Chapter Text
Kris stumbled into their new motel room, closing the door behind them in a desperate bid to escape the humidity.
Part of them was starting to regret coming here. Sure, they had reasons to both keep themselves on the move and stop here for a quick visit, but Louisiana weather was utterly miserable. Nothing like the northeastern cool they’d known their entire life. At least practically every building had some sort of air conditioning, providing a much needed reprieve for the poor teen.
It felt nice to not feel the combo of sweltering heat and unholy humidity. Dulvey sucked, in Kris’s mind. It was like hometown but almost entirely inhabited by humans (they’d only seen two monsters here since they’d arrived, one of which being from a monster/human married couple who’d picked Kris up as a hitchhiker before dropping them off in town) and in a god-awful swampy bog instead of a picturesque, serene forest.
Tossing both their backpack and their duffel bag down next to the bed, Kris surveyed the room. It was a small room, only having a bed, a TV mounted to the wall across from it (probably the most modern thing in the room, a flat-screen that Kris guessed had to be over a decade old by now) and a small desk with a chair off to the right side of the bed. The bathroom didn’t look too bad from where they were standing though, at least. They could see right into it from the entrance… the curtains looked clean, no visible mold.
This was the best someone could get if they wanted to stay somewhere that wouldn’t ask questions about a teen paying in cash to stay a night.
Kris sighed, stepping into the bathroom. Everything they couldn’t see from the outside was clean… that was good. Sometimes they got nasty surprises hidden in the bathrooms. After all, the places they stayed at were never very reputable. Cleaning staff glossing over the finer details of their work tended to be common for places like this.
Kris looked up at the mirror, gazing at themselves. Despite everything, it was still them. Still wearing the same sweater and pants (although they’d bought several identical pairs, something that had been a pain to find), even in the Louisiana humidity.
They rolled up their sleeves, at least. That helped.
Kris shut their eyes. They didn’t want to look at themselves longer than they had to. Every time they saw themselves, all they could think of is what they did.
What their self-loathing over Dess and the fallout of her disappearance allowed Carol to rope them in to.
What their naive hope allowed Susie to convince them was possible.
What their denial of reality lead them to ignore, that subverting the prophecy would still come at a cost.
Kris flinched at the thought.
It didn’t matter that Noelle told them it was okay. It didn’t matter that she’d told them countless times that she forgave them, that she’d keep what had happened a secret, come up with a convincing lie for Kris’ sake. It didn’t matter that she still considered them their best friend afterwards, that she told them she was proud of them for saving the world and getting her sister back.
They couldn’t look at their childhood best friend, bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, and feel anything but utter revulsion with themselves.
Even if it was to save the world.
Nothing would ever absolve them of that. No amount of forgiveness from Noelle, her assurances that despite everything she was happy (something you could visibly see- Dess was back and Susie was practically glued to her side at all times, last Kris saw them) would ever make that crushing self-loathing of I hurt you fade.
It’s ironic, really. That parasitic, foreign soul they’d been stuck with? Kris used to despise being puppeteered, thinking it was the worst thing that would ever happen to them.
In the end, the soul had legitimately been trying it’s best with the limited information it had. Kris couldn’t fault it for that, in retrospect. It even had the decency to leave when all was said and done, somehow showing Kris more respect than… a lot of the people who’d been in their life.
Kris shook their head, backing out of the bathroom. They shouldn’t think about that, not anymore than they already did.
They took a seat at the motel’s cheap desk, pulling their duffel bag over. Dropping it on the desk, they unzipped it to check it’s contents. They pushed clothes and other personal items to the side, digging down to what they’d hidden at the bottom of the bag… their money.
After the Roaring was prevented, Carol’s little plan involving Kris didn’t stay secret for even a day. Naturally, the Dreemurrs were both incredibly upset about what Carol had planned for their adopted child, something uniting Toriel and Asgore for the first time in years.
What possessed Carol to think that giving the Dreemurrs about 15,000 dollars in cash would get them to keep quiet, Kris would never know. But what they did know was that money had been the key to their freedom.
They’d left town at dawn at the end of that week.
Kris began counting their remaining money, quickly realizing they were going to run into a problem:
They were running out. They had perhaps a fourth of the money left. They’d tried to be creative to avoid expenditure when they could, even if it meant breaking the law… not that it bothered them though. The beautiful, lush landscapes Kris had seen train-hopping would be something that would never leave their mind.
Granted, this would’ve been a much bigger problem if it happened a month ago. Shoving the money back in the duffel bag, they pulled their backpack over and pulled their laptop from it.
Well, technically it was stolen from Hometown’s library. It… was Queen.
Kris shuddered, lamenting that they’d never get to talk to her again.
They opened the laptop up, taking it out of sleep mode and revealing the document they’d left open: a list of locations from across the country. It was a list of locations Kris had found interesting, mostly just supposedly haunted places (open to the public or not), a couple of museums and the occasional historical site.
They’d crossed off most of the locations on the list now, most of them having been visited. A few had to be marked off as impossible to visit (Kris feeling particularly bitter about being unable to find a way into the Arklay Exclusion Zone), but they’d gotten most of what they’d wanted to see out of the way… which left tomorrow’s excurison, their only reason for coming to the hellhole known as Dulvey:
The Baker Estate.
Pulling up the file containing everything they’d gathered on their next target, Kris scanned over the document once more to refresh themselves for tomorrow. The Baker Estate belonged to the wealthy Baker family, who’d been in the area for generations. They’d been trusted, loved members of their community… with the exception of one of their two children, a son named Lucas who’d apparently been considered a “bad seed”. Lots of nasty rumors about him.
The Bakers dropped off the face of the earth three years prior, when a hurricane hit. Now the locals avoid the place like the plague, and people keep going missing near the property. Occasional rumors of screaming being heard near the Estate, strange sightings of the Bakers… it all sounded like something out of one of those cheesy horror flicks Noelle loved so much. Incredibly dangerous… but when did Kris care about their own personal safety?
Couldn’t be more dangerous than stopping the damn Roaring, after all.
They reached down for their duffel bag, digging around until they grasped the hilt of their knife. It would never be used for opening a fountain ever again, but if there was something actually nasty on the Baker property, they’d be more than ready for whatever it was.
They closed their laptop (which they now found themselves uncomfortably having to remind themselves was still Queen), stashing their knife away in their bag. They’d be sure to retrieve it before they left tomorrow.
Kris sighed, standing up to flick off the lights. They flopped onto their bed, staring up at the ceiling through the darkness, the lack of light bringing Kris far more comfort than it should.
They were nearing the end of their journey, so to speak. Running out of places to run to, to visit. Running out of money, too. What would they do when it was finally time to go home?
Kris cringed at the thought. All that was left for them in Hometown was pain and regret. They’d probably caused a lot of pain by disappearing the same week Dess came back, fighting for her life in a hospital bed.
But maybe people knew the truth by now. Maybe Noelle had decided to tell people about how they hurt her in the name of “saving the world”.
Maybe Susie finally found out. She’d probably never forgive them for that. After all, Noelle was the only person who mattered to her more than Kris.
Hell, they’d probably end up dead if they set foot back in Hometown.
Kris closed their eyes to drift off into a (hopefully) dreamless sleep, their last thought being that prospect didn’t bother them as much as it should’ve.