Chapter Text
The child in the green and yellow sweater awoke slowly..
It was far too early for their body to be waking them up, in all honesty.
They dragged themselves out of their bed, and slowly stretched, nearly falling back into the bed with numbness.
Their mind caught up with the fact that it was conscious rather slowly.
But their carpet wasn't orange.
Their room only had one bed.
Their room was smaller than this.
This wasn't their room, was it?
Evidently not, as they gaze upon the drab gray covers of the bed, the formerly-glow-in-the-dark plastic stars coating the walls of the other end of the room, the birdcage that gave them a strange, ominous feeling at the foot of the bed.
Maybe they were going crazy, but they also didn't happen to own any striped green and yellow sweaters. It almost reminded them of..
Of…
…
Maybe breakfast, yes, they were hungry or thirsty to the point that they were seeing things.
That's a good enough excuse, surely.
They left the room and-
The hall was also different. They don't recall it being shaped like this, or there being a mirror, and if anything their room was the closer one to the stairs.
They.. looked in the mirror.
…
There was someone there.
But it wasn't them.
The being watched as the child's head tilted up in the mirror to look themself directly in the eyes.
And they smiled. It looked vaguely knowing, wicked, twisted. Obviously practiced. Yet, for some reason, they still felt an odd chill, despite the fact that the one giving it was clearly trying too hard.
…The observer didn't feel themself smiling. Their reflection wasn't moving with them.
The observer decided to head downstairs and eat something.
As the being made their way across the hell and down the stairs, they could somehow tell that Kris was attempting to mentally convey that they were staring at them. Probably because they hadn't had much visible reaction, or said anything.
The observer wondered for a moment if Kris was able to hear their thoughts, given they were technically one being.
It was going to make Kris go to the festival with Berdly.
…
No reaction, from what they could discern. They could work with this.
All they had to do was undig a few graves, find a few people, save the world, not die horribly, and find a way home. Sounds relatively simple.
Even if Kris presumably hated them. Even if their own (current) body was working against them.
They could do this.
They wondered if the SAVE Points would still work.
They wondered if- no, getting hit was definitely going to hurt.
…They wondered if losing the will to keep going meant that they wouldn't be able to…
…
…Best to keep that to a minimum.
They could do this.
They had to be able to do this.
They had nothing to worry about, even.
They would be just fine.
And being just fine started with…
Breakfast. Breakfast is easy.
Kris stood in front of the fridge.
The observer wondered for a moment. Maybe if they could just keep them happy..
…They didn't even know what kind of food they liked.
…
Maybe they could…
They felt something in their chest grow tight, as if wound.
No, wait.
Kris felt that. The observer simply felt as if they had bundled themself up. Or, they supposed, that they had bundled their self up. That seemed to confirm that they were attached to Kris’ SOUL.
…
…But Kris didn't move.
…
Kris stood still.
Almost perfectly so.
Maybe they're trying to gauge the observer in some way.
See if they'll take back control out of frustration. They weren't like that! They hadn't been trying to be mean!
…Though, the observer supposed Kris didn't know anything that could cause them to be perceived as mean anyways. It had all started over, hadn't it?
Him. The salesman. They reacted the same every time, save the choices made. They didn't know anything yet.
…They didn't know what would happen yet. They… didn't…
…Wait.
The observer did.
The observer knew what was going to happen.
Well, as much as they could.
They had been curious, but… not that curious. But they had heard tell.
They knew a few things, here and there. They had played the first, the second, the third…
They hadn't gotten around to the fourth. They had heard things, here and there, though. Nobody was perfect, after all. So. They had knowledge. They knew things.
Things that nobody else did…
That meant they could be helpful. They could be… useful, even. That sounded nice.
If they were useful, helpful, maybe…
Maybe.
They internally wished themself luck. Nobody else would. They hadn't gotten to meet him properly, after all.
…
Kris was taking an awfully long time to do… much of anything. The observer grew impatient. They didn't have the patience of a saint! Were saints a thing here? An angel, then? Did they by default have the patience of an angel? Were they the- they were getting off track.
The observer stepped forward and grabbed the handle, pulling on the fridge door.
It budged, slightly.
They pulled on it again. Clearly, they had underestimated this fridge. Perhaps this one had stronger magnets than those they were used to. Or there was something sticky that had long been spilled and its saccharine spirit haunted the box of north wind. Yeah, now that's some flavor text.
Maybe they would have to come up with all of it themself.
…
How odd that the idea felt so wrong.
On the third attempt, the fridge cracked open. They saw within a series of foodlike objects, most of which seemed to be familiar ingredients.
Maybe they could make something with this?
They dragged Kris’ phone from the pocket. So odd it was on the left.
It was… five fifteen. Why were they awake right now, again?
The hand deposited the phone back in the pocket without their input. Right, not them. An odd situation. Deserving of a bit of an early wakeup to figure a few things out.
They inspected the cabinets. Cups, plates, bowls, snacks. And then they saw their prize. Prizes, rather, within the cupboard above the stove. Spices.
There were three they needed, plus salt and sugar, which didn't count.
A bowl for now, a plate for later, a fork, rolled sleeves, hot pan, bread and eggs, hopefully deft hands, a spoon for the sugar.
Kris watched from within themself as the being piloting their body cleaved a pat of butter from the stick and shook it from the knife into the pan, cracked eggs into a bowl, washed their hands, pierced the yolks’ golden hide and blended them into unrecognizability, adding some salt, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, and lastly, a spoonful or two of sugar.
Their body was moving on a will not their own, performing actions that had ingrained themself into someone else - had been granted the honor of being ingrained - slowly, carefully, as if uncertain as to its own proportions, as if everything was moved two inches to the left.
Their body had been moving around, as if it knew what actions it wanted to do, knew what items it needed, knew they had to be somewhere - yet they weren't always where it thought they would be. Like… trying to make breakfast at a friend's house, a recipe you knew by heart, and needing to find out where all the ingredients were, in a room that you didn't know at all.
One.
Then, after a time, a second.
Kris’ musings had ended by the time the third slice was ready.
A fork, a (butter) knife, a glass of…
Water, water was a good choice. Couldn't go wrong with water.
No, wait, you could. They were in Kris’ house after all.
But this glass was cool and refreshing.
And the french toast, eventually, was done.
A quiet moment.
The dishes put where they needed to be, the pan scrubbed - not with soap - and set back on the stove to dry, the ingredients put back.
The allspice was last.
Allspice, huh.
The observer had heard something, before.
A strange dream someone had. An ironic twist on the second journey's own cruel twist.
Allspice was sweet, though, no? Not salty.
Or it was used in sweet things. Like french toast.
They wanted people on their side, if and when things went awry. And anyways, they didn't feel like needing to find out if they were able to come back from death.
Yeah, they could pull a few strings, here and there, so to speak.
And surely they hadn't found everything.
And if they had…
They’d just make new things to find.
They’d be a nice angel! Ironic that that was what came to mind. A nice angel. Redundant? Maybe. Maybe not.
They checked the phone again.
Six sixteen.
The observer hauled their collective up-too-early corpse up the stairs and promptly collapsed back into bed.
* * *
It was six fifty five. Kris awoke, rehearsed by their body alone, at the sound of her footsteps in her room. They had been hoping they were sleeping deeply enough to prevent that so they could have more time not existing. They dragged themself out of bed and walked to the door.
It, ever so slowly, began to awaken as well.
They looked at themself in the mirror.
It was what people referred to as “you”.
They noticed her door hadn't opened yet.
…
They crawled down the stairs on all fours as the being caged between their bones jolted awake, failing miserably at taking back control before they could possibly slip and instead just bracing itself for impact.
Just as Kris was about to reach the bottom step, they stopped on a dime. Then, ever so slowly, they swung their legs around so as to be in front of them again.
A heart felt like it was pounding.
It wasn't theirs.
Kris started towards the door.
They walked in the direction of the bathroom instead. Teeth were things that humans had. Good idea to take care of them. Best not to break something borrowed.
* * *
Once that was taken care of, Kris and Toriel then got in the car to go to school.
The observer had heard this before. They tilted Kris’ head towards the window and closed their eyes, wondering if they were able to…
They squinted their eyes, and they squinted their heart…
And, for just a second, they felt as if the earth was humming. Something like an introduction.
Odd.
Toriel led Kris inside. Their nose burned with the scent of too-clean school hallway. Toriel knelt down to give them a hug.
The observer noted that to this point they had somehow avoided hearing anybody say anything out loud. How odd. Kris’ legs almost mechanically ambled towards the near door on the left. They supposed it was about time for that to end.
They heard muffled speech as the door was approached and they entered the room.
“Oh… K- Kris…!” The observer glanced at Alphys as Kris stood awkwardly in the doorway.
“We thought you weren't coming today! We're doing group projects this month… Uhhh… so, walk around and find a partner, ok?”
They collectively scanned the room. Temmie works alone, Catti and Jockington work together, MK and Snowdrake work together, and as much as the interloper thinks making Kris work with Berdly would be funny, Noelle is already working with him. The only remaining option, and the only true option to begin with, has yet to arrive. Talking to Noelle would allow time to advance to the point where Susie entered.
They slunk over to Noelle.
“Hey Kris! What's up? Didja lose your pencil again? Here, you want the candy cane one or the one with lights on it?”
“You wanna work on the project together?”
The interloper listened to Kris’ voice. It sounded tired, sticky even, as if they needed to clear their throat but couldn't be bothered for how little they used it.
“Huh? You want to be partners? Ummm… sorry… Berdly already asked me…”
They turned Kris’ head slightly in his direction. “I wonder why.” She seemed a little offput by that.
“...But, I could ask Ms. Alphys if we could make a group of three? I’ll ask, if you're sure.”
“I think everybody else already has a partner. No choice but to.”
“Ok, I'll ask!” She directed her gaze forwards. “Miss Alphys! Umm, is it ok if we have a group of three?”
Berdly seemed to notice this but not the dig taken at him previously. “Hey! What? No! I do NOT approve this! ABORT!!”
“What? B-but Kris doesn't have a…”
“Noelle, what were you saying?”
“She was just saying we're FINE being alone!”
“A-actually, I just wanted to know if…”
“Noelle, can you PLEASE SPEAK UP?”
…
But the door didn't open. In that case… it's time for improv.
The interloper turned Kris to look at Alphys. “No need to be rude to her. She was trying to ask you if we could be a group of three before Berdly interrupted.”
“What? No she wasn't, I just said-”
“Yeah, you just said. Why don't we ask her?”
The observer looked at Berdly as he silently pleaded with Noelle to deny her previous statement.
“...I did ask that.
And raised an eyebrow. Or rather, both eyebrows. In need of practice… it worked well enough, though.
“Well, you are supposed to be in groups of two, but I suppose I could make an exc-”
Everybody jolted as the door slammed open. Save Susie, of course.
“H… Hi, Susie.”
She stood awkwardly in the doorway. In a way that she seemed to think was intimidating.
“...am I late?”
“Ohh, n-no! You're fine! W-we were just, uh… ch-choosing partners for the next group project and… Ummm, Susie, you're with Kris!”
She glanced at Kris.
The interloper raised their hand halfway and then dropped it.
“...great.”
As Alphys turned away, the pair saw out of the corner of Kris’ eye as she slipped a piece of chalk from the little shelf-thing neither knew the name of into her sleeve.
“N-now that everyone's here, I’ll write the assignment!”
Alphys hadn't even noticed. She was quick when she wanted to be.
“Uh… H-has anyone seen the chalk?”
The observer shrugged.
“This is the third time it's gone missing, and… Y-you all know I can't start class without some!”
“What, like a pick-me-up?” Escaped Kris’ lips without their input. They could feel Susie glaring daggers in their direction.
They could also feel Alphys actively choosing not to respond.
“H-how about this? If no one speaks up… E-everyone gets in trouble!”
…
“A… Anyone? P… please?”
“Hey, there might be a box in the supply closet… Miss Alphys, why don't Susie and I…”
“G-good idea, Noelle! Susie, s-since you came in last… Why don't you go get it for me…?”
For a brief instant, they pondered how nobody noticed the fact that Castle Town was a thing.
“...whatever.”
Susie immediately exited the room.
“And K… Kris… Can you go with her and make sure she… Um, actually gets it? And, um, stays out of trouble…?”
Kris gave a slight nod.
“Thanks Kris! See you later!”
The interloper, and by extension Kris, exited the room in turn.
Susie was a little down the hall, eating a piece of chalk.
The interloper immediately decided to look the other way, put Kris’ hands behind their back, and rock forth and back, standing on tippy-toes.
Susie turned back to return to the classroom, and observed Kris doing just this.
“...Kris. Didn't see you there.”
“Ah, same here.”
Susie gave off an impression like she was squinting, despite her eyes not being visible. She turned around.
“...hey. You didn't hear anything just now, did you?”
The observer opened Kris' mouth. Kris immediately closed their mouth. The observer repeated the action. As did Kris. Evidently this was not going to go well.
“...Hmmm… You can't even say?”
In a last ditch effort to salvage this, the observer forced Kris' mouth to move.
“Not if you share the next one with me.”
Susie turned sharply at that. Wrong choice.
“Kris…”
She walked towards them. The interloper tried to force Kris' legs to stay still. Regardless, as she approached, they stepped backwards.
They brushed up against the lockers.
“Hey.”
She put a hand on their shoulder.
“Let me tell you a secret.”
They braced Kris’ self.
She slammed them into the locker.
“Quiet people piss me off.”
There it was. That sound. That song.
“You think just ‘cause you do a little gag… I can't tell EXACTLY what you're thinking?
One hundred and sixty one of clubs.
“‘It’s OVER! I caught Susie eating ALL the chalk! This was her LAST chance! Now she'll FINALLY be expelled!’”
Evidently not.
“Haha… Come on, Kris. Don't act shocked. You know it's true. Everyone's waiting for it. Everyone wants it. So, congrats, Kris. You got me. I'm done for.”
She held Kris just a bit lower. Their shirt was kind of digging into their neck. The interloper was surprised it didn't seem particularly damaged from carrying an entire person’s weight.
“Just, lemme say one little thing. Seems like a waste to get expelled just for having a snack.”
“Fair.”
“...”
“...”
“So, Kris, if I KNOW you're gonna pull the trigger… heh heh heh… Why don't I just get expelled for some REAL carnage?”
She held them higher.
“Kris… how do you feel… about losing your face?”
She lifted Kris’ head towards her mouth, for just a moment. Someone they knew would pay a fortune to be in a situation like this.
She dropped them. Kris collapsed in a heap against the locker.
“Nah.”
She walked away.
“Kris. You’ve got a good mother. It's be a shame to make her bury her child.”
They opened Kris’ hand.
“Alright. Let's get this over with. We’ll get more chalk. Mosey back to class. And then, Kris… YOU’LL do our project. How's that sound?”
The observer gave a thumbs up on Kris’ behalf.
“Why’d you bother answering? If you haven't gotten it by now… Your choices don't matter. Let's go, freak.”
They slammed Kris’ hand into the locker and forced their body to disobey gravity for a moment. Susie turned back to look at them as they put Kris’ hands together over their head in a stretch.
“Alright.”
They followed Susie down the hall.
“Hey, you walk pretty fast.”
“Gotta practice if I wanna be able to dodge that grab.”
“Heh, you sure? You’ve got a lot of experience running away.”
“Guess that makes two of us.”
“...You really-”
“What was up with that laugh earlier?”
“What?”
“Saying ‘heh heh heh’ out loud, what was up with that? You out of practice on your evil laugh or something?”
“You're pushing it.”
“And you're slacking, come up with a better one.”
…
“Well, here's the closet. Too bad. We were just starting to have fun.”
The closet’s doors slammed open.
“...Hey, Kris, is it me, or… is it REALLY dark in there?”
“...Dark enough it leaks outside, it seems.”
The interloper felt a heart beat faster. But it wasn't theirs.
“What's the holdup, Kris? Are you gonna go in or what?”
Kris stepped backwards.
“Fine! If you're gonna be a WIMP, then I’ll…”
A beat.
“We’ll both go in at the same time!!”
Susie stepped into the closet, Kris trailing close behind.
“See? Why are you so scared? There's nothing in here but old papers. Let's try to find a lightswitch.”
“I think we're both scared, pretty sure closets are supposed to have walls.”
“Nah, it's just dark in here.”
She walked off of the strewn papers.
“Weird how I can't find a switch. Guess it's further in.”
…
“I'm pretty sure we’ve walked one hallway’s worth of ‘closet’ here.”
“Yeah, it's… kinda big. Figured we'd have reached the end by now.”
…
“I don't think the school was this long on the outside.”
“Yeah, Kris, this closet is… uh… broken, or something. There aren't any walls.”
“Told ya.”
“...”
“...”
“Well, we worked hard enough. If Alphys wants chalk so bad, she can get it herself. Let's split.”
“Do we tell anybody about the closet being bigger on the inside?”
“Nah, that's above our paygrade.”
“And here I was thinking I could ask Alphys for some overtime pay.”
“You think she can afford that? On a teacher's salary?”
“Ah, true.”
As they approached the doors, they closed of their own accord.
“Wh-what the…!?”
Susie ran up to where the door was and yelled through it.
“Hey, this isn't funny! LET US OUT! LET US…”
…But nobody came.
The papers on the floor shuddered.
“The floor, it's…!”
Susie and Kris walked backwards as the papers fell away.
Susie and Kris hung in the air as if there was still a floor until the last of them fell into the darkness.
And then, Susie and Kris went with them.
The interloper saw nothing but darkness.
And heard nothing but the crashing of waves.