Work Text:
Everything had to be perfect. As perfect as it could be. After all, it's not everyday you show someone such a wonderful secret. Especially when that someone is the someone you might like - a lot, a lot a lot. And it was not only a revelation, but an invitation.
(She'll like this place. She'll like being part of our adventures. Huh... she might even like it more. Bet Noelle can't wait to get some space between her and… everything.) Susie thought throughout the work-packed late night.
Before Susie crawled into her spiky bed, she had done a final check of her handiwork. The welcome banner over the castle entrance hung with a perfect dip. The decorations in the town were as festive as any Christmas celebration Susie had ever seen. Noelle's new room smelled of fresh paint, new plaster, clean sheets, and sugar cookies. Susie owed Ralsei for the last two.
Before she drifted off, flashes of the tomorrow's possibilities swirled through Susie's mind.
She'd tell Noelle to meet her at the supply closest during lunch.
She'd tell Noelle not to be afraid, and right before the fall, she'd grab her hand.
She'd tell Noelle it will be okay and that her dream from a few days ago was no dream.
She'd tell Noelle how she met everyone in castle town as she introduced them to her.
She'd tell Noelle that she needed to be a part of their big adventure.
She'd tell Noelle how excited Ralsei and Kris were to have her there.
She'd tell Noelle how this was her home now too.
She'd tell Noelle how important what they were doing was.
She'd tell Noelle how important she was to her.
She'd tell Noelle everything.
That was the last thought Susie had before she fell asleep. The smell of fresh cake permeating her dreams.
The next morning, Susie was at her desk in the back of Alphys' classroom, alone. She was there well before anyone else, even Alphys. Which was not that surprising, she had spent the night at the school. At least, in the technical sense.
It had of course been a shock to Alphys seeing Susie at her desk so bright and early. She even commented on appreciating Susie's new attitude towards the power of education.
Susie deadpanned in response. She felt her eyes almost roll out of her skull when Alphys capped her speech by making a victory sign in Susie's face. The exchange ended with a sad chuckle from the teacher who then shuffled away to the front of the classroom.
A few minutes later Susie's classmates entered one by one. Soon everyone was there, save Kris and Noelle. The bell was about to ring when the door next opened. Susie almost bolted from her chair and to the door thinking it was Noelle. But it was only Kris. She didn't quite frown at the revelation. But she didn't quite smile either.
"Hey dude." She muttered to the human as they took their seat in front of Susie.
The human nodded in response. Not looking back as Susie while they did so.
"You uh... you didn't happen to see Noelle when you and your mom were driving to school, did ya?"
The human shook their head in response. Still not looking back at Susie.
"Damn it!" Susie huffed, the ring of the bell kept anyone else from hearing her.
Alphys began to talk about projects and due dates. But before she could get into the nitty gritty, Susie interrupted her.
"Hey, teach! Shouldn’t we uh... shouldn't we wait til Noelle gets here?"
"Oh..." Alphys stammered. "That's a good point. Thanks, Susie! She might be running a little late. I suppose we could wait a few minutes."
A few of the other students stared over at Susie in shock. Many had noticed her change in attitude. The aloof bully front now replaced by something, at least a few degrees more pleasant and humane.
"My my, Susan. Such compassion for a fellow scholar." Berdly stated with a mixture of earnest surprise and infatuation.
Upon hearing Susie say Noelle's name, Catti stared daggers back at her. Susie did not notice in the slightest.
Several minutes passed, the students talking amongst themselves. Save Susie, who kept her eyes locked on the classroom door.
15 minutes past the hour, Alphys attempted to regain her classes' attention. But right before she went to speak, her desk phone began to ring.
"Uh, never mind." Alphys stammered as she lifted the headset off the hook. The teacher took a second before she spoke into the phone. "M-moshi moshi! Alphy's classroom! Oh... hello, Mrs. Holiday. Oh, oh... I see. Well o-okay then. I'l-I'll make sure that Noelle's project partner brings her today's assignments."
Susie snapped to attention at hearing Alphys say Noelle.
Alphys put the phone back on the hook and turned back to the class. "Oh-okay everyone. I-I suppose we should get started.
"Hey! What's going on with Noelle?" Susie blurted, her voice loud enough to hear over the din of the other students chattering.
"Uh, Noelle... Noelle won't be in school today, Susie." Alphys replied. The chatting fell off as every student noticed the grim look on Alphys' face. Despite her best efforts, she could not hide it.
"Why!?" Susie shot back, straining against her every impulse to pop up from her desk.
"Well uh, she's had a-her-a-f-." Alphys cut herself off before saying anything more. "She has a personal matter keeping her away today is all."
BAM!
Susie smashed both her fists down on the desk.
"Oh come on, that's a load of bull! What's the real reason!?" Susie shot back, a mix of fear and anger coloring her response.
Alphys was about to say more, but her desk phone rang again.
"I-I should, I need to answer that!" Alphys blurted as a look of absolute relief washed over her face.
Alphys picked up the phone. Her cheeks went red as she realized all her students' attention was on her for all the wrong reasons. "M-moshi... moshi. Alphy's... classroom. Toriel! Uhuh, uhuh. Y-yeah, I can send them over right away. Oh, y-yes, I got a call from her a minute ago. O-okay, th-thanks for calling." Alphys put the phone back down.
"Kris, that was your mother. She wants you to grab your things and meet her at her car. I'll make-ask Susie to bring you today's assignments after class."
Kris gave a nod and rose to their feet.
"Like hell you will!" Susie grunted at Kris as she jumped up from her seat behind the human.
"What the hell, twerp!?" Susie hissed to Kris as she strode up next to them. "You were gonna leave me here?"
Kris didn't respond.
"S-Susie, would you mind s-sitting-"
"Can't! Kris asked me to walk them to their mom's car. Ain't that right, dude?" Susie stared down at the human, her eyes begging for them to respond in the affirmative.
After a very long pause, Kris nodded their head once towards Alphys. They then walked out the classroom door. Susie moving in lockstep behind them.
The pair exited the classroom, Susie slammed the door shut behind them.
"What the hell, Kris! Were you actually gonna leave me there?" Susie protested as the two walked to the front door of the school. I told you last night, I-we need Noelle! I mean we need her help to get the code to the shelter. And then... then we can save everyone, fix everything... you know?"
Kris did not respond or break stride.
Susie put a hand on Kris' shoulder and stopped them dead in their tracks.
"Come on dude, at least... at least acknowledge me."
Kris half turned around. For a split second, their crimson eyes visible beneath their bangs. Susie was not sure what emotion Kris' eyes held at that moment. But whatever it was, it did not match the forced, half smile Kris now wore on their face.
"You okay, dude?" Susie began.
But before Susie could say more, Kris nodded their head up and pointed their chin forward. Susie looked to where Kris pointed and saw a distraught Toriel walking towards them.
"Oh, Kris, and Susie!" Toriel began, forcing calm and composure onto both her face and voice. "I was not expecting to see you here too, Susie. I had only asked Alphys to send Kris out of class."
"Yeah... but Kris, they asked me to come too. You know, as an emotional support... monster?"
Susie shot Kris a pleading look.
In response, Kris nodded their head with more gusto than they'd shown all morning.
"Well, if Kris asked you to come along. I suppose it is alright given the... circumstances. But Susie, you need to understand that this is a very delicate situation. I will... I will explain more in the car. Now please, we must not dillydally."
With that, Toriel stepped towards the front door, opened it, and ushered Kris and Susie out. Soon, they were in the car and on their way to the hospital.
Susie could feel her guts knotting themselves up as Toriel backed her car out of its parking space. Dozens of questions flooded her mind.
"Does everyone have their seat belt on?" Toriel's voice held the authority only a mother's and teacher's could.
Susie snapped her seat belt in place. And then blurted out. "YUP! So what happened!?"
"Oh well..." Toriel began as she put the car into drive. "You see, Susie, Noelle's father, Rudy, had an accident the other day during the festival. He... he fell down. He was putting up the lights for the stage that the king and queen of the festival stand on. And well, he has been sick for a long while now. No one is sure what happened, but Mayor Holiday found him on the ground and rushed him to the hospital."
"Oh shi-shoot..." Susie corrected herself. "Uh, does anyone know when he fell?"
"Mayor Carol mentioned something about later in the day, I believe."
(That's right when Noelle disappeared.) Susie thought.
The rest of the short drive passed in silence. A few minutes later, the trio arrived at the hospital. After Toriel parked the car, Susie was out of her seat and then the car before the engine had gone silent.
Susie was about to rush through the hospital door, when she felt a hand on her shoulder stopping her.
"Susie, it is important that we are quiet. Rudy's condition is, as I said earlier, delicate. Toriel went silent for a moment as she scanned the parking lot. Susie was not sure what it was Toriel was looking for. After a few minutes, the older monster ended her search. With a pensive look, she beckoned for Kris and Susie to follow her inside.
The reception lobby of the hospital was as sterile and quiet as ever. Toriel walked to the main desk and began speaking with the nurse there in hushed tones. Susie and Kris remained near the doors.
"So you think Noelle is okay?" Susie asked Kris.
Kris shrugged in response.
Susie could not help but notice the human's lips turn down a bit as they responded.
"Oh yeah, guess you're not like a mind reading psycho, are you?" Susie forced a smile as she made her remark.
Before Kris could respond, Toriel returned to them.
"Rudy is in his usual room. I'll go in and see how he's doing. Would you two please stay here until I return?"
"Uh sure thing, Toriel." Susie replied.
Kris nodded.
"I'll be back as soon as I am able." Toriel then departed down the hall and was soon out of sight of Kris and Susie.
Susie walked over to a row of chairs and sat down. Kris joined her.
"So, how long do you think your mom is gonna be? Think we'll get to go see Noelle and her old man soon?"
Again, Kris shrugged.
"Wanna play the piano while we wait?"
Kris shook their head.
"Damn, you're a lot of fun today."
Kris stared back at Susie. Though she could only see a bit of their eyebrows, she knew they were scowling at her.
"Okay, my bad. I'm just… freaking out, ya know?"
Susie noticed the tension emanating from Kris diminish. They nodded, and placed a hand on Susie's shoulder.
"Uh, so the day before the yesterday, Noelle's mom, she was pretty pissed at me when she told us to get out. Think she's chilled out since then?"
Kris gave Susie's shoulder a squeeze with one hand. With the other they indicated that they didn't know.
"You don't think… she'd not let me in, do you?"
Kris gave a harder squeeze of Susie's shoulder, but made no other response.
"Shit..." Susie hissed as she thumped a fist against her thigh.
"Wait, I got an idea!" Susie said, some of the fear washed away as she began to speak. "When your mom comes back, I'll sneak off to the bathroom. You go to Noelle's dad's room and scope the place out, see if you think Noelle's mom will be cool with me in there. What ya think?"
Kris tilted their head to one side and then nodded.
"Ha, I'm a tactical genius. Bet Seth would be proud of me for that, huh?"
Kris gave Susie a nod with actual enthusiasm in it.
"Awesome, thanks dude!" Susie almost had a smile on her face.
A few more minutes passed in a semi-comfortable silence. The whole while Susie kept an ear out for Toriel's return. After a bit longer, Susie heard the unmistakable sound of Toriel's steps. True to her plan, Susie b-lined it for the bathroom before Toriel made it to the lobby.
Susie listened at the bathroom door. For a second, she thought she was in the clear. And then, someone decided then was the perfect time to vacuum the lobby. Susie did her best to make out what Toriel was saying to Kris over the whirring.
"Rudy --- resting comfortably. You --- see him --- like. I am --- would be --- see you --- Kris. Carol? Yes --- there too. --- upset --- would be too. Noelle?"
Susie's heart beat fast at Toriel's saying Noelle's name.
"She was --- then --- not --- might --- soon --- alone --- upset --- space --- you --- remember --- back when your --- I ---. Yes, exactly.
BUMP! VER! VER! VER! BUMP!
Susie took a step back as the person vacuuming the lobby rammed up against the other side of the door a few times.
"Son of a bitch." Susie growled. She tried to catch the rest of the conversation between Kris and Toriel over the din of the vacuum, but it was all for not. After a few tense seconds that seemed like hours to Susie, the vacuum whirred down. Susie pressed the side of her head to the door but heard nothing from the other side.
"DAMN IT!" Susie grunted. She almost kicked the nearby trashcan, but stopped herself at the last second. The last thing she needed was to give herself away. Susie took a steadying breath and opened the bathroom door a crack. Peaking out into the lobby, she saw it was empty save for the nurse behind the front desk.
Susie's shoulders drooped as she stomped over to her previous seat. She fell into it and sulked for a minute before she got another idea. Smooth as she could, she meandered up to the front desk and flagged over the nurse.
"Hey, did those two go back to Noel-er Mr. Holiday's room?" Susie asked as she did her best to play it cool.
"Yes."
"Oh, uh great! Do you know if Noel-er Mr. Holiday's daughter is back there too?
"Oh, Noelle? Nah, she left a while before you three got here. The poor thing looked really upset. Can't say I blame her."
"Where'd she go!?" Susie barked.
"N-no idea."
"Great, thanks." Susie grouched as she returned to her chair. But before she sat down, a realization hit her. Quick as a flash, she hightailed it out of the hospital lobby door and down the street towards the lake.
It did not take long for Susie to reach the lake. For a second, she thought to sneak by Asgore's flower shop. But remembered that there would be no one there. The weight of that did press on her, but Susie had somewhere else she needed to be. Someone else she needed to ensure never met the same terrible fate.
Not far past Asgore's shop, where the road gave way to a path trampled through tall grass, Susie saw her. Sitting a few inches from where the waves could reach - was Noelle. She had her back to Susie, facing towards the lake and the distant shore on the opposite side. But she could not be looking at that far off vista, the tilt of her head made it clear her gaze was set on the water.
Susie froze, her plan from the previous night leaking from her mind, like ice cream from a cone on a hot day. Susie stalled there amongst the high grass and scraps of litter.
Time passed, how much, Susie was not sure. But nothing changed. She remained fixed to her spot and Noelle kept her solo vigil.
[Talk to Noelle]
The thought felt odd to Susie. Almost like it cam from somewhere outside her own mind. But he had an authority to it that Susie felt compelled to listen to.
Whatever the case, it was enough to get her moving. Susie took a trudging step along the path and towards where Noelle sat.
Susie's approach was silent. Both in the physical and metaphorical sense. Her tread did not give her presence away to Noelle, and her mind remained blank. She thought to say something, to not scare Noelle with her sudden appearance. But no ideas came. So with no better course of action in mind, Susie opted to sit in the sand next to Noelle.
"... Hey, Susie." Was all Noelle said when she noticed she had company. Any other day, Noelle would have choked on even saying Susie's name. Today though, it came easy, but in the worst way possible. When before she'd have felt butterflies in her stomach, today she felt nothing. No, not nothing. She felt empty, and that was worse. Not even the eternal obligation to keep pressing on stirred within her now.
"Y-you okay?" Susie asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she wanted to punch herself in the nose. Anyone could see that Noelle was about as far from okay as a person could be.
"No... not really." Noelle responded, she had yet to look at Susie.
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Noelle did not respond.
"So... did the doctors say anything about how your dad is doing?"
"It was... a bad fall. He might have lost all his recent progress."
"Shit... I'm sorry."
"It’s not your fault."
"Yeah but still."
"... Thanks."
The pair sat in silence for a while. Any other time, in the absence of conversation, Susie would have grabbed a stick and doodled in the sand. Now she didn't even fiddle with her own hands in her lap. After a while, and a lot of psyching herself up, Susie began to speak.
"So I wanted to tell you something. Well I wanted to show you something, but uh... it's not here." Susie began.
Noelle nodded.
"It's this place, my-our friend calls it the Dark World. It's like this world of adventure and magic. Real magic! And it's, well... pretty great."
This time Noelle didn't nod.
"Anyway, I wanted to show you it because well. I think, NO! I know it's important that you be there. That I know you'd love it there too. I-it's so much better than this crappy little dinky town. I mean there's a lot of bad shit going on there right now. But, it's still got all this really good stuff too! We live in a castle - me, Kris, and Ralsei! Oh and King and Queen and Lancer too. And I want you to live there too. Me and Lancer built you a room last night. And..."
"Sus-." Noelle began. A slight edge to her voice.
"... I told all the castle town people about you. We decorated it like Christmas. I thought you'd like that. But... the important thing is that there's this prophecy about the end of the world. Me, Kris, and Ralsei are a part of it. And some of the others too, I think but I think you're a part of it too. And so I think you need to be in on everything too. We can go there now, you know? We can..."
"Susie I -." The edge in Noelle’s voice grew sharper.
"... go on an adventure too. Like a practice one. So that you'll be ready for the big move. See we need to sneak into your house. That guitar your mom grabbed off me the other day, remember? See it had a secret code to the shelter door, you know the one south of town. And if we have that, plus the code we got from Flowery after the Knight kidnapped Kris' dad we could...
"Susie I don't -." Noelle was now staring at Susie. Tears in her eyes.
Susie didn’t notice.
"... get into the shelter. We're pretty sure that's where the Knight is hiding and keeping the people they kidnapped. Oh yeah, the Knight is the one that kidnapped Undyne. They also kidnapped Kris' dad, but I said that already. The Knight is this really powerful super magic sword thing-guy. Anyway... if you come with me, I'll show you how to get into the Dark World. It's pretty easy, we just need to go back to the school. The first step is kind of a doozy, but you can hold my hand when we go in and it'll be fine."
"SUSIE I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AND TO BE HONEST, I DON'T CARE RIGHT NOW!" Noelle howled, her face red and tears streaming down her cheeks.
"N-Noelle...?"
"I-I appreciate you trying to make me feel better. But my dad is sick, really, REALLY sick. He might... he might d-." A deep sob cut Noelle off before she could finish. She fought it back and resumed. As she did, Susie realized those weren't all sad tears, but angry ones.
"And then YOU come, take a second to ask about my dad and start talking about some make believe adventure with Kris. YOU talk about how YOU think I need to be there. That YOU need me to go with YOU there now. That YOU have all these plans. That YOU need me. This whole time, it's been YOU, YOU, YOU."
"H-hey no, tha-that's not it at all!" Susie tried to say more but Noelle cut her off.
"Then what was it? You thought that we could just run away from what? Life!? From our responsibilities, our family, our friends, the people that need us? All to go hide somewhere so we don’t need to face reality? I get that you want to help, but like I said yesterday. I can't run away from these problems. I-I just... can't.
"Noelle! I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." Susie grabbed onto Noelle's arm. "Here, really let me show you and it will all make sense!"
Noelle yanked her arm free of Susie's grasp.
"No! I said what I said and I mean it. I-I d-can't run away from this Susie. Even.... even if I want to... I... can't."
"But... but you can! I'll show you, just come with me to the school and-"
"NO!" Noelle shouted. "I told you no, w-why can't you accept that. I n-want... I want to be here. I want to be with my mom and dad, no matter what that means." Noelle got to her feet and backed away from Susie. "I'm going back to the hospital now. Don't... don't follow me."
"But..."
"N-no buts. I mean it. Thanks, Susie but no thanks..."
Noelle turned her back and proceeded down the path which had brought Susie to her.
"N-Noelle..." Susie muttered. Despite wanting to do anything but, she had the good sense to do as Noelle asked.
Susie watched Noelle head back towards town. After she passed the flower shop, Noelle took a turn and was gone. Susie pulled her knees to her chest and looked out at the water as Noelle had earlier.
Susie was not sure how long she had sat at the lake. Despite her staring out at the water, she had not seen much of anything. The only reason she broke her silent vigil was due to the sound of approaching footsteps.
"NOELLE!?"
Susie stood and spun around at the same time. For a second she looked through the approaching person. Her face fell when she saw it was not Noelle but Kris instead.
"Oh... h-hey Kris."
Kris raised a hand in greeting and did their best to offer Susie what passed as a smile. Without a word they walked up next to Susie and stared out at the lake. A moment later, they sat in the sand next to Susie, in the same spot Noelle had sat in earlier.
Susie looked down at the human and while doing so noticed the orange hue of the world around here.
(How long was I sitting here for?) Susie wondered. When no answer came and no town bell tolled the hour, she shrugged and dropped down next to Kris.
Susie didn't say anything. But she did pick up a nearby branch and begin to scribble expletives into the sand. Kris joined her after finding a stick to doodle with.
"I think I really screwed up big time, dude." Susie muttered after she wrote out every swear she knew, which covered most of the sand around the two.
"I tried to tell Noelle about everything. I told her how important she was. And she... she got scared, not about the Dark World and the Knight, but at... me at what she thought I was saying? It was... complicated.”
Kris nodded and placed a hand on Susie's shoulder.
"I... I don't think Noelle is gonna help us beat the Knight. I… I don't think she's gonna help us get the password. I... I don't even think she's gonna want to see me again." Susie went silent.
Kris squeezed Susie's shoulder.
"I... should just go back home."
As soon as Susie began to say "go back home" Kris' gentle squeeze to Susie's shoulder turned into a hard clamp.
"Damn, twerp! When'd you start working out?"
Kris shook their head.
"What? Do you think I should try and smooth things over with N-".
Kris gave their head the most violent shake Susie had ever seen them make.
"Y-yeah, that would be a dumb thing to do, wouldn't it?"
Kris gave the slightest of nods and another gentle squeeze to Susie's shoulder.
"Shit. So home it is then ri--"
Kris shook their head again.
"Okay, well then where the hell am I supposed to go?"
Kris stood up and offered Susie their hand.
Susie looked at the offering and for a moment, she hesitated. Kris waved their hand a few times as if beckoning for Susie to hurry up and take it.
"Fine..."
Susie grasped the offered hand and let Kris help her to her feet.
Before Susie could say or do anything, Kris pulled her along behind them.
"So, where are we going?"
Kris said nothing, they only led Susie through the streets of Hometown in silence.
A short while later, the pair arrived near the Dreemurr home.
"Dude... I really shouldn't. Your mom already has enough to worry about. I'm guessing by now someone has had to have told her about your dad being... missing."
Kris looked down at the ground for a second before looking back up at Susie and pointing at their house.
"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"
Kris gave a single but enthusiastic nod.
"Fine... think-think your mom will make pancakes for dinner?"
Kris shrugged but wore a slight grin while doing so.
"Huh... thanks."
The two walked towards the front of the house.
As Kris was about to open the door, Susie stopped them.
"About last night. I uh... I'm... well, I'm so- I screwed up. I should have asked you if inviting Noelle along was cool with you. Or I should have at least... you know... asked if you wanted to help get things set up. I mean, you've known her way longer than I have. Does she... does she even really like all the Christmas crap?"
Kris looked up into Susie's eyes for what felt like far too long to her.
"You o-" Susie began before Kris grabbed her up in as big a hug as they could muster.
"Damn, what the hell! What did I tell you about hugs?" Susie hardly had the energy to point even the slightest bit of gruffness in her voice. But even as she spoke, she made no move to break from the embrace.
(Thank you... thank you so much.) She thought as she hovered her hands over Kris' back.
(Ah... what the hell!) Susie thought before hugging the human back.
The embrace lasted quite a while, but neither knew how long. Moments like these were few, far between, and not made for counting.
When at last the two separated, Susie felt better than she had since Noelle’s departure. It wasn't quite good, but it wasn't not good either. It was enough, and that was more than she felt she deserved at the moment.
Kris opened the door. The light spilled out. The two stepped inside. The dark remained outside.
The end.