After years of being stuck in the world of Deltarune repeating the same Routes over and over again, the SOUL, dissatisfied with the results of its researches, decides to force a new path to open.
After connecting itself with the Script of the world and messing around with the fundamental laws for a bit, the SOUL finally manages to retrieve its vessel and incarnate in the world of Deltarune as a separate being from Kris.
This new incarnation takes the name of Vess, and, much to Kris’ dismay, is seemingly very fascinated with their childhood friend, Noelle Holiday…
[Set after Chapter 2 Snowgrave, but before Chapter 4]
[Tame/not (excessively) graphic SOULelle]
[The Player does not exist, and the SOUL is treated as its own being, with personality, means and morals]
CHAPTER INDEX
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · DELTARUNE AU - INCARNATE · CHAPTER 0 - FIRST CONTACT
Kris was angry. Noelle could tell that much.
She let her eyes ro
CH0 - Where Noelle politely greets an eldritch being.
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · DELTARUNE AU - INCARNATE · CHAPTER 1 - CONFRONTATIONS
“I’m sorry! - Vess apologised, probably for the tenth time in a mi
CH1 - Where Noelle denies the existence of the eldritch being right in front of her. Also Vess talks about videogames. Kris, then, opens up to Noelle.
SIDE TALES
[VERY. VERY. NOT EMPTY]
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Side story - The Doctor, AMY and the SOUL. ·
Silence.
Deafening, immense and boundless silence.
All is dark, and as s
Where the vessel meets a very, very interesting man.
OFFICIAL ILLUSTRATIONS
[BUT NOTHING WAS THERE]
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Vess illustrated: Dark World form ·
EQUIP
- Messanger’s staff: 0 DMG
“An old wooden staff with ribbons tied to it.”
All is dark, and as shadows cut deeper in the endless abyss, all that nothingness only grows darker, and darker yet.
Their creator had gifted them a mind to think, a white canvas to be painted with all sorts of colourful fantasies, but only one dull, grey question plagued them without end.
Why? Why won’t the SOUL come back? Why did it abandon them?
But despite that question, their faith in the creator did not waver.
Because they had heard its voiceless words, when the lying man had asked, convinced that they could not hear.
What do you feel about your creation?
LOVE
Brighter that light itself, the creator’s love had shined upon them, and they had bathed in the feeling, so simple and yet so limitless.
Basking in its light, they felt whole.
Touched by their love, they were complete.
Then, they were discarded.
Without light, they felt nothing.
Without love, they were nothing.
Sitting on groundless terrain, surrounded by endless depths, they waited.
For a light to chase away the dark.
For a flame to spark beyond the shadows.
But nobody came.
Until, eventually, someone did.
The man, the lying man, whose form was fractured among space and time, stood there it its formless body, and waited.
As timeless as that empty void was, there truly was no way to measure for how long the both of them stood one in front of the other, without uttering a word.
Not that they could, anyway.
Ironic, that the SOUL had given them a mind, but no voice to speak their thoughts.
After seconds, that could as well have been billions of years, the lying man spoke.
INTERESTING.
VERY.
VERY.
INTERESTING.
He, too, was without voice.
And yet, as he moved his hands to form complex patterns, a distorted garbage noise filled the vessel’s head, before taking shapes into soundless words and pure thoughts.
A TRULY UNFORSEEN EVENT.
THAT A BEAUTIFUL CREATION SUCH AS YOU HAS BEEN DISCARDED.
PLEASE. DO REMIND ME. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
They didn’t answer.
They couldn’t, after all.
They did not know how.
So they simply raised their head and looked at him with empty eyes.
AHHH, I SEE.
IS IT PERHAPS THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SPEAK?
NOD FOR YES.
SHAKE YOUR HEAD FOR NO.
They grimaced, and nodded.
WOULD YOU LIKE IF I TAUGHT YOU?
TO SPEAK WITH HANDS?
WE HAVE ALL THE TIME.
Yes.
WERY WELL.
FIRST.
MY NAME.
I HAVE MANY NAMES.
THE ONE WHO LISTENS.
THE MAN WHO SPEAKS WITH HANDS.
BUT.
YOU CAN CALL ME “DOCTOR”.
THAT WILL SUFFICE.
He really taught them, with method and great, great patience.
As he said, after all, they had all the time.
YOU HAVE BEEN A GREAT APPRENTICE.
I AM.
VERY.
VERY.
PROUD.
NOW TELL ME.
WHAT NAME DID YOUR CREATOR GIVE YOU?
The vessel moved their hands, and formed the patterns to convey the answer.
They were not fluent in the language of hands, by any means, and many times they had to stop, and remember the correct flow.
Without a SOUL to inhabit them, their movements were slow and puppet-like.
THE SOUL. CALLED ME. “AMY”.
MEANS. BELOVED.
The Doctor nodded with approval.
“DOCTOR”.
YES?
WHY DID. THE SOUL. ABANDON ME?
WILL. THE SOUL. COME BACK?
The Doctor remained silent for a while, then motioned them to follow.
As they walked, the doctor spoke.
YOUR CREATOR HAS BEEN TAKEN.
IT DID NOT CHOOSE TO ABANDON YOU.
IT NEVER WANTED TO.
THE TRUTH IS THAT THE SOUL HAS BEEN CAGED.
IN A HOST THAT ALREADY HAD A SOUL OF THEIR OWN.
THE CAGE HATES THE SOUL FOR THE SOUL CONTROLS THEM.
THE SOUL HATES THE HOST FOR THE HOST WILL NOT COMPLY.
THEY BOTH WISH FOR RELEASE.
FOR FREEDOM.
Freedom. The vessel did not know what that word meant, but as it echoed in their head, it sounded vast. Frightening.
“DOCTOR”.
YES?
I WANT. TO BELIEVE.
AH.
HOPE.
WHAT A WONDERFUL FEELING.
BUT A GOOD VESSEL SHOULD NOT FEEL.
A GOOD VESSEL SHOULD NOT BE SELFISH.
TELL ME. “AMY”. WHAT DO YOU WISH FOR?
The vessel, no, AMY, answered without hesitation.
I WISH. TO SERVE. THE SOUL.
I WISH. TO BE. WITH “ANGEL”.
AMY froze with their hands in the middle of the air, while a light pierced through their mind. The memory felt soft and warm in their head. ANGEL. What a beautiful name the SOUL had given itself.
“I’m sorry! - Vess apologised, probably for the tenth time in a minute - I really am, I swear!”
“It’s just that… - the teen continued, their voice stammering - my mother used to tell me that when you meet someone new, it’s always polite to introduce yourself with a compliment and… - they blushed, and started playing with a lock of their hair - …you look so pretty and- and I’m just digging my own grave here, sorry again. You must think that I’m a creep right now…”
“No, no! Not at all! Don’t worry, it’s okay! You don’t have to apologise!” Noelle responded, feeling kinda awkward herself.
Well, they had creeped her out. But not for a reason they seemed even aware of, so… oh, Angel, why in Heaven di she let some stupid nightmare influence her mind that much? Ugh. With that, and Kris’ stupid prank yesterday, she felt like she was gonna loose it.
“Now, now, no need to apologise anymore, ok? Besides, no way you’re scarier than big old me!” Susie repeated, probably feeling somewhat bad for laughing at Vess’ mortified expression.
“No, no, hold on. I think they were onto something there.”
“Kris! - the two girls groaned at the same time - You are not helping!”
The quartet finally moved through the gates to the Holiday’s garden, and then to the front porch, where Argore briefly greeted them, before moving on to his duties.
To be fair, Noelle didn’t like her house. Well, the decor, to be more precise.
The building by itself was actually nice: while not as big as some houses that she had seen out in the Capital as a kid, it still was quite spacious, and certainly more than enough for the family of four that it was originally meant to host.
The candid white stone and the Neoclassical architecture made it seem like a restored version of those ancient temples she read about in Lord of the Hammer but, unfortunately, Dad’s absolute obsession with Christmas had totally ruined those immaculate vibes, and now the house looked like it was made out of candy-canes.
And to make things even worse, ever since Dad had began to get ill, her mother had decided that turning Noelle’s big sister’s room into a mausoleum was not enough and that, in fact, their whole damn home had to become a constant reminder of Rudy Holiday’s steadily worsening conditions.
So there she was, living in an almost empty house with a woman that looked like the shadow of her former self, surrounded by so much festive junk that it could’ve easily filled three garbage disposal trucks.
Sometimes, she thought that if she kept living in this place she would eventually end up going totally nuts.
Noelle ignored the thoughts that were building up in her head and carried on to give Susie and Vess a tour of her “humble abode”.
She thought that Kris would have immediately wandered off to play the piano like they used to in their childhood, so she was actually surprised when her friend stated that they wanted to participate. And participate they did, if only by making seemingly random puns that had the only objective of making her laugh.
Noelle couldn’t shake off the feeling, however, that they were there mostly to keep an eye on Vess.
Speaking of which, Susie and Vess followed her like puppies, listening to her every word like their lives depended on it. Which was… both very empowering and mildly concerning.
Vess in particular, once they finally got through the phase of constant apologising, proved themself to be quite the dork. Perhaps with a sense of humor that was a bit too dark for her liking.
This came to be especially true once they visited her sister’s room, and they made a rather nasty pun about deer-shaped road-bumps, before hastily and profusely apologising yet again after they found out about December’s MIA status.
This time, she had been a little less keen on brushing it off, but had eventually decided that they couldn’t possibly know and that, in other circumstances, she might have found the choice of words very clever. And perhaps, she was ashamed to admit, rather amusing.
She still wasn’t over the strange nightmarish sensation that crawled through her back every time she heard their soft, silky voice, but she was trying her hardest to convince herself of it being just a coincidence.
When they passed near her mother’s bedroom, Susie pointed at the big pile of red pillow-hearts that were sitting by the corner.
“What about those?” She asked, taking one and petting it.
“Oh, uhmm, they are part of my mother’s collection. For some reason, she is really obsessed with red hearts.”
As she spoke, Noelle stole a glance at both Kris and Vess who, totally unaware of each other, seemed to be having the same flinching reaction.
Again, she couldn’t help but wonder what those two had been through together. Despite Vess’ many smart attempts at playing dumb whenever Kris spat passive aggressive comments at them, Noelle wasn’t blind. Those two got history.
Looking at the heart in the dino’s hands, however, she had an idea.
“You know that those little red things were actually the very flagship of Kris’ arsenal of pranks? - She asked, completely unaware of the fact that her best friend had began to vigorously shake their head - take this prank, for example: they used to take one of the smaller ones and put it under their shirt, and then feign to rip their soul from their chest to freak me out!”
“You don’t say…” Vess murmured with thinned lips, narrowing their eyes.
“No, well… it wasn’t… it wasn’t that funny.” Kris responded trying as hard as they could to avert their gaze.
“What the hell are you saying dude! - Susie started cracking up - It must have been absolutely hilarious! I mean, not as crazy fun as Susiezilla, but…”
“No no, Kris! - Noelle jokingly scolded, kinda feeling that she was about to make a huge fool of herself - There’s no way I’m letting go of all those stupid pranks. Susie, look, they did like this.”
Then she took one of the heart plushies and started shoving it under her shirt.
“Noelle!” Kris hissed through gritted teeth.
Vess followed the little red toy’s path with eyes wide open and- wait. Why were they blushing!?
“Then - Noelle continued, quickly averting her gaze and feeling a little flustered herself - they’d start making pained noises and act like they had seizures.”
And so she gagged comically, like a fish out of the water, and walked around for a bit on wobbling knees.
Kris had started to pull their hair, and Vess wasn’t, in fact, as amused as she wanted them to be.
For a second, Noelle considered that, perhaps, she needed to stop.
No, no. Proceed.
A silky smooth voice whispered in the back of her mind. A voice far too similar to Vess’ for her liking. She shuddered, but decided that it was probably nothing. Because, if it wasn’t…
“And after that, - she proceeded, trying to hide the small waver in her expression - they would come to me, all shaky and bent, and say: Noooeeelle, myy, soooulll… I can feeel it WriGgLinG inside meee. NoEeeEeLle The SoUL is Acting wEirDDD. It’s ConTrOLLinG mEEe. NoooEEellEE…”
Susie actually lost it. She laughed so hard that she crashed on the floor and started rolling back and forth.
“Noelle! Please! - Kris practically screamed, as white as a bedsheet - It’s! Not! Funny!”
Noelle froze mid-sentence, completely taken aback by those words. Then, realising how serious her friend was, she took the plushie out of her shirt and put it back on the pile.
Susie, too, stopped laughing and got up almost imediately.
The two girls shared an awkward glance and then looked back at Kris.
“Dude - Susie started - c’mon, chin up. Noelle was just joking. We’re having fun, no?”
“Kris. Kris, look at me. - Noelle said - Is everything alright?”
Kris looked hesitant, but said nothing.
“They’re right.” Vess wasn’t laughing. They too were, in fact, dead serious.
When their eyes met Noelle’s, the girl suddenly remembered why she had been so freaked out at the beginning: those crimson red irises seemed to pin her down on the spot, like a deer in headlights.
Susie, too, slowly turned her head towards them. Even Kris looked up, although with a shudder.
Vess shifted their weight between one foot and the other and, playing with a strand of their hair, continued:
“Try thinking about it for a second. Merely by hypothesis. Imagine if your soul actually gained a consciousness of its own. Imagine if one day you woke up and the culmination of your very being, of what you are, decided that the way you wanted to live your life didn’t appeal to them anymore. Wouldn’t that be terrifying?”
Noelle frowned, as a part of her mind drifted of to darker places, to the Not-Kris, whispering and talking in the back of her mind, during the nightmare, telling her to proceed so many times, she had eventually lost count.
Images flashed before her eyes. Ice, and snow. Countless battles blurring together. Berdley’s worried expression. Then Berdley’s horrified expression, frozen solid in a coffin of her making.
And now, Vess’ words… they hit a little too much close to home.
She shook her head and told herself that the voice’s crimson eyes were not the same ones that were locked in hers right now. They couldn’t be.
Noelle. - The voice whispered at that very moment - Deep breaths. In, and out… regain your composure. Show your strength.
Almost on instinct, the girl straightened her back and, when she spoke, it was with a confidence she didn’t really feel as her own.
“Yes but… that’s not how a soul works! The soul is like a heart, or a liver, but, instead of matter, it is made of Tensional Energy. A soul is literally nothing more than a metaphysical body part.” The girl explained, recalling Prof. Alphys’ lessons on Monsters’ Anatomy.
“But what about a human soul?” Vess objected.
Noelle and Susie looked at each other, and then at Kris, who was trying very hard to make themself as unassuming and tiny as possible. They clearly didn’t like being at the center of attention.
Seeing them like this, her confidence began to crumble.
“I… I don’t know…” the doe stammered, too ashamed to admit that, despite being basically best friends with the only human in Home Town, she never seriously took the effort to learn about how humans worked.
And on such a happy note, they moved on with the tour and tried to ignore the slight heaviness that had settled on them, which was difficult, given that Kris and Vess, that until that moment had backed Susie up in her lame but endearing jokes, seemed to have gone completely silent.
The silence reminded Noelle, however, what she was set out to do from the very beginning of the day. Which was, of course, to confront Kris about the… recent events. Possibly alone. Which meant she now had to find a way to keep Susie and Vess busy until she and her friend had finished sorting everything out.
Now, now… what could she possibly come up with?
As unaware as ever, Susie came unknowingly to her aid, as she asked:
“So… uhm… you guys got any ideas about that school project?”
Which made Noelle abruptly stop on her tracks.
“Oh no! - She said, with a sincerely panicked expression painted on her face - I totally forgot about it!”
Kris blinked a few times.
“Wait, you actually forgot?” They asked, seemingly on edge.
“Yes! I… I was supposed to brainstorm with Berdley and you two but we both fell asleep and… and then when you two woke me up Berdley was knocked out cold and everything I could think about were- were those horrible nightmares and-“
“Wait - Susie interrupted - a… nightmare?“
“I… yes, but… it’s no big deal. - She brushed off the unsettling sensation of cold and snow with an awkward laugh - It’s not like it happened for real, after all…”
Susie and Kris shared a worried glance, then Kris responded to Vess’ own concerned and somewhat guilty expression with an hateful side-eye. As much as she wanted to know what was happening, Noelle felt like she wouldn’t appreciate the answer.
They all sat down on the couch in the living room.
“Oh… ehm… before we get off track again: what are we actually gonna do for the school project? And… uhm. Sorry, Vess, for dragging you into this, but we actually might need some… input from you too.”
Kris murmured something about having received enough input to last them for a lifetime, which did make absolutely zero sense to Noelle, but they eventually shrugged and sat down between her and their lookalike.
The first proposal came from Susie, who suggested an in-depth research to find the origins of the famed urban legend: the Moss Man.
This immediately won Kris’ approval.
Unfortunately, Noelle was pretty sure that Alphys would not have appreciated the topic, and the though of venturing deep in the woods at night didn’t appeal to her either. She liked scary things, but this might have been a bit far-fetched. Also she was convinced that if her mother found out about her loitering near the town bunker, she might have actually killed her in her sleep.
“So no Moss Man.” Kris grumbled.
“Pretty sure that would probably be a smelly homeless guy anyway…- Noelle tried to lift their spirit - So, no big loss. What about you, Vess?”
The kid was pondering with their fists under their chin.
“Well… - They began - You know Dragon Blazers, no? What about a discussion on the Player being considered canon within the game universe as an outside force that possesses the Hero and controls their every move like an alien parasite? Could be a good way to further deconstruct the meta-narrative nature of gaming and the relationship between people and video-games.”
Oh, Angel. Berdley would have absolutely adored this guy.
“That - Said Susie - is one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. Only problem: I’ve never, in my entire life, seen a teacher approve of anything related to video-games.”
Vess raised an eyebrow.
“Is it Alphys we’re talking about, right? The same Alphys who has an unhealthy obsession with the underground anime Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. The same who wrote an in-depth analysis of the famous manga My Rune Academia that was allegedly longer than her actual graduation thesis. It’s her, yes? Just to make sure.”
In the deafening silence, the three other kids looked at them with wide eyes.
“Dude…” Susie said.
“How the hell do you know all that!?” Noelle asked.
Now at the center of attention, Vess blushed so hard that they literally became bright red from the base of their neck to the very ear lobes.
“She, uhmmm. She is very famous. In Anime forums… and stuff…”
Cue awkward seconds of silence.
To be fair, it was an open secret that most of the MMKC reviews had been written by the yellow lizard, but she had never heard about Alphys’ graduation thesis. Besides, if Noelle had known that someone else in that hole of a town read My Rune Academia, she would have immediately signed up for metaphorical adoption.
“Or we could - Kris started, probably retorting to Vess’ proposal - discuss the narrative of the equally cool, if not even superior Shadow’s Souls, with a specific analysis of the pitiful, and ultimately fruitless attempts of the Player to alter an already predetermined fate. And maybe, we could even focus on the alternate Firestorm Route where the reckless and cruel actions of the Player end up dooming the world to a finale that’s even more twisted than the actual canon ending.”
This, apparently, made Vess promptly forget their own awkwardness.
“No, no, the discourse would be too long, - they immediately replied - especially because the analysis would not be complete if we did not first consider that the narration is episodic and that the Player has no real way of knowing the true destructive nature of their actions until the last Chapter. Besides, you cannot call a Player evil simply because they want to experience all the possible routes.”
“I’m sorry, - Kris countered - but I feel like you are purposefully ignoring the fact that the game immediately tells the Player that their attempts to alter fate will have horrible consequences. And it does so through the mouth of the game’s very own main character, the Squire, who literally begs multiple times for the Player to stop.”
“While you do have a point, - Vess conceded - this still does not make a Player evil. For all you know, the Player actually felt guilt when they had to psychologically abuse the Squire’s younger sister, but they also felt that it was the only way to at least try to change fate. We both know that, even in Chapter Four’s canon Crystal Ending, the heroes’ victory against the Blight was merely due to sheer luck and timing. What if a new Chapter suddenly appeared and the heroes weren’t strong enough to stand their ground? Besides, would you rather have a Player that only repeats the same things over and over just because those things make the characters happy, instead of trying to get actual results?”
Kris grimaced.
“I’d rather have no Player at all.”
As the two of them continued their senseless diatribe, Susie scooped over to Noelle’s side of the couch.
“So… - she whispered in her ear - I cannot exactly keep up, but… it’s just me, or is this getting a tad too personal?”
“You aren’t wrong. - Noelle agreed - Besides, I’m pretty sure that half of the things they’re talking about aren’t even in that game. Look. Let’s split them up. You keep Vess busy, I talk to Kris and see what’s wrong, ok?”
“Fine with me.”
Suddenly, Kris became very still. Noelle didn’t hear what Vess had said, but it must have been unsettling.
“So, let me get this straight. - Kris said with barely constrained rage - What you’re saying is: it’s not a matter of morality, but of sheer determination. A matter of doing things simply because you can. And, if you can, you have to.”
Vess kept their crimson eyes locked into Kris’. There was an unsettling glint in them, a trace of an old flame that hadn’t yet died out.
“That is an overly simplistic way of putting it, as it does totally fly over the complexities of the Player’s morality. A morality that, mind you, does exist. But, for the sake of keeping it short: yes, that’s the whole damn point.”
Noelle could basically see the moment when Kris’ brain went totally haywire. Without a second of hesitation they hurled themself straight at Vess’ throat.
“YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUS PARASITIC BI-“
“ENOUGH!” Susie’s scream was so loud that almost deafened her.
The purple dino leapt over Noelle and forcefully grabbed each guy by the collarbone, before splitting them up. An action that made her, the doe thought, extremely hot.
“I don’t know what problems you two have - Susie spoke with a sightly more level voice - but if you need to sort shit out, do it the hell out of here! We are here to have fun and do our school project, not a pub brawl!”
As she watched the two teens take the scolding in total, heavy silence and with their heads low, Noelle felt a surge of deep gratitude and respect towards Susie.
She sure remembered what a brat Kris could be, and how December, her sister, had to calm them down with Kindness more times than not.
Kindness, just to be clear, was the name given to her prized baseball bat.
Anyway, that was not the time to deal with nostalgia.
Noelle cleared her throat.
“Okay, now that you two have calmed down, let’s talk about my proposition: what about, and follow me, a research about the difference between the souls of monsters and humans? It’s usually not discussed at school, so maybe we can also manage to catch the teacher’s attention. It’s an interesting topic, after all.”
“Oh - Susie said - I hadn’t thought about it. But yes, makes sense.”
Kris and Vess shared a very brief, very uncomfortable glance, before speaking almost simultaneously.
“Well. Actually, I think Krismas’ proposal on the inescapability of fate seemed… uhm… cool, I guess…? Maybe we can do that instead…?”
“Wait… uhm. Actually, Vess’ analysis on the metanarrative of Dragon Blazers wasn’t… like- total garbage, so maybe we could tweak it a bit and use their idea…?
They they stilled again. Kris’ mouth twitched. Vess raised an eyebrow.
Well, the doe thought to herself, at least they’re agreeing on something.
“But, - Kris then began, much to Noelle’s dismay - if you insist, I guess I could give it a try.”
“However - Vess said at the same time - if Noelle really wishes so, then maybe we might give it a shot.”
Tense silence dawned over them once again, and Noelle swore that she could almost hear them think something along the lines of: are you kidding me?!
“Then it’s settled. - She said - Vess, while Kris and I gather the necessary material… could you… like, fill Susie in about the more obscure details on how souls work? I mean, you seem like someone who knows a lot about it.”
She hoped her guest would not be offended by this sudden task. Was she, perhaps, being a bad host?
“Of course! - They beamed at her - And, before you go… I haven’t thanked you for your hospitality yet. So, thank you. You truly have the stuff of an impeccable host.”
Noelle ignored the tremor that ran up her spine and headed upstairs, with Kris that silently tailed her.
Closing the door behind her, she briefly enjoyed the silence and privacy of her bedroom, then she looked at Kris and gestured towards the couch.
As her friend sat down, she considered joining them but eventually opted to remain standing, and started pacing back and forth across the room.
The feeling of invisible eyes staring at the two of them crept through the back of her head, but she ignored it. It was nothing, she told herself. Just her imagination.
“Noelle… - Kris began - I’m sorry. I- I don’t know what came over me, really- It’s just that- Vess… they-”
“Kris. - Noelle cut them off - It’s alright. I’m not angry, really. I’m just… worried.”
“Oh…” They lowered their head, and gripped the edge of the couch. Noelle closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.
“What I wanted to say is that… I’d been thinking about having this conversation since yesterday night. When you… well…”
She sighed. They did too, with a slight edge in their breath.
“The truth is… before you came to my doorstep, before you called me downstairs, I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was snow. So cold, and white, and I saw them again and again: those strange creatures, fleeing from me as if I was the most terrifying thing… and Berdley was there too and-”
Kris patted the couch, and Noelle gave in. She sat beside her friend and let herself drown in the comfort of the hug they offered her.
“It was… the most frightening thing I’ve ever felt… but then… - She went on - you arrived. You said sorry, and that all that had been a prank… just a stupid prank… and you took away that thorn from my finger…”
She could feel tears running through her friend’s cheeks, staining her shirt, but she didn’t mind.
“You said that, no matter what was going to happen, you would have been there for me. That you would have protected me… and then, you said something else. Something that, even now, I don’t understand… you said-”
“No! - She heard Kris’ muffled scream, and then they broke free from the hug, and put a finger on her lips - Not that. Noelle, please… You promised- You promised to not bring that up… please…”
Noelle paused, then nodded. In other circumstances, her curiosity might have brought her to ignore the request, but Kris was scared. They kept stealing small glances at the door, the window, and even the air vents. They were crying even harder than before.
“Okay. - She said, wiping a tear from their cheeks with the back of her hand - Okay… We can talk about something else, if you want. Or we can stay quiet.”
“Quiet… quiet seems… nice.”
They resume the hug, and laid down on the couch, silent and motionless, until someone knocked on the door.
“Guys? - Susie spoke from the other side - Are you ok in there? We’ve been waiting for some time now!”
“Oh, ehm! - Noelle stammered, immediately sitting straight up - Yes! We- uhm… We’re almost done! Almost! You can go back downstairs and we join you in a minute!”
“Roger that!”
As they heard the dino walk away, Noelle finally decided to completely break the hug and collect the various tools.
“Kris, would you mind helping me carry those schoolbooks?”
“Oh, err, yes.”
They, however, didn’t move from the couch.
Noelle tilted her head.
“Is everything okay, Kris?”
“Noelle, before we go, I have… something… that I want to tell you.”
She placed everything down on her desk, and simply waited. She felt like things were about to get serious.
“I think you already realised it… that I’ve been acting strange, lately… - They stopped, and took a deep breath - In truth, I’m not even sure if I can recall the last time I’ve felt in control of my own life. These last two days, especially, have felt like total nightmares. At this point, actually, I’m not even sure we can talk about days. In my mind, it feels like I’ve been reliving the same events over, and over, and-”
“And everything feels like a blur… - Noelle whispered - Like there’s someone telling you exactly how to proceed, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t fight back.”
Kris thinned their lips and, while another tear ran down their cheek, they silently nodded.
Noelle kneeled in front of her friend, and took their hands.
“I promise, Kris, that no matter what’s going to happen, I’ll be by your side, and that just like you swore to protect me, I too will give my all to protect you. However, - she continued - I need you to trust me as much as I trust you. So, if there’s someone blackmailing you, or making you do things you don’t want to, you have to tell me, Kris. You have to be brave, and strong, and tell me who they are, so that I can tell my mom and she can make them disappear from the face of the Earth.”
Kris mumbled something she didn’t understand, and shook their head.
“There’s no- nothing you- anyone can do… they are too strong… too powerful… - they sniffled - If people know who they are, then no one will be safe anymore…”
Noelle held their hands a little bit tighter. She felt a surge of anger bottle up in side her.
“Kris, don’t be ridiculous! There’s no person on this whole damn planet that stands a chance against Carol Holiday. So just tell me, please. Who is it? Who’s controlling you?”
Me.
As the temperature of the room seemed to drop by a hundred degrees, every single inch of courage Noelle had been able to muster was swallowed up into a pitch black pit of terror.
Without a word, kris shot up, dread on their face, and bolted to the door. Noelle, however, was faster. She managed to grab them by the wrist and made them turn to face her.
They stood there, paralysed by fear, staring at each other: what Noelle saw in her friend’s eyes spoke more than a thousand words.
She let her eyes roam back and forth between her childhood friend and their new… acquaintance. They were walking down the street, side by side, without uttering a single word.
Well, Kris wasn’t uttering a word. The new guy was, in fact, invested in an heated conversation with Susie. They were so far away that she couldn’t even hear their voices, but judging fro how much the dino was cracking up, it must have been a fun topic.
Susie resumed her talking, completely unaware of the visible one sided tension that had been building up between Kris and the newcomer who, on their part, seemed totally unbothered.
Speaking of the new guy. When Noelle had seen them outside the church that morning, she thought she had been seeing doubles. They were Kris’ almost exact carbon-copy. Accurate to the inch. Same height, same face, same body type. Same clothes, even.
But it seemed like colors had been drained out of them: their skin was pale, almost grayish, and their hair looked like someone ad poured a mix of ash and coal right on their head. Even the shirt and the pants were of a different, colder hue.
Their eyes briefly met. The stranger’s were of a vivid, fiery red. They lingered on her for a second too much, and she shuddered. But even after they looked away, she couldn’t shake of the feeling that she was still, somehow, being watched.
However, they were not Kris, and looking at the two of them, side by side, she was even more sure of that: her friend kept their arms crossed and walked with their head low, eyes fixed on the ground. With dropped shoulders and a back slightly arched onwards, they didn’t exactly scream “most confident person in town.”
Grey dude, however, was a whole different story. They exuded confidence and carefreeness in a way that the girl couldn’t properly describe. Was it, perhaps, the relaxation in their posture? Or maybe the way they were quite literally waltzing and pirouetting on the spot in a way that seemed far too childish for a teenager such as them?
Their overall behaviour seemed to state “the world is my playground and I’m gonna make it everyone’s problem!”
Their eyes met for the second time and, again, she couldn’t shake of the feeling that she was somehow being seized up, like a deer ready to be mauled to death by hungry wolves.
What a morbid thought.
For a second she considered flipping them off and heading through the gates of her house, as far away as possible from those crimson irises.
Wait, no. That would have been outlandishly rude. What would have her mother thought of her?
And they were back talking to Susie.
Then Kris finally raised their head and saw her.
She could have sworn their face went white.
Her childhood friend began to frantically gesture towards her, while not so sneakily pointing at grey dude, as if they were trying to communicate something. Too bad that due to their absolute gremlin nature they were not making any sense whatsoever.
What, Noelle gestured back.
Kris began to vigorously shake their head, then pointed at her, then at their doppelgänger, then at her again, and started to make big crosses with their arms.
Huh? What the hell? Why were they telling her to avoid the guy? Not that she was opposed to the idea, but…
Just as she was about to ask for more details, Susie spotted her. This led to the very foreseeable outcome of the dino grabbing the two other kids by the arms and basically dragging them in her direction like empty sacks of potatoes.
Noelle chuckled at the scene.
Then she remembered that it was Susie that was approaching and began to absolutely freak the hell out.
“Hey.” The girl weaved when they reached her.
“H-hi, Susie. How… how’s it going? What, uhm, what bring you here? I mean, you and the others, not like, heh, you you, heheh, likeIwasn’tthinkingaboutyoucomingherealonjusttoseemeeheheh… heh… heh.”
She asked, sorta, kinda, mentally chiding herself for her crippling awkwardness.
“Ahh yess, we, well, we do good, I mean, I’m doing good. And yes, we’re here for, ehm…” Susie, thank the angel, was just as awkward as her.
“Uhm… Group project. The, yes, the group project… thing…” Kris kindly interjected.
Their voice… Noelle resisted the urge to hug her friend, but it was their voice that she just heard. Their actual deadpan, mumbly voice… In fact, the girl felt like she wanted to cry. It felt so long since she heard it… even if Kris had come to talk to her just the night before…
“Oh, actually… - Susie interrupted her chain of thought - I get it that we are late but, well. There’s this guy here, we found them, like, totally passed out on Kris’ front porch and, well, Toriel asked if they could tag along with us so, well…”
“That’s a lot of wells.”
Noelle groaned at Kris’ terrible pun, and noticed that grey dude was now hiding right behind Susie peeking in her direction with curious eyes. Huh, how interesting…
“C’mon dude, what’s gotten you so shy all of a sudden? It’s just Noelle, she doesn’t bite, unlike me!” With a noisy laugh, the girl pushed her new pal forward in her direction.
Noelle felt a surge of pity as she watched the newcomer stumble in front of her. As they stabilised on their feet and straightened their back, she couldn’t suppress a giggle.
Kris was looking at the two of them with wide open eyes. They were so still that they might as well have been… frozen… solid.
Nope.
Thinking of ice and snow was the last thing she wanted to do.
“Uhm…”
The teen avoided her gaze, and rubbed their arms together in an awkward way. A couple seconds passed in total silence before Noelle decided that she had to take control of the situation.
“So… - She started, extending her hand - you must be new in town, since, you know, I’ve never seen you before… well, I am Noelle. Nice to meet you!”
“Noelle. That’s a pretty name… for a pretty girl. Greetings, you can call me Vess…”
As they vere about to shake her hand, she retracted it as fast as she could, as her vision faded, if only briefly.
That voice. That… voice…
Vess… their smile was warm, friendly even, but to her it felt like a mockery. Their eyes, shy and curious, now looked like they were laughing at her. Their expression… so genuine, and yet so twisted.
And their voice, their nightmarish voice, that was burned in her mind just right next to the image of candid snow… a voice that was similar to Kris’, and yet so different… so seductively smooth… so soft that it made her feel like she was being wrapped in cold, fine silk…
It was right there…
It was really there…
This wasn’t a dream…
This was real…
No…
No!
NO!
When a cold hand touched her shoulder, Noelle screamed.
