As Dess led Kris, Susie, Noelle, and the Player through the forest, having regrouped from splitting up as to prevent the Knight from noticing them leaving, Kris could see just how much the recent encounter with the Knight had made the Player uneasy. They were constantly looking around, afraid that the Knight was watching somehow. Afraid that the path into their world would be found. Afraid that what they had done would cause Kris’ world to fall further into chaos. And afraid of something else, something that Kris couldn’t quite read.
Kris wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Knowing that they had clung to the story, to see the end unfold when perhaps it may have been best unseen by them. And yet, they seemed to care about Kris, about their friends. The Player knew what the Knight was capable of. And they knew what would happen if the Knight was given access to their world.
Kris spoke, trying to ease the Player’s nerves. “...We will stop them, Player. They know how to push your buttons. They’ve made that much clear. But you know how to work around that. Especially when you’re out there. And if Dess knows something, maybe we can use that.”
The Player sighs. “Yeah, but… this is all my fault. Things wouldn’t have gone like this if I hadn’t been here at all. The mere existence of my SOUL is causing trouble. I have to figure out what to do about all this… Surely there’s… something.”
Kris nods. “Whatever the case, I’m certain you’ll be able to make the most of it. Everyone else is doing enough to draw the Knight’s attention. They set up a fake ‘planning room’ in the house, and have it locked tight. Both in the Light World and the Dark World, thanks to the rifts that opened up. If the Knight wants in, they’ll have to find some way past one or the other. And that’s hopefully enough to draw attention away...”
Dess chuckles. “Good thing that puzzle guy had loads of those blocks. Where does he keep all of those, anyways?” she adds, amused. Susie laughed (causing Noelle to blush slightly). “Who cares? They work better as barricades than puzzles, that much is for sure. And besides, if the Dark World is basically fiction, that means infinite inventory space is just normal. At least for some people… apparently WE didn’t get that luxury.”
Noelle laughs quietly in response. “Yeah, I guess logic varies from game to game. Dragon Blazers certainly wasn’t forgiving with it, but then again, if you were good… you just, never get hit at all, and then you don’t even need items.” Susie turns to Noelle in surprise. “Wait, you play Dragon Blazers?! Hell yeah, we’ll have to chat more about that sometime!”
Despite all the chatter, though, the Player still seemed nervous. Even the discussion of the Knight being distracted didn’t help. There was… more on their mind. The Knight was only part of it. The group didn’t know- but the Player did.
Soon, though, the chat was cut short as the group approached a clearing… where the ground cut from grassy terrain to a pool of static. “We’re here,” Dess said, looking at it with a sense of familiarity.
The Player was first to speak. “...That’s not normal. It looks like it’s just overlaid on top of the existing ground, like this isn’t supposed to even exist. And… you’re saying this is how I go back..?” they say.
Dess nods. “...If not more. You know how your device works best- you have the best shot of getting this out of reach. Because it needs to be gone.” This caused the Player’s face to pale instantly. “You mean this is..?” they say, trailing off.
Dess, however, picked up what was unsaid, and nodded. Whatever the Player was referring to the static snow being, Dess knew it was exactly that. The whole group stared into the void of static, nervously.
Soon, the Player sighed. “...Well, if we’re gonna hide it somehow, it’s gotta be from the other end. I don’t know if any of you want to stay here, but… it’s up to you.” they say, figuring they’d be on their own. However, Dess quickly replies. “I’m going with you. I’ve already been on the other side- and, honestly, I can’t say I’m not curious.”
Kris speaks up next. “We can’t have you getting locked somewhere else by the Knight. They managed to pull you in once, we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again. And besides, I have to make sure you keep your promise.” Susie chuckles at this. “Where Kris goes, I go. You’re not leaving without me.” Noelle lets out a surprised sound and moves toward the group as well. “Th- then I’m going too. I don’t want any of you getting hurt, if I can stop it…” she says.
This left the Player somewhat surprised. They hadn’t expected them to agree to go with them, especially not after everything that happened. And yet, they seemed to treat the Player as a friend, even now. They could barely form a reply. Though, when they did, it was through gritted teeth. “Then let’s hurry. Who knows where the Knight is…”
The group nodded, and as the Player held their breath and closed their eyes, they stepped into the static…
And, when they opened their eyes, they saw their monitor, with the ‘game’ open on the screen- just like it had been before the Knight had pulled them in.
Except, the location was the same as where they had been moments ago. Deep in the forest, where a square of static noise covered the center… and where sprites of each of them stood. The Player’s vessel included.
Before they could do much, though, a voice pierced the silence. “Jeez, Player, and I thought my place was cramped! Where the hell are we?!”
The Player quickly turned, seeing the whole of the group… Kris, Susie, Noelle, and Dess, all clustered together behind them in the relatively small room. They chuckled nervously as they saw how huddled together everyone was. “S- sorry, it’s really… not meant for five people. I… don’t have visitors often. Or, well, ever. Especially not in this room.” they say… though the light-hearted reaction didn’t last long, as the Player felt goosebumps on their skin.
Dess nodded. “So… this is your realm, then… I’ve definitely been here before. It’s… hazy. But, I guess that explains the otherworldly feeling I got from this place back then…” she says, before Noelle responds. “Wait, Dess, you’ve been here before?! You’ve been in the Player’s world?!” the younger sibling exclaims.
Kris looked around at the room- which, while decorated with various objects and posters, remained somewhat duller than the world they had just been in. Even with a bit of moonlight shining through the lone window, it just felt… bleak. “...I can see why you were more interested in our world now. I thought my side of the room was sad. You have yours decorated, and yet it still looks… worse, somehow.”
The Player nods, seeming to sense impending doom of some sort. “...Yeah. It used to feel more colorful, in the past. But as time passed, it just felt like it faded. And apparently, that was more than just a feeling- lots of stuff just isn’t as colorful or interesting here anymore. I told the Knight this place was not a place of honor for a reason. If anyone else here finds out about this mess, then the Knight is the least of our worries.”
Instantly, everyone went silent. The only one who opted to say anything was Dess. “...What do you mean by that, Player..? How would something here make the Knight be that little of an issue?”
The Player, however, noticed something on the monitor- taking that as one last opportunity to breathe before whatever they had to say needed to be said. “...I’ll tell you in a sec. I think… I might be able to deal with our current problem, at least for now.” they say, looking closer at the windows on the screen. And, it turned out there was more to the static gateway than it seemed.
It was a window. One separate from the main program- though, the Player noticed the title bar was a bit corrupted…
DELTARUNE GATEWAY - Displaying Layer L̷̨̻̪͐͂̾D̸̛̙̃
Clearly, the effects of having the Light and Dark worlds merging was affecting the program itself to a degree.
But, that aside, the Player simply grabbed the window of the ‘gateway’, and dragged it… which moved both the static block and the sprites of the Player’s vessel, and the group with them.
“...We’re safe. I… can’t explain it easily, but I can manipulate the pathway between this world and yours, and cut it off. That’s… good for more reasons than one.” the Player says… before sighing. “...Anyways. That’s long enough- I need to explain.”
Susie glares at the Player. “You think?! The fact your world has stuff worse than the Knight, and we had a path here the WHOLE TIME?! Yeah you need to explain!!” she retorts, with all four of the group being extremely concerned.
The Player sighs. This felt familiar- they almost felt the wall of ice behind them once again. “...Yeah. I know. Putting it simply: if anyone else in this world- ANYONE… finds out about this… gateway. Things will be so much worse for both your world and mine. There are people in my world who would happily destroy everything in your world, and then use the SOUL to reset all over again, going through every possible result. Every possible outcome. Then they’d exploit everything they could, again and again. The Knight is just a fragment of what some of those people would do.”
The group is about to react, but the Player continues. “Thankfully, whatever this is… it seems to be localized. Nobody else knows about it, nobody else has this sort of… anomaly. Whatever it is. And thankfully, that means we can keep things contained. We can’t let the Knight get through- they’d absolutely get attention right away. But we still need to be careful. I just… I don’t want you all to deal with the bullshit my world has.”
“I said this place is not a place of honor. That… It's one of the terms used in regards to nuclear waste. Something that can make a location uninhabitable for many, many years. We needed to figure out a way to ensure that future people knew the danger even despite the possible language barriers, or the possibility that they may not know about it. Some might think it hides a secret, like a pharaoh’s tomb holding treasure. But the goal is to communicate otherwise. That sentence is used to express that it is something best left buried.”
“When this is over… I want to cut this world off from yours, utterly and entirely. Not only because of my promise to Kris. But because there are people here far, far worse than any threat from yours. People who would use such a possibility for themselves. And I don’t want you to suffer from that… because of my choices.”
…The silence was intense. For Kris and the rest of the group, it spoke volumes. About how the Player felt about their world. About their true concerns behind the Knight’s ambitions. About just how much damage they truly felt they had caused. And how desperate they were to ensure the success of their mission, due to the stakes involved for Kris’ world. The Player’s world wasn’t as threatened… it WAS the threat.
And for the Player, the silence was the sound of judgement. It was the knowledge that what they had done was far worse than just extending the Knight’s endeavors, but getting their own world… one which may only cause more problems… involved. And the fact that this was their own fault- something the Knight had drilled into their mind time and time again.
Eventually, Kris was the one to speak up. “...How were you supposed to know such a thing could be possible..? You… only ever saw it as a game. You said it before. By the time you knew things were… different… it was too late. And, even if you hadn’t intervened… the link would have still been there. Someone would have found it, whether you came back or left.”
Dess nodded. “That… that is true. I found that static stuff long before anything major even happened. Pretty sure Azzy hadn’t even left for college yet. So… it clearly existed, and probably would continue to exist until it got discovered. Maybe not by the Knight, but by someone. And who knows what would happen then.”
Noelle is the next to speak up. “A- and you said it was localized, too- that means you didn’t inherently do anything wrong..! I probably would have gotten curious too… it feels like some easter egg or creepypasta thing… and I can’t say I wouldn’t have investigated…” she says nervously. Dess chuckled lightly at this.
Susie just chuckled a little. “Besides. You’re doing your best to help us now. You clearly aren’t one of the jerks who’d abuse it- you’re fighting the Knight with us after all, and you said that the Knight is basically just a piece of that sort of thing. You could have done any number of things after all. Especially back when you were on this side of it- you could’ve easily just, reset or something.” Noelle chips in a little as well. “Like save scumming in Dragon Blazers..!”
Kris finishes the discussion. “So… yes, you fucked up. Yes, there’s a lot we need to fix. Yes, it’s gonna be difficult. But there’s more to the story than just that. And that’s what we need to focus on right now. The Knight clearly got in your head, and while it didn’t work as expected, it’s obvious that you knew what could happen if it happened. Both to our world, and to what you have here. Right now, our focus should be on our world, not yours. Best case scenario, we don’t have to worry about yours at all. And worst case… well, just like we have Ralsei and the other Darkners to help in our world… now you have us to help here. We’ll figure things out.”
The Player remained still for a moment. It was taking them a moment to process everything that had been said. Even despite having told them everything- what could happen to their world, to them, all of it. Despite them knowing that the Player was the one to blame for all of it should such a thing happen. Despite all of these things, they still remained. The Player was conflicted internally. They weren’t sure how to react in the moment. Just that they needed to push on, and keep fighting to help their world.
It basically left the Player blanked out for a moment, internally having all the reactions while externally being mentally blue-screened. And by the time they were able to do anything outside, the internal reactions had ceased, leaving them to just nod and sit back down, unsure of what had happened. Kris just chuckled- the Player had the same sort of expression that Kris usually wore. No emotion, just a blank canvas. Of course, that said nothing of what happened inside, and Kris knew that much well. So when the others tried to ask if the Player was okay, Kris just held up a hand.
“They’re fine. There’s a lot going on in there, but they’re fine. I’ve felt like that enough to know it myself. We just gotta focus on the goal now.”
The others remained silent- though the Player did give them a thumbs-up to confirm that they were okay overall (even if they were overwhelmed by the emotion). After a moment, Dess sighed. “I guess that’s what matters, then. Player, your call on where we go for this. Hopefully whatever happens with this thing works.”
The Player nods. Sure, there was a lot on their mind. But right now, they still had to help Kris. As long as Hometown was in danger, the Player needed to repair their mistakes. The Knight was the least of their problems even now.
There was work to be done.
This place is a message... and part of a system of messages... pay attention to it!
Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture.
This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here.
What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger.
This is an example of what a nuclear waste site should convey to anyone who goes there. This wording was used as what the site should convey via a 1993 report.
There are good people in the world, but there are also the bad ones. And a world such as that of Deltarune shouldn't be one that is used by the bad ones.
Thankfully, both the Player and Kris recognize this, and thus prepare to make their first move against the Knight- the current main problem for Hometown.
Trust me, after realizing what would happen if the public knew about a way to get into and out of a video game world like that- especially if it could be reset like Deltarune can be- there would be people who would kill to get their hands on it and use it for profit.
That's the unfortunate state of our world.
Thankfully, there's always good people out there who aren't that way. There always will be, even when things are dire.
That being said, a few of the crew have entered the Player's world, and are preparing to head into another world- though which one that is, I have yet to figure out. Thankfully, this does at least clear up some of the complex stuff.
In the end, there will always be people like the Knight (who we know as Gaster in this storyline) in every world. Sometimes more than others. But there will also always be people like Kris, like Susie, like everyone else we met in this story. And as long as there's light to fight the darkness, there's a way forward despite however bleak it may seem.
In other news, yes, a little bit of my real-life struggles seeped into this one. But I feel it still fits the storyline- hence why I opted to keep it. The Knight really is hitting where it hurts, but the Fun Gang is gonna keep the good fight going- both in the 'Real' World, and the house in Hometown!
What, you didn't think we'd be completely leaving them behind, right? There's still plenty going on there, and it's not like the Deltarune window is going anywhere. The Player can still see stuff happening there, they'll just need... a little bit of effort to interact.
But that's not new.
And with the Light and Dark blurred together, it's a lot harder for the Knight to pull anyone in, simply because locations are mixed up. Not impossible, but definitely difficult. Games really don't like when there's two locations or files with the same name, you know.
That said, I am gonna be completely stuck for the moment- if there's a specific game you all want to see to begin with, lemme know. I'll make a poll soon, should last for a while since I do actually have to do IRL stuff this month. But I felt like it was about time to get things rolling again, and while I'll need to be sure of what I do next to go further, that's what I plan to do.
Seriously though. If you still enjoy the story despite how long it's taken me, tell me what games you'd want to see. Otherwise... maybe it's best to let things continue when someone chooses to make their own additions. I'll just have to see.
For now though? Take care. This was definitely one of the bleaker parts of the story. But hopefully, there will be more. Better parts, more enjoyable ones. Where we can see interactions between other characters. But that's yet to be seen.
Hope you enjoyed!
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LynxGriffin's Paper Trail Comic
(As always, I highly recommend you check out the original comic! There's still details that can apply, especially now that the Player is back to their computer... And while they would never dare touch the SAVE file for the current day, maybe there's something to be done elsewhere. Who knows...)
