose so.”

Chapter Text

Once there was a land rife with suffering.

Its citizens wept, for day by day there seemed no escape from the misery that so plagued them. Not a single living soul held in ignorance the truth of this world, the truth of their inescapable despair. All infants were born into the world with a single fact already engraved into their mind: That they had entered a world of horror and despair, and one day they would leave it, and it would be equally as painful as their birth.

Creatures of both light and dark plodded along without respite from the unending terrors that came with existence. This unholy knowledge, that death was coming for them all… it was not natural. It was not right. No one should have to bear that burden, and yet everyone did. 

When Noelle was eight she watched her first horror movie.

It was “Invasion of the Body-Thieves” and she’d had nightmares about it for weeks afterwards. The idea some foreign, unknowable entity stealing your body, replacing you, changing you… well, it scared her silly.

But when, two months later, Dess asked whether she wanted to watch “The Creature from the North Pole” with her, Noelle agreed. Because the thing she remembered most about watching “Invasion of the Body-Thieves” was not the grotesque horror. What she remembered most was how, when she would scream or yelp or jump in fright, there would be an immediate warm arm around her shoulders pulling her in. A comforting voice in her ear. 

No matter how scared she was, she would always feel safe. As long as Dess was there.

They dealt with this knowledge in their own animalistic ways, through fighting and killing and theft and earthly comforts, ignoring the misery of the world and their own impending doom however they could. And yet none of them could truly escape it.

And so this world was for many years, a terrible place to be sure, until one day an Angel arrived.

Noelle awoke.

Had she been sleeping? It didn’t feel like it. Yet “awoke” seemed like the right word to use. Yes… she awoke.

Shs stretched her wings with a sigh that shook the earth. Nearby, in a bed of clouds, her father slept. His chest glowed, rising and falling peacefully, undisturbed by fits of coughing. Gracefully, she glided over to him. Below, above, all around her stretched Her Heaven. It was… imperfect, but she was working on it. Changing, molding it into her image. Her paradise.

She rested a hand on her father’s forehead. Didn’t She deserve paradise? After all She’d been through? Besides, it wasn’t just Her she was making it for. She was making Heaven for everyone. She just needed a little time to make it perfect.

And it started with Rudy Holiday.

“Lo!” said the Angel, gazing around at this starved and war-stricken world. “What a sad sight this is. What cruelty, to have created a world with this much misery, and to have created creatures with the ability to comprehend that misery.”

“Save us!” Cried the citizens. “For our lives are a Hell that can only end in our deaths. There must be something you can do!”

When Noelle was ten, Dess went missing. 

She did not die. Dess was not dead. Noelle couldn’t believe that, no matter how long the search took, no matter how people consoled her, no matter how cold that year’s winter got. Dess was not dead. Just missing. Not dead. Just missing. Not dead. Just missing. Not dead. Just missing. Not dead, not dead, she was NOT DEAD.

…And so she looked. Under the bed, in the closet, behind the door, down the drain, in the woods. She looked everywhere. Even on the internet. Every day, for seven years, she looked up “December Holiday” to see if there was any news, any sign that she was out there. 

While her mom plunged headfirst into work and forgot the fact that she had only lost one not two daughters, while her dad tried in vain to distract her with video games, while Uncle Asgore got fired from his job as police chief for failing to find even a trace of Dess, while teary-eyed Auntie Toriel fussed and fussed over her, while Asriel just accepted she was dead, while Kris just…

While Kris…

…Every day. Without fail. December Holiday. December Holiday. December Holiday. 

“FATHER,” She commanded. “WAKEN.”

His eyes fluttered open at Her order. “Ngh… Noelle?”

The Angel blinked. Was that her name? She’d almost forgotten. Noelle… It barely sounded like a word to her. “HELLO. HOW ARE YOU FEELING?”

Rudy sat up groggily, rubbing a hand on his chest. “I feel… I feel great, actually, where--” He glanced around and seemed to register where he was. “Woah, where the hell are we? Are we on a cloud? The hell’s going on?”

“YOU ARE SAFE NOW,” The Angel… Noelle? Explained, pleased. “I HAVE HEALED YOU AND BROUGHT YOU TO THE HIGHEST REACHES OF MY HEAVEN.”

“Your what?” Rudy asked, puzzled. “Hun, you’re not talking any sense. What happened? You--” He looked down at his chest and nearly jumped. “What in the-- Are my lungs glowing?”

“YOUR OLD ONES WEREN’T DOING YOU ANY FAVOURS. SO I REPLACED THEM.” She placed a hand on his chest. Underneath the pink, rose adorned gown he wore, a pair of lungs were outlined brightly and clearly inside his chest.

“You… replaced them?” Rudy asked faintly, staring down at himself. He rubbed his chest as if expecting it to smear.

“THERE IS NO ILLNESS IN THE NEW WORLD I HAVE CREATED,” She promised. “NO PAIN. NO SUFFERING. ONLY BLISS.”

“That’s… that’s great, sweetie,” Rudy managed a shaky smile. “Real proud of you. Could we, by any chance, go find your mother first? You know where she is?”

“SHE CONSPIRES AGAINST US WITH THOSE WHO WOULD SEEK TO CORRUPT MY HEAVEN,’ The Angel said, Her voice like thunder in the clouds around them. “WE WILL NOT LET THEM.”

“Noooo, of course not,” Rudy assured soothingly. “No one’s going to corrupt your heaven, hun.”

“THEY WILL TRY,’ The Angel’s voice lowered darkly. “BUT WITH YOUR HELP, THEY WILL FAIL.”

“With my help?” He repeated dubiously. “Noelle, kiddo, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on, and I’m half convinced I’m hallucinating, but in case I’m not, I’m going to do a blanket “no” on any sort of final showdown with your mother. There are healthier ways to do teenage rebellion than recruiting me to beat the living snot out of her. In fact, it’s far more likely that she beats the living snot out of me instead. She’s always been tough, and I’ve been sitting in a hospital bed for the past several weeks.”

“I WILL GRANT YOU STRENGTH BEYOND MEASURE. NO ONE WILL STAND IN OUR WAY,” The Angel promised, reaching forward a hand to touch his chest. Rudy leaned back, a look of… fear entering his eyes.

When Noelle turned eleven, Kris stopped coming to her birthday. 

She understood. They were going through a lot. Dess’s disappearance hit everyone hard, and the resulting terrible year included Kris’s parents going through a divorce. When Kris was sad, they tended to draw into themself. They became dull, mute, they barely left their room. So she understood.

It still hurt, though. 

Berdly came over, Catty too. They played video games, mostly, and dad brought home a cake. Mom was working that day and left a 20 dollar bill under her pillow as a present. The rest of the class signed a letter Toriel had bought from the grocery store. She looked, and Kris’s name was not on it.

It felt like a cosmic shift. It felt like suddenly the phrase “Kris is my best friend” was no longer true. “Kris was my best friend,” she started saying, and no one commented on it.

“Noelle,” Rudy was saying, his voice steady yet fearful. “Let’s just dial it all back, huh? Let’s just go find your mother and talk about… whatever you want to talk about. As a family. How’s that sound?”

She paused. For a moment, Rudy could almost see his little girl behind whatever was looming over him. 

Then the Angel returned, her voice ringing like the church bell, her eyes brighter than the sun. “I WILL RAZE THIS SINFUL WORLD AND REMAKE IT WITH NONE OF ITS PREVIOUS CRUELTIES,” Her wings stretched out until all Rudy could see was glittering feathers. "NO LOST SISTERS, NO NEGLECTFUL MOTHERS, NO DYING FATHERS. IT WILL BE A PARADISE UNTARNISHED BY EVIL, AND I WILL DO WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE IT SO.”

Or was he wrong, and this was the true Noelle? Angry and bitter after years of being polite in the face of tragedy? Had he just… not seen it? Not seen how his little girl was suffering? Just breathed a sigh of relief at how well she was behaving despite it all? His heart seized. “Noelle--”

The Angel pressed her hand firmly on Rudy’s chest, and he screamed. He roiled and thrashed as an oily black substance spread across his skin and his antlers sharpened into horns. In his agony, he rolled straight off the cloud and began falling to the earth.

The Angel watched him fall without fear, for as he fell, he grew and grew to titanic proportions, until when he landed, all he had to do was stand to meet her gaze from where she sat on the cloud. Dark, bulky, a glowing four-point star for a face, he looked unrecognizable. The enormous creature let out a low gutteral moan, and she leaned forward to stroke his face lovingly.

With another hand, she snapped her fingers, and two more titans rose from the earth itself. Thinner, swifter, as their forms assembled themselves, they both went on one knee and bowed to her. 

The Angel smiled.

“Dear things, of course I will help you,” Crooned the Angel, cradling the poor, tortured creatures in her warm gaze. “I will bring my Heaven down to you, and you shall live in this nightmare no longer.”

The people wept at the benevolence of this Angel, relief inspiring the masses to bow and kiss her feet. The Angel flapped her six wings thrice and creatures of light and dark gazed in awe as their world was transformed. No longer would they be plagued by death, sickness, grief, and misery. 

They would all have new lives in the Angel’s Heaven, unburdened by the suffering they had endured in the old world.

And everyone lived happily ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and 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