Chapter Text
"Wake up!" Toriel said. Kris felt themselves grunt in response, and they weren't entirely sure if that was themself or the thing inside them. Either way, the goat put one paw on the human's head tenderly. The paw felt warm, especially after the chaos from the night before. "Good morning sleepyhead! Breakfast is waiting!"
"Kris! Hurry up, or someone else'll eat it!" A different voice said. Susie. Kris had almost forgotten that the lizard-like monster was here. Before they could think too much on that, their blanket was thrown up into the air, and Kris found themself standing and walking over to the dining table. Kris sat down, and their mother immediately started to pinch them and talk about how weird her dream was.
"Kris! How the hell'd you sleep through a breakfast like this?! Butterscotch pancakes? Infinite omelets? Living like this has got to be a sin!" The large purple lizard said between giant bites of pancake.
"Oh! Speaking of sinning, how would you like to go to service with us today Susie?" Toriel asked. Susie froze like a deer in headlights, which Kris found rather ironic of a comparison, considering the girl that was head over hoofs for her.
"Uh… Sure!" Susie said as quick as her mind would let her.
"Wonderful! Just let me find some clothes for you!" Toriel said as she rose to her feet.
All of a sudden, Kris felt their mouth open. "Actually, I need to go to the store. I'm out of shampoo and stuff." They said in a voice that wasn't really their own.
Toriel looked at them for a minute, before nodding. "Alright my child. Would you mind grabbing some groceries while you're there?" Kris felt themself nod, and Susie raised a hand politely, which looked rather strange from the rambunctious monster.
"I just remembered, I need to get some stuff from there too, and I can help carry groceries." She said, taking the first chance she could to get out of going to the church.
"Alright then. Kris, You know where to find the shopping money. Don't cause too much trouble, or else Officer Undyne will have to charge you both with… Grocery misconduct." Toriel began to snicker at her own joke, then walked upstairs to change into her choir outfit. As soon as she left, Kris stood up from the table, and their legs carried them out of the house.
"Kris? What the hell are you doing?" Susie asked the human.
"I'll explain later." They felt themself say. They heard the chair scraping against the floor, but they weren't really paying attention, as they pushed the door open.
Kris had absolutely no idea what the soul was doing, but they did have a hunch where they were going. They began to walk faster, walking right past the store, and even the librarby. They stood in front of the imposing school, waiting just a moment for Susie to catch up, carrying a bunch of pancakes in her mouth.
Kris opened the door, and moments later, they were standing in front of the door to the closet. And then, they were falling into the dark world. They ran through the town, barely acknowledging any of the weird shenanigans that were happening around them. They stood in the foyer to the castle, the large cauldron bubbling in an ominous, yet strangely comforting way.
"Kris! Susie!" Ralsei said as he walked down the stairs. "What are you both doing here so early?"
"Can you stay here for a bit?" Kris's voice asked of Ralsei, who looked more confused as each moment passed. "You too Susie."
"Uh… sure dude? You're acting really weird." The human rushed up the stairs, throwing open the door to their room in the dark world, then slamming it closed behind them.
"Kris…" Kris's voice said. "Trust me on this…" The human raised their left arm, then plunged it deep into their own chest. Kris felt their voice scream, as the pain flooded through them.
And then, it was over. In their hand, Kris was holding a bright red heart, which began to pulsate, as if in anticipation. Suddenly, the soul felt heavy in their hands, and Kris dropped it to the floor, where it began to glow brighter, until it was almost blinding. As if called by the chaos, Susie slammed open Kris's door, her axe held high in one hand. Ralsei stood behind the monster, the prince of darkness simultaneously terrified and worried at the same time. All three of the heroes looked at the glowing soul, as it slowly began to take on a new shape.
Suddenly, there was a human-like thing lying on the ground, sobbing. They had long, black hair, similar to Kris's but cleaner and more well kept. They were wearing a breastplate with the heart shaped soul standing clear on the front. They also had a skirt made of chainmail, clinging to them as if in a desperate attempt at comfort. Most odd of all however, was the colors of the thing. Everything except their skin and the heart on the breastplate were varying shades of gray. The being began to say something, but the sobs racking their body made it hard to discern. Finally, the message came out of the soul.
"I'M SO SORRY KRIS!!!" The soul then collapsed back to the ground, crying even harder.
Kris, finally in control of their own limbs, summoned their sword into their hand, staring down at the thing, eyes filled with disgust and hatred.
"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!?" Susie yelled down at the thing, Ralsei looking at the soul with a look of horror on his goat face.
"I… Kris should tell you…" The soul said between sobs. Susie turned her head to Kris, raising one of her eyebrows in a clear question. In response, Kris just pointed their sword directly at what was the soul that had inhabited them all week, dragging them around like a puppet on strings. The soul looked at the sword for a moment, before going back to sobbing, occasionally managing to get out apologies.
Finally, Kris sighed and lowered their sword. They were still on edge, but this thing clearly wasn't going to hurt anyone in the state they're in. "This… Is, or at least was, my soul. Sort of."
"Dude. What the hell are you talking about?"
"I… I'm some sort of… entity that possessed Kris by becoming their soul." The being said, finally running out of tears. "I'm so, so, so sorry Kris. I… I didn't mean to possess you like that…" Kris turned their gaze onto what was their soul, and gave them a withering glare. The thing whimpered and backed off, stammering out more apologies.
"Yeah. That thing became my soul and puppeted me around. It even made me say things." Susie looked at the human for a long moment, the light leaving her eyes a little.
"I see. So that thing made you hang out with me." She raised both her arms behind her head, and turned away from them. "I can see when I'm not wanted."
Kris reached out towards the retreating back of the monster, before turning another glare onto the soul. "Don't even think about going anywhere." Then, they ran off to find Susie.
Kris found Susie sitting in the cafe, shoveling Lancer Cookies into her mouth as fast as the blue boy could make them. Kris sat down, and took out a TV dinner from the previous dark fountain. Susie grunted in acknowledgement, before continuing to lay waste to the Lancer cookie population. "Listen…" Kris began, before they shut up. They suddenly realized they didn't really know how to talk to her. It had almost always been the soul doing all the talking.
"I'm not good at talking, so I'm just going to start talking, so interrupt me if I start to sound like a dork. Even though I was possessed by that thing, I still loved hanging out with you. Honestly, I've always known you've been eating the chalk, and I respect the hell out of it." Kris took a deep breath before continuing. "Sure, the soul made me take the first step to meeting you, but I still would've kept going as soon as I was on the path. Does that make sense?" The human glanced over at Susie, who, despite the hair covering her eyes, was clearly crying a little.
The lizard stood up, then scooped Kris into a hug, nearly crushing them. "I shoulda stopped you as soon as you opened your mouth. You always sound like a dork, ya dork. But uh… thanks man."
"No problem. Can you let go of me now? I want to go kick that thing's ass now." Susie dropped Kris with a laugh, and she resummoned her axe.
"No problem. But we're still going to talk more later, okay?" Kris responded with a thumbs up, and turned to open the door, only to find Lancer standing in front of them.
"Can I come kick butt too?" The darkner asked. "Lesser dad said 'I don't careth just leaveth me aloneth.'"
Susie laughed again, and patted the blue boy on the head, squishing him a little. "That's up to Kris. The guy we gotta beat up did something to them that I don't entirely understand, but I know it's incredibly personal." Kris felt a warmth flood through them at the words of their monster companion, and a small appreciative smile began to form on their face before Kris pushed it away.
"Maybe later." Was all Kris said in response.
"Ok, well I'll hold you to that, blue person whose name I keep forgetting." And then Lancer rolled away like a ball, presumably to bother one of his "dads" again.
Inside the Castle, Kris and Susie found the monotone being sitting in the exact same spot, with Ralsei offering them tea. "A-are you sure you don't want anything? You did a lot of crying…" Ralsei was saying.
"Kris said not to move, and I've already done enough to hurt them. I should just stay here like I was told." The soul said, their voice as monotone as their body. Whatever this thing was, Kris found it rather pathetic.
"Right, so what the hell is going on?" Susie asked. "I need to know just how much we should kick your ass."
"I um… if Kris is okay with me explaining…" Kris looked at the soul, and gave a slight nod. "Okay so uh… I accidentally possessed Kris and became their soul. And then um… I was acting as them most of the time for the last three days."
"Okay… Who the hell are you then?"
"Um… my name is Althea and I use she/her/hers pronouns." The soul, Althea said.
"That doesn't matter." Kris said, their voice filled with barely controlled rage. "How the fuck did you 'accidentally' possess me? And why the fuck are you doing this?"
The soul looked at the floor for a moment, before turning to look at Kris. "The how isn't important. But uh… I was supposed to have a Vessel, which I assume is sort of what I look like now, but it didn't work out, and I ended up with you." Althea was playing with the hem of her skirt, nervously. "And um… I'm doing this so I could apologize and make it right." Kris snorted derisively. The soul seemed to shrink even more, almost as if trying to compress herself back into the heart shape she took before. "I'm so sorry. I think I know how to fix it though. I uh… saved right after you took me out, and I think that since I'm a weird temporal anomaly, if I go away then so should the problem. Right?" Althea looked at Kris hopefully, as if asking for affirmation. They just shrugged, and the soul nodded. “I also think I fixed the you forgetting between resets thing too, but I haven't tested it yet. So… Here goes nothing." Out of nowhere, The soul produced a small, sharp looking dagger, and stabbed it directly into their neck.