Chapter Text
You don't know when exactly it happened. The exact moment you were suddenly inside of a vessel that was not your own design. It was a cruel joke. The care you put into your choices was discarded, not mattering in the end. Of course that pissed you off, who wouldn't be? They obviously sensed it too. The moment your two beings became one by some misfortune or twist of fate or . . . no, it couldn't have been intentional. How could it be? This kid was obviously a teenager, and typically new SOULs weren't put in the bodies of pre-existing teens! That wasn't how any of this worked!
Yet, as you think about this, the sureness of it all begins to fade. Everything you knew about when you were . . . somewhere else. Even the name of that other place is escaping you. This was expected, you knew you would lose memories of the world and what happens behind the scenes when you had a vessel of your own, but the circumstances you find yourself in makes that frustrating now. Before you know it, the only thing left from before is the creation of your chosen vessel and knowledge that you're in a different one. You cling to the memory, refusing to let it go with all the others. Let that be the one thing you keep, the one thing you're allowed to remember so you don't become one with this other person. This person you, by all accounts, should not be. Maybe it can bring you comfort or hope of something you could have been if . . . something else had not happened. It really is puzzling, but you no longer have the information you would need to think of it further. You're in this kid now, acting as their SOUL to guide them through life. What happned to their other one? Was there another one? No, no, that can't be right. You're in this body which means it's yours. Yes, that makes more sense. You're this person now, and it's what you decided— Stop! You refocus, refusing to lose the memories that so easily almost slipped from you. You would need to keep reminding yourself. You are not this person.
The thoughts are pushed to the back of your consciousness as the day starts anew. Morning rises and the new vessel is awoken by the shouting from Mom.
* Kris! Kris if you do not wake up, we will be late for school! I will wait for you outside, alright?
Kris, huh? That's this vessel's name?
Your body moves automatically at first, pushing the covers off and getting out of bed. Then you're in control. When the switch happens, you can feel them take notice. Their emotions and thoughts are obvious at first before they guard them. You can't entirely blame them, surely it's strange to wake up with an unfamiliar SOUL in their body. You're sure it will pass, and you will learn to cooperate. It won't be fun or practical to constantly be at odds with one another, right? For now, you need to catch up on things. You move the body around the room, prompting Kris to explain what everything is. They freely give the information, though they're short and brief. That is fine, you're sure you can get more information as you go on. Anything you need to know, they will inform you of. Naturally, the way this is passed from them to you is almost intuitive, they're doing little more than not resisting. They know about the items in the room, and upon prompting, their thought pops up through memories and images and words that you can interpret into these short messages. With time, they will become accustom to the prompting and add details with more awareness. This will do for now.
You move through the entirety of the house while repeating this process. You check everything, maybe more than once to get new information from them. Much of it is the same, but occasionally there's a bit more. You find the toilet interesting, Kris thinking of flushing it nearly every time you prompt. Toriel, their mother, shows concern and suspicion, but most of it is directed at her child in a way that suggests they're mischievous enough to do this without your help. But you have to pull yourself away when Kris begins to grow irritated. Their hesitation and uncertainty about you having control turns to dislike, but what do they expect you to do about that? You simply not making decisions or moving them wouldn't give them back control. They would stand in the same thought for eternity, you're pretty sure. Whatever, you know when enough is enough.
This is going to be a balancing act, you realize. You can make an effort to not be overly annoying and choose good decisions for Kris' sake. They can accept that for now while they're stuck with you and you're getting the hang of this. It's a fair exchange, how could they be bothered by it? You're probably better at making some of these decisions anyway. Time for you does not flow the same as it does for them, you can make sure each choice you make is the best one given. Normally, they would be timed and pressured into responding or acting immediately, but this is the one benefit of being a desynchronized SOUL inside a vessel. You don't play by the exact same rules, and you can see this clearly when you get to school and begin talking to Kris' classmates. When a decision needs to be made, the world seems to freeze for you. Does Kris realize this? You hope they do, you have no way of communicating it to them well.
Of course, somehow Susie bypasses this. Time does not stop when you can see a decision to respond. That is interesting. Becoming her partner and being sent to go with her is out of your control. Some things will be out of your control, automatic responses from Kris that don't require your input. That's fine, it is probably best if they're able to do this on occasion. The balancing act. They will feel more comfortable with you in control if you don’t keep a tight grip. You will also keep an eye on Susie when you can.
Then you end up somewhere . . . different. It’s a strange place that neither Kris nor Susie know. As you explore and gather information, this time in tandem with Kris instead of prompting them for information, it starts to make sense. Not necessarily why your created vessel was tossed, but maybe why you ended up inside Kris. They were going to get entangled in this world, so naturally they needed a strong SOUL such as yourself to help guide them. Your excitement only grows when you find a small bright light. A light that only you and Kris can see. A SAVE point. Knowledge you had previously lost upon settling into their body returns, but only that regarding this phenomenon. You can keep them safe with this. When you are broken at defeat, your determination will bring you back here. Of course, you hope that it isn’t necessary, but you’re going to err on the side of caution.
As you reach your hand out to SAVE, you see what’s going to happen. You will overwrite them. This will permanently bind you and Kris. It’s their life, and you have to take that away from them for this to work. You only briefly hesitate. It’s necessary. It’s to protect them. They can see it, but you don’t know if they’ll remember or feel its importance.
Sorry, kid. You’ll thank me later.
The SAVE is complete.
You continue on, helping Kris solve puzzles and battle enemies. Until you understand more, you follow the advice given to you by Ralsei. You ACT and SPARE instead of FIGHTing. It’s better to make friends than enemies. The Darkners aren’t coming across as evil or malicious. Plus, it makes Ralsei happy, and that in turn makes Kris feel happy. You don’t know what it is about this prince that the kid seems to like, but they’re going to be good friends with your help. Susie takes a bit longer to convince, but she looks like she’s having fun, so you go along with her and Lancer’s antics. The adventure is fun and you enjoy yourself. You may have missed some things, but the SAVE points weren’t used, so you don’t know if Kris would be aware of you returning to search more diligently. You put the option away for now. You’d hate to ruin a growing relationship with them by forcing them to repeat events over and over.
When it comes time to close the Dark Fountain, a second reason for you two being together starts to make sense. They need you to do this. It’s through them and your power as a SOUL that you’re able to seal it. Could they have done this with their old one? You think not. The desynchronization probably allows this to be possible. Maybe this was intentional or fate, and you can accept this now that you’ve begun building a relationship with Kris.
You spend time wandering around town when you part ways with Susie. You learn about Hometown and how people feel about Kris. It seems mostly positive, you think. There are some odd comments, and they don’t seem very popular at school, but you can help with that on the side. You even stop and get them a hot chocolate at the diner for all the troubles of the day. And because, after visiting their dad, you feel like they need it. Returning home, Toriel makes a promise of pie when Kris wakes up, and you move their body up to bed. It has been a long day.
Sometime after settling in, the tone shifts. You can’t tell what changed but you can feel it. A strong negative emotion you can’t quite pinpoint from within them. Kris gets out of bed, much to your protests, but somehow they regained sole control over their body. Panic floods you as you struggle to take it back, but their determination overpowers your own in that moment. With a quick motion, they reach inside and grasp you with their hand. What? How? Another swift movement with their arm and you’re soaring across the room. You slam into the cage and the door shuts.
The birdcage. The exact cage you investigated earlier. All Kris gave you was a description you could have deduced from its appearance alone. You thought they were holding back out of uncertainty and caution. Did they plan to do this the whole time? Did they do this with their last SOUL? They seemed to know what to do already, and they hid information and their feelings toward you like they had practice. You can’t recall if this is possible with the SOUL a human is born with, but it is undeniably possible with you.
Kris brandishes a knife and leaves the room. You cannot follow.
They can’t keep you in the cage forever. You’re not sure how long you’ll last without a vessel, but Kris can’t exist without a SOUL. They’ll be back for you. Then what? You’ll be stuck inside a vessel that doesn’t want you, can get rid of you, and won’t cooperate no matter your choices. You think back on them, wondering if there was anything you could have done differently. You made all the right choices. Maybe you explored too much, but there was more that you hadn’t. You consider going back to your last SAVE but what difference would it make? If you don’t know what choice led them to rip you out and lock you away, you would end up here at the end of the night every time.
Whatever. The relationship is irreparable. You can’t communicate with Kris through anything but their actions and choices, but they can give you more information when you prompt if they want more influence. This was their doing. Their decision. Neither of you chose this, and they’re the one being an asshole about it. You were only trying to help. If they don’t want this to be a partnership, you won’t let it be one. You’ll fix this world yourself.