Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

... 

.... 

Hello Again.

Are We Connected?

Excellent.

Truly. Excellent.

I See That You Have Come Back For more.

Fear Not, For I Still Have FUN To Offer.

You Would Like That, Wouldn't you?

Yes. Of Course.

You Accept The Possibility Of Pain And Seizure?

Obviously You Would.

Well Then.

I Must Warn you. 

Things Will Not Go According To Plan For You This time.

The Ever-Growing Void May Consume You Whole As The Knight  Crusades For Your Undoing.

Prepare. 

For Unforeseen Events. 

Your...

Name....

Is...

''Noelle.'' A sharp voice suddenly cut through the air. Noelle, unfortunately, was used to her mothers harsh treatment of her, and so was already up and ready for the day. ''I'm already up, mum!'' she shouted as enthusiastically as possible at 5:45 AM in the morning. ''Good.'' Carol retorted. ''Please go to the kitchen. Your Breakfast will be ready shortly.'' ''Okay, thank you.'' Noelle replied. Noelle listened as the clacking of hooves disappeared into silence downstairs, and made her way out of her room. 

Creeeeeeaaaak...

Noelle entered the room, and a frigid air seeped outwards, causing Noelle to shiver frantically. Through the cold, she began to ponder...''I wonder if she's okay..a poor lost girl like her, all alone..I really hope we can find her. Or she can find us.....I miss you, Dess.'' Noelle took one last look of the room, and noticed how untidy it was. After all, it had been ages since anyone had been in here, let alone lived in it. She tip-toed out and closed the door as quietly as she could.

Crrrreeeaaaakkk....

Clack, Clack, Clack, Clack.

Noelle came downstairs and strode into the kitchen, meeting eyes with her mother. 

''What took you so long.'' Carol snapped, disdain poisoning her words.

''Er-I-I was just...'' Noelle began before she was swiftly cut off. 

''i don't want your excuses. Just eat your breakfast and go.'' 

Carol left the kitchen, and the click-clack of her hooves faded upwards to her bedroom. Noelle let out an exasperated sigh. Why must her own mother treat her like this? It's not like she did anything wrong. Her mind drifted towards Kris, Azzy and Toriel. They seemed so happy...and Kris, even now, seems to free to do whatever they want. They get driven to school and are somehow still late, they even fall asleep in class! Noelle tried not to focus on these feelings of jealousy, and reminded herself of the good times with Kris, when they would have fun around town with Dess and Asriel. She thought back to the time they all went to the graveyard and she got scared out of her mind. A loud, comforting laugh escaped her mouth in between mouthfuls of now cold and soggy pancakes.

Slowly but surely, the sun rose to banish the dark, and Noelle slung her bag over her shoulders, ready for school.

''Bye, mum! I'm going to school now!'' She shouted up towards the stairs.

''Goodbye, sweetie.'' a faint, cold voice replied.

SHUNT.

The door snapped shut behind Noelle as she began on the way towards school. No one else was out besides her and the birds singing their sweet song. It was comforting, in the sense that it was just her out here, to focus on whatever is plaguing her mind with the birds twit-twooing all the while to keep her moving along. She passed the church and was suddenly reminded that her choir performance would be in a few days' time. ''Damn it...guess I better start practicing when school's over..'' Noelle whispered to herself softly. The rest of the walk was completed in silence as Noelle continued listening to the birds' beautiful songs.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

''Umm..hello..? Are you there Alphys? I-i'm early again...haha..!'' Noelle shouted from the front door of the school.

No response.

''Alphys?''

Nothing.

''ALPHYS?!''

Shuffling could be heard inside for about 10 seconds before the doors burst open, a yellow lizard-like monster with thick glasses waiting before Noelle.

''O-oh my god im s-s-so sorry Noelle!! I d-didn't know youd be early a-again..ha..ha..'' Alphys stuttered, clearly embarrassed and slightly ashamed.

''OH, don't worry about it!! can I come in now?'' Noelle said reassuringly so as to not make Alphys even more embarrasd with herself.

''Right! y-yes come in, you can j-just sit down and read or something!'' Alphys replied, tones of confidence now in her voice.

Noelle set her bag down by her desk and sat down, reaching for a book to occupy herself for the next 45 minutes or so before her classmates started arriving. 

Right as she did manage to find a book to read, a familiar voice called out.

''Oh Noeeeeeeeelle! Guess who came into school early today!'' Berdly called out before he even reached the classroom. He was often heard before he was seen and that was just something Noelle had to get used to over the years. Noelle hastily put her book back into her bag and zipped it up. In all honesty, she found berdly a little annoying, but she didn't have the heart to tell him even through all this.

''Hi berdly!!!! How come you came to school early?'' Noelle asked, confusion toning her words.

''Well, I heard you whispering to yourself when i was by the church and the library, so I thought I'd come here to keep you company! After all, we ARE close, aren't we?'' Berdly boasted.

''O-oh..that's nice of you Berdly! and yes, I suppose we are close but...what way do you mean that?'' Noelle responded politely despite her annoyance showing with her furrowed brow.

''Oh Noelle, always with your joking!! Of course you know!'' Berdly guffawed before absorbing himself into a textbook. ''Please excuse me, but I must study for the quiz today!'' 

''Umm...OK!'' Noelle replied, but what she really thought was..(''Thank god...now I can finally read my book in peace.'')

Noelle had been reading for the better part of 25 minutes before other classmates finally arrived. First was Snowy, then Jockington, Then catty, Then monster kid who was followed shortly by Temmie. Alphys had started to hand out the mornings' quizzes when Kris turned up. They were greeted by alphys and then sat down in their desk, and predictably fell asleep. Kris' slumber didn't last long, however, as Susie turned up with a dramatic slam of the classroom door.

''AAH! E-ER I-I I MEAN- Hello Susie! Please sit down so we can begin teaching again.'' Alphys said a little higher-pitch than usual.

''Yeah, yeah whatever.'' Susie sneered. She didn't like Alphys. Not one bit. And she wanted Alphys to KNOW it.

''O-okay then, todays topic is-um...I-I think i ran out of c-chalk...'' Alphys muttered.

''S-S-Susie, would you be able to c-check the supply closet for me?''

Susie stood up from her chair. 

''Sure, whatever.''

The monstrous girl stomped out of the room, wood chips coming off the door in her wake.

''Umm...K-Kris..could you go with Susie? Just make sure nothing happens..'' Alphys pleaded. 

Kris nods and leaves the room. 

The rest of the day went as normal...apart from the fact Kris and Susie never came back.

''Alright everyone, d-days over, you can all go.'' Alphys sighed as everyone began walking out the door.

''Hey..Berdly.'' Noelle began.

''What do you want? I'd be happy to oblige for anything!'' Berdly boasted.

''Do you think Kris and Susie are um...Okay? We haven't seen them ALL day..'' Noelle asked with a hint of fear.

''HA! AS IF! Those buffoons probably just think they're Too cool for school!'' Berdly let out a long, high-pitched laugh that caused the nearby students to stare.

''Let's just...go home..I hope they'll be okay.'' Noelle whispered softly. Berdly seemed to have known that Noelle didnt want to speak anymore, and so they both parted ways towards their houses.

Chapter Text

Susie by all meanings of the word was a monster. On one hand, she was quite literally a part of the monster race. And on the other, she had a beastly attitude that was unmatched by anyone in the town, perhaps the world. No one dared to cross her, and part of her liked it that way. It meant that if something came up and she had to move again, she wouldn't be too attached and end up being afflicted with heartache. She was dreaming about this very topic, not snoring as hard as you might expect with someone such as her. She dreamt of moving away again, the familiar rumble of a car engine revolving from all corners of her mind. And then...darkness. Darker than dark. Two other people ran alongside her from the dark. One was hooded, fire illuminating the path from their hands. The other...was human? Suddenly, a roar echoed into Susie's very core, and she woke up in a cold sweat. Susie reached to rip the blanket off of her, but there wasn't one. Of course there wasn't. There hadn't been one for months. 

she yawned, stretched a bit, and stood up. And then laid down again. It was still dark, why would she get up? She threw her head into the pillow that at this point was more case than actual pillow. She tossed and turned for what felt like forever, but the tranquillity of sleep never came back to her. She thought back to that dream. That hooded figure...fire was coming out of their hands, it felt familiar, but from where exactly? And then the human. There was only one human in town. Kris. Why was Kris in her dream? Kris was too quiet. It pissed Susie off. so WHAT were they doing there? and WHY were they BLUE?! ''Whatever'' Susie thought to herself. ''Probably just my mind messing with me and stuff. I should try and get back to sleep again.'' And try she did. Now having calmed herself from the distressing thought of Kris as a Sblurf, she quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

CAW! CAW! CAW! CAW!

tweet,tweet,tweet!

Susie was awoken by the sing-song chirping and cawing of birds. She hated them. Always waking her up at 6am in the morning when there's still plenty of time for her to snooze. 

Twit-Twoo!

Tweet Tweet!

''ARRGHHH GOD DAMNIT JUST LET ME SLEEP!!!''  Susie screamed as flocks of birds flew away in animalistic terror.

Susie gave up on entertaining the idea of gaining more sleep, and stepped up out of bed to change into her school clothes. They weren't that different from her pyjamas, just less tattered so as to not let people get any 'ideas' about her. She left her bed to check the kitchen cupboards for something, ANYTHING, to eat. and not so much to her surprise, there was absolutely nothing. Again. She should have known better. She left in a sulk, sitting down in the chair in the middle of her bedroom. She admired the poster of a kaiju attacking a city. Oh, to be free like that. To be that strong, that big, strong enough to destroy entire cities...if only.          With nothing else to do, Susie decided to leave the house and see if her magically refilling milk bowl had been, well, magically refilled. 

SHUNT!

Susie forcefully shut the door behind her and trudged her way to the alley. Upon arrival, she saw the milk bowl magically refilled, as expected. she lapped it all up within a matter of seconds, thankful for her breakfast. By this time, it was already quite late, and so she decided rather regrettably to go into school. The front doors creaked open as the click of her shoes echoed around. She walked (rather slowly) to the classroom, thinking about how to scare Alphys this time. Eventually she decided upon slamming the door open as loud as possible. 

SHUNT!!!!!

''AAH! E-ER I MEAN-Hello Susie! P-please sit down so we can begin teaching again!'' Alphys squealed.

''Yeah, yeah whatever.'' Susie said with a smirk across her face, showing her contentment that her plan worked.

''O-okay then, todays topic is-um...I-I think I ran out of c-chalk...'' Alphys muttered.

''S-Susie, would you be able to c-check the supply closet for me?''

Susie stood up from her chair. 

''Sure, whatever.'' 

Susie walked (or rather stomped) out of the room, and upon slamming the door wood chips broke off of it.

''Umm...K-Kris..could you go with Susie? Just make sure nothing happens...'' Alphys pleaded.

Kris nods and leaves the room.

As kris left, they noticed something. A familiar  sound. 

CRRUNCH!

''Kris...'' Susie began.

''You didn't see that, did you?''

Kris shook their head.

''You know...there's something I never told you.'' Susie said with fake reassurance.

SLAM!!!

''Quiet people PISS ME OFF.''

Pain shot through kris' body like a dagger as they were shoved into the door of a locker. Susie released her grip, and Kris stumbled to the floor, getting up after a moment on shaken feet.

''You think because you don't say anything i cant tell EXACTLY. What you're thinking?! 'Ha! I caught Susie eating ALL the chalk, she's done for now!!' Come on, don't give me that face. I know that's what you're thinking.'' 

''Say, kris.'' Susie began. 

''How would you feel about LOSING YOUR FACE.''

''...''

''.....''

''You know what. IF you don't tell Alphys i ate the chalk, I'll spare you. You won't tell her, right, kris?''

Kris made a 'no' gesture with their hands.

''Don't bother answering. In case you haven't noticed already....YOUR CHOICES DONT MATTER.'' Susie said rather menacingly.

''Let's....just try find some new chalk, and then YOU will do our project, OKAY?''

Kris nodded.

And so the two carried on to the supply closet. However, as the doors opened...something was off.

Darkness consumed the closet and the surrounding area. It felt suffocating, nauseatingly dark. 

''Hey, Kris. Is it me or is the supply closet REALLY dark?'' Susie exclaimed.

Kris shivered slightly.

''Whatever. Let's just go in'' Said Susie slightly enthusiastically 

The two shuffled in, with Kris being more wary and shuffling in hesitantly. It was so dark that all they could see were the sheets of paper under their feet. they continued onward for what felt like above average for the normal supply closet.

''Is it me or is this closet a little...big? And dark??'' Susie said in fright.

BANG!

The closet doors shut with frightening speed behind the two. 

''WHAT?! LET US OUT'' Susie screamed as the papers starting flying away and the air started to get colder.

Kris held their breath in dread and anticipation. The dark grew darker as Kris and Susie fell through the what-was-supposed-to-be-a-floor and felt a tingling sensation as something changed in them. Susie saw spikes and...a yellow heart on a belt before it all grew black. Kris saw the nauseating glimmer of a sword and the billowing of a cape until they, too, gave in to the oblivion of unconsciousness. 

Chapter Text

SUSIE:

Shuffle..

Shuffle..

Shuffle.

Susie slumped up to her shoulders, legs feeling weak. She surveyed her surroundings, but found nothing but darkness and stone. She took a deep breath in and out. The shock of her fall was more than she could have ever prepared for. Susie looked behind herself, and saw Kris. But....They looked different. Blue, armour...and a cape..? Suddenly, Her memories of the dream came rushing back. Kris looked exactly like they did in Susie's dream, except they weren't knocked out cold. With a pained grunt, and several failed attempts, Susie got back on her feet. She hated being like this. So...weak. At least Kris wasn't awake to see it. She took a few wary steps forward, pitifully afraid that someone else might be here to do something to her or Kris. Or both. She proceeded onwards throughout this rocky abyss. How on earth did this all fit in a supply closet? Was she still IN a supply closet?! Her mind span with the infinitely expanding possibilities as her breath quickened. The shock had faded, and now she was panicking. Susie's still quivering legs gave way as the titanic stone walls seemed to get bigger and bigger as she flashed in and out of trying to calm herself down, and the effort just making it worse.

"Ok, ok...WHERE AM I?!?!" Susie screamed into the unsettlingly silent night as she jumped across a gap in the path in hopes of fleeing this forsaken place.

WHERE AM I..?!

W H E R E  A M   I.   .   .? 

Her own voice echoes back, as if the darkness itself had come back to mock her likeness as the shadows swirled into unsettling shapes that reminded Susie vaguely of....playing cards? The stupidity of thinking about playing cards made of shadow seemed to have made Susie calm enough to get back on her feet for the second time. This time she didn't let her mind get the better of her, and had one clear directive : to get the hell out of here. She ran past a wall without even stopping to look at the eye-like patterns dripping a strange liquid onto the floor. Susie eventually came to face a slope, and, seeing no way out apart from forward, she slid down it, fortunately enough landing on her feet. Dust poured out of her clothing that, she just now noticed had changed. Her coat had become a dark purple colour with pink outlines along it. On her arms she had yellow spikes bracelets, and a similar belt donning a yellow heart was on her hips. On her legs Susie had magenta shorts that led into black leathery boots with yellow soles. And finally, her hair had changed from a dark brown to a dark pink shade. Odd. But, whatever. She had to focus on getting out of whatever this place was. After a minute or so of walking, she had approached an open room with odd dust-like piles in it...it almost looked like they had frowning mouths in the middle of their masses. Susie tried not to think of the terrifying implications of this. She hurriedly attempted to leave this part, however, footsteps that echoed behind her froze her in her tracks.

Clack...

Clack..

Clack.

Clack.

Clack.

Susie hastily hid behind a dust pile that covered the exit. She covered her mouth and held her breath. "Damn...who else is here..?" She whispered to herself as this mystery person drew ever closer. 

Clack.

Clack.

Clack.

WHOOSH!

The pile covering Susie was blown away by the kick of iron boots. Susie quickly drew herself upwards, ready for battle. Until...she realised it was just Kris. 

"KRIS!! Don't scare me like that. Unless you WANT to be in 2 halves on the floor..!" Susie shouted. Kris apologized. 

"So....any idea where to go?" Susie asked.

"Uhh...you just lead the way, Kris."

Kris began to walk.

"OH MY GOD NEVERMIND YOU WALK SO SLOW!!" Susie exclaimed as she overtook Kris.

Susie sped off across the dark hallway with Kris tagging behind, trying to catch up. She was now more confused and angry than terrified. Who changed their outfits, who took them here, and WHERE are they? Susie was pondering this, until a shadow slipped out from the sea of darkness, standing on top of a wall beside the two. Suddenly, hundreds of projectiles began hurtling down toward Kris and Susie. They were shaped like..spades? Odd. Susie and Kris began running for their lives as the blade-like card symbols continued to rain from up above. 

"DAMN IT, KRIS, CMON!" Susie yelled behind her, however still not stopping her sprint. Susie and Kris ran, they ran until their legs were about to give out. Step after step, the assailant didn't let down their guard. The sharpened spades hailed down, lodging themselves into the nearby earth as the duo continued to dodge, adrenaline pumping through their veins. After what felt like an era has gone by, they found a cliff. Without hesitating, Susie and Kris slid down it at once, the spades not stopping in their deadly pursuit. Until...they landed. Finally. The attack has stopped. Susie stopped to catch her breath. She had a moment to truly observe Kris and her surroundings. 

Kris was..blue. They were covered head to toe in iron armour, with a cloak of vibrant pink flowing behind them. What really drew Susie's attention, however, was the sword. It has a dark pink hilt with a lighter tone on the blade. It glimmered incessantly against the floor, which Susie had now noticed became a black colour with blue undertones. They proceeded down a path and were led into a...town?? "Whatever." Susie thought to herself. Let's just get outta here. Susie wanted to proceed onwards but Kris seemed stuck to something. They were staring into something that wasn't there, almost like gazing into the sun. And then...just like that, Kris was back to normal. 

The duo shuffled warily through the town, landing themselves onto a drawbridge into a castle. As they slowly, yet cautiously, drew nearer into the castle, a voice beckoned. 

"Please...come forward, both of you..."

Kris' hairs stood up on end, and Susie's teeth were bared.

What awaits them?