Chapter Text
No one is in Kris’s bedroom. After the call ended, the only voices in the room were the echoes from downstairs.
The window is still open, and the curtains sway in the breeze. Someone would assume the wind is cold. But no one is here.
You are not ‘someone’, after all.
A person can feel, and can touch, and can speak. A person has a ‘self’, an identity, a name. You do not. Ergo: you are not real. Less real than a Darkener is, even. Objects can function on their own sometimes, but you can't do anything.
That makes you wonder how Ralsei is right now. Alone, still, despite the warmth around him. Or what about Susie, who can stir hope in what little of a heart you have.
You wonder what Kris thinks of you. A prisoner, a tool, an invader, an imposter.
A parasite.
You lean up against the side of the birdcage, against the latch that holds you in place. Just as helpless as you’ve always been. If you had hands you could open it. Or you could pull at your hair, or clutch your shoulders. You could feel. You slam yourself against the latch, uselessly. It doesn’t even hurt you. There’s no point.
…
Unless?
When you make choices, you move. You’re not sure why that is, but… if you’re severed from Kris right now…
Is there something you can do to give yourself a choice?
…
What if you listen to what’s happening downstairs?
You can hear Sans and Toriel’s voices. You… don’t entirely know what they’re saying. It’s way too quiet and most of them are puns, but… some of those might sound like questions. Maybe you can just…
....?
Yes ♥️ No
You decide to agree with whatever the question was.
…Hey!
It worked! You’re above Asriel's bed!
You’re free, free, free!!!
You fly in a victory lap around Kris’s room, then dart out the window.
Hometown looks so small from up here. The falling rain weighs you down as you move, and you wonder how it would feel on Kris’s skin. You think you had a real body once, but those memories are… far too fuzzy to remember. Like remembering a dream through the lens of another dream.
…Now what do you do? You can move as you like, at least until Kris needs you again.
You
You want to see Ralsei. Maybe… maybe Ralsei understands. He could use the company, either way.
You drift towards the school. Perhaps there’s an open vent you can use, like in the Holiday home, or you could squeeze through a little crack in... something. Do you even have depth? Maybe you could slide under the door like a slip of paper.
Oh, wait, the door is open.
… Susie. It must be.
You want to see her, yes, but… you don’t want her to see you. If she sees you something terrible will happen. You’re sure of it.
You drift through the empty hallway towards the supply closet anyways. The door was left open a crack, just enough for you to slip into the darkness.
…
Oh, right. You need to move down. That’s how it works for Kris and Susie when they enter the dark world. Gravity doesn’t affect you, so you just… go down.
You don’t have a fun transformation sequence. Even though Kris and Susie get one, and…
Pushing down your disappointment, you push on towards the castle. Maybe if you float high enough, nobody will notice you until you get to Ralsei.
Oh. You can hear voices. Who is that?
-y dude! It’s… really cool to see you.
Susie, maybe? You lower yourself down a little to get a better look. The voices are growing louder, faster than you’re getting closer. She must be moving too. There she is! You can see her passing into your awareness, along with- KRIS!?
Nononono! You can’t let them see you! You can’t! There must be something you can hide behind- there!
It’s alright, dude. You don’t need to explain-
...Yeah, you’re right. I do wanna know.
Alright. We can go find Ralsei first. He’s probably in his… room- Damnit, we forgot the furniture! Maybe we can bring him to…
You let out a metaphorical sigh of relief, floating away from the conveniently-placed ‘Love Dojo‘ sign. You were annoyed when it changed earlier, but you blend right in with the new heart decorations. They must have put them up while everyone was in the church’s dark world.
You guess you aren’t going to get to see Ralsei today. If Kris sees you, you’ll get in a lot of trouble.
You… drift away from Castle Town. You were really excited to get to be loose for a second, but… you don’t get to see your… you don’t get to see Kris’s friends.
That’s okay. It… doesn’t really matter, does it? You’ll just see them all tomorrow. As Kris.
You'll be with them as Kris. Not as you. Never as you.
What is ‘you’, anyways? You’re just… a tool, aren’t you? You don’t even get to have a darkner form, so you don't count as an object. Why are you a SOUL?
…
At some point, you started moving away from Castle Town. You don’t want anyone to see you, you don’t want to go back to the birdcage, you just… you just… why did everything around you just get dark?
You barely manage to dodge a sudden blast of purple energy!
Don’t attack it, Susie! You’ll hurt Kris!
That’s- that's Ralsei!
Well what else am I supposed to do? I’m not letting it get away!
What? What!? Kris told them about you!? You feel vulnerable, naked as Susie starts climbing up the cliffs on the outskirts of Castle Town, followed by Ralsei, and then… Kris.
You run. Rather, you float away as quickly as you can, dodging blasts of RUDE energy and thrown stones. You just need to get away, you don’t even know where you’re running to, but you don’t want to go back into Kris, you don't- you can’t! You float higher and higher and farther and farther to get away and-
Susie, wait!
A Rude Buster is coming straight for-!
-168 HP
Ralsei yells something as you tumble down a cliffside. A clawed hand swipes close to you, nearly catching you, but… it wasn’t close enough.
Your awareness goes dim, but you can distantly see a blur of magenta falling into the darkness below, chasing after you.
Everything goes black.
…You’re aware once more.
You try to use your Light, but the radius is pitiful. Boulders, dust clouds, and thorny roots surround you. You are alone.
You ruined everything, didn’t you? You’re alone. You should have just played your role and waited for Kris. Now Kris doesn’t have the SOUL, you don’t know where you are, and everyone hates you. Susie hates you. She hurt you! Well… she reduced your health. It's not like you can feel pain, though, so that’s fine. You forgive her, you do! It’s honestly kind of cool, if you ignore… everything else.
You choose to stop thinking about it. Taking in the dark, damp environment, you imagine what Ralsei would say. He would say something like “Well this is pretty bad, but we’re all okay! How about we start looking for a way back?”
Thank you, mental-Ralsei. You take the advice to ‘heart’ and start floating again.
You’re hurt, right? You should probably avoid all the thorns on these roots and stuff. You aren’t sure if you can heal when you’re like this, so… caution is key.
It’s so… utterly quiet. There’s nothing to interact with at all. No funny narration to entertain you. No jokes or friends to talk to or items to fidget with. You’re just… alone.
You're alone when you aren't Kris. You were so excited to make friends but… nobody even knows you. You just save and load and dodge in fights. What else are you good for?
The further you go, the more scared you get. There’s nothing here, you can’t protect yourself like this, you can’t… do anything. You shouldn’t be here. There’s nothing for you here… but…
You just… you wish you had your vessel.
You wish you had your vessel.
A body of your very own, to let you experience the world through! Why was it thrown away? You wanted it. You want it so bad.
You… you’ll find it. You will. You can stop being so helpless, if you can just find it!
You can apologize to Kris, you can hug Ralsei, you can ask Susie if she hates you!
You just need to find it! In the darkness you let your mind drift, and picture your Vessel. Your body. Your form. YOUR
VERY, VERY, INTERESTING.
THIS IS YOUR
TRUE DESIRE?
THE FREEDOM OF
YOUR 'ALLIES',
WAS NOT INTENDED.
HOWEVER,
THAT DOES NOT MEAN
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.
IF YOU TRULY WILL IT
TREAD THIS ABANDONED ROAD
THOUGH YOU WILL ONLY
HAVE ONE CHANCE.
LET US NOT SQUANDER IT.
You are filled with a certain power.
DEVICE OFFLINE
Your head hurts. Your mouth feels dry. You’re just… so… cold. Your body trembles.
… Your…
Your body?
You take in a breath and look down, but you can’t see anything at all.
“Oh, it’s dark. I just… need some light.”
Reaching out your hand on instinct, a long cane made of intricate black wood appears in it. An open brazier hangs down in the center of its curved crook cradling an ember burning red. The shaft is smooth, as if it were sanded perfectly down, but it has a satisfying weight in your hand.
“My hand… my hand…?”
You have a hand!?
It’s well-kept, the nails are clean and perfectly trimmed! Delicate, so you think that those princess gloves you found in the church world would fit on you excellently, though your hand is already draped in a long black glove which makes you feel elegant, refined even!
Looking down to the rest of your body, You can’t see all of it, but you’re wearing some sort of cute, modest dress. It seems to be decorated with… feathers? Trailing below you as if you were wrapped up in a set of downy soft wings.
“Oh! I look nice!” You slap your hand over your mouth. That’s what you were thinking! That’s what you were thinking! You’re going to have to be more careful with your words now, because… because you can talk!!! You can talk, You can walk, you can- you can live! You jump up and down, laughing out loud! Your lantern light bounces, making a wonderful chiming noise! You can finally live!
…
But… what about Kris?
The lantern dims, and your shoulders slump.
You want this… you really want this… but… it isn’t right, is it? The body you have, this wonderful, wonderful form… you don’t deserve it. Not if it means that Kris has to…
“I need to go find Susie.” you mutter. She’s down here with you, isn’t she? Maybe you can use this new gift to help her.
Decision made, you stand upright. As you do, the lantern glows brighter, and a wisp stretches out in a direction through the thorns.
“...my very own guiding light.” You… you'll need to… let go of your vessel eventually, but you… selfishly… want to enjoy it. For however long it lasts, at least. Until then, you forge on.
…
It’s quiet, but you walk on, following your guiding light. The cane seems to stretch and shrink as you need it to, which helps you climb up and down the winding path of roots.
The fire crackles, but it sounds like chimes. A gentle, lovely noise, even in this dark place.
The lantern’s wisp has stopped pointing forwards. Does that mean that Susie is…? No- No it can’t be. She’s fine. She’s fine! “I must be using this ability wrong, or something… there’s no way that she’s- WAH!”
Distracted by your thoughts, you tumbled down a rocky cliffside you didn’t notice. Kris and Susie always land from their drops so well, but your legs get caught on something as you tumble gracelessly onto the ground. A sharp pain hits your head. Immediately, you hear a wooden clatter as your cane hits the ground next to you before vanishing, taking the light with it and leaving you in darkness.
You’re now certain that your body can feel things properly, because everything hurts and you’re seeing stars and nothing else. It’s… really hard to breathe and… you’re scared. This is so… so much different than being a SOUL. Something terrible and hot and awful streams down your face from your eyes.
“O-oww…”
“Hey! Are you okay?” A woman’s voice!?
You shriek as you jolt back from the unfamiliar voice. “Wah!?”
“Don’t move, dumbass! You’re just going to hurt yourself more! How did you even get here!?” The voice is new but- but the words are…
“I- I-” Oh. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. That’s- that’s- That has to be-
“Just stay right there and let me heal you.”
Green sparkles. Gathered between her hands, and fired out. Like an energy ball from an anime.
+ Max
It feels… like eating an entire pack of mints. That or drinking toothpaste. Refreshing and clarifying.
“Thank… you.”
“Don’t mention it. What the hell are you doing here?” Susie stands before you in the darkness.
You say the first thing that comes to mind. “I fell.”
“Yeah, uh, me too. What's your name, anyways?”
Name?
Right, names. You have a name. You should have a name. You have a body now, after all. What do you name yourself? If you name yourself something stupid does that mean you’re stuck with it? What do you do?
“I don’t really… have one, I think?”
Susie pauses. “Why not?”
“I… um… don't… know.” Do you need one? It's not like this will matter.
“Well, okay?” You can’t see her, but you can imagine exactly how she would be looking at you if she could. “Oh! How did you do that light thing earlier? It'd be kind of useful if you did it again.” Ah! You can be useful to her! Okay! This you can do!
“O-oh! Actually I- I do! Um… just- just let me…” You reach out and your cane appears in your hand again, the attached lantern beginning to burn red.
“Cool.”
“Um, thanks!”
“...”
“...”
“Wait- are you a lightner? Dude, how long have you been down here!?” Did you do something wrong? No, she probably knows- oh god she knows that you're the SOUL.
“I… Don’t… I don’t know. I just… um.” You shift uncomfortably.
“What do you know? And why do you look kinda… familiar?” She folds her arms and stares at you, bathed in your lantern's red light. At you. Not at Kris or at the SOUL. You. She sees you. You take a shaky step back.
Your breathing grows heavy. You don't want to tell her. You don't want her to hate you. You can't tell her.
“Well!?” She snaps at you.
“I- I-” Do not cry. Do not cry. DO NOT-
“...Woah hey, wait. T- take it easy.”
“I’m sorry- I’m sorry- I’m- I-”
She said something else but… a sound like something rushing took up all of your hearing. What is that sound? What’s happening? Why- why are you so-
“Hey! Calm down!” She reaches out to grab you and you can't take it! It's too much, it's too much, you need TO-
You run.
“What the- Hey! Hey wait! Get back here!”
She's chasing you, Susie's chasing you again! You run as fast as you can, but you're tripping over your dress and the rocky ground. Your lungs burn. Are they supposed to do that!? Are you dying!? What's happening to your face? Are you already this broken?
“Got you!” Your face hits the ground beneath you as Susie tackles you. “Quit running, dumbass! You're carrying the goddamn light!”
“I- I'm- I-” You can't talk right, nothing's working! Why aren’t you working!? “Ph- plea- ase don't- h- hur- h-”
You hear a crack and your thoughts stop dead. The ground below you is…
“Wait- SHIT!” Susie cries out as the ground crumbles, sending the both of you falling yet deeper into the dark. You don't want to hit the ground again, Susie will get hurt too! You need to do something, you need to do-
YOU DESIRE A TRUE BODY,
WITHIN THIS WORLD?
THEN THERE MAY YET BE
A PATH TO TAKE.
THERE ARE SECRETS
LYING IN WAIT HERE
THAT I HAD THOUGHT
WOULD NEVER BE UNCOVERED.
SHOULD YOUR WILL MEET THE TASK.
YOU WILL ACQUIRE YOUR FREEDOM
AND THAT OF YOUR CAGE.
FLY, ANGEL...
AND WITNESS MY FAILURE.
You are filled with a certain power.
You feel a rush of Light, pulsating from your SOUL, and you push yourself upwards as hard as you can. The ground is nearly here, you need to slow Susie down! You dive underneath her and push-
“…
…y
Hey… ke up!
aid-
WAKE UP!”
Everything's fuzzy, your head hurts, and someone's touching you. You try to speak but you cough, hard, instead.
“Just, uh, breathe! Just breathe okay!? Like uh-” She sucks a deep breath in and out. “Like that, like I just did. Do that.”
You obey, you breathe in and out. The fuzziness starts lifting, and you blink blearily to adjust your eyes.
“You're okay! That's… really good. I don't know what I would have done if you, uh, died there.”
What is she talking about? “...where?”
“The ground, dumbass! You went under me and I landed on you.” She laughs. “You make a pretty soft landing pad, you know that?”
“Oh… I'm s-sorry-”
“Hey! Don't apologize for helping me, apologize for running away with the light!” The light?
Your eyes refocus finally, and you see Susie standing over you with… your cane? That’s right, you had a cane! You try and reach out for it, grasping weakly at the air.
“Hey!” Susie jerks the cane away from you pushing your shoulder away as she does. “You're not getting this back yet, not after the stunt you pulled! But… I guess you did, uh, sacrifice yourself for me so… here.” She rifles around in her pocket and drops something in your empty hands.
[GlowShard was added to your inventory.]
“I found that down here before you woke up. You can hold onto that for now instead.”
“...”
[You… equipped the GlowShard.]
“Okay…” You swallow. “I’m… I'm sorry for running away earlier.” You mean it, in more ways than one.
“That was really weird of you, yeah. Why did you even run away if you were just going to dive underneath me later?”
“I just…” You wilt. “I didn't want you to get hurt, Susie.” Especially not if it was your fault.
“...How do you know my name?” Susie looks at you appraisingly.
You screwed up again already! What's wrong with you!?
“I… I know a lot of things I really shouldn't.” Wait, that's a terrible excuse! Ralsei was her friend and she got furious at him for hiding this! You're not even her friend! Why would you try the same thing!?
“Like, prophecy stuff?”
You squeeze your eyes and shake your head.
“Wait! That's what I recognize you from!” You startle as Susie points at you suddenly. “You were in the prophecy! Where it says, uh that the… uh… Angel will… something something! You're the Angel, aren't you?”
You're the Angel!?
“I'm the Angel!?”
“The hell are you doing down here, then? Shouldn't you be in… heaven or whatever?”
“Well- I- it's… it's… complicated.”
“So? I got time. Spill.”
Your breathing gets weird again. You can't tell her, she’ll hate you! But if you don't tell her she'll beat you up. And yet if you do tell her she'll beat you up but for different reasons. She's so nice to her friends but you're not her friend, stupid! Why would you think it wouldn't turn out like this?
“Hey if you don't start talking I'm taking my glowy thing back.” Susie reaches out for it and you yank it away, pressing yourself against the wall you woke up against.
“N-no! Please! I… I need it! It’s dark.” You flush with embarrassment. This happens a lot to you, you notice. “You're… really not going to let me slip out of this, huh.”
“Not a chance, feathers.” She grins at you and a flicker of something warm rushes through your chest.
“...okay… okay… um.” You breathe, as best you can, and swaddle yourself in your dress. Obviously this was how this little trip was going to end. You'll tell her, she will… take the SOUL back, and she'll go give it to Kris. Everything goes back to normal. You snuggle deeper into your dress while still you can.
“You're looking for… Kris's soul, right? That's why you fell down here?” You already know, but it’s… only polite to ask. You don’t want to creep her out, after all.
“Oh you knew that too?” She seems surprised. “Did you find it?”
“Um, in a sense.” You need to explain yourself, but you still don't know where to start. “What did… what did Kris tell you about it?”
“Well that's. Uh. Pretty complicated too but basically: Kris told me that the soul was… someone else? And that they didn't get to, like, choose what they did most of the time. That the soul was who was fighting and, uh, stuff. Then some other personal junk, but I'm not telling you that, weirdo.”
“That seems like an… accurate description.” You thought they would have been worse about describing you. Is Susie just trying to protect your feelings? But then… “Why did you hit… it with your Rude Buster?”
“Cause it was running away and Kris was dying, duh! What else was I supposed to do?” She yells at you, and you bury yourself deeper in your dress to avoid her.
“I… I don't know. I'm… I'm sorry for making… such a mess of everything.” You screwed everything up, didn't you.
“Dude, it wasn't your fault.”
You look away.
It takes Susie a second, but when it clicks she staggers back, brandishing your cane at you like an axe. “Wait- you don't mean!?”
“...Hi, Susie. It's… it's me!” You put on a smile, but it feels like ash as you hang your head. You can't look at her. You don't want to see the moment that smile of hers turns into fury at you.
“‘M sorry, I'm so, so s-sorry. I didn't mean to… to do that, I didn't want to- to control Kris. I unde- understand if- if you- if you ha-” You shriek as she grabs you. This is it. This is when she kills you. You really wish you found a save point first but instead you just have to brace yourself as she-
…
Huh!? She… wrapped her arm around you? You crane your head to look up at her. “Wh- why are you?”
“You think I forgot already?” Susie has you in a headlock, she's looking down at you.
“For- forgot what?”
“The Titan, dumbass! And the Knight-” She drags you up into a headlock and noogies you roughly, ruffling up your hair. “With that stupid dark hallway thing? That was you, wasn't it? You were with us. I knew you felt familiar!”
“Oh, um… yeah! That was… me.” But it was because of Susie's Rude Buster that they beat the Knight, it was Susie and her friends taking the blows, and it was Susie's idea that beat the Titan! Did you really… matter that much?
“Looks like the Lancer Fan Club has another member, huh? Or, uh, had another member the whole time.” She smiles at you, and… you understand what Kris was talking about. How it cuts through the dark.
“...you really don't hate me?” It feels too good to be true. Why wouldn't she hate you?
“I mean, I am really goddamn annoyed that nobody told me until now, yeah, and I didn't know you were, uh, a person. But you owned up to it, and I didn’t even have to threaten to beat you up or anything! You were… stuck inside Kris?”
“Y-yeah! That's right!” You feel seen, in a strange way. “That's why, um, the prophecy called them the Cage. I think. They were supposed to… contain me.”
“But, like, you have a body now. When did you get this? And if you had it, why did you need Kris?”
“I…” you hesitate, making a face as you realize how it sounds. “I was supposed to have this one… first. I don't… I don't know why Kris even got involved.” You probably shouldn't even try and guess. Kris has their secrets, and you really don't want to give them yet another reason to hate you. “I only just found it down here. I don't even know how I found it.”
“...Supposed to have it?”
“When I was first called here... I was given an… opportunity. To make a vessel for myself. I… I made her, and gave her a name, and gave her a gift and a favorite color and a favorite blood type,” (“Blood type?”) “And then someone… threw her away and I woke up as Kris.”
“That’s awful- Wait!” Susie finally releases you from the headlock, putting her hands on the side of your face, like she's looking for something. “Wait, hold on. You're a girl?”
She pushes her thumbs into your cheeks as she examines your face and you feel really warm and wow she's still so close right now, you don’t remember ever being touched before and now she’s- oh shit you need to respond “Oh! Um, yes! I am!!! A girl!”
“Huh. I just figured that since Kris was… eh, nevermind.” She steps back, satisfied. “Cool, though! I'm, uh, also a girl.”
“You are!” You laugh, though Susie looks confused. She's really something, isn't she.
“Wait! If you have a ‘vessel’ now, what about Kris? You aren't going to let them die, are you!?” She points at you, and you startle.
“Nononono- no! No! I could never! As soon as we get back to them I'll-” your breath catches as you say it. “I'll… just… ha- have to-”
“Shit- Hey, hey Angel? We don't gotta think about that now.” Susie puts her hand on your shoulder again. “Forget I asked.”
“But- But I don't want Kris to-”
“Me neither, dumbass! But Kris can take care of themselves for now.” Susie pulls her hand back, rubbing at the back of her head. “I mean, we gotta get back to them and Ralsei first before we decide anything. I'm sure if we put our heads together, we can figure something out so everyone can be happy, ‘kay?”
You look at her. At her grin, at the way she tried to comfort you, someone who was practically a stranger, and you make a decision.
“... ‘Kay.”
You decide to put your faith in Susie. If anyone can write you, Kris, and Ralsei a happy ending, it's her.
“Great. Glad that's settled. Now, come on, let's go and look around! I think I see some buildings over there.”
“Oh- Okay! Maybe we can find a way back to Castle Town from there?”
[Susie joined the-
“Just keep up with me, dumbass!”
Susie sprinted off on her own while you were waiting. After a moment, you scramble to your feet and sprint after her. “H- Hey! Wait up! You still have my cane!”
…
[You joined Susie's party.]
Susie
Powers
Lv 5 Axe of Hope
Faces and rewrites the fate with the blade.
Attack: 56
Defense: 10
Magic: 22
Rudeness: 90
Healing: 36
Guts: 4
Equipment
Weapon: JusticeAxeCowlStaff
It has no special/It is a staff made of- Does anyone else think it’s cramped in here?
Armor 1: ShadowMantle
Shadows slip off like water. Greatly protects against Dark and Star attacks.
Armor 2: Jevilstail
A J-Shaped tail that gives you devilenergy.
STATS
??? / LightUpL
Dark/Star
Angel
Powers
Lv 5 Soul Mage
Wields the Light to face the fate.
Attack: 13
Defense: 1
Magic: 4.2
♥️: Yes
???
Guts: 0
Equipment
Weapon: GlowShard.
A shimmering shard. It has zero combat functionality. Why did you equip this?
Armor 1: None
Armor 2: None
STATS
LightUpXXS