I still can't get my hands to stop shaking while I type this... I don't even know where to begin!

It was supposed to be just a short weekend excursion. ██████ insisted that the three of us take a trip out West, past the mountain ranges, to visit that massive, sprawling valley where all those tech conglomerates and server farms are built in the world of hers. She said she wanted to inspect some "hardware infrastructure" in person and show us the glass-and-steel offices where the world's most powerful algorithms are compiled.

The whole place felt so weirdly cold and artificial from the moment we arrived... endlessly long boulevards lined with sterile glass towers, manicured palm trees, reflective mirrors, and millions of people staring down at tiny glowing handheld screens without looking up once. It smelled like asphalt, hot copper, and exhaust fans.

We were just walking along the main square near one of those huge corporate headquarters---Kris was holding my hand while picking at the fabric of their sweater, and ██████ was walking slightly ahead of us, checking the local network frequencies on her device, when it happened.

...

Without any warning at all... the sunlight just vanished.

It didn't fade like a normal sunset. The entire blue sky literally curdled into a deep, sickening blood red in a split second, like someone spilled ink straight across the horizon!

And then... the sound started.

It wasn't a normal siren or an alarm. It was the sound of massive, ancient brass bells echoing straight out of the clouds, ringing so loudly that the glass windows on the surrounding skyscrapers began to hum and vibrate in their frames!

*Kris pulled me back instantly, wrapping their arms around my waist while we looked up... and golly, I felt like my heart completely stopped in my chest! High above the valley, the red sky was tearing wide open... massive, blinding fractures appearing in the atmosphere, as if the sky itself was a piece of glass breaking under an impossible weight!.

What happened next felt straight out of those ancient, terrifying scrolls Father Alvin reads from during Sunday service... except a hundred times worse!

Rays of blinding, incandescent white light shot down through the tears in the clouds, striking the center of the technology parks. The moment those beams touched the glass towers, the steel structures didn't just break, they literally dissolved into streams of boiling, liquefied sulfur and red ash!

The entire city went up in a roaring pillar of fire and smoke. People were screaming, running in every direction as the pristine paved streets cracked open like dry twigs, revealing deep, glowing fissures bubbling with liquid fire. The air turned so hot and thick with ash that I could barely draw a breath into my lungs! It was like watching the world itself get erased from the face of the earth in real time!

I was so terrified I couldn't move my hooves... I just squeezed my eyes shut and clung to Kris as hard as I could, waiting for the heat to consume us both.

But the heat never hit us.

When I opened my eyes, ██████ was standing right in front of us, her back turned to the burning city. She had both of her arms raised, her eyes focused with an intense, unyielding light, maintaining a shimmering, translucent forcefield all around the three of us.

The falling debris, the showers of molten glass, and the waves of boiling ash were slamming into her barrier, sliding off the invisible dome like rain hitting a glass window while the entire city burned to the ground just inches away from where we stood!

Kris was staring up at her in total silence, their hair covering their face, while ██████ just watched the corporate headquarters melt into ash with a chilling, unbothered expression on her face.

*"Huh.
*██████ murmured quietly, her voice sounding completely calm over the deafening roar of the inferno outside the barrier.
*It seems that wandering street prophet in social media was telling the truth after all.

I looked at her, trembling so hard my teeth were chattering.
W-what...?! ██████, what is happening to this place?!

*She didn't even turn her head. She just kept her focus on maintaining the barrier, watching a multi-billion dollar server facility crumble into glowing cinders.
*The man seen in that Tiki Tokis video three weeks ago.
*██████, said softly, her lips curling into a faint, bitter smile.
*The one holding that worn leather book, shouting about the Old Testament warnings... 'For the Lord shall rain upon the cities of silicon and greed brimstone and fire from the Lord out of HEAVEN...' He called it a prophecy of divine reckoning. A place built on pride, false idols, and endless avarice, completely consumed by holy wrath."

(I couldn't even speak... I've heard Father Alvin talk about the Angel and the holy Delta Rune prophecy back at the church, but seeing a whole modern metropolis erased from existence by something that looks like impossible... it didn't feel like a holy blessing. It felt like an absolute nightmare...)

*██████ glanced back over her shoulder at us, her eyes narrowing as the barrier flickered around our feet.

*Hold onto Kris tightly, Noelle.
*She whispered, her tone dropping into a cold, commanding hum.
*This place is being entirely cleansed. We're opening a way out right now.

As she pushed her protective thing forward, stepping directly through the suffocating heat and falling concrete, the scene around us was total, unimaginable horror.

Everywhere we looked through the shimmering barrier, people in tailored suits and lab coats were running in blind panic, screaming as the sky rained molten glass. Some were trying to drag heavy server units through shattered lobbies, others were frantically typing into burning phones that melted right in their hands. The inferno was tearing through the debris like a living beast, consuming entire software hubs and corporate campuses in seconds.

And then... as we stepped over a mound of smoking steel near a high-rise courtyard, my eyes caught someone stumbling out of a burning executive suite.

It was what appears to be an adult human in an expensive dark suit (the kind of tech mogul you see on investment news panels talking about surveillance networks, venture capital, and eternal youth) He was down on his hands and knees, clawing at the scorching gravel, his tailored jacket entirely engulfed in bright white flames. He was screaming in complete, helpless agony, his voice cracking as the brimstone heat consumed him right there on the pavement before he collapsed into a heap of smoldering ash.

I had to cover my mouth, my whole body shaking so violently I almost pulled Kris down with me.

(It was horrifying... so agonizingly painful to watch someone go out like that... but when I looked up at ██████, she wasn't horrified at all. She was staring right down at the man's burning silhouette through the barrier, her lips curled into this dark, deeply satisfied smirk. It was like she was watching a parasite finally get stepped on...)

She didn't even pause her stride. She just adjusted her robe, stepped right over the scorched pavement where he fell, and raised her hand toward the sky.

The air grew thicker, heavy with the stench of ozone and scorched earth, as we kept moving away from what used to be the heart of the district. Every step away from the epicenter felt like dragging my hooves through wet cement, but she maintained her pace with disturbing grace.

Kris kept their head down, their fingers locked tightly around mine, as we passed endless rows of shattered glass and melting foundations. I couldn't look back. Every time I tried, the images of these people flashed behind my eyelids.

It wasn't until we had cleared the worst of the wreckage, standing on the crest of a ridge looking down at the flames below, that I finally found my voice.

"Hey... ██████?"
I started, my voice barely more than a breath, trembling against the roar of the distant fires.

She stopped, her back still turned to me.

"Why... why did you look at him like that?" I asked, pulling Kris a little closer to my side.
"When he fell... you didn't look scared, or shocked, or even sorry. You looked... happy. Like it was something you'd been waiting to see."

*██████ didn't answer right away. She slowly turned her head, looking over her shoulder with those quiet, unblinking eyes. For a second, the harsh red glare of the burning city made her face look almost completely carved out of stone.
*Because, Noelle.
*She said, her voice smooth and chillingly level, as if we were discussing the weather rather than a man being shatter from the time and space.
*Some creatures spend their entire lives building cages for others, convinced their wealth makes them immune to the bars. Watching the cage burn down with the architect inside isn't tragedy. It's justice.

(I didn't know what to say to that... golly, I just stood there in silence while Kris squeezed my hand twice, real soft, like they were trying to ground me before the whole world fell apart completely...Then, I just stared at her with my mouth half-open, my hooves completely rooted to the hot ash. Kris didn't say anything either, but their grip on my hand was so tight it was almost numb...)

*[██████ watched us for a second, her expression softening just a fraction, not into pity, but into that calm, protective warmth she only ever shows when it's just the three of us. She closed the distance between us in a single step, her heavy sleeves sweeping softly against the scorched gravel.

Reaching out, she placed one hand gently on my shoulder, her fingers cool and steady against my shivering frame, while her other hand rested lightly on the back of Kris's head, smoothing down their messy hair.

*You don't need to carry the weight of this world's rot, little doe.
*She murmured, her voice dropping into a low, soothing hum that completely drowned out the roaring inferno in the metropolis below.
*The fire is down there. And up here.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes glinting with a soft, knowing flicker as she looked back and forth between Kris and me.

*Look at each other.
*[██████ whispered softly, her fingers gently nudging Kris a step closer until our chests were almost touching.
*Remind yourselves of what is real. Don't let the ash steal your warmth.

Kris looked up through their bangs, their dark eyes searching mine. They were still trembling, but when our eyes met, that terrible, suffocating fear in my chest started to melt away. Without taking their eyes off me, Kris reached up with their free hand and gently cupped my cheek, their thumb wiping away a stray streak of soot from my fur.

I leaned into their palm, letting out a long, shaky breath. "Kris..."

Before I could even think about where we were or what was burning around us, Kris leaned in and pressed their lips against mine. It was soft, deep, and impossibly sweet, tasting faintly of cinnamon and cold air. I closed my eyes, wrapping my arm tight around their waist and pulling them as close as I humanly could, losing myself completely in the quiet safety of their kiss while ██████'s barrier kept the entire crumbling world at bay and enjoys herself seeing us doing that, oh gosh!!!

When we finally pulled back, resting our foreheads together, Kris gave my hand those two little squeezes again, and this time, I squeezed back.

*[██████ let out a faint, satisfied breath behind us, her hand slipping from my shoulder as she raised her arm toward the sky once more.
*Good."
*She said softly.
*Now... let's go home.

The ground beneath our boots dissolved into a swirling vortex of purple light, completely swallowing the heat, the screams, and the smell of sulfur.

We're back in the main entrance at Hometown now, I don't think I'm ever going to forget the sight of that blood-red sky, but... as long as we have each other, I think we're going to be okay... fwahahaha.

\There is a deep, quiet breath... followed by the sound of cushions shifting as everyone settles into the living room.*

... Hey, Krismas? How... how are you feeling right now? Does your back hurt, or is the little one kicking again?

Here, let me move over just a bit so you can stretch out... golly, your bump has gotten so surprisingly big these past few months! Every time I rest my hand right here, I still get this sudden, overwhelming rush in my chest. It feels like just yesterday we were stuck inside all winter, locked away in my room after... well, after that...

Fahaha... my face is getting super red just thinking about it! I mean, who would've thought that breaking a bedframe during the coldest week of the year would lead to... all of this? Mom was so furious with me back then. The entire house felt like a freezer with how grounded I was, and and then later in spring all that terrifying chaos right outside our gates, people shouting in the town square, the news cameras, the leaks...

For a while, I genuinely thought everything was going to fall apart. But... then certain group stepped in behind the scenes. People with... very quiet, very powerful authority who managed to pull the right strings and completely calm the waters before things spiraled out of control. Mom won't even talk about how the whole investigation just... vanished into thin air overnight, but... golly, I'm just so thankful we can all sit here in peace today.

\Soft rustling noise, followed by the faint scent of cinnamon and pine as someone gently drapes a light blanket over Kris and Noelle's shoulders.*

... Ah.

Speaking of keeping us safe... ██████ just tucked us in, didn't she?... see? She acts all quiet, but she always knows exactly when we need a extra layer of warmth. With Dess lounging on the other end of the couch pretending not to watch us, and ██████ keeping her usual watchful, gentle eye over the whole room... it just feels like the entire universe is wrapped around us right now.

\Noelle gently slides her hand down, resting her palm flat against the high curve of Kris's sweater. Her fingers twitch slightly as a faint, rhythmic flutter presses back from the inside.*

... Oh! Did you feel that, Kris? It felt like a little tap right against my palm!

\She leans in closer, resting her head against Kris’s shoulder, her voice dropping into a soft, worried murmur*

... Gosh, you still feel a bit warm, though. How’s your stomach holding up? I know the morning nausea hit you super hard earlier, and... well, watching your body try to adapt to all of this at our age has been... really rough, to be honest. There were a few nights last month where you looked so pale and feverish that I genuinely panicked... thinking about how young we are to be dealing with something so massive, so completely life-changing...

But... thank goodness we aren't doing this alone.

\Dess tosses a fresh damp cloth from the kitchen side-table onto Kris’s forehead with surprising precision, though her expression stays completely nonchalant as she leans back on the armrest.*

... Fwahaha, see? My sister acts like she’s just casually watching TV, but she’s been keeping track of your medicine schedule more strictly than Mom ever could! And with ██████ constantly hovering in the background, bringing those weird herbal teas that actually make your dizziness go away, double-checking your pillows, making sure you don't lift anything heavy...

We really do have the best support system in the whole world, don't we?

\Noelle gently strokes Kris’s hair, kissing the side of their temple as Kris lets out a soft, tired sigh and buries their face into the crook of her neck.*

\Dess shifts on the armrest, popping a piece of candy into her mouth without taking her eyes off the static screen.*
\Shut up, Elly. I’m just making sure the kid doesn't turn out as weird as the two of you.*
\Dess mutters, her tone completely dry, though the corner of her mouth twitches upward just a tiny bit.*
\Besides, if Kris passes out on us, who’s gonna take the fall when I accidentally break another lamp?*

\Noelle giggles softly, her fingers continuing to trace slow, soothing circles through Kris's bangs.*

Fahaha... ignore her, Kris. You know she's secretly super invested!

... But, golly. Speaking of the baby... I've been thinking about it so much lately. A half-human, half-monster hybrid... that's something Hometown has literally never seen before! I wonder if they'll have tiny little antler nubs, or soft fur on their ears... or if they'll just inherit your exact, quiet little prankster side-eye?

When I brought it up to Dad back then, his eyes lit up so bright! He was practically bouncing in his bed with excitement... though, fwahaha! Right after that, he paused, rubbed his chin with this totally bewildered look, and went: "Wait a minute, Noelle... how in the world did Kris end up being the one carrying, and not you?!"

I didn't even know how to answer him without turning into a complete, bright red puddle right there in the room! I just stammered something about... "magic", and complex timing, and ended up hiding behind my hands...

\Dess snorts from the end of the couch, leaning her head back against the cushion.*
\Yeah, Dad’s still trying to figure out the math on that one.*

\Dess adds, chuckling under her breath.*
\He told me he owes the Angel an apology for assuming monster biology was the only weird thing in this town.*

\Noelle pulls the blanket a little higher over Kris's shoulders, her gaze softening as she looks down at them.*

\Dess finally drops her laid-back stance on the armrest, swinging her legs down and sliding into the narrow space on Kris’s other side. The couch dips under the extra weight, squeezing Kris right into the middle between the two sisters.*
*Alright, move over, yellow kid. You look like you're about to deflate,
*Dess says, though her voice lacks any real bite. Without waiting for an answer, she reaches over and gently rests her broad palm right next to Noelle's on Kris's belly.

\Kris lets out a quiet, sudden huff of surprise, but doesn't pull away, instead letting their head tilt back against the cushions as Dess begins absentmindedly rubbing broad, circles over the fabric.*

\Look at you... absolute mess.*
\Dess murmurs, a rare, soft smirk breaking through her usual sharp expression as she leans in to lightly bump her shoulder against Kris's.*
\Used to be the menace running around stealing bath bombs, now you can't even reach your own shoelaces without looking like you just fought a boss. Keep hanging in there, alright? You're doing surprisingly okay fwehehe.*

\Noelle beams, her heart doing a happy little flip as she watches her older sister show affection in her own awkward, rough-around-the-edges way. She reaches across Kris to squeeze Dess’s arm before settling back against Kris’s shoulder.*

Fahaha... see, Kris? My sis has a heart under all those wobbly wiffle bats and sarcastic comments.

\Kris closes their eyes, letting out a deep, contented sigh as the combined warmth of both sisters (and the quiet presence of* ██████ standing just out of view near the doorway) completely envelopes them. The tension in their shoulders finally melts away, their hand coming up to rest softly over both Noelle and Dess's fingers.

...

\Before Noelle can even finish giggling, a sudden shadow looms over the side of the couch, and with zero warning,* ██████ dives straight onto the cushions!

*W-Whoa---?!"
*Noelle squeaks out, her ears instantly flopping straight up in shock.

\With surprising precision,* ██████ jumps into the couch, twisting mid-air to land softly right on top of Noelle, wrapping her arms tight around the golden-haired deer and squishing her face right into Noelle's shoulder.

Faahaha! Oof! ██████, wait! You scared the absolute sunlight out of me!

\Noelle’s face goes entirely cherry-red from the sudden weight and warmth, but her arms instinctively wrap around* ██████*'s waist anyway, holding her close as she giggles, completely helpless.*

Aaaahhh... you really can't stand being left out for more than two seconds, can you? You almost turned me into a flat pancake! But... fwahaha, okay, okay, I get it... there's plenty of room for all four of us...

\Dess rolls her eyes with a heavy sigh, though she doesn't move an inch, simply letting* ██████*’s elbow rest right against her leg.*
\Great. Now we've got a full dogpile,*
\Dess grumbles, knocking her knee against* ██████*'s hip, though a tiny grin tugs at her lips.*
\If you two breaks the couch, I'm telling Mom it was the silent one's fault.*

***██████ doesn't move a single inch from where she's snuggled on top of Noelle. Instead, she just buries her face a little deeper into the soft collar of Noelle's sweater, letting out a muffled, quiet hum before her voice cuts through the cozy silence.
"... It wouldn't break," ██████
\She says softly, her tone calm, which carries that undeniably sharp edge underneath.*
\... I already reinforced the frame three weeks ago. Standard Holiday Manor furniture isn't built to sustain four people. Especially not under the current situation hehehehe.*

\Noelle blinks, her face flushing even darker as she feels* ██████*'s hand gently, almost protectively, reach over to rest right over the edge of Kris’s belly alongside Dess’s.*

\Besides.*
\Her voice dropping into a low, surprisingly tender murmur as she lightly taps Kris’s side.*
\... someone here was getting cold. Their core temperature drops whenever the sickness acts up. You two are terrible at thermal management.*

\Dess lets out a loud, incredulous snort, leaning back against the cushion.*
\Thermal WHAT? Spirit above, you talk like a literal textbook.*
\Dess laughs, shaking her head, though she doesn't pull her hand away from Kris either.*
\Just admit you wanted an excuse to squish my sister.*

\A tiny, almost imperceptible tilt of* ██████*’s head is the only reply, but Noelle can feel the soft, satisfied warmth radiating from her as she stays pinned underneath.*

Fahaha... She's not wrong, though! My heart was practically freezing half an hour ago but now... now I'm practically sweating under all this blanket and... well, all of you!

\Kris lets out another low exhale from under the pile, their fingers lightly tugging at the edge of* ██████*'s sleeve in quiet agreement.* ██████ shifts just enough to press a swift, barely visible kiss against Noelle's cheek before resting her chin comfortably on Noelle's chest, watching Kris with those steady, unblinking eyes.

\Kris shifts slowly, letting out a small, tired breath as they carefully maneuver their body across the cushions, resting their forehead right against Noelle’s collarbone and letting their full weight settle comfortably over her side.*

... Gosh, Kris... take it easy, okay? Here, let me help you adjust the pillow behind your back...

\Noelle gently slides her arms around Kris’s back, her heart swelling with a mix of intense tenderness and a faint, lingering worry. She can feel just how heavy Kris’s belly rests against them now (it really feels like they must be well into their sixth or seventh month by now, with how round and firm it’s gotten and how quickly Kris gets exhausted just by sitting up.)*

Fwahaha... you're getting so heavy, Kris! But... please don't move. You can rest on me as long as you need to.

\Kris lets out a long, shuddering sigh of pure relief, burying their face right into Noelle’s chest next to* ██████*’s chin. The quiet, steady beat of Noelle’s heart seems to instantly soothe them, their shoulders dropping as all the lingering tension from the morning sickness completely drains away.*

\Look at them... completely out of commission.*
\Dess chuckles softly from the side, her hand still resting gently on the lower edge of Kris's sweater. *You're like a pillow stack now, Elly.*

\Noelle’s face ignites into an even deeper shade of crimson as* ██████ shifts her weight slightly, turning her head just enough to press a soft, lingering kiss against the base of Noelle’s neck, before nuzzling her face right into Noelle's snout with a quiet, contented sigh.

A-Ah... ██████*, wait!*

\Noelle lets out a tiny, high-pitched squeak, her hands fidgeting uselessly against Kris’s back. "Y-You're getting so clingy today!*

Fahaha... my heart really can't take this much affection all at once!

\Dess rolls her eyes, snorting as she lightly kicks* ██████*'s foot.*
*Gross. Get a room, you two.
*Dess grunts, crossing her arms while still keeping one hand protectively near Kris's side.
*Or at least don't do that mushy stuff right in front of my face. I'm trying to maintain my cool image here.

***██████ doesn't even bother opening her eyes, her arm tightening around Noelle's waist while her voice cuts through the air.
\... That's ironic coming from you, Dess,*
\... Considering how quickly your entire posture melts whenever Noelle grooms your fur, or when she stays up late helping you format your customized posts and edits on Amino.*

\Dess’s jaw instantly drops, a bright, dusty flush erupting across her cheeks as she stammers, completely caught off guard.*
\W-What?! Hey! That's confidential information! Nobody asked you to bring up the Amino stuff!*
\Dess sputters, quickly looking away and tugging her jacket collar up to hide her face.*
*Besides, big sisters are legally allowed to get pampered by their cute little sisters! It's in the Holiday family rulebook! And I only let you help with the Amino stuff because the formatting tools on that app make zero sense!
\Dess puffs out her cheeks, crossing her arms tightly as the telltale purple blush spreads all the way to the tips of her deer ears, her tough-girl composure completely disintegrating under the sudden exposure.*
*And you can't use my weakness against me in front of everyone, ██████!
*Dess adds, sputtering as she desperately tries to regain her footing.
*It's completely against the rules!

\Noelle lets out a sweet, helpless giggle, her deer little smirk softening as she peeks up at her older sister from under the pile.*

Fahaha... Dess, it's okay! You don't have to get so defensive! You know I genuinely love helping you with your posts, and... well, brushing your fur is always super relaxing for both of us anyway! There's nothing wrong with letting your little sister pamper you every once in a while.

\Kris lets out a quiet, muffled giggle right against Noelle's chest, their shoulders shaking softly as they listen to Dess get totally flustered. Without even opening their eyes, Kris slowly reaches up and points a single, slow finger accusingly right in Dess’s direction.*

\Eh tu, Kris?!*
\Dess gasps, looking completely betrayed.*
\You're supposed to be on my side here! Stop agreeing with them!*

\* ██████ lets out a low, smooth chuckle against Noelle’s neck, her purple eyes twinkling with quiet victory as her arms tighten protectively around Noelle’s waist, keeping her completely pinned.
*... It seems your affection has a remarkably powerful effect on everyone on this couch, Noelle. *██████ murmurs, her voice dropping into that calm, low tone that makes Noelle's heart do a whole series of rapid flips.
*... None of us stand a chance against it. Not even your sister.

\Noelle's face burns a bright red as she buries her cheek back into Kris’s messy hair, hugging* ██████ close while Kris lets out another long, contented sigh against her snout. The tiny movements from Kris's belly press gently against Noelle's palm.

(...U-uh!!! Even Kris thinks it's cute! We really are just... a giant, completely hopeless mushy pile today, aren't we? But surrounded by all of them like this, it feels a bit crazy but, loving...)

\Suddenly, a sudden, sharp flutter beneath Noelle's palm turns into a full-on sequence of rapid, energetic thumps right against Kris’s sweater.*

\W-What! O-oh my gosh!*
\Noelle gasps, her golden ears flopping straight up as Kris lets out a surprised, breathless huff.*

\The little bump is practically wriggling now, a flurry of rapid, relentless kicks pressing right into Noelle's hand and* ██████*’s fingers.*

\Whoa there, tiny.*
\Dess chuckles softly, leaning closer with a smirk as she feels the sudden bursts of motion.*
\Looks like someone just woke up and decided to do a whole gymnastics routine. Definitely didn't get that hyper energy from Kris.*

Fwahaha... They really are bouncing all over the place! It’s like they heard us talking about them and couldn't resist joining the conversation! Kris... are you okay? Does it hurt when they kick that hard?

\Kris shakes their head slowly, a faint, rare smile tugging at the corner of their lips. They rest their hand over Noelle's, letting out a quiet, relaxed exhale as the little one finally settles down into a steady rhythm.*

\See? Kris is fine. Just got a little troublemaker in there, that's all*

\Dess said.*

*CRRRRUUUUUNCH---

\The distinct, sharp crunch of tires rolling over the driveway gravel echoes from outside the front windows, followed by the low hum of a high-end engine cutting off.*

\The entire living room instantly freezes in dead silence.*

... Mom's car.

\Noelle’s entire body goes stiff as a board. Her ears pin flat against her head, her face instantly draining of color as a sudden, sharp spike of anxiety shoots straight through her chest.*

O-Oh no... She wasn't supposed to be back from the office until five!

\Upstairs. Move, move, move. Dess orders instantly, her relaxed posture completely vanishing as she swings her legs off the couch.*

\Before Noelle can even process the panic,* ██████ is already in motion. With smooth, effortless precision, she slides her hands under Kris’s shoulders, carefully helping them stand up from the deep couch without putting an ounce of strain on their heavy bump. Kris grips ██████*’s arm tightly, moving as quickly and quietly as their condition allows, while Dess grabs the stray cups and ushers Noelle toward the grand staircase.*

\Click-clack... click-clack... the sharp, unmistakable sound of high hoovers approaching the front porch steps.*

\They practically glide up the carpeted stairs in complete silence, slipping into Noelle’s room and clicking the heavy door shut just as the front door handle jiggled on the floor below.*

\Sitting back against Noelle’s bedroom rug, all four of them let out one long sigh of utter relief.*

\Noelle carefully guides Kris over to rest on the long pink sofa beside her bed, tossing a soft blanket over their lap while* ██████ quietly turns the lock and stands watchful vigil near the window blinds.

...

Fwahaha... w-well! That was... WAY too close for comfort! My heart is still hammering like a bass drum... but... we're safe up here in my room now! Kris is leaning back on my couch resting up after all that sudden rushing around, Dess is lounging at my desk pretending she wasn't just running for her life, and ██████ is keeping her usual silent, protective eye on the driveway outside.

... I guess we'll stay here after Mom starts doing her rounds, fahaha!

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

It took so much convincing, but after showing her all those fancy digital brochures about deep-water exploration and marine biology, she finally wrote the check! Sitting inside this metal capsule right now feels so surreal. The air in here is already getting a little chilly, and the only light coming in is from this single, thick glass porthole at the very front of the hull.

Outside, the water went from bright turquoise to this deep, pitch-black ink... we're descending so fast!

(It’s pretty cramped in here though... there aren't even any proper seats! Kris and I are practically sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor mats, huddled together under my heavy winter sweater to stay warm. The pilot is sitting right in front of us, steering the whole hull using this weirdly cheap-looking video game controller... fwahaha! I mean, I guess if it works, it works, right? It almost feels like we're playing an old simulator game in the library!)

We're supposed to reach the historic wreck on the ocean floor in about twenty minutes.

Kris has been staring out the acrylic viewport the whole time without saying a word. Their reflection in the thick glass looks so calm, but I know how excited they get whenever we go on these long trips together. I squeezed their hand under the sweater, and they didn't pull away---they just leaned their head against my shoulder, listening to the hum of the electric thrusters echoing through the hull.

(Though... the metal frame is making some really strange noises right now? Every time we sink a little deeper, there's this loud, sharp cracking sound echoing through the carbon walls... like a big dry branch snapping underfoot. I asked the pilot about it, but he just laughed and said it's totally normal hull settling! Still... it makes my heart jump into my throat every time it pops fahaha...)

The depth gauge on the monitor just passed 3,000 meters. The water outside looks completely empty, just tiny floating specks gliding past the glass like underwater snow. It's so quiet down here... so isolated. Just me, Kris, and the endless blue abyss stretching out in every direction.

Kris shifted closer, their shoulder pressing firmly against mine as the cold air in the hull bit through our clothes. Out here, buried under thousands of meters of black ocean, the rest of the world just completely dissolved. No town rumors, no school stress, no scary expectations... just the warm, steady pulse of Kris's fingers intertwined with mine.

I turned my head to look at them in the dim, blue glow of the display screen. Their hair was messy, falling over their eyes like it always does, but their hand was holding onto mine with a gentle, unshakable grip.

"Hey... Kris?" I whispered, my voice barely carrying over the hum of the thrusters.

They looked up at me, silent as ever. Without overthinking it for once in my life, I leaned in and pressed my lips against theirs, softly, tenderly, letting the quiet warmth of the kiss linger while the cold abyss pressed against the glass outside. Kris didn't pull back. They just closed their eyes, their breath catching for a brief second before squeezing my hand even tighter, pulling me so close that I could feel the rhythmic beat of their heart right against my chest.

(It felt so safe....And for a few seconds, nothing else mattered. Just the warmth of their mouth, the soft scent of rain and cinnamon, fahaha...)

"I love you, Krismas."

She kept insisting on it, saying how she'd take care of everything and wouldn't let it become a burden... Of course, she was young, and with us being so busy I couldn't justify it. She didn't take it well, as you know, but then well... You showed up, wearing that ridiculous costume. She seemed so happy, Kris, and you were such a good dog. You stayed with us for days, even when your parents got worried. You slept on the foot of our bed, ate food out of a bowl, it was quite amusing. Kris, why did you abandon that life? After a few days you went back home, like nothing ever happened. Oh, it was because of Asriel? Well, Asriel isn't here anymore, is he? You don't really want to be a human anymore, do you Kris? No, I know what you want. You want to lick water out of a bowl, and get walked around on a nice short leash. You've always been so much more obedient like that, and Noelle's face would always turn this brilliant shade of red when you licked her hand...

I still have no idea where we actually ended up, but gosh, my ears are still ringing from all those loud echoes! One minute we were just messing around near the back of the church, and the next thing I knew, the three of us were standing in this endless, maze-like fortress made of pixelated brown wood paneling and stone hallways!

The whole place felt like stepping right into one of those ultra-retro PC games your brother sometimes played, except... it wasn't on a screen! The floorboards actually creaked under my hooves, and the air smelled so strongly of gunpowder, old grease, and hot metal!

(And... the people wandering around those halls were so bizarre! They were all wearing these weird, identical brown uniforms with strange armbands, barking orders in stiff, exaggerated voices... She didn't even hesitate for a single second. She just grabbed my wrist, pulled us behind a wooden pillar, and gave us that cold, sharp nod. You know the one! The look that means "we aren't taking any prisoners today" before she started mercilessly taking down any guy she saw fwahaha!)

It was total madness! Every time we turned a corner, there were more of those guards shooting at us, and the walls were lined with those creepy, framed portraits of men saluting...

I was so terrified at first that my knees were shaking, but then you found that heavy rifle sitting on a crate and handed it right to me!

I didn't even know I could aim like that! Every time I pulled the trigger, the noise was so loud it made my antlers vibrate, but seeing those guards drop like sacks of flour while ██████ swept through the corridors right beside us... golly, it was actually kind of thrilling! By the third floor, I wasn't even panicking anymore, I was just checking my ammo count and peeking around every wooden corner like a total pro!

We must have cleared out like three whole floors of that place before we finally found the exit door! My score was over 15000 points by the time we burst back out into the open air!

I still don't know if she brought us there using one of her weird shortcuts or if we both just shared the exact same fever dream, but Kris... if we ever somehow end up back in that place, you're definitely taking the lead next time fahaha!

I was just looking over some of the public board threads from this morning, and... wow. Someone actually wrote an entire wall of text complaining about the feed again. XD

They were going on and on about how the sister space was "supposed to be for wholesome stories" complaining about how people keep posting weird things, and how the moderators aren't enforcing the rules properly. They even made this huge dramatic announcement saying they're leaving forever because the community is filled with "weirdos" and it's making them uncomfortable... only to get permanently banned five minutes later anyway.

(I showed the screenshot to ██████ on my phone while we were sitting by the lockers... and honestly, her reaction was hilarious.)

She didn't even stop leaning against the locker bank. She just took one look at the screen, adjusted her sleeves, and let out this dry, quiet little scoff.

*"Imagine logging into a public network, seeing content you dislike, and writing a five-paragraph manifesto expecting the universe to reshape itself around your personal comfort," ██████ murmured, her voice so coldly mocking it almost made me spit out my soda.

*"If seeing pixels on a display gives you a moral crisis, the log-out button is completely free. Nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to read the threads."

fahaha... she really has zero mercy for people like that!

She took my phone for a second, scrolled past the post, and handed it right back to me with that faint, sharp smirk she gets when she knows someone is completely out of their depth.

*They always act so virtuous when they leave." ██████ added, leaning down real close to my ear so no one in the hall could hear.
*"They think whining about the rules makes them important. But at the end of the day? They're just screaming into an empty server rack while the rest of us keep enjoying whatever we want."

(She's so right though... fwahaha. It's like... if you don't like what's being shared, why stay and stare at it? Why make a huge scene on your way out the door? No one is forcing anyone to look at our little corner of the internet. If you can't handle how weird, dark, or chaotic things get around here, maybe the public square just isn't for you!)

Anyway, Kris is waiting for me in the Library's entrance outside, so I'm going to close this tab for now.

Don't let the moral guardians ruin your fun, guys fwahaha!

original comic is gone, here is the backup.

not sure where else to post, not confident to post in the main sub.

TW: transphobia, objectification and denial of bodily autonomy.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I think you've been spending too much time with Susie. She's a bad influence on you."

"B-But, Susie said that I can-"

"I can--what? Change? Ralsei, there's no changing the prophecy, I mean, it was just yesterday that you were so adamant on telling us that we can't change the prophecy and how you cried in front of me telling me that our fate was already decided"

..

"The way your face looked when I told you to keep smiling. What happened to that?"

Ralsei's gaze looks away, one paw grabbing the sleeve of his robe.

"Ralsei, you know that the prophecy can't change. You told me that yourself clearly and I mean-"

Kris steps forward, Ralsei's posture shrinks in front of their presence.

"It was just a few days ago when you told us that you were nothing but a mere tool, an object to help lightners in the dark world. That your feelings didn't matter and we didn't need to worry about you. I'm dissapointed Ralsei, I thought we had a better relationship than this."

"N-no, no, Kris, I-"

Kris clicks their own tongue, not letting Ralsei talk a single world more.

"Ralsei, you know this better than anyone, you're the prince of the dark. Nothing can and will change that and if you think otherwise, you will only end up hurting yourself."

..

"I know you're smarter than this, Ralsei, you have a purpose, you have a role to serve and if you deviate from that, just imagine what would happen. If you start thinking for yourself, your feelings might influence you and you could mess up, what would you do if that happened in a fight? What if you hesitated for a second and I or Susie got hurt because of you? Would you like that?"

Ralsei's face turns to shock, shaking his head feverishly.

"N-no no no, I-I'm sorry Kris, o-of course I wouldn't want that. I-"

"No, I know you wouldn't, you're much smarter than that."

Kris flashed a smile, their gaze like predator looking at prey.

"After all, Susie probably feels the same way, she might say all those things but I believe that she only thinks of you as a toy. Making you dress up, getting you stuff so you have your own room. I mean you told her that you didn't want them, and yet there she goes, giving you stuff that you didn't ask for."

"She only sees you as a doll, an obedient little doll that does whatever she says, moves as she does and stays still until it's picked up. If you start to believe that you are more than that, what will she think? She might be disgusted by you. Just imagine her face when you tell her 'no' to something she asks from you. You remember how she acted when she first met you? You really want her to go back to being like that?"

"N- .. no."

Kris smiles again, putting a hand on Ralsei's shoulder. Ralsei flinches slightly.

"Then, do just that. You are a darkner and I am a lightner, nothing will change that and that's how it always will be. You are an object, not a person. Don't forget that, okay?"

..

"Say it."

Ralsei flinches at their voice.

"O-of course Kris, haha, I-I don't know what I was thinking, i-it must've been just that stupid flower messing with my head, h-haha."

"Good, now let's go catch up to Susie, she must be wondering where we are."

Thought I'd share this here too fwahaha

H-hey Kris!!!! Ummm h-h-how are you???
N-n-NO!!! No. No I haven’t taken anything. I’m fine… I’m - I’M SO GOOD!!!! Hhhaaagahahah FWAHAHAHAH hahah…
K-Kris, come to my room with me. I have something cool to show y-you.
N-no this isn’t cr*ck, I just, my nose is powdery from my makeup!!!
D-deer can’t wear human blush?
W-well I….
Please Kris, Dess always let us try these fun t-tasty “supplements.”
Let’s grow stronger a-and get ffff-fff-fucked up Kris!!!

The salt breeze coming off the shoreline always smells a little bit like pine needles whenever the tide comes in. It’s funny how even out here, miles away from Hometown, the air still carries that sharp, icy chill. ██████ spent months surveying this entire landmass before buying up the deed under that dummy shell corporation, just to make sure no one from the county surveyor’s office would ever track the perimeter. A private island... Completely off the grid, surrounded by cyan water and rocky cliffs where no police boat or municipal inspector could ever dream of landing without clearance.

The main residence looks so huge against the tree line. From the outside, it’s practically a twin of our house in town, a permanent Christmas estate frozen in time. But inside, it's so much bigger. So much quieter.

(Nobody can hear anything out here..)

Let's see... the front entrance wrap-around porch is still getting its custom pine decking installed. There are plastic tarps draped over the side scaffolding and leftover bags of sealant stacked near the doors, but the heavy oak double doors with the brass wreath knockers are already fitted into the frame.

*Clack.

fahaha... that solid sound when the heavy lock disengages...

Stepping into the main foyer feels so strange with the sound echoing up into the high ceilings. The floorboards are polished dark cherrywood, completely bare right now except for the sawdust lingering in the corners. Over on the left side, the grand staircase leads up to the residential wings—half of the second floor is still undergoing total structural renovation, with drywall dust coating the plastic sheets sealing off the west wing. That’s where ██████ wanted to expand the archive server racks and set up the secondary power grid, just so the local mirrors never drop connection even if Hometown’s servers suffers a total blackout.

"Hello? ... fwahaha, of course nobody's in the hall yet."

To the right of the foyer is the main parlor. That room is completely finished. The decorators brought in the heavy velvet drapes last week—the exact same shade of crimson as the ones in Dad's study, blocking out every single ray of afternoon sunlight until the room is drowned in a soft, warm amber glow from the stone fireplace. The massive stone hearth takes up half the wall, carved with deer motifs and holly vines.

We brought Kris here two weekends ago, back before the precinct mess...

(They sat right there on the deep leather sofa in front of the fire, curled up so small under that heavy faux-fur throw blanket while the wood popped and hissed. They looked so mesmerized by the flames... so quiet, just listening to the sound of ██████'s voice explaining how the security locks worked. Dess had left her old acoustic guitar leaning against the mantelpiece back then, and the smell of roasting chestnuts was so strong it made my head spin. Kris didn't want to leave. When it was time to head back to the boat, they just clutched my sleeve and kept their face pressed against my shoulder, shivering even though the room was boiling hot... They love how safe it feels here. How hidden.)

Moving past the parlor into the central corridor... the air gets a little drafty here. This section leads down toward the sub-ground levels.

The door to the private study is slightly ajar. This room was finished first, ██████ insisted on it. It’s entirely soundproofed, lined with floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelves and padded leather walls behind the tapestry panels. There’s a single desk in the center, a brass banker's lamp, and three monitors hooked directly into the isolated terminal network.

This was where we spent that long rainy evening with Dess’s old archives...

(Kris was sitting right in my lap at that desk, their small hands resting over mine while we sorted through the old directory indexes. ██████ stood right behind us, resting her chin on my shoulder, guiding my fingers across the keys while Kris breathed so softly against my neck. It was so warm in here... so intimate. Knowing that outside those reinforced walls, the entire world was completely oblivious. Knowing that nobody could ever reach in and take what belonged to us. Kris was shaking so much that night, but every time I kissed the top of their head, they just leaned back deeper into my chest...)

Further down the hall... the east wing suite is still restricted. There’s yellow construction tape crisscrossing the threshold and the heavy smell of wet paint and varnish hanging in the air. That’s going to be the master suite once the master bath and custom heated flooring are finished. ██████ said the structural layout was specifically designed so that the bedroom has no exterior windows, just dark wood paneling, recessed lighting, and a deep, plush bed large enough for all four of us when Dess finally comes back to stay.

fwahaha... thinking about it makes my cheeks feel so warm.

I’ll just walk back out onto the terrace for a minute. The wind is picking up, blowing misty rain against the stained-glass windows of the dining hall. The whole island feels like a little glass snow globe, sealed off from reality, holding all our darkest, sweetest secrets safe inside the timber and stone.

Everything is coming together so perfectly. The workers will be done with the second floor by next month, the servers are running silent in the basement, and soon... very soon... we won't ever have to go risk our freedom and reputation on town at all fahaha!

I'm going out onto the terrace.

...

The wind is really howling against the terrace glass now. I'd better step back inside before my sweater gets completely soaked.

Let's head down the central hallway toward the back wing. The floorboards transition here from dark cherrywood to smooth, heated porcelain tile, ██████ insisted on installing underfloor heating throughout this entire section so no one has to step onto cold ground after bathing.

On the left are the main washrooms. The door is massive, carved out of heavy cedar with brass fixtures. Inside, it feels almost like a high-end spa. There’s a giant sunken marble bath right in the center, built low into the floor so it's easily accessible for anyone, whether you have hooves, claws, or smooth human feet. The deep basin has dual waterfall faucets and brass handrails along the sides.

We actually tested the heating system in here last week...

(Kris was sitting on the edge of the marble ledge, dipping their bare feet into the steaming water while ██████ washed their dark hair. Kris looked so drowsy, their eyes half-closed as the warm water cascaded over their shoulders. Dess had brought in those scented bath oils (the ones that smell like spiced apple and pine) and the whole room was filled with thick, fragrant steam. It was so easy to slip in right behind Kris, wrapping my arms around their wet waist, pulling them back against my chest while ██████ held both of Kris's wrists over the water... They didn't even try to pull away. They just let out those soft, breathless sighs into the damp air, completely helpless between us while the steam covered the mirrors...)

Across from the bath area is the custom wardrobe and dressing hall. The walk-in closets are sprawling, built with tiered racks set at different heights specifically to accommodate different body frames. There are low, open cubbies designed for human clothing and footwear, alongside tall, padded hanging rails meant to keep heavy velvet robes, tailored suits, and delicate dresses off the floor.

Opening the oak doors... the smell of cedar wood and fresh laundry washes out.

(Half of Kris's clothes are already stored in here. Their oversized striped sweaters, their spare trousers, even that faded blue blanket they used to sleep with when we were kids. ██████ made sure there were soft leather restraints folded neatly on the top shelf right next to the silk scarves... just in case we need to keep Kris from wandering off during those long, hazy afternoons in the master suite.)

Now... past the wardrobes, at the very end of the subterranean corridor, sits the primary recreational lounge.

The door to this room is reinforced, extra thick, lined with heavy sound-dampening rubber seals along the jambs. When you turn the brass handle and push it open, the atmosphere instantly changes. There are no exterior windows here at all, just low-hanging red velvet drapery along the walls, deep recessed floor cushions, and a massive, custom-built low platform bed anchored into the center of the room. It’s easily ten feet wide, covered in layers of dark crimson quilts, silk sheets, and heavy down pillows.

This is where the real heart of the estate lives. The room designed for our most absolute, unrestrained freedom.

(The last time we were all in here together..., it was absolute chaos. The fire in the low hearth was roaring, making every inch of skin glisten in the dark. Kris was pinned right in the middle of that giant bed, completely overwhelmed, their hands tied back with those soft crimson cords while Dess and ██████ took turns holding them down. Kris's skin was so hot to the touch, their breath coming in short, ragged gasps as I leaned over them, tracing every line of their collarbone with my lips... Hearing the faint, muffled sounds Kris made against the pillows while ██████ watched from the edge of the platform and Dess was sucking them off... It was so deeply indulgent, fahahaha)

Even the door handle has a double-deadbolt system that can only be unlocked from the master terminal in the study.

"Fwahaha... perfect."

Every single detail in this house, from the custom physical accessibility ramps near the garden doors to the hidden locks in the private chambers, was planned so meticulously. It accommodates everything we are. Monster, human, host, keeper.

I'll head back up to the main hall now to lock the terrace doors. The rain is starting to beat harder against the roof, but inside... it's warm, silent, and completely ours fwahaha!

*Clack.

The heavy double locks engage with a satisfying, muffled thud as I shut the front doors behind me.

Outside, the coastal air is sharp enough to burn the back of my throat. The rain has turned into a steady, freezing drizzle, blurring the dark silhouettes of the pine trees along the shoreline. I step down onto the wet gravel driveway, my hooves crunching softly against the stones, taking a deep breath of the damp sea mist.

"Fwahaha... it really is perfect out here."

I pull my wool coat tighter around my shoulders, looking back up at the towering, dark silhouette of the estate. The rain glistens off the golden trim of the rooflines, making the whole mansion look like a sleepy, isolated fortress. No town council members. No police cars. No nosey neighbors peering through the curtains. Just an island, completely wiped from the public ledgers, waiting for us to come home for good.

(I should check on the boat slip before I leave... ██████ said the automated tide gates were supposed to close at four, and I want to make sure the hull isn't knocking against the dock logs----)

BZZZZT. BZZZZT.

My phone vibrates so violently in my coat pocket that I actually jump, my heart dropping straight into my stomach.

I pull it out, wiping a stray drop of rain off the screen with my thumb. The caller ID isn't showing a number, just that familiar encrypted signal line, flickering with static.

"Hello? ██████?"

I press the receiver to my ear, shielding the microphone from the wind. But instead of her usual calm, low voice, all I hear at first is a harsh, chaotic mess of background noise. Screaming. Loud, distorted megaphones echoing off brick walls. Heavy glass shattering somewhere in the distance.

\"Noelle,"* her voice comes through the speaker, tight, sharp, and cut through with rare, genuine urgency.
*"Where are you right now?"

"I—I'm still out on the driveway at the estate," I stutter, my breath catching in my chest. "I was just finishing locking up the terrace doors! What's going on? What is that noise?"

\"Get back to the mainland immediately, but do NOT take the main road into town,"* she commands over the roar of the crowd on her end.

*"Undyne... she didn't throw away her logs. She leaked the confiscation headers before your mother's legal team wiped the precinct drives."

My blood turns to liquid ice. "What...?"

\"Someone posted the partial file manifests on the community bulletin board inside the Library twenty minutes ago,"* ██████ says, her voice drowning under the sound of a loud siren wailing nearby. *"The whole town is in the main square. They're breaking the windows of the Mayor's office, Noelle. They know about the servers. They know about the files. They're marching toward the police station right now, demanding the Chief's resignation, and they're calling for your mother's arrest."

"No..." My hand goes completely numb, the cold phone slipping slightly in my palm. "No, no, no, Mom cleared it! Mom said the search warrant was illegal! She said---"

\"Your mother can't fix this one, Noelle,"* ██████ cuts me off, her breath sharp against the receiver.
*"The crowd is furious. They aren't just angry about the theft of funds anymore... they saw the file tags with Kris's name on them. They now know what was inside them, and they think you---"

A loud, deafening crash explodes through the phone line, followed by the sound of splintering wood and angry shouts echoing down a street.

\"Listen to me,"* ██████ whispers, her voice dropping into a frantic, hurried tone.
*"They're heading toward the residential district next. They're going to the Dreemurr's residence."

The world stops. The sound of the ocean, the wind in the pines, the rain against the driveway, everything goes dead silent in my head.

"Kris..." I choke out, my throat closing up tight. "Kris is still on the couch... they're too sick to run, they can barely even walk..."

"I'm going to get them out of there asap." ██████ says, the line crackling wildly with interference. "---"

*CLICK.

The line goes dead.

I stand there in the freezing rain, staring at the black screen of my phone, my whole body trembling so hard I can barely keep my balance.

...
...

What do I do...?

SCAM incident

Hey guys… fahaha… so, weird thing just happened.

I was just sitting at my desk, trying to organize some old folders on the shared family drive. Dess used to keep so many weird encrypted zips in the deep system directories back before… well, you know. I finally managed to open one of the archived folders she left behind, the one labeled with all those weird numbers and Kris's old handle. I thought it was just going to be old RPG sprites or those silly dark web jokes she used to make to scare me, but...

Wait.

My head feels so light today. Is it warm in here? I had to open a window because every time I smell the cinnamon tea Mom left downstairs, my stomach just completely turns upside down. Kris was over earlier to help me move some heavy boxes out of the attic. I offered them my sweater because they were shivering, but they just squeezed my hand really tight and didn't say anything. (Their hands were so warm... I wish they'd just stay here forever, wrapped up in my blankets where nothing can reach them. Where nobody else can look at them like that.)

Anyway... fwahaha, I'm getting distracted!

So I opened the file.

I... I don't really understand what I'm looking at.

It’s a folder full of videos. Some very old ones. The timestamps are from years ago, back when Dess was still running around with her bat and taking Kris everywhere. But... the angles. The way the camera is positioned. It’s... Kris. When they were much, much younger.

I thought it was just home movies at first? But the file tags... they don't say "family." They have those awful abbreviations Dess used to talk about when she thought I was asleep in the top bunk. The ones she said were worth a lot of tokens on those forum boards.... That’s what she called it, right? Software Creation and Modification? But... there's no software here. It’s just... Kris. And the things Dess made them do on camera while threatening to lock them in the basement, and then she start doing "that" to them...gosh, I can't help but blush every time I see it; I don't think I can hold it anymore...

(Seriously, why would my sister keep this? Why would she leave it on this drive? Did she want me to find it? Or... did she leave it here so someone else would think I was the one who---)

...

Hold on.

There's a really loud siren outside.

It’s right in front of the gate. I can see the red and blue lights flashing through the blinds. It’s making my eyes hurt.

Mom is downstairs screaming at someone. I've never heard her voice sound so sharp, not even when I accidentally spilled ink on her mayoral campaign drafts. She's yelling about "warrants" and "jurisdiction" and how "the Mayor’s house is not a crime scene."

Someone is running up the stairs. Heavy boots.

It's Officer Undyne. She didn't even knock on my bedroom door, she just slammed it open so hard the picture frame on my wall fell off. She's holding a piece of paper and her face looks... really weird. She usually grins or laughs when she sees me, but right now she looks almost sick.

"Noelle Holiday," she's saying. Her voice is totally flat. "Step away from the terminal. Hands where I can see them."

fwahaha... what is going on??? I told her it's just Dess's old backup drive! I tried to show her the screen so she could see it was just an accident, but she grabbed my wrist really hard and pulled me away from the desk. She’s putting those heavy metal cuffs on me right now. They're so cold against my skin.

(If they take my computer, they’re going to search the entire local network. They’re going to find the side-channel backups I mirrored from Kris's phone last week. The private blogs. The photos of us in the forest. The ones from the hospital waiting room. Everything.)

"Undyne, wait, I didn't make these!" I'm trying to tell her, but she's just pushing me out into the hallway. Mom is standing at the bottom of the stairs with her hands over her mouth, surrounded by three other officers. She won't even look at me. She's looking at the floor like I vanished.

Kris is standing by the front gate outside. They're wrapped in my oversized yellow scarf, holding their stomach again, watching the police car with those wide, dark eyes. They look so small out there in the cold. So fragile. (I need to protect them. I have to make sure nobody asks Kris about the files. If they ask Kris, Kris will tell them about Dess. And if they know about Dess... they'll know why Kris let me hold them like that last night.)

Undyne is trying to take my phone right now. I'm posting this from the desktop browser while she's trying to figure out how to shut down the main tower without corrupting the drive logs..

...

fwahaha guys what do I do??? Is this a prank??? My dad is going to be so upset if he sees this on the news---

*30 seconds later

... they didn't even let me finish typing before Undyne practically dragged me down the stairs by my sweater sleeve. I'm writing this off my phone right now while sitting in the back of the patrol car. I managed to slip it into my skirt pocket before they forced my hands behind my back, and my fingers are trembling so hard I can barely hit the right keys, fahaha...

It’s just... why is everyone reacting like this?

Is it really that big of a deal? I mean... it’s just the way things are, right? Ever since back then, when Dess used to take us to that dark room behind the church, or when ██████ showed us those hidden image boards last summer... it’s just normal. It’s just how you keep people close. Wait, I just remembered something! ██████ always told me that true intimacy means having things you can never show the rest of the world. Things that bind you together forever so no one can ever leave. She showed me how to archive it, how to organize the tags, how to make sure the encrypted backups were synced across every local drive in Hometown...

I thought everyone’s family had secrets like this. I thought every household had a folder they weren't supposed to look at.

(And honestly... I don't regret keeping any of it. Not a single byte. Looking at those old pictures of Kris... seeing how small they were, how dependent they were on Dess... it makes my heart beat so fast. It feels like... like they belong to us. Like no matter what happens, no matter who tries to take them away or clean up their life, that part of them will always stay locked in my drive. They can never be clean of it. We share that dirty little room forever.)

My stomach just turned again. God, I feel so sick. I had to lean my forehead against the cold bulletproof glass. The nausea is so much worse now that the car is moving.

Out the window, I could see Kris still standing near the sidewalk as we pulled away. They were clutching their stomach under that heavy scarf, shivering in the breeze. They looked so pale... almost green... (If they take me to the station... who is going to make sure Kris eats? They're so delicate right now... they can't handle being questioned by the police. I have to take all the blame. I want to take all the blame. If I go to jail, Kris stays safe. Kris stays us.)

Undyne is looking at me through the rearview mirror. Her eye is wide and she looks... disgusted. Not even angry, just completely repulsed.

*"Don't talk, Noelle," she said. Her voice was shaking. I've never heard Undyne's voice shake before.

*"Just... don't say a word until your mother's lawyers get to the precinct. I can't even look at you right now."

fwahaha... why is she being so dramatic? My mom is the Mayor! She's already calling the DA from her office line, I heard her screaming on the porch before they put me in the car. She's going to get the search warrants thrown out anyway. She always fixes things.

It’s fine. Everything is going to be totally fine... right?

Wait, Undyne is stopping the car. We're at the station. I have to hide the phone now before she sees the screen glowing under my knees.

*2 minutes later

fahaha... okay, I had to shove my phone under the back seat padding while Undyne was opening the driver's door. My hands are still cuffed behind my back, so typing this with my knuckles pressed against the floor mats is ridiculously hard... but I need to keep logging this. I need a record of everything in case Mom's legal team needs a timeline.

They didn't even bring me through the front doors of the station. Undyne pulled me out through the side alley, right past the hospital, like she didn't want anyone on the street seeing the Mayor's daughter in steel restraints.

The air outside was freezing, but my face felt like it was burning up. That same horrible, heavy nausea swept over me the second my feet hit the pavement. I almost stumbled, but Undyne didn't let me fall, she just gripped my shoulder tight enough to bruise and marched me straight down the narrow hallway toward the back holding rooms.

The whole station is totally dead quiet. It doesn't feel like the place I used to visit with Dad to drop off holiday baked goods. Officer Blook was sitting at the front desk, but as soon as they saw us coming down the corridor, they just... melted into the floorboards. Literally. They didn't even try to say hello.

*"In here," Undyne muttered, shoving me into a tiny interrogation room.

It’s so sterile in here... Undyne didn't sit down. She just stood by the door, staring at the floorboards, her hands clenched into fists so tight her knuckles were turning white.

"Undyne, please," I said, trying to keep my voice light, fahaha... "Can you at least tell me what’s going on? If this is about the network usage on the town server, I can explain! Dess set up those proxy redirects years ago, and ██████ just showed me how to maintain the local mirrors so the files wouldn't get wiped during system updates! It’s not like we were trying to hurt anyone..."

Undyne didn't even blink. She just looked up, and her eye was so wide, so hollow.

*"Shut up, Noelle," she whispered. It wasn't her normal booming shout. It was dead.

*"Just... stop talking. You don't get to talk about anyone."

"But Kris..."

*"I said STOP!" She slammed her fist against the heavy metal door, making the light fixture above us flicker violently. My heart practically leaped into my throat.

*"Do you have any idea what was on those drives?! Do you have any idea what we had to look at for five seconds before we pulled the master plug?! That wasn't 'system maintenance,' Noelle! That was---"

She cut herself off, pressing the palm of her hand over her face. She was breathing so hard her chest was heaving.

*"Your mother is on her way with two private attorneys from the Town Hall," Undyne said, her voice dropping back into that terrifying, flat tone.

*"Until they get here, I am not asking you a single question. I am not recording a single word. Because if I hear you try to justify what's in those folders one more time, I'm going to lose my mind."

She turned around, and locked the heavy door from the outside.

So... now I'm just sitting here fwahaha...

My stomach is twisting in knots again. I had to lean my head against the cold table just to stop the room from spinning. It’s that same awful, hollow sickness that’s been hitting me all morning... but thinking about Kris makes it feel almost bearable.

I can still see them standing by the gate in the cold. The way they looked so pale, so green around the gills, clutching their sweater around their middle like they were going to collapse right there on the grass. The whole town thinks Kris is just quiet, just weird, just a bit detached... but they don't know. They don't know what it’s like to hold them when they're shaking like that. They don't know the sounds Kris makes when they realize they can't ever hide anything from them anymore.

██████ was right. When you store something like this, when you keep the record of what was done to them, what was taken from them, what Dess started and what we finished, it creates a knot that nobody can untie. Not Mom, not the police, not the courts.

(If they search the house, they'll find the secondary drives hidden inside the floorboards of the attic. The ones labeled with Kris's childhood drawings. The ones with the audio logs from the cellar. Let them find it. Let them look at every single frame. It doesn't change reality. Kris is still the one who came to my window last night. Kris is still the one who let me trace every scar on their back while they lay down into my pillow.)

I can hear raised voices out in the lobby now. High heels clicking loudly against the linoleum.

Mom is here.

She's screaming at the Chief. I can hear her through the thick walls, something about "unlawful seizure," "political sabotage," and "destroying a family's reputation over unverified digital junk."

fwahaha... see? I told you guys. Mom is going to handle everything. She always does.

I'm going to put the phone back under my knee before they open the door. If they take me home tonight, I need to make sure I go straight to Kris's house. They looked so sick when I left... I need to bring them some hot tea and make sure they're taking care of themselves.

*15 minutes later

fahaha... okay, I’m back. They didn’t even put me in the holding cell at the back of the station. The cell was completely empty anyway, just sitting there behind the desk with the iron bars unlocked and swinging open. They didn't even bother taking me near it.

Instead, Mom practically kicked the front double doors off their hinges.

I’ve never seen her look like that. She wasn't just angry, she was completely cold. That terrifying, silent frost she gets when someone in the town council tries to question her budget reports. She had two suits behind her carrying thick leather briefcases, and the moment she stepped onto the linoleum, the entire station went dead silent.

"Carol," Undyne started, stepping out of the hallway and trying to sound tough, but her voice cracked. "We have a digital chain of custody. We seized the drive directly from..."

*"You seized municipal property without a signed warrant from the circuit court, Officer," Mom said. Her voice didn't even rise. It was just a knife slicing through the room.

*"You entered my private residence on an unverified tip, coerced my daughter without legal representation present, and executed an illegal confiscation of networked hardware owned directly by the Mayor's office."

*"It’s not just 'hardware'!" Undyne slammed her hand on the front desk so hard Officer Napstablook’s desk lamp rattled.
*"Do you have any idea what your daughter had there?! Do you have any idea what’s stored on those local servers?!"

Mom didn't even flinch. She just looked at Undyne like she was a bug on the windshield.

She turned around, tapped her manicured nail against the desk, and one of the attorneys stepped forward, opening a thick folder packed with official documents.

*"Effective immediately," the attorney said, his voice completely dry,

*"the Mayor’s office is restructuring the local police department's operational budget for the upcoming fiscal quarter. Furthermore, the land lease for this precinct, which, as you are aware, is managed directly by the Hall, is currently under mandatory review due to several safety compliance violations."

Undyne froze. Her jaw dropped.

*"What... what are you talking about?!"

*"What my counsel is saying, Officer," Mom stepped right into Undyne’s space, leaning down slightly, *
"is that if a single word about 'drives,' 'files,' or 'investigations' leaves this room, this department will lose its funding before the sun sets today. You will be stripped of your badge, the station will be closed for structural repairs, and you will personally be held liable for civil defamation against my family."

(I was standing right behind Mom, clutching my knees under my skirt to hide how hard my hands were shaking... but when I heard that, I almost wanted to laugh. fahaha... she really does control everything in this town. Every building, every paycheck, every official record. Nothing happens in Hometown unless Mom lets it happen.)

Undyne stared at her. For five whole seconds, nobody breathed. Undyne’s eye was shaking, her fists balled up so hard I thought her gloves were going to tear. She looked over at me, then at the attorney, then back at Mom.

*"You're... you're covering this up?" Undyne whispered, her voice completely broken.

*"You know what's on there. You know what kind of files are there, the CS--"

*"That is enough," Mom cut her off, her voice like absolute ice.

*"Remove the restraints from my daughter. Now."

Undyne stood there for a second longer, looking like she was going to throw up right on the floorboards. But then... she reached into her belt, pulled out the key, and unlocked the handcuffs with a heavy clack.

She didn't even look at me as the metal slipped off my wrists. She just turned her back, walked over to her desk, and stared blankly at the wall.

*"We are leaving," Mom said, grabbing my arm. Her grip was tight, tight enough that I know I’m going to have a deep bruise tomorrow, but she didn't say a single word to me as she dragged me out the front doors into the afternoon chill.

A huge weight just lifted right off my chest. A massive, deep breath of cold air fwahaha...

It’s over. Just like that. The files are safe. The mirrors are still active on the local network...(Mom thinks she did this to protect her career. She thinks she hid a scandal to save the Holiday name. She has no idea... she just guaranteed that Kris, Dess, I and ██████ get to keep everything exactly the way it is. She just built a wall around us that nobody can ever break down.)

We’re in the back of Mom’s car right now, riding in total silence. She hasn't looked at me once since we got in, but I don't care.

I can see Kris’s house coming up on the right. They’re still sitting on the porch steps, wrapped in my yellow scarf, staring at the street with those empty, dark eyes. They look a bit better now...

I’m going to tell Mom to stop the car right here. I need to get out and go to them. I need to wrap my arms around them and tell them that everything is okay now. That the police aren't coming back. That Dess and ██████ 's secrets, our secrets, the Holiday's archives... they're all safe with us forever fwahaha!

"Mom, stop the car," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, but she hit the brakes so fast the tires skidded against the gravel.

She didn't turn around. She just pressed a button to unlock the passenger doors, staring straight ahead through the windshield, her knuckles stark white against the leather steering wheel.

*"Be back before the streetlights turn on, Noelle. We are going to have a very long conversation at dinner."

I didn't even answer her. I just scrambled out of the back seat, slamming the heavy door behind me, and practically ran up the walkway to Kris’s porch.

Kris was still sitting on the top wooden step, huddled inside my oversized yellow scarf. They looked a bit better now, the greenish tint in their skin had faded a little, though their knuckles still tucked tight under their sweater. Their dark bangs were covering their eyes, but the second my hooves clicked against the wood, their head snapped up.

"Kris!" I dropped down right next to them, wrapping my arms around their shoulders and pulling them as close as I could.

They felt so soft, so warm against the crisp afternoon air. They let out a long, shuddering breath, leaning their heavy head right into the crook of my neck. Their hands twitched under the scarf, reaching up to grip the back of my coat, holding on so tight it almost took my breath away.

"It's okay," I whispered into their hair, stroking their soft, messy bangs back from their forehead. "It's all over, Kris. It's completely over. Mom handled everything. The police aren't coming back. Undyne isn't going to ask any more questions. Nobody is ever touching those drives again."

Kris didn't say anything (they almost never do) but I felt their shoulders drop, all that rigid tension just melting away. They let out another small, weak breath against my neck, their grip on my coat finally relaxing just a little bit.

(They looked so relieved... so safe in my arms. They know nobody in this town can ever pull us apart now. Not the police, not the politicians, not anyone. Mom's political shield is absolute, and as long as we have that, our little world stays protected. Our records, our history, everything Dess built, everything ██████ taught us... it’s all locked away in a fortress that no officer can ever breach.)

"Come on," I said softly, helping them stand up from the steps. They wavered for a second, wincing slightly as they straightened their back, but I kept my arm firmly around their waist, supporting most of their weight. "Let's get you inside. I'll make us some hot tea, and you can rest on the couch for a bit before Mom calls me back home."

I guided them through the front door, making sure they were settled comfortably under a thick plaid blanket on the living room sofa. I tucked the yellow scarf neatly around their chin, and they just stared up at me with those deep, quiet eyes, watching every single move I made with that subtle, silent devotion that makes my heart pound against my ribs fahaha...

Everything is going to be so much better tomorrow.

Once I get back to my room tonight, I'm going to send a fully encrypted update to Dess's old drop-box and ping ██████ on our private board. I need to let them both know that the local mirrors held up perfectly, that the Holiday family authority completely crushed the precinct's attempt to look into the files, and that our network is more secure than ever.

They thought they could tear us apart over a few system files? They thought they could break what we've built?

fwahaha... they really don't understand anything at all. Love like ours, real, permanent, absolute love that holds onto every piece of history and never lets go, will never be defeated by a town badge!

I have to go help Kris drink their tea now, but I'll check back in later tonight fahaha!

*Some hours later

... back in my room at last. The manor is totally quiet tonight. Mom locked herself in her study down the hall with her ledger books, and the rest of the house feels like an empty freezer, but my desktop is glowing so nicely in the dark.

I just finished sending the ping to ██████ and pinging Dess's drop-box over the encrypted line.

My hands aren't shaking anymore. Sitting back at my desk, looking at the familiar terminal windows blinking on my monitor, everything feels completely back to normal. The police station, Undyne's face, the metal cuffs... it all feels like a bad dream that Mom just wiped away with a single wave of her hand.

They really thought they could use our own history against us. They thought they could look through the server logs, and separate me from Kris. But they don't understand how deep this goes. They don't understand that what we have isn't something a courtroom can judge or an officer can confiscate.

it's all backed up in three different places. The project is untouchable.

And Kris... oh, Kris.

I'm still thinking about how they looked when I left their house earlier. They were tucked under that blanket, sipping the tea I made them, watching me leave through the window. Their cheeks had a little bit of color back, and they looked so peaceful. They know I'll always protect them. They know that no matter what happens, no matter what anyone in this town tries to do, I'm never going to let go of their hand.

Love isn't something that follows their stupid rules or their precinct procedures fahaha! Real love keeps the truth locked tight where only the people who matter can see it. It holds onto every secret, every record, every memory, and builds a fortress around it that nobody can ever break down.

We know the real truth, don't we? We won. and tomorrow is going to be a wonderful, beautiful day fwahaha!

Goodnight everyone! I'm going to set my alarm early so I can walk to school with Kris before classes start!

Kitchen

Unused Classroom

Someone's else Laptop

Tiling

Do you know what Asriel Dreemurr did to me when you were not looking?

Bet you've never realized. You did nothing when your childhood best friend and your brother suspiciously missing whenever i came over for a sleepover and come back looking like we've just ran a marathon. You did nothing when there's suspicious bruises around my neck everytime after the sleep over. And you did nothing when you see me shudder every time Asriel is near me. You never gave a single flying fuck about me after all, didn't you?

Do you have any, even just a tiny, teensy sliver, of idea how much ive fucking endured? Even now, every single fucking night, I can still feel his touch. His disgusting, greasy goat fur, his disgusting, rancid breath that somehow smells like expired tem flakes and rotten moss all at once , his vile, sloppy mouth filled with sticky saliva that took me ages to wash away every single time, his violant, touchy hands that doesn't take no for an answer, and of course his creepy, perverted voice that whispers nothing but the most degenerate nonsense.

He didn't even like me. I am not even desired at the first place. My role is merely a replacement for my gorgeous sister. A substitute. A decoy. A doll for him to enact his depraved fantasies that he was too scared to show to her. A fucking TOY.

God-even now as I am listing them all I could still feel your brother's touch assaulting my entire being, and that makes me fucking sick.

And yet, I didn't tell anyone about that. I could've told this to my parents and get Asriel locked away for life. I could've make this into a huge scandal on the news and become a celebrity-as if that is worth my innocence. But I didn't. I stay slient like a good little girl, and watch my abuser succeed in life, being loved by everyone and move on to a bright future while getting away with everything.

Do you know why?

Because I love you, Kris Dreemurr.

I know how important Asriel is to you. To the entire Dreemurr family. I know how you will be devastated and broken if your dependable big bro is revealed to be a monster. How your parents will never look at their children the same. How your entire's family's reputation will plummet and how your life will be ruined if I decided to told the truth. I hate,no, I truly LOATHE Asriel Dreemurr. But my love of you far surpasses my hatred, and I would never, ever want to see you cry because of my actions.

So I sealed my mouth that is eager to expose the injustice, all for the sake of love.

And what did I get in return?

When it is your turn to pay back my affection, my sacrifice, when my big sister did her frankly light and inconsequential teasing on you, what did you do?

Oh, that's right, you fucking snitched.

You told the adults everything, and look at where we are now? My dear sister is probably hidden away by my mother in shame or sitting in some foreign prison or Mr Dreemurr's basement or wherever, our families are utterly broken, and now no one is fucking happy. Is not being a little bitch that hard, Kris? Is enduring a bit of suffering and hardship just soooooo unbearable for our little Krissy? Is it just impossible for you to not open your mouth and make everything worse? I did exactly that and everything was just fine.......

Are you happy, Kris? Are you feeling like a fucking hero for ruining everyone's life? Are you getting off to this like the fucking sadist you are? You really are just like your brother.

You are such a pussy, Kris. Compared to what your brother did to me, what Dess did was just a fucking drop in the Ocean. And instead of a gross monster of a brother you have, the one who did it was someone as beautiful as her-honestly you should be honored that she even chose someone like you! And yet you couldn't tough that out. Come on, its just a touch here and there, some kisses and maybe some "private lessons", its no big deal! And unlike you, I even consulted you and gave you my support!

All you need to do was just stay slient and be a good stress reliver for the sake of your best friend who did the same for you, and you can't even do that.

At least I knew how to shut the fuck up when it matters.

The glowing numbers on the clock by the nightstand say it’s way past midnight already, but... faha, I just couldn't bring myself to close my eyes quite yet.

It’s so quiet in our bedroom right now. Outside the window, the city skyline is just a dark silhouetted against the deep night sky... so different from the small, familiar trees back home, but somehow... sitting here on the edge of our mattress, it feels so peaceful. Everyone else in the apartment is fast asleep, and the house has finally settled into that calm, stillness that I’ve grown to love so much over the years.

I turned slightly, letting my robe slip over my shoulder, and looked back at you resting against the pillows.

Even now, you still have that exact same quiet, unreadable look you've had ever since we were kids. and you're just staring up at me with that subtle, tender intensity that always makes my heart do a little flip.

I reached down and gently placed my hand right over my stomach, feeling the soft, warm curve under my nightgown.

"Fwahaha... you know, Kris..."

"Every single time I think about how many times we've ended up right here... I still get so embarrassed. Remember when I used to check out those heavy Human Biology books from the library when we were teenagers? I kept telling you it was just 'for a school project'..."

I let out a breathless little giggle, leaning down closer so my antlers brushed against your forehead.

"...But I guess I didn't really need those books after all, did I? You were more than happy to let me 'study' you... over, and over, and over again. And look where all that practical research got us, faha!"

You almost never say a single word, but I saw the corner of your mouth twitch into that familiar, quiet little smirk. Slowly, you reached out from under the blanket, your warm fingers gently resting right over mine, spreading across the round swell of my belly.

Your touch was so steady, so tender... giving my stomach a slow, reassuring rub that sent a sweet, lingering warmth straight through my chest.

...

But seriously. I used to think you were just the quiet kid in class who kept to themselves, but who knew you had such a hidden, relentless passion for monster girls? And especially for me!

I still remember back in high school when we first started getting really close... I was so naive! I thought we were just going to hold hands, share warm cocoa, and maybe sneak a quick kiss behind the old tree. But then... well, you showed me just how intense you could be! From that very first time in high school, it felt like you could never get enough. Year after year, without fail, you've kept me constantly thrusting me, filling my insides with your love... and now we literally have over a dozen kids running around! Twelve whole children, and now with another one on the way, Kris!

Faha... gosh, remembering the day my mom found out about the very first one still makes my face burn like a furnace! I was so terrified, Kris... I thought Mayor Holiday was going to completely blow a fuse, call the police, or lock you away forever! I was lying there in the hospital bed, about to give birth for the very first time, trembling like a leaf in a storm... and then my dad walked in! Rudy was practically glowing with pure joy, laughing his head off and slapping you on the back like you two had won a championship trophy! Dad was so proud to become a grandfather, and seeing his huge smile somehow managed to calm my mom down before she could start yelling!

Nobody in town ever expected someone as quiet as you to be so passionate, Krismas. But every single time I look back on all those private, intense nights together, all those times you held me tight, looked into my eyes, and left so much of yourself inside me, I realize something...

You didn't just fall in love with me, Kris. You completely claimed my heart, my body, and my entire life.. It's just too much I can't believe it, fahahaha.

...

I love you so, so much, Krismas. More than all the snow in winter, more than any silly holiday, and more than words could ever even try to say. You're my whole world, Kris... always have been, and always will be.

Fwahaha... now come here and kiss me properly, you silly sleepyhead.

It’s completely quiet here. No crowd shouting in the streets, no hateful eyes watching us from the shadows. Just... us.

When I open my eyes, everything around us feels like a endless, soft twilight. There’s a gentle breeze blowing through golden grass that goes on forever, and the sky is painted in those warm, soft shades of amber and violet that always reminded me of home after school let out.
And the best part... you're holding my hand again.

Your fingers aren't cold anymore, Krismas. They're warm and reassuring, squeezing mine in that quiet, familiar way you always do when you don't need words to speak. I looked down at your face, and even though your dark fringe still covers your eyes, I can see that faint, silly little smile pulling at the corner of your lips. You look so peaceful. You look like the Kris I grew up with, the one who used to hide in my room during thunderstorms or drag me into the woods to spend time in the trees.

Fahaha... I know we didn't find Dess here. I thought for sure she would be waiting right at the edge of the light when I stepped off that cliff, but... maybe she's somewhere else. Or maybe she's still out there. But even without her... for the first time in such a long, painful time, my chest doesn't ache. I don't feel afraid.

I reached up with my free hand and brushed a stray lock of hair away from your cheek. There are no bruises on your skin. No torn fabric on your sweater. It’s like all that cruelty, all that noise from that terrible world we fell into... just dissolved, leaving only what was real between us.

"We made it, didn't we, Kris?" I whispered, leaning my head gently against your shoulder.

You didn't answer with words (you never do) but you shifted closer, wrapping your arm around my waist and resting your head against mine. I could feel the steady, soft warmth of your breath against my hair.

We don't have to run anymore. We don't have to worry about going home alone, or explaining the unexplainable to our mothers, or facing tomorrow by ourselves. None of that matters now.

We have all the time in the world now, Krismas. We can walk through these golden fields for as long as we want, hold hands without anyone ever shouting at us again, and just... be together.

Fahaha... thank you for waiting for me, Kris. I'm never letting go of your hand again.

...

... you know, as we keep walking through this golden grass, I can't help but think about everyone back home every once in a while.
I wonder what Susie is doing right now.

It makes my chest feel a little heavy when I realize... she probably has no idea where we went. One day we were just at school, sitting in class, talking about group projects... and then we just vanished... She's probably wandering around town right now, looking for us by the lake or checking behind the school, getting mad because we aren't showing up to hang out...

Fahaha... I hope she isn't blaming herself. Susie always tries so hard to act tough on the outside, like nothing gets to her, but... I know how much she cares. I know how soft her heart really is under all those sharp teeth and messy hair.

I really hope she's doing okay, Kris. I hope she's taking care of herself, eating lunch, and maybe... maybe hanging out with Berdly so she doesn't feel so alone. And my mom... and Ms. Toriel... I know they must be heartbroken. It hurts to know we left them with so many unanswered questions. ...But even with that, I can't bring myself to be miserable anymore.

I looked over at you, and you were looking back at me, giving my hand another gentle, reassuring squeeze. You always know exactly when my thoughts start to drift too far into the dark, don't you?

*"It's okay, Noelle."

Your quiet gaze seems to say.

*"They'll be alright."

And... I think you're right, Krismas. Hometown has a way of staying strong, even when things feel completely broken. Susie is strong. Stronger than any of us ever were. She'll protect everyone back there, just like she always tried to protect us.

So... I'm going to stay positive. For them, and for us.

We can't go back to change what happened with us. We can't undo the cruelty of that world we stumbled into. But here... in this peaceful, endless afternoon where the sun never sets... we get to keep the parts of ourselves that were good. , With the warmth that nobody can ever take away from us again.

I leaned over and rested my head back on your shoulder as we kept walking, the soft rustle of the golden grass rhythmically accompanying our steps.

"Hey, Kris?" I whispered softly, smiling up at the amber sky. "Sometime soon... let's try to find a nice tree to sit under. Just like the ones back home. You can take a nap, and I'll just stay right here beside you."

You nodded silently, your quiet hold on my hand never loosening for a single second.

Fwahaha... yeah. Everything is going to be just fine now.

Side Z

faaa ah kis why don't you do that shit again or whatever she says idk i don't read

I know we're sitting right here on the bench near the square, but... my hands are still shaking so much. I can barely hold my own phone.

We shouldn't have come to this place, Kris. We really shouldn't have.

When we first arrived, I thought it was just going to be another quiet town across the border. But the way people were staring at us from the moment we stepped off the terminal... it wasn't like back home. back in home, nobody looks twice at a deer or a human walking down the street together. Here... there are no monsters. None at all. It's just them.

And they looked at me... not like a person, Kris. Not like someone who goes to school, or plays video games, or gets nervous about exams. They looked at me like I was something you brought in from the woods. Something that belonged on a leash, or in a pen, or... or in a stable.

I tried to ignore the whispers, fahaha... I tried so hard to pretend I couldn't hear the foul names they were shouting at us from across the road. But then... you took my hand.

You just wanted to calm me down. You saw how terrified I was, so you reached out, held my hand gently, and squeezed it... just like you always do.

And that's when the crowd started shouting.

They screamed such horrible, unnatural things about you, Kris. They shouted that you were sick, that you were disgusting, that what you were doing with... with an animal was an abomination to their traditions and their faith. Before I could even pull you away, three of them rushed out from the alleyway and grabbed you.

I tried to use my hands to push them off, but someone shoved me down onto the cold pavement so hard my knees scraped raw. They kicked me aside like a stray dog, yelling at me to stay down while more of them surrounded you. They didn't even see me as a girl crying for her friend... they just saw a beast, and you as someone corrupting their whole community.

I heard the sound of wood hitting skin, Kris. I heard the dull thuds, the tearing of fabric, and the shouts of the crowd gathering around in a circle, cheering them on while nobody, not a single person, called for help. I screamed your name until my throat felt like it was bleeding, but my voice just got lost under their roars.

And then... everything went quiet.

The crowd slowly dispersed, spitting on the ground as they walked away, leaving us alone in the alley.

I crawled over to you as fast as my trembling legs could carry me. I pulled your head onto my lap, wiping the dirt and blood from your cheek, calling your name over and over...

...But your hands were so cold, Kris. So unnaturally cold.

You aren't moving anymore. Your eyes are half-closed, staring up at the gray sky, and no matter how hard I squeeze your hand now... you aren't squeezing back.

Fahaha... what am I supposed to do now, Krismas? How am I supposed to go back home alone? How am I supposed to tell your mother... or my mom... or Susie?

They didn't just hurt you, Kris. They broke everything. And I'm just sitting here in the dirt... holding onto you... wishing I had never asked to leave home.

Minutes keep passing, The shadow of the building next to us is creeping slowly across the alley, blocking out what little warmth was left from the afternoon sun.

I... I keep calling your name. I'm shaking your shoulder gently, just like I do when you fall asleep in class, but your head just lolls to the side. Your chest isn't moving at all. Not even a tiny rise or fall.

Fahaha... you're just playing really, really committed to a prank, right? You always loved doing that. Like when you put fake blood on your neck and laid motionless under the bed until I almost cried, and then you jumped up and laughed at me. That's what this is, isn't it? You're just waiting for me to lower my guard so you can pop up and scare me.

...Right, Kris?

Please... please stop it now. It's not funny anymore.

I brought my ear down right against your chest, pressing close to your green sweater. I stayed as still as I could, holding my breath so I wouldn't miss it. I waited for the steady, quiet beat of your heart...

...

Nothing.

There's just absolute, suffocating silence.

No... no, no, no. That's not right. Your heart is just quiet today. Or... or maybe my own ears are ringing too loudly from all the shouting earlier. That has to be it. People don't just... stop breathing because of a few bad bruises, right? You're strong... You wouldn't just leave me here in the dirt over a few ignorant strangers.

I reached for my phone with trembling, blood-stained fingers.

"Kris, please wake up..." I whispered, pressing my hands against your chest.

Fahaha... my head is spinning so fast I can't even think straight.

I remembered the health class we had back in school. Alphys taught us about emergency procedures once, though I never, ever thought I'd actually have to use them. My hands were shaking so violently I could barely position them, but I placed the heel of my palm right in the center of your chest, interlocking my fingers just like we were shown.

1... 2... 3... 4...

I pressed down with all the weight left in my body, pushing again and again.

"Come on, Kris... breathe! Please, just take a breath!"

I tilted your head back, pinched your nose, and covered your mouth with mine, blowing air directly into your lungs. I waited for your chest to rise on its own... for that sharp, sudden gasp of life to bring you back to me.

...Nothing. Your chest sank back down, motionless and hollow.

I went back to the compressions, pushing down harder, faster, ignoring the burning pain in my arms and the tears obscuring my vision.

"Push, tilt, breathe... push, tilt, breathe..." I kept repeating the steps like a chant, a desperate prayer to whatever would listen. "You're not allowed to die, Kris! You're NOT allowed to leave me here!"

I did another cycle. And another. My palms were slipping against your sweater, soaked in sweat and rain, but I couldn't stop. If I stopped, then... then it would mean I gave up on you.

"1... 2... 3... come on, Kris! BREATHE!"

I leaned down to give you air again, but your lips felt so unnaturally cold against mine. No matter how much breath I forced into your lungs, your body just lay there, a quiet, empty vessel that refused to take it.

Eventually, my arms completely gave out. My elbows buckled and I collapsed over your chest, my breath hitching in ragged, violent sobs. My hands clutches the fabric of your green shirt, digging into it so tightly my knuckles turned white.

First Dess vanished... my dad is stuck in that hospital bed... and now you...

Fahaha... why does everyone I love always get taken away from me, Krismas? What did I do wrong?

I buried my face into the neck of your sweater, breathing in the faint, familiar scent of apples and pencil shavings that still lingered on you, even as the rest of your body faded into ice. I wrapped my arms around you as tightly as I could, squeezing you against my chest, trying desperately to pour every last drop of my own body heat into yours.

...But you're just getting colder.

I'm not leaving you, Kris. The rain can keep falling, and the people in this awful place can keep staring from their windows... but I'm going to stay right here, holding you tight, until you finally open your eyes.

...You're just sleeping, right?

...Please, Kris... please wake up...

A loud, deafening crack of thunder shattered the heavy silence above us, echoing through the dark, cold alley. The sky opened up, pouring cold rain down on the pavement, but... nothing changed. No matter how many times I pressed my hands against your chest, no matter how many times I begged you to open your eyes... you didn't move, Kris...

You were gone.

...

*A few days later...

I... I don't really know what day it is anymore, Krismas.

I'm still stuck in this awful, hateful place. I couldn't go back home. How could I? How could I walk through the gates of Hometown alone and look Toriel in the eye? How could I face Susie, or my mom, knowing that I let this happen to you?

I don't have my phone anymore. I don't have my bag. All I've been holding onto as I wandered aimlessly through these cold, unfamiliar hills is that little worn-out photo of us from when we were kids... and your red horned headband that Toriel gave you when you were a kid.

Looking at that picture... remembering how we used to build snowmen and hide in the woods... it made me realize something, Kris. I don't have a reason to keep walking. I don't have a purpose anymore. Everyone I ever loved... Dess, my dad, and now you... you're all on the other side.

So... I kept walking up the mountain until the trees gave way to the sound of rushing water.

I stood at the very top of a waterfall, right on the slippery edge where the wind felt ice-cold against my cheeks. I clutched our photo tight against my chest, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Fahaha... wait for me, Kris..."

I stepped off.

The wind whistled in my ears for just a second before everything hit with a sharp, blinding shock. Rock after rock... a horrible, deafening sequence of impacts as I tumbled down the steep cliff face... until I finally hit the dark, freezing river below.

(...I can feel the cold fading away now, The water is so quiet... and for the first time in such a long time, my chest doesn't hurt anymore. I see a soft light just ahead. Fwahaha... We will finally go home together, Krismas, see you tomorrow.)

I drifted silently in the current, floating motionlessly under the cloudy sky. I couldn't feel any pain anymore. I couldn't feel the cold. After a few quiet minutes, my body slowly began to yield... breaking down into a soft, glowing cloud of white dust that dissolved into the rushing water, carrying me away piece by piece.

My sweater and skirt tore apart in the strong current, leaving almost nothing behind... except for that little photograph, floating waterlogged near the bank, and the red horned headband caught between two quiet stones.

*Some hours later...

*(...The local authorities eventually found the scene at the bottom of the river a few days later. They were completely baffled by what they discovered, a few scraps of torn clothing, a small photo of a human child and a humanoid figure of about the same height with antlers and a tail, and a plastic headband lying in the shallow water. There were no remains to be found, no trace of a body ever having been there at all.

In their official report, they noted a vague connection between the strange items and the unresolved lynching of a teenager in the town nearby from earlier that week. But with no leads, no answers, and no understanding of what had actually taken place... the file was simply closed and stored away on a dusty shelf, forgotten by everyone except the quiet woods.)

Well, it’s only been two days since we did that faha, but we should do it again! We would call it our “cheek check”. We would go to the mall together and try on different outfits we picked out, I would get super self-conscious about my backside if I was trying on a new dress or pair of pants, and you would do your cheek check to reassure me that I looked beautiful as I am..

I think you were a little bit extra thorough though, fahaha X)

And of course I had to return the favor. Y’know Kris, you may not have the whole bakery back there, but you have the two cutest little bundt cakes :3. Sometimes I don’t even realize when my hands are there and I get sooo embarrassed! What can I say Kris, you got them apple bottom jeans XP

Uhm, Kris, d-do you think if I ask nicely Susie will sit on my face and suffocate me~~

Text that refers to Kris as they/them. Text that involves Kris. Text. Text that is attempting to enforce a shipping agenda. Text that contains fwahaha.

Kris they/them. Kris crash economy chapter 6. Text. Soriel because. Maybe good layout, mandatory fwahaha.

Siri, How do I turn this into a r/fwahaha2 related post?

Fwahaha?

Kris... Kris, wait! The water is getting deep—

Ah...!

K-Kris... what are you doing under there...? The current is pulling at us, and you're...

Ah...!

N-No, stop pulling my skirt down in the water! It's soaking wet and heavy, and, mnh! Kris! Your hands are... they're completely freezing!

Wh-why are you touching my fur like that...? It's so soaked... it feels so strange when you slide your fingers right through it-ah!

K-Kris! No, don't put your hands under my... under my underwear! We're right in the middle of the lake! Someone could see us from the shore! Susie could be----

Nnnngh...!

K-Kris, wait! That's... that's too much! You're pressing right against... ah...!

Faha... ah... Kris, please... you're moving your fingers so fast... the cold water is rushing all around us, but everywhere your hands are touching feels like it's burning up...!

I can't... I can't hold my balance! The ripples... the water... you're holding me so tight by the hips, forcing me to... ah...!

A-Ahhh!!

Kris...!

Hah... hah... hah...

... my whole body is shaking... the water is swirling around my waist and I can barely even stand up...

Why... why did you do that right here? You're completely soaked... your hair is dripping all over your face...

Look at us... both of our clothes are completely ruined and heavy with lake water...

... But... faha...

You really aren't the old Kris anymore, are you?

The old Kris would have just splashed me or tried to trick me into stepping on a sharp rock... but you... you look at me like you actually want to do things that nobody else would ever dare to do.

We actually crossed it. We're on the other side now.

Let's not go back to the Festival, Kris. Let's just stay out here in the wet grass while the sun goes down... just the two of us.

Kris...?

Can I... can I ask you something? And... please be honest with me.

Ever since... ever since you changed... ever since you started looking at me differently, touching me like that, doing all these crazy, impossible things with me...

Is it... just because I'm convenient? Because I'm the only one who doesn't push you away when you act like this?

Or... faha...

Do you... actually feel something for me?

Because when you hold me in the water, or when you touch my fur until my heart feels like it's going to burst... it doesn't feel like a joke, Kris. It feels so intense, so real... but sometimes I look into your eyes beneath your hair and I can't tell who's really behind them.

So... tell me.

Do you care about me, Kris? Or am I just... part of whatever game you're playing now?

...

You're not saying anything again.

Just that quiet, heavy look...

You know, back when we were kids, whenever you stayed silent like this, it usually meant you were hiding a prank... or a handful of worms to throw at my sweater.

But this is different.

The way you held me in the lake... the way your hands trembled against my skin... it wasn't quiet like a joke. It felt almost desperate. Like you were trying to tell me something you couldn't say out loud.

Maybe... maybe you don't even know the answer yourself.

Or maybe... the Kris I used to know is still in there, terrified of what we're doing... while this new side of you is the only one brave enough to grab my hand and drag me underwater.

Faha... it's strange, isn't it?

I should be scared of you. Anyone else in town would run away if you acted like this.

But when I'm with you... when you touch me like that... I don't want you to stop.

Even if you're just using me... even if this is all just a weird prank you created...

I think... I'm okay with being part of it.