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Kris looked over the cliff, the dark ocean water ramming into the rocks below. This was it, wasn’t it? They’d been planning this for a while. Ever since Asriel left things weren’t the same. They’d never been the happiest kid, but they’d had Asriel, Dess, and Noelle. But then Dess disappeared and they’d stopped talking to Noelle as much. It sucked, but at least they still had Asriel.
But then Asriel left for college. And Kris was left alone. Toriel tried her best, but Asriel had always been the golden child. The easy one. Kris got bad grades and played pranks. Despite her best efforts, Toriel didn’t know how to comfort them once Asriel left, he’d always been better at that than she was.
Kris had never really belonged, the only human in a town of monsters. The only adopted one in their family. Asriel had only left a couple months ago, but it already felt like any home they had in the town had gone.
So here they stood. The dark, crashing abyss of the ocean waiting below. They knew deep down they’d be hurting people by doing this, but they didn’t really care anymore. They’d be fine in the end. And so, with one last look up at the moon, they took a step off and fell.
They were only in the air for a few seconds before they hit the cold water below, the impact hard enough they immediately blacked out. A mercy sparing them from feeling the pain of their body getting crushed against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.
They opened their eyes, surprisingly unscathed and completely dry. They stood in a grey void that stretched for as far as they could see. There was no ground beneath their feet, and yet they still stood. In front of them was a being that was constantly shifting, sometimes winged, others it was full of eyes, or hands. The only constant was a single red heart that remained steady and beating in the center.
“ Hello child ,” it said, sounding as if a thousand voices were speaking as one.
Kris stood, paralyzed, unsure of how to react to this almost eldritch being in front of them.
“Would you like to make a deal?” It offered, though Kris couldn’t tell where it was speaking from .
Finally they managed to get their voice working. “What kind of deal?” they asked.
“Since you died so… unfortunately young, I’ll give you the chance to come back. In exchange you will become my puppet. You’ll still have plenty of time in control of yourself. In fact I’m not even going to need to use you for a while. Then after I’m done, I’ll leave and you can be yourself again. Completely alive and free from my control," the being proposed.
Kris stared at the being for a few moments, shocked by the offer.
“No,” they said plainly. They didn’t want to go back, they were here entirely by choice.
The being seemed to grow more annoyed at that answer, it’s forms growing sharper edges.
“Disappointing. I was hoping to do this the easy way.”
Before Kris even had a second to process its words, it had grown large tentacles that whipped out, grabbing their arms and legs, holding them tightly in place. They tried to struggle, to free themself from its grasp, but their attempts were futile. Whatever this thing was, it was incredibly strong.
The red heart at its center slowly drifted forward toward them, the creature shifting more and more slowly between forms as the heart got further from it and closer to Kris.
The heart moved forward, as if determined to reach Kris no matter what. Luckily for it, there was nothing to get in its way. Kris felt their breathing speed up in terror as it got closer. It didn’t stop when it reached their chest, instead it kept going, tearing through flesh and bone. Agonizing pain shot through them as the heart continued to move. It finally, finally stopped right inside their chest, where their heart had been. The being that had been holding them dissolved, dropping them to the ground.
They shot up, suddenly no longer in the grey void they’d been in just seconds prior, instead sitting in their bed, the morning sun pouring through the window of their room. They gripped at their chest where the heart had entered, but there was nothing there. Upon closer inspection, not a single mark could be found. Still, they felt a strange heaviness sitting right inside their ribcage. They would have thought it all a dream, if they weren’t soaking wet.
From head to toe, as if they’d just climbed out of the ocean. Everything else was exactly as it should be. Asriel’s side of the room still bright and colorful with all the trophies he won. Kris’s side barren and grey. Just as it always was.
A knock came from the door. “Kris! Are you awake?” A voice called, Toriel. Mom.
Shaking off their shock at what just happened, they manage to call back. “Yeah, I’m awake.”
“Good! It’s almost time for school, meet me in the car when you're ready!” She said, her voice cheerful and light.
Kris could hear the sound of footsteps retreating, as Toriel headed downstairs. Crap. What were they gonna do now? They were soaked. Maybe they could just dry off as best they could and change into dry clothes. Hopefully Toriel wouldn’t notice, and it’s not like anyone at school would care.
They climbed out of bed and did just that. Drying off quickly with a towel, before grabbing a new set of pants and a sweater to change into. Once they were as dry as they were gonna get, they headed downstairs forgoing any breakfast in the interest of getting to school relatively on time.
They got in the car, not listening to whatever Toriel was saying, and tried to push the feeling of dread deep inside their chest aside. Maybe everything will turn out okay they thought to themself. Though they knew it almost certainly would not.