Lost in Imagination

In this AU, Kris and Frisk are twin siblings, neither are controlled by a player, their actions are their own. The story is that four years ago, when they were twelve, their mother Lara, aunt Kara, and family friend, Dess Holiday, were kidnapped by an unknown person, and two people have died trying to save Lara and Dess, during the times they were kidnapped. Lara was kidnapped first, Kara was taken a month later, and Dess some time after. There was also an attempted kidnapping not long after Dess’ kidnapping, but it was fortunately prevented and no one, but the kidnapper, was hurt (although he did get away.) Asgore (who is still the Chief of Police in this AU) and the police force are still investigating the kidnappings and murders to this day, especially since recently there was another attempt at a kidnapping and someone dying after preventing it. The twins were taken in by their Uncle Asgore and Aunt Toriel after Lara and Kara went missing.

In present day, the twins, along with Susie, find themselves falling into one of the Dark Worlds, inside the school storage closet, where they meet Ralsei, and learn that they, along with him, and three other Lightners are heroes of prophecy. Someone known as “the Knight,” who is a follower of an evil entity called Darisep, is going around Hometown creating corrupt dark fountains. While normal dark fountains are fine (as long as they’re not in public areas or in inconvenient parts of people’s homes), corrupt dark fountains not only pose a threat of bringing the Roaring, but they cause some of the locals of Dark Worlds they lead to, to fall victim to Corruption, a condition that causes the victim to lose control of themselves and act irrationally, making them a danger to others. Corruption looks like a very dark shadow covering parts of their body, although on some darkners (ones that can black or dark gray coloring) it looks like a blood red shadow.

Fortunately, darkners can be cured of corruption by talking them through it, reasoning with them, or doing certain actions that make the victim happy. However, the corruption will sometimes take on a physical form after being expelled from their victim’s bodies, and attack the heroes, who must fight back and destroy it. The leaders of the Dark Worlds, such as Queen, also fall victim to corruption when a corrupt fountain is created. Our heroes must help save the darkners from corruption and seal the corrupt fountains, before three are created, or one is made within another, which can bring the Roaring. There’s also the threat of the mysterious Angel, which can also bring another kind of apocalypse, after it is awakened through a certain ritual.

Things in my AU work differently from the original Deltarune universe. Dark Worlds exist independently from dark fountains, and darkners are not only real, but exist independently from their light world objects, which are instead called their “Linked Objects.” Darkners use their linked objects to see into the Light World. Some darkners can be born years before or after their linked object is created (which is why some characters will be different ages in my AU.) A darkner will not die if their linked object is broken or destroyed, it just means they lost a way to look into the Light World. They are still able to view the Light World through crystal balls called “Looking Glasses.” What goes on in Light World, only somewhat affects what goes on in the Dark Worlds, although the invention of certain objects in the Light World, caused certain Dark Worlds and darkners to come into existence. For example, the invention of computers caused the creation of the Cyber World and Queen’s race.

Instead of Shadow Crystals, the secret bosses are the holders of the Rainbow Shards, which are said to be pieces of a secret weapon that can be used to ultimately destroy Darisep. Our heroes must help the holders of the Rainbow Shards, some of whom have fallen victim to corruption, in order for the shard holders to awaken as secret heroes and reveal the shards they hold deep within their souls.

Some characters in my AU will have different personalities and sometimes different appearances than their canon counterparts, and the reason is because of different events and things in their lives shaping who they are. For example, Susie is never a bully, and is friendlier in this AU, due to being rescued from an abusive home when she was a child, and being adopted by the kind neighbor who reported the abuse. (She’s still a powerful tomboy and will have funny moments.) Berdley is also kind, but rather timid and insecure. Noelle is mostly the same, but less timid, due to her mother, Carol, being a much better person in this AU (and that’s because of different events happening in Carol’s past.) Ralsei is rather serious and is a magic martial artist instead of a mage (he’s kinda like Poo from Earthbound.)

And while in the canon Deltarune universe, Kris identifies as non-binary, in my AU they identify as polygender (they were AFAB.) Frisk is cis-female in my AU. (Kris wanted more genders while Frisk was content with the one she was assigned with.) Instead of being a prankster and not liking to socialize, Kris is a bit protective of others, especially Frisk and Noelle, is more talkative and kind, and has the mind of a detective (they still have a sense of humor and are rather stoic most of the time.) Frisk is like how she was in Escorttale, a sweet and polite young lady. And in this AU, Kris is not working with the mysterious person on the phone or the Knight, and Kris opening a dark fountain in their living room is an accident.

The main villain of my AU, Darisep, is based on my interpretation of FRIEND. Their name is an anagram of the word “Despair.” I believe FRIEND is responsible for some of the bad things that happened in the original Deltarune universe, such as Dess’ disappearance, and Jevil and Spamton going insane.

While some things are better in this AU, it is not without tragedy. As I mentioned before, there are the kidnappings and murders that happen in Hometown, as well as some things that happen/have happened in the Dark Worlds. There’s also some sad backstories some characters have, but things do get better for them. There’s also a certain ship that isn’t doomed or toxic in my AU, but is rather healthy and wholesome. I’m also going to use my own ideas for worlds and characters in chapters 5-7, as well as some characters I came up with for the first four chapters. Plus, you’ll see some returning characters from my Undertale AU, Escorttale, such as Jill, and characters from Undertale Yellow and TS!Underswap.