Chapter Text
"AND NOW, YOUR VESSEL, YOUR WONDERFUL CREATION....Will be discarded." Boomed the disembodied voice as everything went dark, the SOUL plunged into a void of pure black, "No one can choose who they are in this world."
The SOUL didn't much care for that. Couldn't choose? It had DETERMINATION! It should damn well get to choose! But, if it really couldn't choose, it hoped for a bit of luck at least.
It needed a perfect match. Someone powerful, compliant, and above all....interesting.
"Your name is...." The voice said, as the darkness faded to white, the SOUL sent spiraling into a body, barely able to steer itself as it tried to guide itself through the ether, hoping to land on the best possible option. It blindly reached through the void and latched onto the best subject it could find, pulling itself in with red puppet strings, and.....!
Oh, this would do nicely.
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"Noelle! Get up, you're going to be late for school!" Cried the voice of Carol Holiday, Mayor of Hometown, as the sound of that, combined with the ongoing loud sleigh-bells awoke Noelle Holiday from her slumber, the deer girl groggily getting up and rubbing her eyes, before immediately realizing that she had somehow slept through her alarm! If she didn't manage to pull off getting to school on time, her mom would have her head!
"C-coming!" She yelped, feeling herself being hoisted out of bed by her own body (a weird sensation when you don't consciously do it...). She then ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth, her SOUL pulsing a little bit as it helped guide Noelle's actions.
Noelle had to admit, as weird as it used to feel, she and the SOUL had reached a compromise: it helped her along, and she gave it a body. She'd have to admit that she missed having full control of her body at all times, but she managed well enough, and she could always have a bit of leeway with the commands. Besides, the SOUL was pretty nice to her. It was a weird sort of....friendship? She was going to settle on friendship.
"Of all days, it had to be today that you slept in, huh?" The SOUL remarked with a hint of enjoyment at her predicament, causing Noelle's eyes to widen in horror. How could she have forgotten? It was school project day! And, despite Berdly being her closest friend (aside from Kris, but Kris had been...distant since Asriel left), she didn't exactly want to partner up with him again. Mostly because she ended up doing all the work.....
"Why do you still hang out with that guy?" The SOUL asked, "He's annoying."
Noelle rolled her eyes as she got dressed, quickly getting changed and packing her bag, her SOUL helping her run on autopilot pretty well.
"He's not that bad!" Noelle protested, "And besides, he's one of the two friends I have....and he really does mean well."
The SOUL sent a pulse of emotion that seemed to be it rolling its eyes at Noelle as Carol chimed in again.
"Noelle! Stop talking to yourself and hurry up!" She admonished.
"S-sorry, Mom! I'll be down in a bit!" Noelle called down to her mom, as the SOUL sighed.
"Alright, let's get a move on, deer girl. Maybe that Susie girl you like might have a spot open for a partner?~" SOUL chimed, causing Noelle's nose to glow bright red, the monster wisely choosing to ignore the teasing as she rushed out the door, running full-tilt to the school.
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Well, this wasn't ideal.
Noelle had stumbled into an almost full classroom, Alphys in mid-discussion. Even Kris was earlier than her, and Kris was almost never on time!
"O-oh, Noelle!" Alphys chimed in, looking over as Noelle awkwardly opened the door, the reindeer cringing from having all eyes swivel onto her, "Y-you're late...um...w-well, we were just picking partners for the science project...m-maybe there's someone left!"
Noelle nodded, going around the room....and getting "no"s from everyone she and the SOUL tried to pick.
"Sorry, Noelle, but me and Catti are, already buddied up!" said Jockington, her fellow member of the cross-country team, who was also a snake monster. The lack of legs was a bit of an issue, but he mostly got around it by biting his tail and spinning like a bicycle wheel down the track. It was both impressive and surprisingly effective.
"Partn'er? I hardly know 'er! Ha ha ha!!" Snowy, the class clown said, causing Noelle to inwardly groan, "But seriously, I already got MK!"
"tem partner with....EGG!" chirped Temmie, putting a hard boiled egg on their desk. Again.
"I still don't know how they keep getting away with that...." The SOUL chimed in, as Noelle shared in its confusion. Though, Temmie did get great grades even though they kept partnering up with eggs, so they must be doing something right.
"Well, that leaves.....oh no." The SOUL said, as Noelle walked towards Berdly, before said SOUL immediately made her spin on her heel and turn to Kris.
"Hm?" Kris said, looking up as Noelle was made to knock on their desk.
"(WHAT ARE WE DOING?!)" Noelle screamed internally, as the SOUL pulsed a message back.
"I am NOT doing another partner project with Berdly!" the SOUL argued, before Kris poked Noelle, grinning a bit.
"Hey. You there? You spaced out for a minute." Kris explained, as Noelle groaned wearily, the SOUL barely keeping her from banging her head on a table in frustration.
"Yeah, sorry, just....lost in my thoughts. So, you want to be partners, Krismas?" Noelle asked, smiling and trying to put some levity into the situation.
"Can't." Kris said, smirking back as Noelle's face fell. Noelle could've sworn that Kris was just enjoying seeing them suffer.
"Ha! Obviously, it's because Noelle will be partnered with me! The two smartest of the smarties will triumph!" Said Berdly, standing up on his desk in his own melodramatic way, before Kris shot the bluebird a grin.
"Nah. It's cause I'm with you, birdboy." Kris said, winking at Noelle and causing Berdly to sputter.
"W-well, maybe we can be a group of thr-" Berdly was about to suggest, trying to salvage the situation....before the door was kicked open.
It was Susie, the big tough brutish purple dinosaur girl who shoved nerds into lockers (maybe), threatened to eat faces (definitely), and, to Noelle, was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen (absolutely).
"Oh, look. Noelle and Susie both don't have partners. Guess you two are together now." Kris remarked, flashing a mischievous smile as Noelle's nose glowed bright red, the deer girl reduced to sputtering incomprehensibly. Did they plan this?!?
"I-I suppose so!" Alphys said, as Berdly looked to say something, but wisely decided to stop after a glance from Kris, settling down into his seat and grumbling to himself. He seemed....weirdly stressed about this turn of events. Not that Noelle noticed, as her brain was busy shutting down from both the sheer euphoria and the sheer fear of her and her longtime crush working together on a project.
"Hmph. Whatever." Susie said, her face not betraying a bit of emotion, maintaining her cool, menacing aura. Noelle thought she might melt.
Alphys's voice was ultimately the one to bring Noelle out of her stupor, calling attention to something new and shaking her out of her Susie-related daydreams.
"O-oh, it looks like I'm out of chalk! Could've sworn I had some yesterday...." Alphys noted, "S-Susie, since you and Noelle were the last ones in, how about you go to the storage closet and get some more?"
Okay, now Noelle HAD to be dreaming. Her? And Susie? Together in a small closet?! Well, she's had similar fantasies before...
"Y-yes, I'll go with her!" Noelle exclaimed, sounding very enthusiastic, practically beaming as Susie just shrugged.
"Fine by me, I guess." Susie said, walking out the door, as Noelle took a moment to look at Kris, thank them and their lucky stars that they were late to class today, and ran out to go tag along with Susie.
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As Noelle trotted out into the hallway, she could see Susie standing there, back turned. She seemed to just idle there for a bit, before pulling a stick of chalk out of her pocket and chowing down, eating it in one big chomp.
Huh, she enjoyed chalk. Noelle wondered if Susie would enjoy a lunchbox of the stuff....
Suddenly, Susie turned, glaring at Noelle, who desperately tried to keep her nose from glowing again.
"U-Um....h-hi, Susie...." She said nervously, her knees shaking.
Susie looked at Noelle, eyes wide.
"Oh....shit." She said, stalking towards Noelle, "Lemme guess, you're gonna tell Alphys? Get Big Bad Susie expelled for good? C'mon, I bet you'd be dying to do it."
"N-no, not at all!" Noelle interjected, raising her hands defensively, "I-I would never! Lips are sealed!"
Susie just glared, standing right in front of Noelle and looking her up and down, seeming to study her reaction, before deciding to let it go.
"Hmph, fine. Let's go, then." Susie said, turning back and walking off in the direction of the storage closet without a word. Noelle followed her and breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, felt disappointment. She always did wonder what it would be like for Susie to shove her into a locker....
"Noelle, really?" Noelle's SOUL asked, "I know you have it bad, but...."
"Shutupshutupshutup...!" Noelle said to her SOUL, which cackled a fair bit, before retreating into her body as Susie turned around.
"The hell are you on about....?" Susie asked, as Noelle's nose went red again.
"N-nothing at all! Just...um....."
*Talking to myself <----
*Yelling at a locker
"Talking to myself!" Noelle said, "I....think out loud....?"
"You were telling yourself to shut up?" Susie asked, snorting in amusement as Noelle began to nervously sweat.
"....yes?" Noelle squeaked, as Susie gave her loud cackle. After a bit of laughter, the dino girl soon calmed down, chuckling under her breath as she continued on towards the closet, not looking to pry any further.
Noelle breathed a sigh of relief and pointedly glared at her chest, as the SOUL seemed to give a shrug (or, as best a shrug it could do without limbs), before Noelle immediately slammed face-first into the storage closet door, not having been looking where she was going.
"Shit, you okay, Holiday?" Susie asked, as Noelle sprang up, chuckling awkwardly.
"I'm fine! Just...um...lost in my thoughts again."
Susie just rolled her eyes, tapping on the door.
"Well, anyway, we're here. Might as well get that damn chalk, or whatever...." The purple monster said, opening the door....and stepping back as she and Noelle were witness to something new.
Inside the closet was pure darkness. Not the usual dark closet darkness, but something akin to vantablack, the closet seeming to actively swallow all light that tried to enter, consuming it and leaving nothing but a void.
"Um....hey, Noelle? Is it me or is it....REALLY dark in there?" Susie asked, as Noelle responded with a quiet nod. It was eerie...the closet definitely wasn't normally like this, so what was going on...?
"What's the holdup? Cmon, just go in already!" Susie said, her voice shocking Noelle out of her deer-in-the-headlights state, the girl yelping and beginning to slowly tiptoe forward, nervous about what would happen.
After a while of this (aka, 30 seconds at max), Susie groaned, her annoyance triumphing over her reluctance to go in.
"Look, if you're gonna be a wimp about it, I'LL....." Susie started, before getting another view of the closet, immediately reconsidering, "WE'LL both go in at the same time!"
Susie then grabbed Noelle's arm, yanking her forward and, with a yelp from the deer, plunging them into the dark closet.
As expected, it was pitch black, with not much visible aside from Susie and Noelle themselves, with Noelle's nose, still glowing red from Susie holding her arm, barely lighting it up.
"Oh, uh...good thinking on using that nose of yours to give us some light." Susie said, as Noelle glanced around, laughing nervously.
"Y-yeah, totally intentional there...hehe...."
"Yeah, that's what I said...?" Susie said, confused by Noelle's nervousness, "Anyway, let's find the light switch. Can't see a thing right now...."
Susie let go of Noelle's arm and, after a minute of peering into the darkness and feeling around, she turned back to the reindeer girl.
"I don't see a switch...." Susie said, sounding worried, with her and Noelle walking in further to continue the search, "And this closet's a bit big, huh? Plus it's got....no walls."
Noelle stuck close to Susie, trembling. Her SOUL resonated with a weird sort of energy here, and combining that with how this closet was now an odd void....it was not doing her nerves any favors.
Susie then nervously chuckled, trying to put her brave face on again, with Noelle mostly able to still see her at this point thanks to her still glowing nose.
"Well, we tried. Let's just go tell Alphys to get her own damn chalk, cause this closet's clearly...erm...broken."
Susie grinned, walking over to the door....which immediately slammed shut, causing the two monster girls to jump back. Susie then ran up to the door and began pounding on it, roaring angrily.
"LET US OUT! IF THIS IS A JOKE, IT AIN'T GODDAMN FUNNY!" She yelled, with Noelle shaking in panic as the closet began rumbling, "W-wait, the floor! It's-"
Susie's statement was almost immediately cut off by the floor falling out from under the two monster girls, the pair soon falling into the inky black void beneath them.
As the darkness swallowed her vision, the last thing Noelle saw was Susie's falling body and the glow of her own SOUL, shining against the dark.