Chapter Text
What happened?
It's all dark.
When did that happen?
Kris simply couldn't recall.
The night after the Dark Sanctuaries was a blur; they remembered their body being weak, being tired, being heavy. They remembered their vision being foggy, and trying to run after Susie, but anything after that was just blank. They had the vague memory of forcing the door to Flower King open, then it went dark. So that is how they got here. Huh. Well, there's no time to dwell on that anymore; there was a new adventure to be had!
Kris woke up to a blinding light shining directly into their eyes. They lifted their head, taking in their surroundings. A vast garden, filled with pink and gold flowers, sprawled out in front of them. Faux sunlight peeked through a canopy of rock and vine, pouring warmth onto the leader. In the far distance, guarded by a sprawling maze of grass and plants, there were crude buildings, like houses, scattered all around in a circular pattern. Among the village of flower houses was a large fountain, though from what Kris could see, it wasn't spouting water anymore.
"Nngh…"
Kris jolted, looking to their right. Susie had appeared behind them- when did she get there? She was like a reverse moth–instead of looking for the light, she was attracted to the ever-irresistible call of the Dark Fountains. That's probably how she got there, Kris figured. The human grunted quietly, pulling themself up before offering her a hand.
"Like you could lift me, dumbass," she snorted, taking their hand and pulling herself off the ground. "Okay, so where the hell are we?"
"...looks like my dad's shop," Kris replied quietly.
"Why would the Knight make one there?" Susie asked. "No offense, man, but it's not really the uhm…ideal? Place? To make a fountain? Just don't tell Asgore I said that, arright?"
"...i guess," they sighed, coughing gently and rubbing the back of their neck.
Kris had lots of things on their mind right now. At least Susie still thought the Knight had made this one, just like she did with TV World. Their thoughts spun in their head, making their mind very loud- But that was unimportant; they had to find their father. They set off toward the houses in the distance, the SOUL beating warmly under their skin. They didn't particularly mind its heat this time; the air was quite chilly here despite the sun.
"Wait for me!"
Ralsei's voice came from nowhere, and he was suddenly behind Susie when Kris turned to look.
"...hey, rals," they nodded, trying to be polite despite their wishes to say as little as humanly possible.
He smiled at them, but they otherwise paid him no mind. Kris led their friends through the Dark World in Asgore's shop, worry and concern welling up inside them despite the blank stare the SOUL constantly made them wear. They minded their steps, careful not to step on any vines or plants for fear of their actions damaging one of their father's treasured plants in the Light World.
"There's a village over there in the distance," Ralsei noted, motioning toward it with a paw. "That looks…relatively safe."
"Hell yeah," Susie grinned, her teeth glinting in the light. "Buildings to loot."
"Susie!!!" the Prince scolded, tisking at her. "You cannot loot those buildings! I won't let you."
"Laaame," she sighed.
Kris was barely focusing on their conversation, staring into the grass maze they had found their way towards. The hair on the back of their neck was standing up, and goosebumps littered their arms. They crossed their arms over their chestplate, trying to warm themself up.
"Kris?" Ralsei asked. "Is something wrong?"
"It's just a bit of grass, loser," Susie cackled. "What? 'Fraid of a little bug crawlin' onto your arm?"
"i just have a bad feeling, that's all," Kris defended, glancing back at their friends. "maybe it's nothing. i could just be overthinking things."
"I don't believe there's anything too dangerous here," Ralsei assured. "And even if there is something dangerous, we'll be behind you!"
Kris nodded, tentatively stepping into the grass maze. They were mindful of their steps, not sure whether to stare at their feet or ahead of them. They opted to switch between the two- an action that made them immediately feel Susie's eyes boring into them.
"Hey," she whispered. "You know you can just...look ahead of you, right?"
"...don't wanna step on any plants," the human replied softly. "dad would get angry if i killed a plant by accident."
"Huh," she hummed. "Well, carry on with your weird method."
Kris flinched as a creature jumped out at them, and Susie caught them. It stared at the party with beady, black eyes, its six legs tearing into the ground. It had large horns with large mandibles, and was glaring at the group like an angry bull, even pawing the ground. Kris drew their sword, and Susie retrieved her axe.
"Hey, freak," she snapped, baring her teeth at the Bullant. "You think you're scary? Well, let me show you scary."
She moved to attack, but Kris shook their head. Instead, she blocked as the creature turned to her and ran at her, narrowly grazing Kris and Ralsei as it got its horns stuck on the edges of Susie's axe and wriggled free, snorting angrily.
"Lame," she sneered.
Kris gleaned more information, noticing that the Bullant was already tired. They attempted to have Ralsei cast Pacify, but realised that they were a single TP short. They groaned, having him defend instead.
"Next time, Kris!" he smiled at them, but they didn't look back to notice.
The Bullant launched itself at Kris, managing to clamp onto their arm with its large mandibles and drawing blood. The fluid was slightly purple against their cyan skin, and their right arm trembled as they muffled their cries of pain.
"Get offa them!" Susie snarled, whacking the Bullant off of them and back to where it had been mauling the soil.
Kris, their arm shaking, defended with Susie and had Ralsei pacify the enemy, who promptly slumped onto the ground and fell asleep. The other two turned their attention to their bleeding leader. Ralsei immediately moved to take his scarf off and began to wrap it around their arm. Kris bit their lip, their arms shaking.
"We have to get them somewhere safe," Ralsei said to Susie, who nodded.
"Well, no shit," she replied, though her brow was furrowed. "Do you think we could just- like- ignore anything that tries to jump at us?"
"We can try, but-"
"Good enough for me."
Susie picked up Kris, despite their quiet protests that they could walk.
"Alright, dumbass," she snorted, staring into their crimson eyes, "Let's get you to a nice bed so you can take a little nap."
"might take a nap right here," they chuckled weakly, leaning against her chest. "comfy."
"Damn right I am."
The monster and the Prince continued through the maze. Susie, unsurprisingly, ignored the hedges that were clearly supposed to be guidelines for the maze, instead opting to slice her way through them. Flower monsters and giant, mutated bugs tried getting in their way, but Susie somehow managed to intimidate them enough to leave the party alone- and soon, the village was in sight. Ralsei took a deep breath, looking up at Susie, who gave him a nod. But, as they stepped closer, something else caught their attention.
"Hey, punks!"